This Is Why I Believe.

karri0n

Well-Known Member
karri0n, I'm not responding to your bullshit anymore, you're just trolling this thread now, purposefully avoiding the points being made and it's obvious.

After I countered all of the points from your last post.... ok.

That's fine. I couldn't stand another reply of "WELL CHRISTIANS DO xxxx" anyway. You already admitted that you think I'm correct:

There's absolutely nothing wrong with teaching a child meditation or mythology

not that I know him/her well enought to declare s/he's not a troll, as we've been infested with them lately... (they're getting immune to troll spray)
but the last two post s/he made were towards me, so while yes, s/he was ignoring you, s/he wasn't, at the moment, trolling...
No need to even respond - he knows full well that I wasn't ignoring him. Maybe it finally got through his head that his arguments about christianity are irrelevant to the discussion, and therefore he has no material.
 

Padawanbater2

Well-Known Member
No offense taken man. Unfortunately your assessment is way off.
Fair enough. You know your life better than I do. Thanks again for sharing your story. It always interests me to find out what makes people believe.


Alright, I lied, I think I'm going to respond to this.

I'm defending religion and spirituality and have denounced Christianity multiple times.

Paganism - is a blanket term, typically used to refer to polytheistic religious traditions, although from a Christian perspective the term can encompass all non-Abrahamic religions.

In the late 20th century, "Paganism", or "Neopaganism", became widely used in reference to adherents of various New Religious Movements including Wicca. As such, various modern scholars have begun to apply the term to three groups of separate faiths: Historical Polytheism (such as Celtic polytheism, Norse paganism, and Hellenic Polytheistic Reconstructionism also called Hellenismos), Folk/ethical/Indigenous religions (such as Chinese folk religion and African traditional religion), and Neopaganism (such as Wicca and Germanic Neopaganism).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagen

Yes it is.
Just stop. You have absolutely no concept of the meaning of religion. You speak of nothing other than chrisitianity, and your grasp on that is weak as hell too. Protip: The bible is mythology.

History contradicts you.

Everything.

How do you know?

This is your problem. MOST people don't quantify their beliefs into a single label.

I didn't say they did.

As to why, the simple answer is because it works.

What is "it"?

cop out much?

Tasteless joke :bigjoint:

It's really as simple as a parent saying "Don't trust what the churches or bible tell you, it's not true".

Really? I didn't know that's all it took to be an atheist! Holy shit I wasted a lot of time reading! :dunce:

More bullshit about Christianity. Not all belief systems work this way.

Belief systems not based on reality work that way.

"I think it's everyone's individual responsibility to be an atheist". Thanks for proving my point.

I just find it odd that being religious often correlates with low IQ. I think that pretty clearly says "the more unintelligent/uneducated you are, the more likely you are to be a religious person". Therefore, increasing the intelligence levels becomes top priority. I don't think everyone should be atheist. I think that's up to each individual person to come to their own conclusion about. Clearly some people just can't accept it. They need the crutch. Like we need oxygen, they'll suffocate without it.

Buddhism, Taoism, daoism, hinduism, yoism, new age spirituality, paganism, wicca, druidism, Jedi, native american worship,

Just a couple of "labeled" religions that don't profess to be the one true way and have no reason to criticize others for their beliefs.

Well, like I said before, till any Buddhists, Taoists, daoists, hindus, yoists, new age spiritualists, pagans, wiccans, druidists, Jedis, or native Americans show up and express their beliefs, they're irrelevant to this discussion.

I'm going to stand up and call people for their bullshit, especially if it affects my way of life, regardless of their belief. That isn't what tolerance is. Would you have "tolerance" for someone who punches you in the face? Apply that to this situation.


The same could be said for the corporate greed that permeates all of American society. It's also full of shit that organized religion is responsible for every single problem. Atheism is a pretty big problem and I don't see any organized religion promoting it.

Corporate greed is a huge issue, you're right. How do these people get into these positions of such power anyway... :idea:

People are different. The same reason some people cry at movies and others do not, the same reason some people like olives and others do not.

