[_ Old Earth _] Does Atheism Make People Smarter?

[ChattyMute]

cross the road when a car is coming is that fear then,yes, but then if you know not to do that and wait till clear that is respect. Sometimes english being a very limited language doesnt have the best word for the original hebrew/greek.araimaic. Think about we use love for everything yet the greek language defines it specifally by types

Crossing a road when a car is coming is either stupidity or foolish bravery. If it is the first, then you can attribute fear once the person realizes the car is coming.

Waiting until the car passes is just common sense. I don't respect a car or the driver by waiting for the car to pass. I do it so I don't get my butt knocked down.

I know some bjj fighters that are better then me at other gyms , i dont like them yet i respect their fighting skills , in that case it is acknowlging that that person has something or does something better then you. respect can simply to acknowlede. On can seek and read the bible and not understand it, the bible does point the way to author of it, he will then ask you to repent of your sins then you will be able to ask what you need to know and then it will be given.

I have literally been through that. I read the bible for no reason, didnt believe it all, actually gave up on it all to put it a better way. Months later went to church, got saved. I did ask others about it on they way.Little did i know that the Lord was drawing me.

Respect is more than acknowledgment. I can acknowledge my father as my father, but it doesn't mean I automatically respect him.

And that is where knowledge comes from. You asking.

 

[freeway]

knowledge smart or wise, is an atheist smarter, than me, or smarter than a Christian. I am by no mean the smartest person just because I'm a Christian, hell my dog "freeway" across the room at time seems to be smarter than me. After all I work to buy him food and shelter and all he does his lick his butt. So who’s smarter.. But just because you use a large vocabulary, better at math etc. might make you a smarter person by worldly standards. One example I will look at is the two thieves on the crosses by Jesus. At first they both threw abuse at Jesus, Lets just say they where both smart men, could talk, had a profession “although a bad one but no less they had intelligence but somewhere some how one of these thieves wised up and realized who they where talking to. For him that realization paid off for eternity. The other although a smart man was not a wise man. His eternity was also set.

 

[Brokendoll]

knowledge smart or wise, is an atheist smarter, than me, or smarter than a Christian. I am by no mean the smartest person just because I'm a Christian, hell my dog "freeway" across the room at time seems to be smarter than me. After all I work to buy him food and shelter and all he does his lick his butt. So who’s smarter.. But just because you use a large vocabulary, better at math etc. might make you a smarter person by worldly standards. One example I will look at is the two thieves on the crosses by Jesus. At first they both threw abuse at Jesus, Lets just say they where both smart men, could talk, had a profession “although a bad one but no less they had intelligence but somewhere some how one of these thieves wised up and realized who they where talking to. For him that realization paid off for eternity. The other although a smart man was not a wise man. His eternity was also set.

What's your point and how does it relate to the topic?

 

[ChattyMute]

knowledge smart or wise, is an atheist smarter, than me, or smarter than a Christian. I am by no mean the smartest person just because I'm a Christian, hell my dog "freeway" across the room at time seems to be smarter than me. After all I work to buy him food and shelter and all he does his lick his butt. So who’s smarter.. But just because you use a large vocabulary, better at math etc. might make you a smarter person by worldly standards. One example I will look at is the two thieves on the crosses by Jesus. At first they both threw abuse at Jesus, Lets just say they where both smart men, could talk, had a profession “although a bad one but no less they had intelligence but somewhere some how one of these thieves wised up and realized who they where talking to. For him that realization paid off for eternity. The other although a smart man was not a wise man. His eternity was also set.

Point? It has already been established that smart and wise are not the same thing. It has also been established in this thread, IMO, that no one is smarter or wiser than anyone else because of their religion or non-religion.

 

[freeway]

Point? It has already been established that smart and wise are not the same thing. It has also been established in this thread, IMO, that no one is smarter or wiser than anyone else because of their religion or non-religion.

agree ;)

 

[Brokendoll]

Point? It has already been established that smart and wise are not the same thing.

That I can agree with. ;)

It has also been established in this thread, IMO, that no one is smarter or wiser than anyone else because of their religion or non-religion.

Statistically I think we have established that that somewhat depends on how you look at it, but I certainly wouldn't advocate seeing someone as smarter or dumber because of their religion or lack thereof. People are a lot more complicated than that and should be judged as individuals.

 

[ChattyMute]

Point? It has already been established that smart and wise are not the same thing.

That I can agree with. ;)

It has also been established in this thread, IMO, that no one is smarter or wiser than anyone else because of their religion or non-religion.

