Smart People

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Faith1960

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Are atheists smarter than theists?

strangenotions.com

Does Religion Really Have a "Smart-People Problem"?

Daniel Dennett, one of the “four horsemen” of contemporary atheism, proposed in 2003 that those who espouse a naturalist, atheist worldview should call themselves “the brights,” thereby distinguishing themselves rather clearly from the dim benighted masses who hold on to supernaturalist convictions.
strangenotions.com
 
It’s an article by Fr. Barron about whether atheists are smarter than theists.

Strange Notions

A Digital Areopagus // Reason. Faith. Dialogue.
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Faith1960 said:
Are atheists smarter than theists?

strangenotions.com/does-religion-really-have-a-smart-people-problem/
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When you past a link if it is preceded by the http: and then the two slashes it will automatically be a link.

strangenotions.com/does-religion-really-have-a-smart-people-problem/

That will make it a little easier for others to follow.

I get the impression that the suggestion to use the term “brights” was never very popular. I’m of the opinion that describing some one as “smart” or less so doesn’t indicate very much information by itself. The label “smart” is at times applied to someone that has specialized in a skill area regardless of the person’s skills (or lack of them) in other areas of life.
 
ThinkingSapien said:
When you past a link if it is preceded by the http: and then the two slashes it will automatically be a link.

strangenotions.com/does-religion-really-have-a-smart-people-problem/

That will make it a little easier for others to follow.

I get the impression that the suggestion to use the term “brights” was never very popular. I’m of the opinion that describing some one as “smart” or less so doesn’t indicate very much information by itself. The label “smart” is at times applied to someone that has specialized in a skill area regardless of the person’s skills (or lack of them) in other areas of life.
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Can anyone debunk the atheist POV ? I didn’t think Fr. Barron did it very well.
 
I’m not sure that intelligence is any guarantee of a profound knowledge of whether God exists or not.
1 Corinthians 1:27
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But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
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It’s the faithful remnant (Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, John the Baptist) of Israel (anawim) who usher in Christ.

The mighty are to be cast down from their thrones and the lowly are to be lifted up.

The crucifixion will be an obstacle to the Greeks.

Christ chose fishermen and tax collectors to be his Apostles.

It’s Pilate who asks, “What is truth?” and doesn’t wait for an answer.

It’s the rich young man who asks what must be done to enter the kingdom who cannot comply with the answer Christ gives.

I wouldn’t go looking for faith among the intelligentsia. They are the most likely to be blind.
 
i don’t really cotton to fr barron, but Jesus did say, ’ I thank you Father, for hiding your way from the wise, and making yourself known to the simple, for this was Your good pleasure’. i believe His point was, some people are too smart for their own good, and think they have all the answers. they have no idea where we came from, how we got here, why we’re here, or where we’re going. but they are sure some ‘smart’ person will figure it out someday, and there is definitely no creator that they have to listen to. ‘for they have made themselves gods’.
 
Why ARE so many professors atheist? Is it because of politics, like Fr. Barron suggested or some other reason?

Also, is there a listing of organizations for doctors or scientists who are Christian? I think I saw it online long ago but can’t find it now.
 
Didn´t Einstein believe in God, maybe not a personal God, but God? Now, Einstein was no intellectual slouch!

I’ve known a lot of VERY smart people who believe in God.
 
The scientists in this link literally defined what we now take for granted as our scientific understanding of the world.

godandscience.org/apologetics/sciencefaith.html

The link between ‘science’ and atheism is a very modern phenomenon. Scientists of the past were almost all theists. But then again so was everyone else.

The reduction in the percentage of theists has been steady and affects all kinds of people. Modern people in general are more atheistic than ever before - scientists or other smart people included.
tobingrant.religionnews.com/2014/01/27/great-decline-religion-united-states-one-graph/

So the author has made a simple mistake by noting that so many modern scientists are non-theists. When in actuality everybody is less theistic than ever before - scientists included.

Clearly the guy who wrote this is not that bright.
 
ClearWater said:
Didn´t Einstein believe in God, maybe not a personal God, but God? Now, Einstein was no intellectual slouch!

I’ve known a lot of VERY smart people who believe in God.
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Einstein was described as agnostic as well as some other things but I don’t think he was a believer.

What professions are the smart people you know?

