Are People Who Believe in God Stupid?

[Chuck Jones]

Theophobe! Intoleramus!

[tattuchu]

Are People Who Believe in God Stupid? Short answer: yes. Long answer: yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!

[Chuck Jones]

But I believe in god. Are you saying that I'm stupid? Surely not.

[tattuchu]

But I believe in god. Are you saying that I'm stupid? Surely not.

Naw, because I don't believe that you really believe in God. I think you just fuck around pretending as such for fun

[Chuck Jones]

Disbeliever!

[Brian Peacock]

Is this man stupid?

[hackenslash]

I haven't read the whole thread yet, but for anybody who thinks that people who believe in god are stupid, I have one word:

Jerome.

Case closed.

[Brian Peacock]

Is that mostly, or sometimes?

[Mac_Guffin]

No, not all of them. One of the reasons religion is dangerous at times is because there are intelligent people who make what seem like good arguments to laypeople. There are many masters of the art of self-deception, rhetoric, etc.

[Brian Peacock]

Well, to be serious, I have mixed feelings on this. I know that holding to primitive beliefs and superstitious practices is stupid, and yet some of those who proclaim the virtue of this ancient nonsense seem earnest and intelligent in their justifications. However, when one actually examines these apparently intelligent justifications they invariably turn out to be horse-shit, riddled with fallacies, double-think and assumptions, in the end resting on that thing called Fatih - which we all know (the faithful and the faithless alike) to be a way of justifying the unjustifiable, claiming knowledge of the unknowable, and believing the unbelievable. The real question is not 'are people who believe in god stupid?' but, 'why do people persist in holding to such demonstrable errant bollocks?'

[Mac_Guffin]

One thing you can say about people who aren't stupid (at least in that aspect) is that they are cowardly and/or intellectually dishonest.

[Annuhh5]

I wouldn't call someone who believes in God 'stupid.' (Although most of the time the things they say make me want to shake them.) In my opinion, the reason they won't listen to rational thoughts is because they've been taught or 'brainwashed' to believe in religion from a very young age. Catholic school especially, I went to Catholic schools throughout my whole school life and the way they start to throw it down your throat at such an early age is a little unnerving now that I think about it. My family isn't especially religious either, we went to church only during Easter and Christmas, now I refuse to go, but the traditions during the holidays I can't help but follow, because its more of a family tradition than a religious meaning. My parents just think that you should believe in something. My reaction when they said this to me, 'why can't i just believe in myself?'

[Thinking Aloud]

I wouldn't call someone who believes in God 'stupid.' (Although most of the time the things they say make me want to shake them.) In my opinion, the reason they won't listen to rational thoughts is because they've been taught or 'brainwashed' to believe in religion from a very young age. Catholic school especially, I went to Catholic schools throughout my whole school life and the way they start to throw it down your throat at such an early age is a little unnerving now that I think about it. My family isn't especially religious either, we went to church only during Easter and Christmas, now I refuse to go, but the traditions during the holidays I can't help but follow, because its more of a family tradition than a religious meaning. My parents just think that you should believe in something. My reaction when they said this to me, 'why can't i just believe in myself?'

Me too - I found some of my old school books (from age 5) last year, and it was unsettling to see what I was confidently learning.

Welcome to Rationalia! (Feel free to introduce yourself in the "Welcomes" forum, if you wish!)

[Annuhh5]

Especially since most children will believe anything they hear :/

[Coito ergo sum]

See? You don't like theists because they believe. Theophobe!

I don't like theists that believe in something for no reason while rejecting other beliefs that are also not based on reason, and who at the same time basically scoff at those who reject all reasonless beliefs. It's weird that somehow you were able to conclude from that that I don't like theists because they believe. Only a complete inability to comprehend basic English can explain such an unwarranted conclusion.