This comment was posted on a website where an inverse correlation between verbal IQ and religiosity was discussed.
My experience suggests several things: higher verbal IQ scores result from interaction of genetic cognitive potential with education, which in turn forces more logical approaches, which in turn reduces religiosity. Since most Westerners are introduced to religious concepts when young, most agnostics and atheists have moved away from religious belief. I think that this directionality does suggest that intelligence (read as logic combined with education) precedes, and hence causes, reduced religiosity.
"We all know that correlation does not necessarily indicated causation, though causation may be indirectly linked to the correlation."
Most people are not particularly logical, and those with little formal education are the least logical. Those people whom I have known who are both intelligent and religious typically have emotional issues that necessitate a comforting belief system. So, emotionality is a confounding factor, as are early indoctrination and community peer pressure. I think that to tease out the truth about the connection between religiosity and intelligence would require examining all the possible variables and not merely religiosity and verbal IQ."
There's a graph showing the U.S. compared to some wealthy nations and more links here.
Who knows what level of intelligence these folks possess? They ought to be embarrassed about singing such prejudiced, hateful material, but I'm certain that they will not. It is the typical error of those who band together in hatefulness to assume that they take the higher moral ground. This strikes me as one of the perks of religious fanaticism – guilt free obnoxiousness. Jesus would roll in his grave at what has become of his pleas for tolerance.
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