How Can Intelligent Religious People Exist?
I just don't understand how anyone can follow religion even when they learn how all other religious ideologies originated (through ignorance).
Why don't people who believe the universe was created just hold the belief that some sort of supernatural force created the universe, instead of following religious literature? It bothers me when I see intelligent people following such unnecessary doctrines; if you accept the naturalistic view (the only reasonable view), then such ideology (deism) should be the logical progression... should it not?
I am almost quick to call them intellectually handicapped, but I have met some amazingly intelligent people who follow religious doctrine. My conclusion would be that their must be some psychological dissonance that doesn't effect their intelligence; though, the only problem with this is that with intelligence therein lies reasoning, and a requisite for following religious doctrine is reasoning--which, people who follow religious doctrine have poor reasoning abilities would follow--so where is the psychological disconnect?
One might say, "indoctrination," but I will confess that I was indoctrinated, though the very fact that I have substantial reasoning abilities is what rendered me irreligious; so, what's the problem with the other intelligent religious people, and why cant they disconnect from religion through reasoning the same way I have? I am sincerely curious.
Well..
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Because..
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It is not about the technicalities or the literal interpretation of scripture. Religion is just something people identify with spiritually. The religion chosen also has to do with timing and exposure. Each person has a personal interpretation of religion, sort of like how each person has a personal interpretation of all perception. Religion and intellect are not mutually exclusive. Side: Well..
Almost all of those who profess to believe in the hocus pocus of the various man made religions do so for ulterior motives, i.e, personal gain. Politicians, mainly Muslims, but some Christians also, feel that the declaration of their faith will ingratiate them with their constituents in a fraudulent attempt to obtain votes. Others, such as businessmen and woman declare their religions in the hope that they will be perceived as being terribly honest and someone with whom to do business. Also, the religious business clique, as personified by the Jews, represents a guaranteed source of trade as ''birds of a feather'' tend to stick together. Again, this is particularly prevalent among those of the Jewish faith, but also among Roman Catholics and to a lesser extent Protestants. The bellowing buffoon Ian Paisley was one such politician who constantly called upon God as his first witness. The simple souls of his constituency swallowed the holy rhetoric hook line and sinker. Ayatollah Khomeini was another zealot whose religious madness, as depicted in his irrational religious rants had his mindless followers voting for him in their millions. The majority of the rest follow their faith due to their fear of denying that the religion with which they were indoctrinated as children is complete nonsense and was presented as an explanation of what was, 1500 - 2000 years ago, the inexplicable mysteries of life on earth and the visible cosmos. Science has of course illustrated the so called scriptures, of all the religions to be nothing more than the record of a bunch of well meaning, but ignorant men. However, it should be recognised that these prophets and religious preachers were the scholars of their time and offered the masses answers to the frightening world in which they lived. Side: Well..
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Of course someone who is religious can be intelligent. The word religion simply mean "the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods." Simply the fact that you believe that existence includes a superhuman controlling power does not exclude you from gaining intelligence across the rest of existence. While I personally believe it is somewhat silly to believe in a superhuman controlling power, I see no reason why believing in one would inhibit further gain of knowledge and the ability to analyze situations. Even if we knew for a fact the a religion is 'wrong,' an intelligent person can be wrong and still be intelligent, even if what they are wrong about governs a majority of their beliefs. Side: Because..
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Just because you're religious doesn't necessarily mean that you don't want to cling to a coping mechanism for reality which is what religion provides. However I believe intelligent people are less likely to do so which is Atheists are, on average, more intelligent. Side: Because..
I agree that it is very strange for an intelligent person to ignore the bad parts of the Bible, but I don't think denial proves a lack of intelligence. There are so many unintelligent people that do believe in religion that you have to give up many relationships by giving up religion. An intelligent person would weigh the loss of the relationships with having to pretend there aren't bad parts of the Bible. I don't know where the line is drawn on "religious", so maybe that is a flaw with this concept. Side: Because..
learn how all other religious ideologies originated (through ignorance) Religious ideologies originated out of necessity, not ignorance. Religion was created to unite people so they could propagate the species. Religious rules prevent people from hurting each other so that they can live together. And, kosher rules are a list of foods that won't kill you if you eat them. Since religion was built to help the group stay together, the intelligent person would trade some disbelief for friendship. That's where the disconnect is. Side: Because..
Religious ideologies originated out of necessity They originated out of necessity in terms of ignorance, people needed to know why things exist, so they used god as the creative placeholder. Religious rules prevent people from hurting each other so that they can live together. Sure, which is why in most religions homosexuality (a natural predisposition) is death, the penalty for apostasy is death, the penalty for adultery is being stoned.... to death; sure, I guess religion was created to for people to not hurt each other, it was instrumentalized for people to justly KILL others. Side: Well..
They originated out of necessity in terms of ignorance, people needed to know why things exists so that use god as the creative placeholder. Is there any reason you believe this? The primary focus of religion is not to explain why things exist. The primary purpose of religion is to bring people together. People will start to leave if there are no explanations for anything, so historical context is created afterwards. Sure, which is why in most religions homosexuality (a natural predisposition) is death, the penalty for apostasy is death, the penalty for adultery is being stoned.... to death; sure, I guess religion was created to for people to not hurt each other, it was instrumentalized for people to justly KILL others. You don't need a religious institution in order to kill. You need a religious institution to make predictable decisions on who gets killed and who doesn't. With religion you are better able to protect yourself because you are friends with the murderers. An intelligent person would choose to join a religion instead of dying. Side: Because..
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