Difference between revisions of "African atheism and intelligence"
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The atheist and [[Harvard University]] historian [[Niall Ferguson]] declared: "Through a mixture of hard work and thrift the [[Protestantism|Protestant]] societies of the North and West Atlantic achieved the most rapid economic growth in history."<ref name="blog.tifwe.org"/> | The atheist and [[Harvard University]] historian [[Niall Ferguson]] declared: "Through a mixture of hard work and thrift the [[Protestantism|Protestant]] societies of the North and West Atlantic achieved the most rapid economic growth in history."<ref name="blog.tifwe.org"/> | ||
| − | The | + | he article "The Surprising Discovery About Those Colonialist, Proselytizing Missionaries" published in ''Christianity Today'' notes: |
| − | {{Cquote|In | + | {{Cquote|In his fifth year of graduate school, Woodberry created a statistical model that could test the connection between missionary work and the health of nations. He and a few research assistants spent two years coding data and refining their methods. They hoped to compute the lasting effect of missionaries, on average, worldwide... |
| − | + | One morning, in a windowless, dusty computer lab lit by fluorescent bulbs, Woodberry ran the first big test. After he finished prepping the [[statistics|statistical]] program on his [[computer]], he clicked "Enter" and then leaned forward to read the results. | |
| + | |||
| + | "I was shocked," says Woodberry. "It was like an [[atomic bomb]]. The impact of missions on global democracy was huge. I kept adding variables to the model—factors that people had been studying and writing about for the past 40 years—and they all got wiped out. It was amazing. I knew, then, I was on to something really important." | ||
| + | |||
| + | Woodberry already had historical proof that missionaries had educated women and the poor, promoted widespread printing, led nationalist movements that empowered ordinary citizens, and fueled other key elements of democracy. Now the statistics were backing it up: Missionaries weren't just part of the picture. They were central to it... | ||
| + | |||
| + | Areas where [[Protestantism|Protestant]] missionaries had a significant presence in the past are on average more economically developed today, with comparatively better health, lower infant mortality, lower corruption, greater literacy, higher educational attainment (especially for women), and more robust membership in nongovernmental associations. | ||
| + | |||
| + | In short: Want a blossoming democracy today? The solution is simple—if you have a time machine: Send a 19th-century missionary." | ||
| + | |||
| + | ...at a conference presentation in 2002, Woodberry got a break. In the room sat Charles Harper Jr., then a vice president at the John Templeton Foundation, which was actively funding research on religion and social change. (Its grant recipients have included Christianity Today.) Three years later, Woodberry received half a million dollars from the foundation's Spiritual Capital Project, hired almost 50 research assistants, and set up a huge database project at the University of Texas, where he had taken a position in the sociology department. The team spent years amassing more statistical data and doing more historical analyses, further confirming his theory. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ...Woodberry's historical and statistical work has finally captured glowing attention. A summation of his 14 years of research—published in 2012 in the American Political Science Review, the discipline's top journal—has won four major awards, including the prestigious Luebbert Article Award for best article in comparative politics. Its startling title: "The Missionary Roots of Liberal Democracy." | ||
| + | |||
| + | ...over a dozen studies have confirmed Woodberry's findings. The growing body of research is beginning to change the way scholars, aid workers, and economists think about democracy and development.<ref>''Christianity Today'', [https://archive.is/cDMnA "The surprising discovery about those colonialist, proselytizing missionaries"], January 8, 2014</ref>}} | ||
== See also == | == See also == | ||
Revision as of 00:19, December 27, 2022
Individuals advocating irreligion in Africa have been dated to go back several millennia.[2] During the 1950s and 1960s, irreligion in Africa became more prevalent as the educated classes became influenced by communism, socialism and anti-colonial movements gained influence on the continent (see also: Atheism and communism).
Atheists, however, remain a very small minority in Africa (see also: Atheist population and Global atheism). A study conducted by the Washington-based Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life says that Africans are among the most religious people on Earth.[1] See also: Black atheism and Western atheism and race
African atheist IQ scores
African IQ scores are a matter of controversy among social scientists.[3][4]
African IQ scores are expected to rise due to improving living conditions.[4]
Socioeconomic factors can cause differences in regional intelligence levels (for example, wealth which can affect the quality of education, health care and nutrition). Although social scientists have disputes about the accuracy of IQ scores in a given region, regions do vary in terms of their IQ scores.[3][4][5] Ethnic groups facing discrimination as immigrants and their IQs temporarily dropping and then later rebounding when the discrimination is over, strongly suggests that IQ is significantly affected by one's environment and not due to any inherent and permanent genetic differences between races.[6]
Given their small proportion of the African population and the antipathy of many Africans have against atheists, social scientists have shown little interest in terms of studying and determining the IQs/intelligence of African atheists. This is not entirely surprising. In the United States (another religious region), Dr. Melanie Brewster gave a talk entitled Why is Psychology Silent When it Comes to Atheism? and she indicated there is a general reluctance of psychologists to study the atheist population.[7] See also: Views on atheists
Africa and atheist art/atheist music/atheist architecture
See also: Atheist art and Atheist music and Atheism and architecture
The atheist population does not have a tradition of children's choirs singing atheist songs.
