Religious belief declines with educational attainment, particularly with scientific education. Studies show that religious belief declines among those with higher IQs. Atheists like Hawking, Hitchens, Dennett and Dawkins are not outliers, and neither is Bill Gates or Warren Buffett. A comprehensive survey revealed that only about 14 percent of English speaking professional philosophers are theists. As for what little religious belief remains among their colleagues, most professional philosophers regard it as a strange aberration among otherwise intelligent people. Among scientists the situation is much the same. Surveys of the members of the National Academy of Sciences, composed of the most prestigious scientists in the world, show that religious belief among them is practically nonexistent, about 7 percent.
A significant body of scientific evidence suggests that popular religion results from social dysfunction. Religion may be a coping mechanism for the stress caused by the lack of a good social safety net—hence the vast disparity between religious belief in North-Western Europe and the United States.
There is also a strong correlation between religious belief and various measures of social dysfunction including homicides, the proportion of people incarcerated, infant mortality, sexually transmitted diseases, teenage births, abortions, corruption, income inequality and more. A United Nations list of the 20 best countries to live in shows the least religious nations generally at the top. Only in the United States, ranked as the 13th, is religious belief strong relative to other countries. Moreover, virtually all the countries with comparatively little religious belief ranked high on the list of best countries, while the majority of countries with strong religious belief ranked low.
Among the intelligentsia it is common and widespread to find individuals who lost childhood religious beliefs as their education in philosophy and the sciences advanced. By contrast, it is almost unheard of to find disbelievers in youth who became religious as their education progressed. This asymmetry is significant; advancing education is detrimental to religious belief. This suggests another part of the explanation for religious belief—scientific illiteracy. And what has religion given us lately, besides wars and scores of children abused by the clergy, as well as the last two Republican presidents, George W. Bush and Donald J. Trump, neither of which would have made it without evangelical support! A troubling question emerges: why have so few congress members declared themselves Atheists?
Contributing source: https://www.rawstory.com/2019/01/religion-smart-people-problem-shaky-intellectual-foundations-absolute-faith/
I find it amusing that you assume the 7% of the members of The National Academy of Sciences who are believers are somehow intellectually or mentally inferior to the other 93%. Considering how vast are the secrets of the universe, and how little is known about the human brain it seems equally reasonable to assume that the 7% have an unidentified mental superiority or understanding that gifts a connection to the Almighty.
To those who think they know it all I suggest they remember that about a hundred years ago it was suggested that the US patent office should be closed because everything had been invented.
Just say’n.
I happen to be an agnostic who thinks that blanket disparagement of believers is laughably arrogant.
By the way….if you think that religious beliefs fade when there is a strong social safety net…take a look at the Mormons, where the safety net is provided by the faithful for their religious community.
The statistics and interpretation are from the article I linked at the bottom of my summary. However, what should be added, is that the “faith” of the 7%-group of the NAC members is subject to a deeper interpretation. If “faith” is understood as a belief in some higher, natural power that drives it all and which we may never fully understand, I’m onboard. However, if the interpretation is belief in the Bible stories and a “God” who started it and is controlling it all, I call it silly superstition, plain and simple. If the Bible is read with an open, inquisitive mind, one will realize it is all made up, – sprinkled with recognizable geographical names like what is common in fiction to make the stories more believable. For further enlightenment, I can recommend Dan Barker’s “God, the most unpleasant character of all fiction”. Btw, I’m planning another post comparing the current state of affairs with Nazi-Germany in the 1930’s, where religion made a vital role for Hitler’s success, and without which he would not have made it!
Jorg,
You state above that:
If “faith” is understood as a belief in some higher, natural power that drives it all and which we may never fully understand, I’m onboard.
I’m surprised that you are an onboard believer!!!
In light of that, it’s surprising that you dismiss as superstition the writings of the scientifically ignorant seven percenters of millennia ago who wrote the parables and tales of the bible, attempting to express their understandings of a higher, natural power that drives it all.