Essay: Are atheists smarter than the average bear?

Are atheists "smarter than the average bear"? See also: Atheism and intelligence

North Dakota still has the lowest rate of unemployment in the United States. In September of 2010, the state unemployment rate was declared to be 3.7% according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

The Bible declares, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want" (Psalm 23:1). North Dakota, which contains plenty of Christians, certainly seems to be a shining example of this Bible verse. North Dakota has more churches per capita than any state in the United States plus has the highest percentage of people who attend church.

Please see: Atheism and intelligence

Mr. Atheist, how smart are you using Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences as a benchmark?

See: Atheism and the theory of multiple intelligences

I hope you didn't think I would fail to mention the Soviet Union and atheistic communism!

See also: Atheism and communism and Irreligion and lower economic productivity/stability

Atheist Vladimir Lenin

Karl Marx established atheism as a key part of communism. He famously said, "Religion ... is the opium of the masses." He believed it was part of the "superstructure," a false culture built to maintain the status quo. Thus he denigrated Christianity as a fictional religion. Instead, Marx was an avowed atheist, as he wrote, "Communism begins from the outset with atheism; but atheism is at first far from being communism; indeed, that atheism is still mostly an abstraction."

Vladimir Lenin similarly wrote: "A Marxist must be a materialist, i. e., an enemy of religion, but a dialectical materialist, i. e., one who treats the struggle against religion not in an abstract way, not on the basis of remote, purely theoretical, never varying preaching, but in a concrete way, on the basis of the class struggle which is going on in practice and is educating the masses more and better than anything else could."

In September of 2010 Fox News reported:

“

Jeffrey Goldberg, a national correspondent for The Atlantic magazine, asked Castro if Cuba's economic system was still worth exporting to other countries, and Castro replied: "The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore," Goldberg wrote Wednesday in a post on his Atlantic blog. The Cuban government had no immediate comment on Goldberg's account.

”

The Soviet atheists, Cuban atheists and many other world atheists could have picked any economic system they wished. What economic system did they pick? Communism! The joke among Russians under Soviet communism was: "We pretend to work. And the state pretends to pay us".

Capitalism and belief in God

See also: Atheism and communism

Michael Novak wrote concerning theism and capitalism:

“

The economic historian David Landes, who describes himself as an unbeliever, points out that the main factors in this great economic achievement of Western civilization are mainly religious: • the joy in discovery that arises from each individual being an imago Dei called to be a creator; • the religious value attached to hard and good manual work; • the theological separation of the Creator from the creature, such that nature is subordinated to man, not surrounded with taboos; • the Jewish and Christian sense of linear, not cyclical, time and, therefore, of progress; and • respect for the market.

”

Capitalism has lifted more people out of poverty than any other economic system in the history of the earth.

Irreligion and superstition

The Wall Street Journal reported: "A comprehensive new study released by Baylor University yesterday, shows ...that the irreligious and the members of more liberal Protestant denominations, far from being resistant to superstition, tend to be much more likely to believe in the paranormal and in pseudoscience than evangelical Christians."

For more information please see: Irreligion and superstition

In September of 2008, the Wall Street Journal reported:

“

The reality is that the New Atheist campaign, by discouraging religion, won't create a new group of intelligent, skeptical, enlightened beings. Far from it: It might actually encourage new levels of mass superstition. And that's not a conclusion to take on faith -- it's what the empirical data tell us. "What Americans Really Believe," a comprehensive new study released by Baylor University yesterday, shows that traditional Christian religion greatly decreases belief in everything from the efficacy of palm readers to the usefulness of astrology. It also shows that the irreligious and the members of more liberal Protestant denominations, far from being resistant to superstition, tend to be much more likely to believe in the paranormal and in pseudoscience than evangelical Christians.... This is not a new finding. In his 1983 book "The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener," skeptic and science writer Martin Gardner cited the decline of traditional religious belief among the better educated as one of the causes for an increase in pseudoscience, cults and superstition. He referenced a 1980 study published in the magazine Skeptical Inquirer that showed irreligious college students to be by far the most likely to embrace paranormal beliefs, while born-again Christian college students were the least likely.

