Here's another take of religion from The Daily Mail
The more education people receive,
the more religious they become?
By Daily Mail Reporter
Most people assume that as individuals become more educated, they become less less religious.
A new study however suggests that the opposite may be true.
By analyzing data from a large national survey, sociologist Philip Schwadel of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln found that people tend to become more religious - by certain definitions - as they further their education.
Mr Schwadel said: 'It all falls down to what you consider to be religious.
'If it’s simply attending religious services, then no, highly educated people are not less religious. In fact they’re more religious.'
Mr Schwadel found that with each additional year of education the likelihood of attending religious services increased 15 per cent.
Religious non-believers: The caveat was that when these people arrived to religious service, they were less likely to take scripture literally.
The caveat is that when these individuals arrive to religious services, they're less likely to take scripture literally.
'If it’s saying the Bible is the literal word of God and saying that only one religion is the true religion, then they are less religious,' he said.
His research will be published in an upcoming edition of the journal Review of Religious Research.
The study also found that the likelihood of reading the Bible at least occasionally increased by 9 per cent with each additional year of education an individual received.
The survey also qualified what concept of God or a 'higher power' individuals held, as well as whether they had any doubts.
Religious thinker? Einstein famously said: 'Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.'
Mr Schwadel said that: 'With more years of education, you aren’t relatively more likely to say, "I don’t believe in God," but you are relatively more likely to say, "I believe in a higher power."'
Mr Schwadel concluded that: 'It's clear that though the religious world-views of the highly educated differ from the religious world-views of those with little education, religion plays an important role in the lives of highly educated Americans. And religion remains relevant to Americans of all education levels.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2025166/The-education-people-receive-religious-become.html#ixzz1UqZdrr9i
5 comments:
Well, either side probably gets to say "hooray for our side" on this one.
As my own alienation from God drew to a close, I was absolutely amazed at the level of quality faith related information available today. It is a fact that in some quarters of the Christian community, there is both ignorance, and wilfull ignorance. However, there is no reason that a thinking person, an educated person, or one fluent in science need be ashamed of his or her faith, or to feel "less than" non-believers.
When I was a non believer, I my collection of questions for the Bible thumpers. Some actually attempted to answer them, and clearly had put a great deal of thought into their answers. However, in my mind, I was not really looking for answers to these questions. They were my buffer, and served the same purpose as a Christian's somewhat blind proof-texts. The beauty of having been on either side at various times in my life is that 1)I can comfortably be intellectually honest, and 2) I'm very familiar with the games which both sides play.
You can't really negatively judge intelligence based on political party affiliation, socio-economic status, or believer status. To do so devalues others' perception of your own intelligence.
BB
"The beauty of having been on either side at various times in my life is that 1)I can comfortably be intellectually honest, and 2) I'm very familiar with the games which both sides play."
No. All you have discovered (though you won't admit it) is that you've always been a bullshitter.
In all the cases I've observed, in which someone claims to have been a non-believer before discovering their faith, the person in question always demonstrates a general lack of awareness and/or understanding of the relevant arguments. You are no different in that regard, and this fact is evident in your absolute refusal to engage any of the aforementioned arguments.
You may have had your "buffer" but it is a false equivalence on your part to project this tendency for bullshitting onto others. The fact always has been, and presumably always will be, that the arguments against theism are superior to the Apologia offered up in its defense, and they continue to stand essentially unchallenged.
And that is why, after years of searching for some reason to believe, those who are truly intellectually honest have no other option but atheism (the serious version--not the "buffer" version). Everyone else is either ignorant (often willfully) of the relevant arguments or is fooling themselves--or a combination of those two things.
I don't know where these rosey claims for religion derive from, but they don't square with what you will read in this article: http://www.alternet.org/belief/151947/goodbye_religion_how_godlessness_is_increasing_with_each_new_generation/
As I gained in real education, my dedication to faith decreased even faster.
Try again: http://www.alternet.org/belief/151947/goodbye_religion_how_godlessness_is_increasing_with_each_new_generation/
Ok, I give up. You'll find the article on Alternet, down a ways in the list.
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