Religion, Intelligence, and Socialization

From Patheos-

The Independent just reported that “religious people are less intelligent.” Whatever remains of the “new atheist” crowd will argue that this study proves that education causes one to reject religion. Atheism is academic. Being enlightened or “bright” means you reject that dim-witted dogmatism of your fathers.

The problem is, of course, that atheism has been dominant in the academy for centuries. Take a group of impressionable young students— selected specifically for their intelligence—who care very dearly about academic approval, and send them to institutions where atheism is the de facto dogma. Have them marry each other, produce more clever children, and send them off to the same institutions. 

What would you expect besides a correlation between intelligence and atheism to develop over time?
The key matter here is this: intelligent people don’t simply reject religion because it’s wrong; they reject it because they are socialized to think it’s wrong. Most students don’t know the basic tenets of various world religions (even at a place like Harvard!). I’ve met many atheists who can’t tell me why they believe in evolution besides a dogmatic appeal to “it’s just science”—a blatant appeal to authority little different than that of religious creationists. Most people develop their beliefs due to social influence and not necessarily or just from intellectual investigation.

More here-

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/fareforward/2013/08/religion-intelligence-and-socialization/