Religious people are less intelligent

Originally posted by telerion
Think of how many Darfius-types are out there . . . ugh.

What is interesting about Darfius is that he is not stupid. He has a highly sophisticated belief-system marked by a weird type of consistency. A stupid person couldn't maintain it.

RELIGIOUS PEOPLE ARE NOT STUPID.

But The ones who spend their time arguing with skeptics on the Internet, I have some questions about them.

Originally posted by Pawnokeyhole
What is interesting about Darfius is that he is not stupid. He has a highly sophisticated belief-system marked by a weird type of consistency. A stupid person couldn't maintain it.

I disagree. His belief system was just mainstream evangelical ideas augmented with spur of the moment, ad hoc embellishments. It wasn't like he really believed most of the junk he made up. Sometimes he would contradict something he had made up earlier. If this error was pointed out, he would make up another embellishment to "harmonize" it. He was just so arrogant that he couldn't suffer to "lose" an argument with us mere heathens. In my last conversation with him, I became tired of his spontaneous make believe, and so I asked him beforehand to lay out his theology on a particular subject. He couldn't even begin.

Originally posted by telerion
I disagree. His belief system was just mainstream evangelical ideas augmented with spur of the moment, ad hoc embellishments. It wasn't like he really believed most of the junk he made up. Sometimes he would contradict something he had made up earlier. If this error was pointed out, he would make up another embellishment to "harmonize" it. He was just ...[text shortened]... him beforehand to lay out his theology on a particular subject. He couldn't even begin.

Just because Darfius is demonstrably stupid doesn't necessarily mean his theology is. There are others, I'm sure, who could argue his postion much more convincingly.

Originally posted by rwingett
Just because Darfius is demonstrably stupid doesn't necessarily mean his theology is. There are others, I'm sure, who could argue his postion much more convincingly.

The guy believes that half-men (the likeness of whom can be found on the internet apparently)abduct and sexually assault women.

Originally posted by telerion
The guy believes that half-men (the likeness of whom can be found on the internet apparently)abduct and sexually assault women.

You can't prove there aren't half-men on the internet who sexually assault women. Therefore, isn't that theory just as valid as any other unproven theory (which shall remain nameless)?

Originally posted by twhitehead
My home town of Livingstone, Zambia, has a population of about 100,000 and over 150 Christian denominations.

If there is trully a correlation between no of churches and no of bars that is not related to population then there could be other explanations. I believe that poorer people tend to be more religious and drink more (this may also explain the low ...[text shortened]... anics in america may also be more or less religious or heavy drinkers than say the black people.

Welcome to the internet where sarcasm is a lost art.

Originally posted by telerion
I disagree. His belief system was just mainstream evangelical ideas augmented with spur of the moment, ad hoc embellishments. It wasn't like he really believed most of the junk he made up. Sometimes he would contradict something he had made up earlier. If this error was pointed out, he would make up another embellishment to "harmonize" it. He was just ...[text shortened]... him beforehand to lay out his theology on a particular subject. He couldn't even begin.

I am not saying that Darfius was particularly intelligent. Nor am I saying that his argumentation was sound. I am, however, saying he was not stupid. I bet, for example, he would score above average on a standard IQ test: maybe even as high as howardgee! What was more characteristic of his thought was its extreme bias and tendentiousness, and irrational adherence to farfetched premises. Sure, you coudl argue that such bias and irrationality a form of stupidity. But, in other ways, Darfius had plenty of mental capacity at his disposal.

Originally posted by Pawnokeyhole
I am not saying that Darfius was particularly intelligent. Nor am I saying that his argumentation was sound. I am, however, saying he was not stupid. I bet, for example, he would score above average on a standard IQ test: maybe even as high as howardgee! What was more characteristic of his thought was its extreme bias and tendentiousness, and irrational ...[text shortened]... a form of stupidity. But, in other ways, Darfius had plenty of mental capacity at his disposal.

Usually the dumbest people I encounter are the lazy university students at a top public institution, so this may skew my judgement, but I really didn't find any reason to think that he's anything above average. I wonder if he gets so much credit because the RHP members that have the closest beliefs to him are guys like dj2 and Arby Hill.