Great explanation... :clap:
 

RavenMochi

Well-Known Member
Fair enough. You know your life better than I do. Thanks again for sharing your story. It always interests me to find out what makes people believe.


Alright, I lied, I think I'm going to respond to this.

I'm defending religion and spirituality and have denounced Christianity multiple times.

Paganism - is a blanket term, typically used to refer to polytheistic religious traditions, although from a Christian perspective the term can encompass all non-Abrahamic religions.

In the late 20th century, "Paganism", or "Neopaganism", became widely used in reference to adherents of various New Religious Movements including Wicca. As such, various modern scholars have begun to apply the term to three groups of separate faiths: Historical Polytheism (such as Celtic polytheism, Norse paganism, and Hellenic Polytheistic Reconstructionism also called Hellenismos), Folk/ethical/Indigenous religions (such as Chinese folk religion and African traditional religion), and Neopaganism (such as Wicca and Germanic Neopaganism).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagen

Yes it is.
Just stop. You have absolutely no concept of the meaning of religion. You speak of nothing other than chrisitianity, and your grasp on that is weak as hell too. Protip: The bible is mythology.

History contradicts you.

Everything.

How do you know?

This is your problem. MOST people don't quantify their beliefs into a single label.

I didn't say they did.

As to why, the simple answer is because it works.

What is "it"?

cop out much?

Tasteless joke :bigjoint:

It's really as simple as a parent saying "Don't trust what the churches or bible tell you, it's not true".

Really? I didn't know that's all it took to be an atheist! Holy shit I wasted a lot of time reading! :dunce:

More bullshit about Christianity. Not all belief systems work this way.

Belief systems not based on reality work that way.

"I think it's everyone's individual responsibility to be an atheist". Thanks for proving my point.

I just find it odd that being religious often correlates with low IQ. I think that pretty clearly says "the more unintelligent/uneducated you are, the more likely you are to be a religious person". Therefore, increasing the intelligence levels becomes top priority. I don't think everyone should be atheist. I think that's up to each individual person to come to their own conclusion about. Clearly some people just can't accept it. They need the crutch. Like we need oxygen, they'll suffocate without it.

Buddhism, Taoism, daoism, hinduism, yoism, new age spirituality, paganism, wicca, druidism, Jedi, native american worship,

Just a couple of "labeled" religions that don't profess to be the one true way and have no reason to criticize others for their beliefs.

Well, like I said before, till any Buddhists, Taoists, daoists, hindus, yoists, new age spiritualists, pagans, wiccans, druidists, Jedis, or native Americans show up and express their beliefs, they're irrelevant to this discussion.

I'm going to stand up and call people for their bullshit, especially if it affects my way of life, regardless of their belief. That isn't what tolerance is. Would you have "tolerance" for someone who punches you in the face? Apply that to this situation.


The same could be said for the corporate greed that permeates all of American society. It's also full of shit that organized religion is responsible for every single problem. Atheism is a pretty big problem and I don't see any organized religion promoting it.

Corporate greed is a huge issue, you're right. How do these people get into these positions of such power anyway... :idea:

People are different. The same reason some people cry at movies and others do not, the same reason some people like olives and others do not.

Great explanation... :clap:
Gotta stop you. I've known people who literally qualified as genius going to a Catholic College Prep School, in fact, despite my MANY issues against my ex mother church, I have to admit they're quality of education is normally on top. (example, St. Thomas College Prep School Houston TX) When compared against other schools in the area, ranked top. Look into catholic education.

Keep in mind that IQ and imagination are not the same thing, you can be smart as hell and have a great imagination ;)
With that said, I've never kept up with my IQ, I just know i test really well. Passed the St.Thomas entrance exam first time (i knew one fuck that took it 6, yes 6) I have no idea what I scored on the SAT but when my college counselor saw it she looked shock when she said the number, I asked if that was good, and she looked at me speechless for a bit, and said "Yea, thats REALLY good" In the military exam (no, wasn't in the military, failed the drug test...yes weed) got a 96, and I went in there right after I smoked like I would never smoke again...(My info on the process was grossly outdated, as most of my info came from Vietnam vets, so I smoked an oz by myself thinking I wouldn't see weed again for at least 4 yrs, STILL nailed that motherfucker, and at the time I was still considering myself Catholic.) So I have to say, I'd love to see where you got that number from, because in my personal experience religious belief or lack there of has no relation to intelligence. They're have been brilliant atheist, but I've known stupid ones to.
 

rzza

Well-Known Member
studies still show that a large majority of students/proffesors at the ivey league schools are non believers.
 

