That's also a pretty suity collar for a robe, I think.



I'm not seeing that at all. This presentation really indicates to me that they are his minions, or possibly that he has achieved telekinetic powers of manipulation.



Needs more bling.

mm-hm.

god's gaze is at the world, but the preacher's gaze is at no one, and no one's gaze is at him. his word, the word of god, is going unheard.

well that cross is pretty showy if you ask me... which you didn't.

Awful lotta gaze in this religion, if you ask me.

I feel like we work unexpectedly well together.

Are you feeling that, too?

stop touching my leg, Mc.

Metaphysical talk, yo. I don't have much time for it these days.

I really hope this judge said "He's not the Messiah. He's a very naughty boy!"

when the kid learns to speak, his first words should be:

i am a false prophet, god is a superstition.

From today's Yahoo news feed:

Religious people are less intelligent than atheists, study finds

Religious people are less intelligent than non-believers, according to a new review of 63 scientific studies stretching back over decades.

A team led by Miron Zuckerman of the University of Rochester found “a reliable negative relation between intelligence and religiosity” in 53 out of 63 studies. Even in extreme old age, intelligent people are less likely to believe, the researchers found - and the reasons why people with high IQs shun religion may not be as simple as previously thought.

Previous studies have tended to assume that intelligent people simply “know better”, the researchers write - but the reasons may be more complex.

For instance, intelligent people are more likely to be married, and more likely to be successful in life - and this may mean they “need” religion less.

The studies used in Zuckerman's paper included a life-long analysis of the beliefs of a group of 1,500 gifted children - those with IQs over 135 - in a study which began in 1921 and continues today.

Even at 75 to 91 years of age, the children from Lewis Terman’s study scored lower for religiosity than the general population - contrary to the widely held belief that people turn to God as they age. The researchers noted that data was lacking about religious attitudes in old age and say, “Additional research is needed to resolve this issue.”

As early as 1958, Michael Argyle concluded, “Although intelligent children grasp religious concepts earlier, they are also the first to doubt the truth of religion, and intelligent students are much less likely to accept orthodox beliefs, and rather less likely to have pro-religious attitudes.”

A 1916 study quoted in Zuckerman’s paper (Leuba) found that, “58% of randomly selected scientists in the United States expressed disbelief in, or doubt regarding the existence of God; this proportion rose to nearly 70% for the most eminent scientists.”

The paper, published in the academic journal Personality and Social Psychology Review, said “Most extant explanations (of a negative relation) share one central theme—the premise that religious beliefs are irrational, not anchored in science, not testable and, therefore, unappealing to intelligent people who “know better.”

The answer may, however, be more complex. Intelligent people may simply be able to provide themselves with the psychological benefits offered by religion - such as “self-regulation and self-enhancement,” because they are more likely to be successful, and have stable lives.

“Intelligent people typically spend more time in school—a form of self-regulation that may yield long-term benefits,” the researchers write. “More intelligent people get higher level jobs (and better employment (and higher salary) may lead to higher self-esteem, and encourage personal control beliefs.”

“Last, more intelligent people are more likely to get and stay married (greater attachment), though for intelligent people, that too comes later in life. We therefore suggest that as intelligent people move from young adulthood to adulthood and then to middle age, the benefits of intelligence may continue to accrue.”

The researchers suggest that further research on the “function” of religion may reveal more.

“People possessing the functions that religion provides are likely to adopt atheism, people lacking these very functions (e.g., the poor, the helpless) are likely to adopt theism,” the researchers wrote. .

I read that as well. It's making me feel a little smug, whether that's right or wrong.

I didn't broach the topic, but somehow at work we got to religion and someone asked me mine and I answered atheist/ agnostic. At which my rather conservative coworker just kept repeating something about how I should be smarter than that, and brought up the claim that humans are descended from monkeys and how that is (presumably) preposterous. I really didn't push back and tried to disengage but, yikes. He was chiding more than seriously arguing, but still it was a bit awkward. I feel he could have gotten his point across within the first three utterances of, "I thought you were smarter than that".

Regarding the religious vs. atheists, I'd love to see that corrected for income/ family education level. I see that they mentioned success in life and marriage, but those are also pretty strongly correlated with wealth/class. I'm sure there are other studies correlating wealth and IQ that they could compare with. I get the feeling that in the lowest economic quartile there are relatively few atheists and this is largely a function of how much education one gets, the quality of that education and similar factors associated with class. Anecdotally, all of the friends I've made that have had catholic schooling (perhaps a selection bias plays a role) are atheists. However, in order to afford catholic school without scholarships, your family must be fairly well off. Perhaps its not Jesuit school that makes individuals atheists, its an upper-middle class/ upper class lifestyle.

now imagine the roles were reversed and you were chiding him about his faith, would you still have a job?

Considering that he and I have the same position and that management is French Canadian, I have no doubt that they would side with me. Perhaps they would have some sort of séance to cleanse the building after his firing or something. I realize this is not typical, but the French Canadians are especially godless from what I gather.

there's a Sodom & Gomorrah joke in here, let me see if i can figure it out...

Our building is LEED certified, if that is enough to dispel YHWH's wrath.