Howard Gardner at Harvard University has identified various distinct intelligences: interpersonal, intrapersonal, visual–spatial, verbal–linguistic, logical–mathematical, musical–rhythmic, bodily–kinesthetic, and naturalistic.[8]
Despite atheism existing for thousands of years and predating Christianity, there is a small proportion of atheist art compared to religious art. For example, Wikipedia, which was founded by an atheist and agnostic, has no article on "Atheist art", but Wikipedia does have an article on Christian art. Similarly, there is a small proportion of atheist music compared to religious music.
An atheist posted to atheist Sam Harris' discussion board: "This idea started when I googled “atheist art”. You see I was expecting to find art. Instead, what you get is a whole bunch of knockoffs of famous religious art that has been disfigured and mutilated. This made me slightly ashamed."[9]
As noted above, individuals advocating irreligion in Africa have been dated to go back several millennia.[2] Although there are artistic and musical achievements when it comes to African Christian art and African Christian music (for example African art museums displaying African Christian art), there has been a lack of significant African achievements when it comes to African atheist art and African atheist music.
Africa has many beautiful church buildings. Wikipedia, which again is a online encyclopedia found by an atheist and agnostic, has a church architecture article which features an entire section on Ethiopian church architecture.[10] However, there is not a single notable example of African atheist architecture (see also: Atheism and architecture).
Improving African IQ scores and Christianity
See also: Protestant cultural legacies and Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism and Atheism and sloth
African IQ scores are expected to rise due to improving living conditions.[4]
In the 20th century Christianity grew very rapidly in Africa and it continues to grow rapidly today. In 2011, USA Today published an article entitled Study: Christianity grows exponentially in Africa[12] Historically, the growth of Protestant Christianity in an area causes improved economic and social conditions (see: Protestant cultural legacies and Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism).
The atheist and Harvard University historian Niall Ferguson declared: "Through a mixture of hard work and thrift the Protestant societies of the North and West Atlantic achieved the most rapid economic growth in history."[11]
he article "The Surprising Discovery About Those Colonialist, Proselytizing Missionaries" published in Christianity Today notes:
| “ | In his fifth year of graduate school, Woodberry created a statistical model that could test the connection between missionary work and the health of nations. He and a few research assistants spent two years coding data and refining their methods. They hoped to compute the lasting effect of missionaries, on average, worldwide...
One morning, in a windowless, dusty computer lab lit by fluorescent bulbs, Woodberry ran the first big test. After he finished prepping the statistical program on his computer, he clicked "Enter" and then leaned forward to read the results. "I was shocked," says Woodberry. "It was like an atomic bomb. The impact of missions on global democracy was huge. I kept adding variables to the model—factors that people had been studying and writing about for the past 40 years—and they all got wiped out. It was amazing. I knew, then, I was on to something really important." Woodberry already had historical proof that missionaries had educated women and the poor, promoted widespread printing, led nationalist movements that empowered ordinary citizens, and fueled other key elements of democracy. Now the statistics were backing it up: Missionaries weren't just part of the picture. They were central to it... Areas where Protestant missionaries had a significant presence in the past are on average more economically developed today, with comparatively better health, lower infant mortality, lower corruption, greater literacy, higher educational attainment (especially for women), and more robust membership in nongovernmental associations. In short: Want a blossoming democracy today? The solution is simple—if you have a time machine: Send a 19th-century missionary." ...at a conference presentation in 2002, Woodberry got a break. In the room sat Charles Harper Jr., then a vice president at the John Templeton Foundation, which was actively funding research on religion and social change. (Its grant recipients have included Christianity Today.) Three years later, Woodberry received half a million dollars from the foundation's Spiritual Capital Project, hired almost 50 research assistants, and set up a huge database project at the University of Texas, where he had taken a position in the sociology department. The team spent years amassing more statistical data and doing more historical analyses, further confirming his theory. ...Woodberry's historical and statistical work has finally captured glowing attention. A summation of his 14 years of research—published in 2012 in the American Political Science Review, the discipline's top journal—has won four major awards, including the prestigious Luebbert Article Award for best article in comparative politics. Its startling title: "The Missionary Roots of Liberal Democracy." ...over a dozen studies have confirmed Woodberry's findings. The growing body of research is beginning to change the way scholars, aid workers, and economists think about democracy and development.[13] |
” |
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Why so many Africans are religious: Leo Igwe
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 M.B. Mat'e, The History of Freethinking in Ancient Egypt (1956), no. 3.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Book Review: IQ and the Wealth of Nations, Nature
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Controversial study of African IQ levels is 'deeply flawed', Science Daily, January 21, 2010
- ↑ WORLD RANKING OF COUNTRIES BY THEIR AVERAGE
- ↑ Charles Murray Still Convinced That Whites Are Smarter Than Blacks by Kevin Drum, Mother Jonees, 2017
- ↑ Why is Psychology Silent When it Comes to Atheism? - Dr. Melanie Brewster - Skepticon 7
- ↑ Multiple Ingelligence
- ↑ Atheist post at Sam Harris' discussion board
- ↑ Wikipedia - Church architecture
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 The Protestant Work Ethic: Alive & Well…In China By Hugh Whelchel on September 24, 2012
- ↑ Study: Christianity grows exponentially in Africa , USA Today, 2011
- ↑ Christianity Today, "The surprising discovery about those colonialist, proselytizing missionaries", January 8, 2014