Growing up I was forced to attend church most weekends. There were the rare weekends in which I would wait in bed and no one would come to wake me up. Those were precious weekends. No fault to my parents as they were only doing what their parents had done/taught to them. I assume they were also trying to teach us morals, and to be good people. We went through baptism, first communion, and confirmation. Each time there was a big celebration as if you had just achieved something amazing.
I was the oldest of four and often opposed the whole church ordeal. However, we got to have donuts or go out to breakfast afterward- so at least I had something to look forward to. When it was time for me to become confirmed I protested. I was 15 years old, and was looked at as the example for my brother and 2 sisters. So you can imagine- my protest had to pretty significant. At the age of 15, I didn’t have the internet to research, nor did I even have a notion to research. I just knew that what I was learning was “not right.”
“Not right” was how irritated my father was after sermons. The preaching that occurred in the car on the way home opposing what the Priest had just said was enough for me to question the whole ordeal. I remember several sermons where I wanted to get up and walk right out of that church! Something was “not right.”
My parents reluctantly let me avoid this whole confirmation thing, but definitely provided me with a guilt trip each time one of my siblings cooperated with their perception of what was supposed to happen. However, I just could not go forward with something that I did not wholeheartedly believe in, or follow all of its rules. And I could not understand why my parents were also part of this thing when I knew they did not follow all the rules either.
It was later in my life that I did get confirmed. Confirmed in that I confirmed my beliefs that the Catholic religion, and religion as a whole was not what most are brainwashed to believe. I learned about the bible and its age, the number of translations and dialects that had to occur, and how each verse was open for interpretation. I opposed many of the double standards that religion provides. However, the purpose of this writing is not to oppose religion, or share my beliefs. It is simply to provide an interesting outcome to a study done by intelligence researcher Helmuth Nyborg.
Professor Nyborg completed a study in 2008 in which intelligence tests were performed on American youth. The questions were about religion and their beliefs. The results:
Atheists scored 1.95 IQ points higher than Agnostics, 3.82 points higher than Liberal persuasions, and 5.89 IQ points higher than Dogmatic persuasions.
“I’m not saying that believing in God makes you dumber. My hypothesis is that people with a low intelligence are more easily drawn toward religions, which give answers that are certain, while people with a high intelligence are more skeptical,” says the professor.
The professor did not stop there. He continued by co-authoring another study with a professor of Psychology, Richard Lynn. They compared IQs in 137 different countries of those religious vs. atheists.
“Using data from a U.S. study of 6,825 adolescents, the authors found that atheists scored 6 g-IQ points higher than those adhering to a religion.”
Lynn and Nyborg also reviewed the link between religion and IQ on a country level. Of the 137 countries, the countries with a higher percentage of atheists were countries with higher IQs. “The authors reported a correlation of 0.60 between atheism rates and level of intelligence, which is ‘highly statistically significant.’”
In The Daily Telegraph, Lynn goes on record to say “Why should fewer academics believe in God than the general population? I believe it is simply a matter of the IQ. Academics have higher IQs than the general population. Several Gallup poll studies of the general population have shown that those with higher IQs tend not to believe in God.”
Norman Poythress completed a study using 234 college students (undergraduates). He grouped the students according to their religious beliefs and compared their personality characteristics. His statement: “Literally-oriented religious Believers did not differ significantly from Mythological-oriented Believers on measures of intelligence, authoritarianism, or racial prejudice. Religious Believers as a group were found to be significantly less intelligent and more authoritarian than religious Skeptics.” He used SAT’s as a measure of intelligence for this study.
Using raw data from the US in the 2004 General Social Survey “those with graduate degrees were the least likely to believe in the afterlife or the Bible as the word of God, suggesting a link between religious disbelief and higher educational attainment.”
At this point in my life I am confident with my decision not to baptize my children, not to take them to church, and not practice religion. My wedding did not take place in a church, nor was God invited. However, I will admit that I am scared to say that I do not believe in God. Is it because of the brainwashing that occurred right from birth? Why do you believe in God?
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May 23, 2010 at 1:13 am
I have read studies associated with a similar theme and I think you hit a valid point. It is FAR easier to say that the next step is something greater than our current situation so instead of investigating it further you blindly follow whomever suggests this idealistic next life scenario. So, while IQ may have a role it might possible be accompanied by a comforting feeling of the overly abused word, faith.
May 25, 2010 at 12:53 pm
It has always been my contention that each succeeding generation of our species continues the god obsession due to our upbringing. From the time we are able to comprehend notions like mortality and good and evil, we are presented with alternatives that are not really alternatives at all. Be good, and you’ll go to heaven (unspecified happiness). Be bad, and you’ll go to hell (specifically, fry like a potato forever!). The effort to overcome such cultish brainwashing is exhaustive and unless you have a constitution like a rock, it is very hard to shed this training. This is why, I think, most atheists possess higher degrees of learning. Hence, another example of ignorance coming back to bite you in the ass.
May 25, 2010 at 1:56 pm
I agree- but not only do they do this because of upbringing, some people need divine intervention. Or a way to explain the unexplainable… or another way of obtaining peace and tranquility. Personally, I think religion is a cop out… a way of “kissing it up to God” in stead of dealing with the issue at hand. Praying for a miracle- when you are just really hoping and wanting… what will be, will be. Again, I think it is just a diversion for some from reality. Reality is hard to handle… I have some friends who are “holy rollers” and they preach, leave quotes from the bible, and always turn to prayer to justify their past, make up for their past, or clear them for what they are about to do. Personally- I don’t think all the prayer in the world forgives you for intending to kill someone, or beating the hell out of them with a telephone because she slept with your husband….just sayin’…..
May 25, 2010 at 2:02 pm
I think the worst part of this abuse of blind faith, is that the majority of religious crazies use it as a tool to argue in political debates. Abortion… it is a problem mostly due to what people believe ‘God’ would want. So then it creeps into legislation and becomes one of the major points of whether Joe Christian would vote for a given candidate.
May 25, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Or marriage… 2 people love each other, why not?? Who is to say who you can marry? A man and a woman only because the bible says so?? Let’s check our divorce rates, domestic violence…or how children respond to such splitting up– or domestic violence… or some marriages are the result of a “mistake” pregnancy…it is apparently more forgivable to fornicate unwed…. ??? Religion does NOT belong in our government. It is a personal choice. It is recreation. Why does a whole country need to abide by one’s belief system? A Christian belief system no less. Obama took a major hit for having a holiday tree. I still criticized the tree not because I disagree with other holiday celebrations, but the tree is a sign of Christmas and the Christian way of celebrating…
March 9, 2011 at 12:38 am
The Professor Nyborg studies, while interesting, never published the tests they used or the grading methods. The tests are described as “religious intelligence tests” not standard accepted testing methods. While it is an interesting finding, the results are dubious to say the least. The repeat of that study was done using the same unpublished tests and by the same person.
The same person who said poor people should be paid to not have kids. I guess he learned nothing from Germany and WWII. So much for his intelligence or at least his memory.
An interesting finding, yes. Conclusive, not in the slightest. Although everyone that feels the need to slam religion based on the existence of a god will no doubt grab on to it. Those that have the religion of evolution will be the ones slamming. Interesting how all of those followers of Atheism are after ever other religion but fail to see their own beliefs as such.
March 10, 2011 at 11:51 pm
My own personal thoughts (no one but me) is that most everyone, whether your Christian, Atheists, Agnostics, religious or non-religious, think they are right and they want everyone else to believe their view. I think it is like the PTA (parent teachers association) they want to control.