"The Bible's Gospel of St. Matthew quotes Jesus telling his disciples: 'If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell."
-NBC News
Here's what happens When you take the Bible literally... 

Ewwwwww ---





That sounds like one of the horror tales we were told just before we started our psych rotation. Had us scared shirtless......worrying about what kind of psych patients we would encounter. 

If we are to restrict hate speech and not incite the zealots that buy it the Bible should be in the garbage bin. 

For the love of all that's holy!!!


Just :((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( dumb. 

It is commonly assumed that religious people are less intelligent than those who who aren't religious. Many skeptics think that Christianity and other religions are for people who do not want to think - but will blindly follow what they are told by their church. While it is true that those who have advanced degrees tend to be more atheistic than those who don't, does this correlate with intelligence or just self-sufficiency?

I don't think they are dumb...just lack the curiousity gene or maybe just do what they are told like sheep or just fearful.

Interesting psychology I suppose. 

So the moral of that story is what?
People who read the bible and follow it are physcopaths? 

Mental illness happens to educated & uneducated, religious and non-religious, old, young & in-between. Mental illness can happen to anyone.

Just because this person gouged his eye out in church doesn't mean it's because of the Bible - his head wasn't screwed on right. I've had a few patients in the past that see & hear things....no Bible in hand. It's their brain malfunctioning. 

[i]It is commonly assumed that religious people are less intelligent than those who who aren't religious.


Really?? Who assumed that? 

Really?? Who assumed that?

smart people do. I'm saying it may be other neurotic tendencies or just fear. 

Mental illness happens to educated & uneducated, religious and non-religious, old, young & in-between. Mental illness can happen to anyone.

Thank you TexasOma for stating what should be glaringly obvious to everyone.

What a shame you actually had to type the words....

I don't think they are dumb...just lack the curiousity gene or maybe just do what they are told like sheep or just fearful.

That earns the coveted "Double Doh" award.

 

smart people do.



So I guess I'm just not smart enough? Hummmm - good to know. 

Really?? Who assumed that?

A lot of people, but studies have shown it is more GDP than IQ.

In the Atheists vs. theists relm it appears so because a lot of scientists (90%+) don't believe in a God, and some of the higher educated people in Universities do not believe in God. How ever when the total numbers are looked at, there is a small margin between the two with generally the higher IQ edging out religion by a very small margin. 

Really?? Who assumed that?

smart people do. I'm saying it may be other neurotic tendencies or just fear.


What causes sweeping generalizations not based in any fact?

People are people with all the same tendencies.. 

In the Atheists vs. theists relm it appears so because a lot of scientists (90%+) don't believe in a God, and some of the higher educated people in Universities do not believe in God.


So, this presumes a degrees/education is the best indicator of intelligence? That's funny. I think the reason is the science/education types are predisposed to grasp PHYSICAL things much more easily. Faith in God is a HEART issue.


How ever when the total numbers are looked at, there is a small margin between the two with generally the higher IQ edging out religion by a very small margin.

Well, "very small margins" in statistical data and information usually equates to no discernable difference. 

In the Atheists vs. theists relm it appears so because a lot of scientists (90%+) don't believe in a God, and some of the higher educated people in Universities do not believe in God.


So, this presumes a degrees/education is the best indicator of intelligence? That's funny. I think the reason is the science/education types are predisposed to grasp PHYSICAL things much more easily. Faith in God is a HEART issue.


How ever when the total numbers are looked at, there is a small margin between the two with generally the higher IQ edging out religion by a very small margin.

Well, "very small margins" in statistical data and information usually equates to no discernable difference.


SighFiGurl --- where did you get the quoted material just above your statement? After Kyobungee put that out there I went Googling for where she copied it but gave up. Looks to me that your found her C&P source. 

I think that indoctrination is an incredibly powerful thing. Most people adhere closely to their parent's belief system. When you are taught a religious doctrine from early on, and it is reinforced as you grow, it becomes part of your worldview. You are going to fight with everything you are to keep that worldview intact, even if it goes against rational thought.

I'm not trying to be condescending in any way. I just think that it would be too devastating to imagine no God or afterlife when you have lived your life believing in a special place to go when you die.

I feel I have been given the gift to decide for myself what to believe without the indoctrination. What makes sense for me at this point in my life is that religion and God were ideas developed as a way to make sense of a confusing world and answer a fundamental question about what happens to us after we die. I'm totally oversimplifying, but that's the nutshell version. 

SighFiGurl --- where did you get the quoted material just above your statement? After Kyobungee put that out there I went Googling for where she copied it but gave up. Looks to me that your found her C&P source.

No googlin' or source, just my highly unintelligent opinion and brain! 

No googlin' or source, just my highly unintelligent opinion and brain!


LOL

Ahhhhh --- figured you found the source because the stuff above your statement was in italics (quote).

Highly unintelligent opinions & brains can get you in trouble.....and it is a DEFINITE INDICATOR that you are a sheeple of the Bible (according to some). Dead give-away.


OK --- off for the day. Y'all have fun not - ya hear!!! 

The truth is there are dummies who are believers and dummies who are athiests.

Simple. 

My post's point is that I think it has little to do with I.Q., and more to do with the brain's desire for self preservation.

...which is so powerful that some people are willing to do extreme things for it's cause! 

My post's point is that I think it has little to do with I.Q., and more to do with the brain's desire for self preservation.