RavenMochi

Well-Known Member
Studies also show that some of the most successful people have been college dropouts. so how do we know your ivey leaguers are smarter? If they are, there sure as hell not doing any better than drop outs...just sayin...
That also is a small control group, you can't speak definitively quoting a single study, especially one that small...
 

karri0n

Well-Known Member
Studies also show that some of the most successful people have been college dropouts. so how do we know your ivey leaguers are smarter? If they are, there sure as hell not doing any better than drop outs...just sayin...
That also is a small control group, you can't speak definitively quoting a single study, especially one that small...

In the interest of fairness, your one person at genius level isn't a very large study group either. Yes, however, catholic schools are far better han public schools as far as education, and they CERTAINLY produce children of better character and discipline than any public school.

I just find it odd that being religious often correlates with low IQ. I think that pretty clearly says "the more unintelligent/uneducated you are, the more likely you are to be a religious person". Therefore, increasing the intelligence levels becomes top priority. I don't think everyone should be atheist. I think that's up to each individual person to come to their own conclusion about. Clearly some people just can't accept it. They need the crutch. Like we need oxygen, they'll suffocate without it.
I'd love to see some data corroborating the claim that religion correlates to low IQ. Honestly Pad with statements like that you sound more like a bigot than a free thinking progressive person of logic and reason.

I'm not sure what you're saying as far as the wiki article on paganism, or why you have the christian perspective thing underlined. One of the large tenets of modern paganism is its lack of structure and doctrine, and there are arguments regarding the advantage and disadvantage of this. Out of the list there, "germanic polytheism" is a fairly close approximation to my family's actual practices, but my deeper spiritual beliefs such as my correlation of the essence of divinity to the energy that makes up all of reality that can be seen and quantified in modern physics, and how it is that from this we get such things as life, consciousness, gods, and spirits, are something that I am free to explore and ponder on my own.

Listen if you have any actual questions about my beliefs I'll answer them. This is a pagan in this thread sharing their beliefs, and by your own rule, this is now relevant.
 

karri0n

Well-Known Member
Fair enough. You know your life better than I do. Thanks again for sharing your story. It always interests me to find out what makes people believe.

Well, like I said before, till any Buddhists, Taoists, daoists, hindus, yoists, new age spiritualists, pagans, wiccans, druidists, Jedis, or native Americans show up and express their beliefs, they're irrelevant to this discussion.

I'm going to stand up and call people for their bullshit, especially if it affects my way of life, regardless of their belief. That isn't what tolerance is. Would you have "tolerance" for someone who punches you in the face? Apply that to this situation.

Ok, let's step back and pretend there isn't a pagan who showed up and started expressing their beliefs sixteen pages ago. Why is this required? Why is someones personal religion even relevant in this? You're saying "all religions do this[particular thing that is common to christianity(a), and possibly islam(b) and judaism(c)]"

I'm saying "it's true that a, b and c do this [action], but x, y, and z, which are also valid religions, do not.

you respond with "well there are no followers of x, y, or z on this forum, so this is irrelevant!"

FACT:

There are MANY religions on this planet, hell, in this country, that:

Do not attempt to denounce or doubt science.