I think my doctor, an internist, is Catholic because she complimented me on my Miraculous Medal, plus they have a contemporary Christian radio station playing in their office.
 
Frankenfurter said:
The scientists in this link literally defined what we now take for granted as our scientific understanding of the world.

godandscience.org/apologetics/sciencefaith.html

The link between ‘science’ and atheism is a very modern phenomenon. Scientists of the past were almost all theists. But then again so was everyone else.

The reduction in the percentage of theists has been steady and affects all kinds of people. Modern people in general are more atheistic than ever before - scientists or other smart people included.
tobingrant.religionnews.com/2014/01/27/great-decline-religion-united-states-one-graph/

So the author has made a simple mistake by noting that so many m

odern scientists are non-theists. When in actuality everybody is less theistic than ever before - scientists included.

Clearly the guy who wrote this is not that bright.
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Why are so many people atheists now? Do they know something we don’t?
 
I know smart (and educated) people who believe in God, as well as smart (and educated) people who don’t. “Smart” or “educated” doesn’t not imply “correct” in any way. Most scientists (who are usually considered smart in popular culture) disagree with each other in their area of expertise (quantum physics, for example). Chesterton says that it is in the nature of smart (and educated) people to disagree. A smart person can be mistaken; and an idiot can be correct (did you ever hear of the “fools for Christ”?). Also, a smart person is not necessarily educated; and an educated person is not necessarily smart.

Remember, St. Augustine warns us about intellectual pride. Many (including me) could learn from the humility of the Saints, regardless if we agree with their teachings or not.

Christi pax,

Lucretius
 
Faith1960 said:
Einstein was described as agnostic as well as some other things but I don’t think he was a believer.

What professions are the smart people you know?

I think my doctor, an internist, is Catholic because she complimented me on my Miraculous Medal, plus they have a contemporary Christian radio station playing in their office.
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It’s my understanding Einstein did not believe in a PERSONAL God.
 
To Faith1960:

St. Thomas teaches that ultimately there only two arguments against the existence of God: the argument from evil (God is Good, but there is evil, therefore no God) and the argument from science (we don’t need God to explain anything, therefore God is an archaic hypothesis). The “New Atheists” are simply the old atheists with more evangical fervor (and usually a misunderstanding of arguments for and against their viewpoint).

Atheism isn’t now any more rationally viable then it was in ancient times. An example of an ancient atheist would be, of course, Lucretius 😃

Christi pax,

Lucretius
 
Faith1960 said:
Why ARE so many professors atheist?
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In my opinion, which isn’t to say a lot, the reason is the same as that for which it was the highly educated who were most involved in the gas chambers and death camps of the holocaust.

Education forms the mind of the one being educated. Therefore, if you can control education, you can literally form how a person perceives the world, the nature of humanity, morality, and so on.

Consider the general cosmological outlook of the average person educated through normal means (i.e., the public and/or secular school system) and compare it to that of the average person who has been homeschooled, or educated in a private institution, or a Catholic school system, especially if the education that is found in the home corresponds to the education found in the school. My bet is that you would see a very high correspondence in the kind of education received and their theistic/atheistic outlook.

If you want an explanation as to why the highly educated (not to mention the general population at large) are more atheistic than ever, I say look no further than the educators and the curriculums.
 
Lucretius said:
I know smart (and educated) people who believe in God, as well as smart (and educated) people who don’t. “Smart” or “educated” doesn’t not imply “correct” in any way. Most scientists (who are usually considered smart in popular culture) disagree with each other in their area of expertise (quantum physics, for example). Chesterton says that it is in the nature of smart (and educated) people to disagree. A smart person can be mistaken; and an idiot can be correct (did you ever hear of the “fools for Christ”?). Also, a smart person is not necessarily educated; and an educated person is not necessarily smart.

Remember, St. Augustine warns us about intellectual pride. Many (including me) could learn from the humility of the Saints, regardless if we agree with their teachings or not.

Christi pax,

Lucretius
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Do you have Chestersons exact quote?
 
ClearWater said:
It’s my understanding Einstein did not believe in a PERSONAL God.
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According to Wikipedia (I know they aren’t a good source), he was agnostic, atheistic, religious nonbelievers, and a believer in Spinoza’s God.
 
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