Atheists - More Intelligent?

I heard this announcement of a study showing atheists are more intelligent than the religious was going to be a segment on a news show.  I waited but the segment didn't air, or I just missed it.  Any way, I went online and found an article about it.  This was a new study by the University of Rochester which found that religious people are less likely to be intelligent than their atheist counterparts.  Some reasons stated:

 “Intelligent people typically spend more time in school—a form of self-regulation that may yield long-term benefits,” according to the study. “More intelligent people get higher-level jobs (and better employment (and higher salary) may lead to higher self-esteem and encourage personal control beliefs.”

“People possessing the functions that religion provides are likely to adopt atheism, people lacking these very functions (e.g., the poor, the helpless) are likely to adopt theism,”

 

Researchers defined intelligence as the “ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience.”  Religion was defined by involvement in some (or all) facets of religion.

Some argued the definition of intelligence was too narrow and did not include the creative or emotional intelligence.  Study subjects were also not representative of the world population as most of the participants came from the U.S., U.K. and Canada.

This being said, I kept an open mind and decided to agree thee science seems fairly sound and, had they asked me, I could have saved them the research funding.  This is common sense.  I will give you the simplistic view:  If you only wear the same outfit everyday, you don't have the decision making involved in color, style, etc., so it frees your brain to focus on other things.  But, who wants a closet full of the same suit?

 

I found it interesting that, although believers in religion are dropping in numbers, atheism is relatively stagnant in growth.  Are people leaving religion for spirituality, as I believe, and not because they find any alternate comfort in atheism?

 

I went to Wikipedia to see if they had any numbers on atheism.  Wikipedia breaks famous atheists into their various fields of study, which for me was interesting to look through.  After comparing the various fields of study, I finished with the "political" list.  I came up with my own conclusion.

 

I can agree that there are, and have been, many intelligent people that claim atheism.  The lists given were quite lengthy.  This is not to say that I probably could have presented an equally impressive list of the religious that have been responsible for building civilization as we know it. 

 

Almost all of the politicians and philosophers on the list are communists or socialists, not surprising when you consider their doctrinal view toward religion.  I have to wonder if atheism takes into account that most of the politicians associated with it would opt for world domination and would be very happy to utilize all of the intelligent atheists to attain that end.  Many of Hitler's henchmen, the Soviet, Mao in China, other notable revolutionaries, all made the list.

 

This study is typical of any argument against religious tolerance.  It attempts to place atheists above everybody else.  One of the many comments to this study came from an individual calling himself "Samuel Adams" who had this to say:    

"NO one NEEDS religion in their lives. No one needs to be ignorant. They might need a backbone and some courage to face the fact that they'll die someday and that will be IT - but they do NOT and I repeat NOT need or are required to have religion in their life.

Wanting to believe in a fairy tale because you're scared of the dark is pathetic and diseased. Allowing people to be self-deluded so that they "feel better" isn't doing them any favors, and can allow them the perception that they can make rules, regulations and laws based on their delusions that affect INNOCENT, INTELLIGENT people.

Your right to believe in fairy tales stop when it affects my life and my Constitutional rights"

 

Tolerance?  I think not, but that wouldn't surprise an atheist, according to this study.  For most atheists we hear from in the news, we might conclude that it's all about them, and screw everybody else.  I would like to think that this isn't the case for all.

 

But, I keep going back to the list of politicians.