Statistically I think we have established that that somewhat depends on how you look at it, but I certainly wouldn't advocate seeing someone as smarter or dumber because of their religion or lack thereof. People are a lot more complicated than that and should be judged as individuals.

That's what I was saying. The part in bold. Religion doesn't make people smarter or dumber. There tend to be more.. scientific minds, I suppose, who are atheists.

 

[ronniechoate34]

Does being an atheist make people smarter? That's an interesting question because God has chosen the simple things to confound the wise and bring their wisdom to naught.

 

[ChattyMute]

Does being an atheist make people smarter? That's an interesting question because God has chosen the simple things to confound the wise and bring their wisdom to naught.

You should read the rest of this thread, or at least this page. Smart and wise aren't the same thing.

 

[kpd560]

I was at Barnes and Noble on a few occasions when I saw a magazine on the rack called "Skeptic". On the front cover there read the heading, "Why atheism and IQs are rising". This sounded very biggoted to me, for it is an absurdity to presume that people are smarter just because they are atheists. I didn't read the article, although I probably should have, but it makes me wonder how many people actually believe that Atheists are more intelligent than religious people. Einstein believed in God, and he was the smartest man in human history. Many Astronamers believe in God as well, and that is a very difficult field, so I don't see how this idea took root. Now assuming that the article itself doesn't advocate such an idea, but means to introduce atheism and rising IQ levels as two seperate subjects, why would they even put the words "atheism" and "rising IQ levels" in such proximity of each other? Could it be that atheists associate Godlessness with intelligence or knowledge? What are your thoughts?

The only correlation I'm aware of is a positive one between education and atheism or more accurately stated - the more education you have the less likely you are to believe in God. It is still quite possible to be very intelligent but uneducated or dumb as a bag of hammers and possess a doctorate. The latter is rare but not impossible.

 

[abrown9]

I mean no offense, but what you just said is a golden example of why you atheists fail at grasping true knowledge. All you do is perform! You foolishly think that if you do enough good works, that makes you a good person. Jesus already has a robe of righteousness with which to clothe you, which is His righteousness. By rejecting it, you are spitting in the face of God, which is something that you do often and with sadistic pleasure. So we "theists" (Christians, specifically) are way ahead of you in "performing" as you call it, because we don't perform. We have faith, confessing our pride and admiting that we need a savior to redeem us.

This is ridiculous. You are claiming that you are way ahead of someone doing good works and enriching the lives of people around them simply because you have faith. Despite your contradiction of beliefs with ChattyMute, she is living her life in a philosophy similar to that of Jesus. Shouldn't that be enough for you to acknowledge that she is, in fact, a good person?

Why is it so hard to place yourself in someone else's shoes and realize that not everyone views the world the same way that you do? I believe in my own truth as fervently as you believe in yours. Neither of us has any real "proof" that the other's hypothesis is wrong, only faith based on our own worldly experiences. Be comfortable in your own faith and allow it to enrich your own life and the lives of those around you. It seems instead that you are indeed sitting on a "high horse" and condemning beliefs that have every bit as much validity as your own.

 

[cyberjosh]

Does it not take but just a little study and survey of history to show that men, believers and atheists alike, have all been granted at certain points in time incredible levels of intelligence, intuition, and genius all making impacts on our current world? God gives each person specific skills and talents (not mere trades or disciplines that can be learned - but the very propensity and inherent ability to grasp things like that and more) regardless of how they use it or their beliefs. Even Hitler was an incredible influential leader, yet a most heinous, wicked, and demented one at that, but he nonetheless had "smarts" for manipulation of the masses and even had a "gift" for leadership (I shudder to think of it). Moses also was a great leader, but he used it for good.

However, returning to looking back through history one cannot deny that great Christian thinkers like Blaise Pascal, Thomas Aquinas, Isaac Newton, and John Wycliffe existed.

I really think that attempting to pit the idea of "who is 'smarter': Christians or Atheists?" is only an ideological question, and nothing more. It is a pointless, and meaningless question in my opinion.

~Josh

 

[Pebbles]

The way it works from my looking at the results is it seems that there are a whole load of Really REALLY stupid people who are deeply religious and they mess up the demographics between the two groups so while intelligence isn't that dissimilar.

I hate IQ tests which is a problem with this study.

Religiosity and intelligence - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you look at the IQ at 100 and abit above which would represent the average person and the everyday person. People seem to come into there own opinions on the matter. Either there is or isn't.

However when you look lower down at people who would be considered "simple" to "significant cognitive impairment" they are nearly universally deistic.

This would reflect with what I see.
Some seem smart enough and work as nice people in society.