Don't have any lobbying power whatsoever on political issues

Don't judge others for their beliefs

don't have any affect whatsoever on you, padawanbater, personally

don't delude people into paying money to them

don't require people to adhere to strict dogma

don't discourage questioning their beliefs or teachings

dont profess to be the "one true path"

do provide people with a sene of worth and meaning

do promote well treatment of others

do promote generosity for the sake of generosity and the rewards it brings

do provide children of broken homes or victims of parental drug addition, violence, and abuse a safe and loving outlet

do promote a sense of community among people and provide an outlet for people to find friends with those that are like minded

do promote independent thought

I'm speaking only of structured(if mildly) religion. There are also millions of people who don't identify with a particular religion but consider themselves to be spiritual, who choose to spend time with their own form of god or divinity that has meaning to them. For some people this is sitting on a hillside and looking at the sky, for some it's some combination of buddhist ideology and what they learned on their 15 minute meditation practice on their On Demand. If nothing else this provides some serenity and stress relief, but it's usually quite a bit more.


So, unless you can give me a reason these religions are harmful or somehow affect you in a negative way, then your broad generalizations and hate speech towards all religion is completely unwarranted.
 

RavenMochi

Well-Known Member
In the interest of fairness, your one person at genius level isn't a very large study group either. Yes, however, catholic schools are far better han public schools as far as education, and they CERTAINLY produce children of better character and discipline than any public school.



I'd love to see some data corroborating the claim that religion correlates to low IQ. Honestly Pad with statements like that you sound more like a bigot than a free thinking progressive person of logic and reason.

I'm not sure what you're saying as far as the wiki article on paganism, or why you have the christian perspective thing underlined. One of the large tenets of modern paganism is its lack of structure and doctrine, and there are arguments regarding the advantage and disadvantage of this. Out of the list there, "germanic polytheism" is a fairly close approximation to my family's actual practices, but my deeper spiritual beliefs such as my correlation of the essence of divinity to the energy that makes up all of reality that can be seen and quantified in modern physics, and how it is that from this we get such things as life, consciousness, gods, and spirits, are something that I am free to explore and ponder on my own.

Listen if you have any actual questions about my beliefs I'll answer them. This is a pagan in this thread sharing their beliefs, and by your own rule, this is now relevant.
I didn't say one person, there was no shortage of highly intelligent cocky little bastards there. And regardless, since I didn't record details (how many, there IQ, religious standing) It wouldn't make for a valid study in any sense of the word. The point is in my experience, its played no part whatsoever. Its possible that the lack of religious believes at ivy league schools is related more to a matter of their personal culture than IQ. In order to really settle this you would have to take random samples from around the country, starting with an IQ test then a religious questionnaire. Compile those results, then you'll have something alot more valid to quote.
 

Padawanbater2

Well-Known Member
I didn't say one person, there was no shortage of highly intelligent cocky little bastards there. And regardless, since I didn't record details (how many, there IQ, religious standing) It wouldn't make for a valid study in any sense of the word. The point is in my experience, its played no part whatsoever. Its possible that the lack of religious believes at ivy league schools is related more to a matter of their personal culture than IQ. In order to really settle this you would have to take random samples from around the country, starting with an IQ test then a religious questionnaire. Compile those results, then you'll have something alot more valid to quote.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religiosity_and_intelligence

"In 2008, intelligence researcher Helmuth Nyborg examined whether IQ relates to denomination and income, using representative data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth, which includes intelligence tests on a representative selection of white American youth, where they have also replied to questions about religious belief. His results, published in the scientific journal Intelligence demonstrated that on average, 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. [4] "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.

Nyborg also co-authored a study with Richard Lynn, emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Ulster, which compared religious belief and average national IQs in 137 countries. [6] The study analysed the issue from several viewpoints. Firstly, 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.

Secondly, the authors investigated the link between religiosity and intelligence on a country level. Among the sample of 137 countries, only 23 (17%) had more than 20% of atheists, which constituted “virtually all... higher IQ countries.” The authors reported a correlation of 0.60 between atheism rates and level of intelligence, which is “highly statistically significant.” This portion of the study uses the same data set as Lynn's work IQ and the Wealth of Nations.
Commenting on the study in The Daily Telegraph, Lynn said "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."

