Good article.
Brent
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Religion’s smart-people problem: The shaky intellectual foundations of
absolute faith
Religious belief the world over has a strenuous relationship with
intellectualism. But
why?
John G. Messerly <http://www.salon.com/writer/john_g_messerly/>
Religion’s smart-people problem: The shaky intellectual foundations of
absolute faith
Religious belief the world over has a strenuous relationship with
intellectualism. But why?
...
There is also a strong correlation between religious belief and various measures of social
dysfunction including homicides, the proportion of people incarcerated, infant mortality,
sexually transmitted diseases, teenage births, abortions, corruption, income inequality
and more. While no causal relationship has been established, a United Nations list of the
20 best countries to live in shows the least religious nations generally at the top. Only
in the United States, which was ranked as the 13th best country to live in, is religious
belief strong relative to other countries. Moreover, virtually all the countries with
comparatively little religious belief ranked high on the list of best countries, while the
majority of countries with strong religious belief ranked low. While correlation does not
equal causation, the evidence should give pause to religion’s defenders. There are good
reasons to doubt that religious belief makes people’s lives go better, and good reasons to
believe that they make their lives go worse.
...
Third, when sophisticated thinkers claim to be religious, they often have something in
mind unlike what the general populace believes. They may be process theologians who argue
that god is not omnipotent, contains the world, and changes. They may identify god as an
anti-entropic force pervading the universe leading it to higher levels of organization.
They may be pantheists, panentheists, or death-of-god theologians. Yet these sophisticated
varieties of religious belief bear little resemblance to popular religion. The masses
would be astonished to discover how far such beliefs deviate from their theism.
...
http://www.salon.com/2014/12/21/religions_smart_people_problem_the_shaky_intellectual_foundations_of_absolute_faith/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
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