Do you agree that religious people are unintelligent and in need of a coping mechanism? If not, why?

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

Ja

Nej

[OneViewpoint]

Yes, religion is always the refuge of weak stupid people riddled with insecurities and fears of a world they can't understand but above all the fear of their own mortality. If they believe hard enough, they think they can make all the scary stuff go away. It's the same as a heroin addict shooting up to avoid the pain of their reality.

And just like a heroin addict at an intervention, the more you stress a religious person by challenging their beliefs, the harder they dig in and cling to the lies of their chosen cult. I just write off all religious people as idiots to be avoided like the plague. There is no point in trying to save them and they are probably less of a burden to society with their religion to pacify them.

[boundless]

Nope. The smartest people are religious. Here is a small sample of Christians that were significantly smarter alone than all the atheist put together that you think are smart...

Nicolaus Copernicus
Johannes Kepler
Galileo Galilei
Blaise Pascal
Robert Boyle
Antony van Leeuwenhoek
Isaac Newton
Carl Linnaeus
Leonhard Euler
Antoine Lavoisier
Michael Faraday
Charles Babbage
James Prescott Joule
Florence Nightingale
Gregor Johann Mendel
William Thomson, Lord Kelvin
Joseph Lister
James Clerk Maxwell
Sir John Ambrose Fleming
George Washington Carver
Arthur Compton
Charles Townes
Henry Madison Morris

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

so people you dont know and most were alive years ago?

[boundless]

I've always been religious, though not too much into ritual and church attendance and I have an IQ of 158 and am also a scientist among other things. I just wanted to leave myself out of it because there are plenty of recognizable examples through history. My parents never pushed religion on me nor did they attend service on any regular basis. In fact my father was raised in a strict religious household and in religious schools, and he flat out rejected going to church even though I know he stilled believe in God silently. When you have an IQ of 158 you pick up on a lot of patterns... Generally atheists aren't all that bright. Sometimes they test as gifted and have an IQ of like 115-120 which basically is enough to get them in trouble, but not enough to actually make them smart. They tend to think they are smarter than everyone else because they get treated differently in the school system. As a result the reject whatever the normative culture is... So if they are raised in a nation that is predominately Christian, they will say to themselves all these other people believe in Christianity and I'm smarter than all of them in a smug tone, so I'm going to rebel and reject Christianity without even studying it because I'm smarter than them I don't need to study it... If you tell any group that they are smarter than everyone else they will generally reject whatever the normal culture is. So if you put them in a communist country, they will reject communism. If you put them in a capitalist country, they will reject capitalism. If you put them in a Muslim country, they will reject Islam. It's a default egotistical reaction. In contrast very smart people can't have to know the details and seek out the patterns, and get joy from the puzzles in life, and thus obsess over truth. This is why religion is very alluring for very smart people as is science.

[boundless]

*they
*can't let it go and have to know...

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

okay, so you use religion as a coping mechanism. its pretty common. people dont know what happens after death etc, and they’re scared of that, so they start to believe in a religion that tells them that they’ll go to a paradise or heaven, its all just a coping mechanism for people who are scared.

in what world are atheists treated better in the school system?

[FunkyMonkee]

I was never given a number, only that my I. Q. is just a few points shy of borderline genius and I'm an atheist! Quashes that theory!!

[boundless]

@funkymonkeeee You're "trust me bro" statement doesn't quashe anything. Typically an IQ of 140 is consider a genius level IQ, so you'd be shy of that even if you were believable, not that you are. None the less, you'd still be claiming to fall in that "gifted" bracket that I was speaking about. So you are confirming what I already stated even if you were honest, though you are clearly not an honest person.

[boundless]

That out of the way, there is a significant amount of research on this topic that backs up my position in large studies. People that have an IQ approaching 140, and I'd even say in the 130s just from personal experience (maybe 133-135 and up) would have known that because they'd do their due diligence before making a claim. So it's a safe bet that you have a lower IQ than that.

[FreyaRed]

With modern knowledge about universe and mechanics which surround our reality it's difficult for an intelligent person to take religious books and theology seriously. However for lot of people is religion a weapon to control others not something they believe.

Ja. For small group of people who will believe in god no matter what

No for religious hypocrites and charlatans who will exploit those with limited perception

[CupcakeTheDestroyer]

While a good number of religious branches don’t encourage critical thinking, this isn’t a universal sign of poor intellect and should not be taken as such.

[Kaneki05]

It's for sure a coping mechanism, though that's not to say there isn't smart ones. Because measure of intellect can be based on different things. Many scientists have and are religious, The guy who came up with the big bang theory it self was a Catholic Priest.

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

Then it was probably a coping mechanism for him.

[ClassicDropout]

I think people use religion as a punching bag because its not cool to insult people for race/ethnicity anymore. They're just always looking for that one thing that makes other people different from them that they can discriminate against. Realistically what does someone else's religion have to do with you? If they're not trying to hurt you because of their religion, I can't see why it would matter.

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

It doesn't, im simply voicing my opinion.

[ClassicDropout]

Just know that insulting someone's religion doesn't make you tough or funny

[Kaneki05]

Problem with that idea is religious folk have been trying to hurt those who aren't in their religion for all of history and still today. Less so Christians these days but ya know a certain other religion is still big on it, and Christians still want to impose their own biblical laws on everyone and would if they could.
The only reason they lost so much power is thanks to agnostics, atheists and science otherwise we'd still be in the dark ages doing a crusade for the fun of it.