 

djruiner

Well-Known Member
its easy to see why people that are more religious are less intelligent.....they spend so much time learning the bible inside and out that they don't spend time learning...umm..how should i put this....FACTS.i call it the Kelly Bundy effect...they learn so much about the bible...or whatever other fairy tale book they read...that they dont have room for knowledge for which they would be tested for in a IQ test...case in point...my sister-in-law...her mother was the psycho christian type...and you know the type im talking about...ever seen that wife swap show?the type that would publicly scream at people that they are going to hell.if my sister-in-law didnt finish her bible studies she would be beat and grounded....while the entire time she was flunking out of school...but that was ok..long as she finish her bible studies.it seems..since they start making kids learn the bible the second they can read that they want their head filled with that knowledge...and real knowledge gets pushed to the side.after my ex was dragging me to church with her...i took my 4 yr old daughter with us one time...they pulled her and all the other kids out to the bible school thing...she didnt want to go by herself..so i went with her....but the teacher was VERY opposed to me going with them...after sitting in the back of the room..hearing the shit they was feeding these kids...i took her and walked out...never letting her go back.i saw first hand how this church was trying brainwash their kids.im not saying that happens in every church...but would it surprise me if it was...not at all.
 

RavenMochi

Well-Known Member
its easy to see why people that are more religious are less intelligent.....they spend so much time learning the bible inside and out that they don't spend time learning...umm..how should i put this....FACTS.i call it the Kelly Bundy effect...they learn so much about the bible...or whatever other fairy tale book they read...that they dont have room for knowledge for which they would be tested for in a IQ test...case in point...my sister-in-law...her mother was the psycho christian type...and you know the type im talking about...ever seen that wife swap show?the type that would publicly scream at people that they are going to hell.if my sister-in-law didnt finish her bible studies she would be beat and grounded....while the entire time she was flunking out of school...but that was ok..long as she finish her bible studies.it seems..since they start making kids learn the bible the second they can read that they want their head filled with that knowledge...and real knowledge gets pushed to the side.after my ex was dragging me to church with her...i took my 4 yr old daughter with us one time...they pulled her and all the other kids out to the bible school thing...she didnt want to go by herself..so i went with her....but the teacher was VERY opposed to me going with them...after sitting in the back of the room..hearing the shit they was feeding these kids...i took her and walked out...never letting her go back.i saw first hand how this church was trying brainwash their kids.im not saying that happens in every church...but would it surprise me if it was...not at all.
Thats... a really good point. The study also did mention that the "dogmatic" were the least intelligent, ie psycho-christian types...And I will have to grant, while I knew no shortage of intelligent people with religion, none of them were the obsessive type. Making me wonder how much there religion was real, and how much just preprogrammed. Example, I was raised catholic, but the older I got the harder I found to stomach the bullshit being fed to me. It got to the point that when people asked what religion I was I would say "catholic" but honestly, I didn't agree with what they taught, I stopped showing up, so what part of me was indeed still catholic? it was more like a programmed response then an honest answer...
 

mindphuk

Well-Known Member
its easy to see why people that are more religious are less intelligent.....they spend so much time learning the bible inside and out that they don't spend time learning...umm..how should i put this....FACTS.i call it the Kelly Bundy effect...they learn so much about the bible...or whatever other fairy tale book they read...that they dont have room for knowledge for which they would be tested for in a IQ test...case in point...my sister-in-law...her mother was the psycho christian type...and you know the type im talking about...ever seen that wife swap show?the type that would publicly scream at people that they are going to hell.if my sister-in-law didnt finish her bible studies she would be beat and grounded....while the entire time she was flunking out of school...but that was ok..long as she finish her bible studies.it seems..since they start making kids learn the bible the second they can read that they want their head filled with that knowledge...and real knowledge gets pushed to the side.after my ex was dragging me to church with her...i took my 4 yr old daughter with us one time...they pulled her and all the other kids out to the bible school thing...she didnt want to go by herself..so i went with her....but the teacher was VERY opposed to me going with them...after sitting in the back of the room..hearing the shit they was feeding these kids...i took her and walked out...never letting her go back.i saw first hand how this church was trying brainwash their kids.im not saying that happens in every church...but would it surprise me if it was...not at all.
There is one problem with your hypothesis. IQ does not measure knowledge, it is supposed to be a direct measure of intelligence regardless of learned information. That said, IQ tests have been attacked for being bias for a very long time. That being said, there are many studies that use academic achievement as a marker of intelligence and in that situation, you would be correct.