But others are destructive idiots prone to violence when there views aren't shared. Often claiming to be Prophets or attacking people out of holy valor.
YouTube - I am a prophet of God + Antipsychotics are from the devil
YouTube - Lady Sues Church After It Welcomed Gays
YouTube - Crazy christian lady at a coffee shop
YouTube - Condoms Will Send You to Hell

And they exist in small number on this community too.

 

[Chris]

Atheism I think is just an excuse to be selfish for some. try finding an atheist charity in google. then look for a christian, buddhist. muslim one, etc even mormon one. Smart maybe for getting out of helping as a belief system.

 

[lordkalvan]

Atheism I think is just an excuse to be selfish for some. try finding an atheist charity in google. then look for a christian, buddhist. muslim one, etc even mormon one. Smart maybe for getting out of helping as a belief system.

Maybe you should try looking for secular charities. Why would you expect specifically atheist charities?

 

[jasoncran]

Maybe you should try looking for secular charities. Why would you expect specifically atheist charities?

secular humanists do give to the haitains here in my hometown.

 

[Chris]

Maybe you should try looking for secular charities. Why would you expect specifically atheist charities?

Is a secular humanist another name for an atheist? Since this thread is only about atheists as a subject I was questioning the core beliefs in atheism as a philosophy that would drive one to sell their home and live a life overseas as a missionary Or to serve their fellow man. A Christian has been given the commission to make disciples of the nations so they have a reason to care above thier own charitable efforts.
A taxi driver once told me thre is no god stuff it what do I care I'm an atheist. Then I started to think this an excuse... Then I looked for an atheist charity in google. Then I looked for a Christian one

 

[abrown9]

To Chris:

I think you might be a bit confused about what an atheist actually is. There is no "belief system" of atheism beyond not believing in a god. And as my old Evolutionary Biology professor once told me, "Defining a group by what they DO NOT have is indicative that they most probably don't all belong together". This is true of atheists. The one unifying principle they have is a lack of belief in a particular thing (a higher power). Beyond that they have extremely varying outlooks on life that might be conducive to being charitable and might not be.

This is likely why you do not see any "atheist charities" if you use those terms in your google search. Atheism is not a religion in the sense that Christianity and Buddhism are religions. A charitable atheist is unlikely to classify their charity as an "atheist" organization, because what would the point be? The Bill and Melinda gates foundation is an example of a charity run by atheist people. Warren Buffet is an atheist that has donated large sums of money.

There is no "Atheist Philosophy" beyond a disbelief in a higher power. The things that drive Christians to go do work overseas are the same things that drive Atheists. A sense of moral obligation.

http://atheism.about.com/b/2006/07/07/warren-buffet-atheist-philanthropist.htm

 

[lordkalvan]

Is a secular humanist another name for an atheist?

A secular organization is one that has no religious affiliation. A humanist is someone whose philosophy focusses on human values and concerns. Secular humanism rejects religious dogma and supernatural explanations. Not all secular organizations are secular humanist organizations, just like not all humanists are secular humanists.

Since this thread is only about atheists as a subject I was questioning the core beliefs in atheism as a philosophy that would drive one to sell their home and live a life overseas as a missionary Or to serve their fellow man.

You don't have to be religious to dedicate your life to your fellow human-beings.

A Christian has been given the commission to make disciples of the nations so they have a reason to care above thier own charitable efforts.

Sounds more as if they have a reason to go out and make charity contingent upon subjecting yourself to religious proselytizing. Are you suggesting that only religious believers care about making charitable efforts?

A taxi driver once told me thre is no god stuff it what do I care I'm an atheist.

What didn't he care about? Do all Christians 'care' about everything they should?

Then I started to think this an excuse... Then I looked for an atheist charity in google. Then I looked for a Christian one

An excuse for what? How many Christians actually 'sell their home and live a life overseas as a missionary'? Are those that don't failing in some way? Are non-religious people who work for Oxfam and Médecins Sans Frontières, for example, in some way less worthy in their efforts than religious people who work for the same or similar organizations?

 

[Pebbles]

I'd count as a humanist of sorts.

You can't assume that just because someone is atheistic they don't have morals or aren't charitable I myself donate to a homeless charity, Sometimes during the holidays I volunteer at Cancer research shop, And once I changed my gender I donated all my old guy clothes to charity too. I can't say if what I've done is enough or not but this isn't a competition.

Just because I don't believe in doing it just to score browny points with some dude who you reckon I'm gonna meet when I die Doesn't mean I'm devoid of any morality sense of community and empathy for others suffering.

Ultimately all I can do as an individual is promote a world I want to live in and that isn't one where people screw each other over.