Do you believe those who are religious

[Toobluntt]

have lower intelligence, in general because they believe in a God, than non believers/non religious people?

I ask because I saw a comment as such on another thread in AIBU, and it's something I've heard/read before, that some people (obviously non-believers) question the intelligence of those who believe in God, or follow an organised religion.

I am not saying this is what I believe, I'm just genuinely interested to know if this is a commonly held view, or not, and if so, why you think this way.

Would be good to know what you think.

That's actually quite insulting! No I'm not less intelligent because I go to church!

No.

It's a mixed bag either way.
Plenty of stupid fuckers on either side xD

Odd thing to be curious about though.

I'd be much more interested to know if people with religion were more 'glass is half full' than atheists? Or if atheists commit more crime or of certain crimes? Or which side were the bigger risk takers.

I appreciate that you will be insulted by these comments.

As I say, it's comments I have seen on mumsnet myself, and heard people say in person, when discussing religion in general. So I'm curious as to how many people think this way, and why they may do, if they're brave enough to share.

If you read my post - I've not said I share these views. I'm curious if it's commonly thought, and if so, why.

I am not trying to insult anyone by asking if this is a genuinely commonly held view. I doubt many people will be willing to answer (if they did), anyway.
It's nothing to do with the fact you 'attend' anything.

(BTW, penis beaker, screaming at the michaelangelo, snapped & farted. Been a member for years).

I think it's fair to be curious about, when you see comments by folk online stating this, or that they question the intelligence of followers, and have likewise heard similar comments in person when discussing religion as a general topic! Of course I think a lot of people would be curious why someone thinks it makes believers less intelligent - what reasoning do they have to believe this?

I’ve met quite a people who deny evolution in favour of creationism. Some of those people are lacking in education, others aren’t, but still choose to believe God created everything. I do question their intelligence.

In general though, no. I think they are less logical that me, but that’s not the same as intelligence.

I’m quite envious of people who have a faith. I think it would have helped me in difficult times in my life.

*than

What a ridiculous statement.

some of the people I know who attend church and are Christian’s are doctors, police sergeants, head teachers, teachers, CEO’s, accountants all very intelligent people.

if they want to believe in God then that’s their prerogative. It’s a belief.

I wouldnt jjudge anyone who had differing beliefs to me.

You can believe in creationism and evolution simultaneously though tbf.

If you see 7 'days' as not actual days for example but more of a 'to give you an idea of how long it was for god'.

I think atheists and agnostics are more likely to be intelligent because they think logically and look for proof rather than just following whatever religion is dominant in their culture.

But plenty of religious people are intelligent of course & some atheists and agnostics are stupid.

Most vicars I've known have been highly intelligent people, and many of their parishioners are people who are doctors, accountants, lawyers, etc. What a strange idea that just because people are religious they lack intelligence.

That’s why I said people who people who deny evolution in favour of creationism.

See I'd put many atheists on par with people who come from religious backgrounds if I used that reasoning though. Because many people are atheist just because they were raised without religion. So they give it no thought.

I love people who say they are agnostic as opposed to atheist though. It means they're happy to say that they don't have all the answers...and maybe, that they've gave it some thought.

I don’t think the two things correlate at all, but it’s interesting. I’ve never heard this before. Research shows that people who are religious tend to be healthier and happier. Is it not potentially just as illogical or unintelligent to be atheist if it ultimately doesn’t serve you?

It's no different from slinging insults at the political party you oppose, or the opposing football team, or a military enemy. It's easier to.call the other side stupid and worse than to discuss the matter with them.
My son has just sent me photos from Spain showing the religious icons and Jesus being carried in procession to.churches for Easter. The Great cathedral draped in gold, jam packed streets and weeping spectators are an impressive testament to faith. In the face of all that, people who condemn the religious by hurling cheap and childish insults at them are the ones who show low IQs.
I'm an atheist.BTW.

Well my cousin's DH is very religious & has built a business worth millions. His brain & memory are mind boggling. She was smart enough to pick him over the less ambitious man. Tbh most clients come from their massive church or are referred by fellow parishioners so a huge connection event, really.

Other cousin made sure to save & invest & now are retiring early. Also religious.

Those of us in the family not religious are not so well off.

So, no...... I don't agree.

I used to think they were just more naive but not less intelligent. Now I actually think that those people who are more spiritual have more depth to them. It took a sudden death for me to change my view. I don't believe in a god myself but I would now not disparage someone who does.

There are certainly people who think that way. You can see plenty of them on the thread you mentioned.

But in most cases you can see from the way they speak that they are usually speaking from a very narrow set of experiences. There are all kinds of very intelligent, highly educated religious people, and many religions have significant intellectual traditions, but the people who say things like that have no awareness of that these people even exist. Much less any awareness of the philosophical side of religious questions involves.

Although macro evolution (i.e. not involving God/creation at all) is far and away the most accepted explanation of how life began amongst scientists who are not also devoutly religious, it still requires a lot of 'faith' in things that have never been recorded and evidenced, cannot be replicated and ignore the basic scientific principle that something cannot come from nothing.

There's absolutely no way to prove that anything did or didn't happen millions or billions of years ago, but these massive numbers of years are adhered to as though they were proven facts.

Richard Dawkins (admittedly, by no means every non-religious person's cup of tea) has stated that even if he witnessed a miracle or sign that most people would accept as proof of God's existence, he would assume that it must be a hallucination and still simply could not be true.

It's very possible for people of all faiths and none to be closed-minded and so certain of their own beliefs that they are summarily unwilling to consider that anybody else's differing convictions (or even hypotheses) could possibly be true.

In a way, yes I do. I see religious people in a similar way I see conspiracy theorists in that they have a need to believe there is something bigger than them controlling everything.
But with religion - they can go 'deep', intellectually speaking. They can study the philosophy of religion or Divinity at Oxbridge and still, they have made an irrational leap of faith in their thinking that underwrites their house of cards belief system.

Religious? No, people who believe or create royal conspiracy theories? absolutely yes!

No. As a young atheist I assumed that Christians or others devout in any religion must be a bit daft or simple but as I've got older I have seen this just isn't true. There are many educated types that believe in God or jesus or organised religion and they are well educated and work in professional jobs.
You just can't judge everyone who thinks differently to you. It gets you nowhere.

@Toobluntt the initial study that came out in 2013 did show a negative correlation
HOWEVER the more robustly tested study more recently published rebuked those earlier findings.
Meta-analyzing intelligence and religiosity associations: Evidence from the multiverse - PMC (nih.gov)
as a matter of fact slightly smarter ;)

Honestly, yes, 95% of the time.

I was raised Jewish and even as a child, knew it was all bullshit. And I didn’t feel a need for it either.

I have less judgement for people like 2 of my friends:

-Raised catholic and was still doing things like going to confession when i first met her at uni. It was like she had been brainwashed into feeling guilty all the time despite being a really good person. She later gave it all up.

-Muslim who openly questions his Imam about things that don’t tie in with modern society but gets immediately shut down and feels quite trapped by his family.

But yeah, I have never dated a religious man and I don’t have any religious friends. We’d be on a completely different wavelength and i’m an incredibly logical person in my thinking.

it's equally fairly well known that this particular group has a higher intelligence than most for a variety of reasons. there was a recent netflix documentary on the topic.
Jewish Intelligence | Higher than Average | Genetics or Eugenics? (factsaboutisrael.uk)