This is the oft repeated atheist view that religion and poverty are closely connected (directly proportional) . And also that education and religion are closely connected (inversely proportional).
This is just a way by which atheists choose to feel superior about themselves...(whenever they get overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the religious).
I would even say that the more educated and intelligent people are ......'spirituality' and the inner quest become inevitable. Truly intelligent people with a broader vision of life cannot be satisfied with the narrow 'reality' that science shows them.
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You really believe our reality, all the beautiful universe, it`s chaotic yet enormously complex dance to be "narrow"?
Yet the completely primitive and blind superstitions of our species you try to exalt as some wisdom above all... They are not, simple as that. Show me one, ONE advancement made by your spiritual discoveries that has any applications for humanity that science can`t give.
To see the scientific reality as "narrow", especially compared to your religion, shows your lack of understanding. Religion is basically a tool to make reality appear more "narrow" so it's easier to comprehend.
People from better educated countries are becoming less and less religious. Look it up. The exception is of course the USA, and yet, even there, the richer areas are in fact less religious (NY, LA..) with the possible exception of Texas (could be explained by local oil industry, though).
It's not that religious people are stupid, but it's well-known that uneducated people tend to be overly religious. And the more educated people are, the less likely they are to be religious.
You have to admit, it takes a certain lack of critical thinking to believe in religion.
If I had to guess, I'd say the relationship between poverty and religion is stronger than the relationship between lack of education and religion. What OP seems to be ignoring is the previous strong relationship between lack of education and poverty (given the current crisis with ridiculously high college tuition costs and the troubles some graduates have had getting good-paying jobs in their field, it'll be interest to see if the lack-of-education=poverty thing holds true in the future)
I think people who are poor tend to use religion as a coping mechanism. When your life is shitty and there's no feasible escape from that, it can provide a lot of comfort to believe that this life isn't the only one you'll have, the afterlife will be better, there's some almighty being in the sky who cares about what happens to you, etc.
Truly intelligent people with a broader vision of life cannot be satisfied with the narrow 'reality' that science shows them.
But doesn't your bible say something about a straight and narrow path?
Matthew 7:13-14
No, not an atheist view. A result of real studies and surveys. I might suggest that your "spirituality' and the inner quest" is the only way for YOU to feel intellectually superior to scientists.
Let's put it this way, Sriram: a scientist can also be "spiritual", even in the laboratory. Could you be a scientist while you're in church?
"Truly intelligent people with a broader vision of life cannot be satisfied with the narrow 'reality' that science shows them."
Truly intelligent people understand that science actually broadens our understanding of reality by providing us with insights that we would never have achieved otherwise and allowing us to glimpse the beautifully complex and intricate patterns and mechanisms by which the universe operates.
I find that a proper understanding of science and a coherent, integrated picture of all the discoveries it has enabled us to make is far more awe-inspiring and spiritual than various books written a thousand years or more ago that all basically say "Goddunit", and to decry science as narrow-minded betrays a fundamental ignorance and lack of perspctive on your part.
This is the oft repeated atheist view that religion and poverty are closely connected (directly proportional)
This is kinda true. Karl Marx's "opium of the people" and all that, but even to this day, atheism often feels like a luxury which people with no hope in life can't afford.
It still doesn't make religion any more real, or science untrue. It's more just a reason why blind hatred of any religion is wrong.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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