Here's some more on the correlation between intelligence and religion http://kspark.kaist.ac.kr/Jesus/Intelligence%20&%20religion.htm
 

djruiner

Well-Known Member
There is one problem with your hypothesis. IQ does not measure knowledge, it is supposed to be a direct measure of intelligence regardless of learned information. That said, IQ tests have been attacked for being bias for a very long time.

Here's some more on the correlation between intelligence and religion http://kspark.kaist.ac.kr/Jesus/Intelligence & religion.htm
thats true..but take out the IQ test part...the same point is being made.but if you take 2 people...1 that went to school..1 that didnt...in almost every case the one that attended school will test higher.the brain grows and functions more with the more knowledge thats obtained...so learned information would make you test higher.
 

crackerboy

Active Member
its easy to see why people that are more religious are less intelligent.....they spend so much time learning the bible inside and out that they don't spend time learning...umm..how should i put this....FACTS.i call it the Kelly Bundy effect...they learn so much about the bible...or whatever other fairy tale book they read...that they dont have room for knowledge for which they would be tested for in a IQ test...case in point...my sister-in-law...her mother was the psycho christian type...and you know the type im talking about...ever seen that wife swap show?the type that would publicly scream at people that they are going to hell.if my sister-in-law didnt finish her bible studies she would be beat and grounded....while the entire time she was flunking out of school...but that was ok..long as she finish her bible studies.it seems..since they start making kids learn the bible the second they can read that they want their head filled with that knowledge...and real knowledge gets pushed to the side.after my ex was dragging me to church with her...i took my 4 yr old daughter with us one time...they pulled her and all the other kids out to the bible school thing...she didnt want to go by herself..so i went with her....but the teacher was VERY opposed to me going with them...after sitting in the back of the room..hearing the shit they was feeding these kids...i took her and walked out...never letting her go back.i saw first hand how this church was trying brainwash their kids.im not saying that happens in every church...but would it surprise me if it was...not at all.

Why is it that some of the best schools in this country are Christian schools? Look up Masters Collage and see where they rank in the state for academics. I work with a whole team of electrical and mechanical engineers and 2/3 of us are religious in one way or the other. As a matter of fact, one of our mechanical engineers is a triple major. He got his bachelors in mechanical Engineering. Then got his masters in civil engineering and went on to finish his PHD with a math major. He is now almost complete with a degree in Christian theology. I would love to see you have this conversation with him. I don't think you would leave the conversation with that same attitude.
 

djruiner

Well-Known Member
Why is it that some of the best schools in this country are Christian schools? Look up Masters Collage and see where they rank in the state for academics. I work with a whole team of electrical and mechanical engineers and 2/3 of us are religious in one way or the other. As a matter of fact, one of our mechanical engineers is a triple major. He got his bachelors in mechanical Engineering. Then got his masters in civil engineering and went on to finish his PHD with a math major. He is now almost complete with a degree in Christian theology. I would love to see you have this conversation with him. I don't think you would leave the conversation with that same attitude.
well...first flaw with that is putting anything up against public school...the nation as a whole is dumbing down every year.and if your basing all that on 1 school and the 1 person you speak of...your proving nothing.and id sit down and talk with the guy...just like the preacher i talked to in a park one day...that the very next day...renounced his faith.its been a proven fact that the less intelligent tend to be more religious....not saying that all are feeble minded...but as proven in some cases they are.just like in public school...some winners...a whole lot of losers...and same will hold true in any christian school.also need to keep in mind that genetics play into all of this.if you have 2 parents that before going out into the town are required to wear helmets...good chance your not gonna be president of a major company one day.you act like we are personally attacking you,your faith,and your intelligence...which isnt the case...well it isnt for me.
 
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