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Superior atheist intellects and cognitive dissonance

My superior atheist intellect is experiencing cognitive dissonance. See: Atheism and brain function

Hemant Menta, are you reading this? I am laughing at the superior atheist intelligence!

The "friendly atheist" - Not so friendly after all!

A lesson on now not be socially intelligent! See: Atheism and social intelligence. Learn from his mistakes!

Hemant Mehta: The "friendly atheist" is not so friendly after all!

Articles on atheism and intelligence

• Atheism and intelligence
• Who is smarter? Believers or non-believers?
• Science proves Anglicans smartest by Andrew Brown
• Who is smarter than who by PZ Myers
• Mysterious rituals of the atheists by Stephen Bullivant and Lois Lee

Wisdom versus intelligence

• Wisdom versus intelligence - part 1
• Wisdom versus intelligence - part 2
• Wisdom versus intelligence - part 3

Excerpt from the Apostle Paul's letter to the Corinthian church

St. Paul defends his preaching (Giovanni Ricco)

The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth:

“

For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. - I Corinthians 1: 17-31 (KJV)

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Tipping the atheist sacred cow of the "atheist superior intellect"

As you can see below, the sacred cow of the "atheist superior intellect" has been tipped!

Atheism and intelligence

*Atheism and brain function

Intelligence trends in religious countries and secular countries

Atheism, intelligence and the General Social Survey

Are atheists smarter than the average bear?

Atheism and the theory of multiple intelligences:

*Atheism and the theory of multiple intelligences
*Atheism and moral intelligence
*Atheism and social intelligence
*Atheism and emotional/intrapersonal intelligence
*Atheism and bodily-kinesthetic intelligence
*Atheism and musical–rhythmic intelligence and artistic intelligence
*Atheism and naturalistic intelligence
*Atheist community and verbal–linguistic intelligence

Other matters to consider:

*Evidence for Christianity
*Causes of atheism
*Atheism and anger
*Atheism and arrogance
*Atheism and irrationality
*Atheism and health
*Atheism and suicide
*Atheism and depression
*Atheism and loneliness
*Atheism and cowardice
*Atheism and debate
*Unattractiveness of atheism
*Hopelessness of atheism

(photo obtained from Flickr, see: license agreement)

See: Tipping the atheist sacred cow of the "atheist superior intellect"

A few pictures with captions

The brutal proponent of atheism Joseph Stalin was most definitely a communist.

I would rather depend on Christian North Dakotan farmers for my produce than depend on someone like the atheist and evolutionist Trofim Denisovich Lysenko who based his agricultural notions on evolutionary quackery.

I, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, handily won my debate with atheist Richard Dawkins according to the college student audience. Richard was very upset afterwords and denied the videotaped debate took place. He also claimed I shrieked like Adolf Hitler which really makes me suspect he did not forget about the debate that he lost to me. I hate to say it Richard, but your "superior atheist intellect" was no match for me.

Please see: Richard Dawkins and Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

(see license agreement)

Atheist makes candid admission?

"actually, I do have trouble finding a smart, intelligent and atheist girlfriend cause they are so rare..."

Atheists, have those pesky bears become unbearable?

Atheists, are you sick and tired of pesky bears dragging your trash around your property and creating an unsightly mess? You can't seem to outsmart those wily bears and you don't have enough machismo to stand up to them? There is no longer need to despair! The genius of private enterprise has come to your rescue and government bureaucrats have CERTIFIED their handiwork. Yes, there are now CERTIFIED bear resistant trash containers! Go HERE and never again be humiliated by God's creation the bear.

See also

• Resources for leaving atheism and becoming a Christian
• Evidence for Christianity
• This year's best atheist debaters - satire
• Atheists, newer is not necessarily truer
• Atheism and obesity
• Comedy and satires concerning atheism and evolution (large collection of comedy/satire concerning atheism and evolution)
• Does Richard Dawkins have machismo? - satire
• Evidence for Christianity
• Atheism
• Brights Movement

External links

• Atheist IQ test - Humorous video by Shockofgod

Biblical work ethic:

• Why should I have a strong work ethic?
• Lazy People are a Curse, Get to Work by Pastor Tim Conway
• Stop Stealing, Get to Work, Start Sharing by Pastor Tim Conway
• Biblical work ethic