Agreed. And a desire for answers. And even tho religion per se doesn't offer all the answers either, the concept of an uber intelligent creator who loves His creation is what I choose to believe.

We see what we want to see. 

Not sure what the subject of this thread has to do with the body... but I was going to comment on the subject. There is so much apocalyptic language, it is not physical or literal in many cases. How do you know which is which? Well, less than 10% of Christians have ever read the entire Bible. Even less have "studied" the Bible. But everyone seems to have an opinion on it. Proper hermaneutics and understanding of the Old Testament will help. 

I feel I have been given the gift to decide for myself what to believe without the indoctrination.


Which is fine mandypants. But you are making the assumption that those of us who do believe have been either brainwashed or indoctrinated into our belief, which carries a HUGE negative connotion.

Actually, I have also been given a gift to discern what is real. And it is exactly the opposite of your conclusion. 

Actually, I have also been given a gift to discern what is real.

So what other religions have you been involved in since birth that allows you to discern what is real?

But you are making the assumption that those of us who do believe have been either brainwashed or indoctrinated into our belief

Chances are if you were in India and raised there you'd be worshipping cattle. 

This has nothing to do with religion.

It has everything to do with God. 

This has nothing to do with religion.

It has everything to do with God.


LIKE!!!!! :) 

What makes sense for me at this point in my life is that religion and God were ideas developed as a way to make sense of a confusing world and answer a fundamental question about what happens to us after we die.

God and religion are entirely different 

Dr. Aborto, I am a Christian, and I believe wholeheartedly in charity. However, I am a stickler with my money, and I only want to give to charities that WORK. I do not find that the US govt. does charity work well. In fact, it is my belief that government charity often has the opposite effect of what it has intended.

Does it make me less Christian because I want something that ACTUALLY helps the poor, rather than giving our hard-earned money to a politician to dole out to unions, lobby groups, and companies as he/she sees fit? 

I feel I have been given the gift to decide for myself what to believe without the indoctrination.

Do you really believe that you have decided everything for yourself? Or are you just as "brainwashed" by a culture that preaches relativism and postmodernism? There are two major paradigms in the US right now. One of them is Christianity, and the other is postmodernism. You are every bit as devoted to your "religion" as Christians are.

And your religion has been taught to you since birth as well. It has saturated our media, our schools, Hollywood, etc. The Church stands in opposition to this world view (or at least, it should, some churches revel in it). 

as the bible teaches us

 

I feel I have been given the gift to decide for myself what to believe without the indoctrination.


Which is fine mandypants. But you are making the assumption that those of us who do believe have been either brainwashed or indoctrinated into our belief, which carries a HUGE negative connotion.

Actually, I have also been given a gift to discern what is real. And it is exactly the opposite of your conclusion. 

I don't mean brainwashed, I mean taught. Taught by their parents. Indoctrination does carry a negative connotation, you are right. 

So what other religions have you been involved in since birth that allows you to discern what is real?

Chances are if you were in India and raised there you'd be worshipping cattle. 

What i mean is that my non-religious parents allowed me to explore religion on my own. None of it ever made sense to me. Then I moved to an Asian country where Hindu, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam were equally predominant.

That kind of exposure, when experienced with an open mind, is very eye-opening. 

What i mean is that my non-religious parents allowed me to explore religion on my own. None of it ever made sense to me. Then I moved to an Asian country where Hindu, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam were equally predominant.

That kind of exposure, when experienced with an open mind, is very eye-opening.

I didn't mean you mandypants. I agree with everything you said. The people I don't agree are the ones that act open minded when their one world viewpoint has been formed from what they were jammed from infancy. 

My neighbor is an idiot, and she's Christian (not blaming Christianity on her stupidity).

My FIL lent her one of those pop-up tent/carport things to cover her stuff. Yesterday she (neighbor) tied it to the back of her car,drove over here, and had it dragging on the ground(which tore a huge hole in it).

Not to mention she accused my fil of stealing when he took our former neighbor's snake out of the yard because they asked, and our now neighbor's daughter(who has a kid) said it was OK. She kept preaching that the BIBLE says if you move to a new place you get to keep whatever is still there(never mind the fact they moved in BEFORE they were allowed to so our former neighbor couldn't get everything), and that her daughter is "under 21" and can't make decisions.

Maybe it's just the dumb in them, but her preaching about something false pissed me off. 

I didn't mean you mandypants. I agree with everything you said. The people I don't agree are the ones that act open minded when their one world viewpoint has been formed from what they were jammed from infancy.

Thank you for making my point. There is nothing more obnoxious than a person who thinks that not believing in ANYTHING, or little bits of EVERYTHING, is somehow more enlightened. I think it just means that they are confused, and perhaps gullible. 

The people I don't agree are the ones that act open minded when their one world viewpoint has been formed from what they were jammed from infancy.


Strike two.

Why make these assumptions about people, it just lessens your argument.

Christ calls YOU, not the other way around and He certainly does not come into your heart when someone shoves him down your throat.

I am waiting for strike three. 

There is nothing more obnoxious than a person who thinks that not believing in ANYTHING, or little bits of EVERYTHING, is somehow more enlightened

How about just believe in something that can be seen and is rational for starters then you can move on to the adult stuff. 

Christ calls YOU,

BS. So you're special but noone else is....RIGHT 

I am not special, I am chosen.