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God, We're Just Sayin'...

Posted by Emily Farris

 

A new study from the UK claims that intelligent people are less likely to believe in God.

Professor Richard Lynn, emeritus professor of psychology at Ulster University, who conducted the research, claims that religious belief declined across 137 developed nations in the 20th century — a time when humans were becoming more intelligent.

Lynn's ideas are, of course, being challenged, and referred to as "simplistic." While we have to agree that they're a little simplistic (at least as far as they're set forth in the news article, we've known plenty — okay a handful — of intelligent people who believed in God. But we have to admit that even those people challenged the very ideas of the God that were set before them, in say, The Bible. 

Scanner Emily's conclusion: following anything blindly — especially The Bible — is not so intelligent. But let's give the folks that believe in something a little wiggle room, eh?

[Telegraph: Intelligent people 'less likely to believe in God']


Related:

Does the Establishment Clause Exclude Santa Claus?

Was Jesus a Child of Rape?

Fact: Jesus Had Short Hair

The Second Coming: Sin-Free Sex Toys for Christians

[Image] 


+ DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT
Posted Jun 16 2008, 12:43 PM
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Comments

maybeapril said:

Let's all praise Almighty Logic. Science makes it so you exploit the earth in a super smart and efficient way, and can kill your soul, too! To blindly follow any social convention is dumb; to have thoroughly thought out what you believe to be right is awesome. People aren't getting to be Godless because they're more "intelligent." Our perspective of intelligence has just morphed into who makes more money. So, um, give the religious guys a break. The day that the world economy collapses, I bet you they won't be the ones freaking out that their lives are over.

June 16, 2008 2:15 PM

farknerve said:

It seems odd that they're using "intelligent" rather than "educated."

June 16, 2008 5:47 PM

spoco2 said:

Surely this is obvious... for those who are not educated enough to know better, scripture gives them answers in one handy tome, however wrong it may be.

For those who have studied and are given the power of CRITICAL THOUGHT then they can start to see all the inherent problems in religion and what it tries to state as truth.

And maybeapril, you're using the ol' standby of 'Look at all the bad science has done to the planet', rather than saying 'Look at the far FAR more amazing things it has done', any knowledge can be used in good or bad ways, it's a complete fallacy to blame the knowledge itself and somehow suggest we should all remain stupid and dense in order to save the planet? That make no sense. And intelligence is nothing to do with 'who makes more money' that's capitalism, there are PLENTY of relious rich people and plenty of smart poor people. The religious right wing are all about money, the learned, humanitarian left is all about justice for all.

Stop twisting reality to suggest that religion is some sort of beacon of goodness, it's not.

June 16, 2008 7:30 PM

maybeapril said:

Dude... I'm in med school. I'm going to be a doctor. I know about the good of science, but science isn't enough. It's just incredibly pompous of the human race to think that we have the ability to explain everything. As any educated person will tell you, what we don't know greatly outnumbers what we know, and it takes great faith in the unknown to get up in the morning.

June 16, 2008 9:15 PM

About Emily Farris

Emily Farris writes about culture and food for numerous publications and websites you've probably never heard of, including her own blog eefers. Her first cookbook will be published in fall 2008. Emily lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn with her cat, but just one...so far.

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    • about the blogger

    Emily Farris writes about culture and food for numerous publications and websites you've probably never heard of, including her own blog eefers. Her first cookbook will be published in fall 2008. Emily lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn with her cat, but just one . . . so far.

    Brian Fairbanks is a filmmaker living in the wilds of Brooklyn. He previously wrote for the Hartford Courant and Gawker. He won the Williamsburg Spelling Bee once. He loves cats, women with guns, and burning books.

    Nicole Pasulka is a Brooklyn writer and editor who's always on the lookout for the dirty. Her other virtual home is at The Morning News, where things are squeaky clean most of the time.

    Send us links! scanner@nerve.com


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