Pararousia said:Guess this blows your wispy Christian theory, eh?
There is another factor. IQ. Researches have found that IQ is inversely proportional to religiousness (see article).
Wikipedia said:Clark (2004) writing in Explorations: An undergraduate research journal reported that religious belief and behavior were negatively correlated with SAT scores in the USA.
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Noted skeptic Michael Shermer (2000) found a negative correlation between education and religosity in the USA. Although Rice University indicates this may not apply to the social sciences
Naturally, social sciences include theology, history, sociology, etc. which are all compatible with religiousness by nature.
Of course, this is a very touchy issue, and it is not politically correct (especially in the USA) to admit that more intelligent people are less religious. Yet :
Wikipedia said:In one study examining people in the USA, 90% of the general population surveyed professed a distinct belief in a personal god and afterlife, while only 40% of the scientists with a BS surveyed did so, and only 10% of those considered "eminent."
Another study, again surveying people in the USA, found that mathematicians were just over 40%, biologists just under 30%, and physicists were barely over 20% likely to believe in God.
A survey of members of the United States National Academy of Sciences showed that 72% are outright atheists, 21% are agnostic and only 7% admit to belief in a personal God.
It is partly due to the nature of people according to their IQ. Here is what researches have found about learning styles linked to IQ :
<75 : simple, supervised work; eligible for government assistance
<90 : very explicit hands on training; IQ >80 for military training; no government assistance
>100 : written material plus experience
>110 : college format
>125 : independent, self-teaching
In other words, independent-minded and self-teaching people (like me) are the most likely to become atheist or agnostic, while people with lower IQ, who have more difficult to think or work by themselves, are much more likely to be religious.
This may turn really politically incorrect, but just to prove my point :
Women are more likely than men to believe in God (84% versus 73%). African Americans (91%) are more likely to believe in God than Hispanics (81%) and whites (78%). Republicans (87%) are more likely to believe in God than Democrats (78%) and Independents (75%). Those with no college education (82%) are more likely to believe in God than those with postgraduate education (73%).
Source
Researches have shown that IQ is directly correlated to brain size. It has also been established that men have bigger brains in average than women, and whites bigger in average than blacks. Tests have also shown that men get higher scores in maths than women, and whites higher scores in maths than blacks. (see Brain size and intelligence, race and intelligence and Sex and intelligence).
The correlation also match religiousness for the 2 categories, as black people are in average more religious than whites, and women more religious than men.
So, on all the line, whatever the criteria, religiousness and belief in god are both statistically inversely proportional to intelligence (in this case IQ, which means reasoning, logical and spatial skills, not including other features of intelligence such as language, artistic skills, motor skills, etc.)