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

Never insulted a specific religion and wasn't looking for laughs lol, as i said, just voicing my opinion.

[lightbulb27]

no, met some very intelligent... whatever that means. education, informed, languages, etc..

coping mechanisms... maybe, or some uniform world view that brings order to life... is another way.

It can be a sticky wicket... walking through the garden of eden in our minds eh!

[MikeMcMansion]

You’re 15 years old. That amount of time to ponder the question of all questions is inadequate. You are displaying a severe lack of maturity by your supposition.

I believed the same as you at your age. It is a bad (but common) place to start an unnecessarily rough life.

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

how is it rough not to believe in a religion?

[MikeMcMansion]

1. Attitude; Believing most people who are stupid on that basis alone presents a huge problem on how you perceive other people.

2. Intelligence; The vast majority of the most intelligent people on the planet, people contributed to engineering maths and sciences have nearly always been religious or at least conceding that they do not if the universe/life was made by something intelligent or not.

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

1. How? i just won't associate with religious people if i dont have to.

2. So because some religious people are smart, im supposted to become religious?

[MikeMcMansion]

1. You will have to associate with religious people.

2. Humility and compassion. You need to be more humble and compassionate when you make judgements on other people’s intelligence and not use their religion as a benchmark when surmising their intelligence and categorizing them.

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

”If i dont have to” reading comprehensiom.

why should i? how does that benefit me or them?

[genericname85]

in lots of cases that is true. so much so, that there's a correlation statistically. but i think there's cases of people experiencing such traumatic things that coping through religion is actually a smart way of at least somewhat salvaging ones mental health. also it seems to be a replacement addiction to some people. and i'll say if you go for faith rather than meth, that's smart xD

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

sooo a coping mechanism lol

[genericname85]

so what? everyone has coping mechanisms cause everyone has trauma they're dealing with.

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

nothing, just a weird coping mechanism if u ask me🤷‍♀️

[genericname85]

the majority of coping mechanisms are maladaptive. cause a lot of them help people coping with situations they aren't even suffering under anymore.

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

nice👍

[Anonymous]

At your age I'd have assumed that to. Until I was older and experienced some of it first hand. Now I know for certain there's more to it although not a specific religion.

So considering I experienced things conventional knowledge can't explain its logical that smart people have had similar experiences they base their beliefs on.

Its not a cope for me, I am insanely aware of myself. When something is a cope I am aware it is and am letting it happen. This is not that.

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

so you believe in adult santa?

[Opinion Owner]

I don't even know who you mean by adult santa.

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

god basically (its the same thing)

[Opinion Owner]

For me god is whatever/whoever the origin source of love is. I think its more like an energy source than a sentient being.

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

okay, u do u

[KostasKouvalis]

Not ALL, but many of them. Like those who pray and go to church every Sunday are fine. The stupid ones are the ones who refuse to believe in science or medicine and who think THEIR way is the RIGHT way, and also those who use violence to defend their honor.

[loveslongnails]

Do they need a coping mechanism? Who doesn't?
Religious people aren't unintelligent per se, but they do tend to use their belief system to explain anything they can't or to confront science with and about. Religious "fanatics" on the other hand, can be very intelligent as well, but they can only explain the world around them through their belief system and nothing else. That alone makes them dangerous.

[slatyb]

No and yes, but on the other hand, I don't know any extremely intelligent believers. I spent a lifetime around fairly bright people in high tech, and I remember only a few that were religious. I live in Seattle and no one I know is religious.

[Dargil]

No Christian has to explain their faith in G0d. But Bigots have to explain their Bigotry.
You can start explaining yours below.

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

whats there to explain?

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

Most religious people are morons because they follow some man or dumbass institution.

I'm religious but I only follow the Bible because I 100% believe its the inspired word of God.

[beefcakebradybatson]

As Cheech and Chong (I think Chong) once noted,"Some people are messed up on drugs, some people are messed up on Jesus!!!"

[BCRanger10]

No, I do not, especially today.

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

why?

[BCRanger10]

Because the more I see the behavior of contemporary atheists, the more convinced I am of how truly fragmented and incoherent it really is.

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

oh but a man in the sky is more believeable?

[BCRanger10]

Let's put it this way. The tactics I see from atheists these days aren't convincing.

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

like what?

[BCRanger10]

Where do I begin? For starters, they can't even keep their complaints consistent or straight. One minute, religious people (Christians in particular) are fun-hating mindless drones who don't think for themselves and follow arbitrary and outdated rules invented by their made-up invisible sky daddy. The next minute, "they don't hold themselves accountable!", "They make excuses for their bad behavior!", or "AHA, look at that guy who broke is stupid religious rule!"

Shall I continue?

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

what does that have anything to do with it?

[BCRanger10]

It's prejudiced thinking.

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

and?

[BCRanger10]

Is prejudice objective, honest, or fair?

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

whats your point?

[BCRanger10]

My point is that this is one reason why I don't take atheist critiques seriously.

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

right

[Snowman84]

Religion discourages critical thinking

[noohair]

That is ignorant...

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

its the truth🤷‍♀️

[noohair]

You are a child with a child’s brain...

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

And you’re an old slow man with an old slow mans brain

[noohair]

Correct, but you are still a child with a lot to learn...

[Chocolatetwopoint3]

so? i already know religion is fake and dumb