Well It Had To Happen, The World Is Becoming More Intelligent!

[RATTER15]

http://www.brockpress.com/2016/01/why-atheism-is-surging-around-the-world/


Long may it continue!

[sandyRoe]

The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.

Says it all, really.

[woofgang]

well that’s one person’s view......when I see my neighbour clean his upstairs windows by standing on the sloping extension roof, closing the bathroom window on a piece of thin rope and hold onto the rope with one hand while cleaning with the other thus hanging most of his his body weight off the window, I do wonder.....

[jno]

it's clearly having an effect here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-33984082

[RATTER15]

jno, and you think that is due to the lack of religion worldwide?

[jno]

it's about as well founded as your conclusion that it's related to the world becoming more intelligent.

[woofgang]

whether its taught as an aspect of religion or not, I do think that in some parts of society, a respect for others is not being taught or enforced, either at home or in school.....

[andy-hughes]

I believe that most faiths were formed in a world where life was hard, scary, brutal and short.

Coupled with a subconscious need for security against the fear of death, most mainstream religions offer an afterlife as a reward for good works.

As humanity has evolved, religion has singularly failed to keep track and develop - and this particularly applies to the Christian faith where its regressive secretive archaic practices are increasingly irrelevant to a modern society.

The exception is the Muslim faith, but that thrives because it tenets are far more a part of daily life than the bolted-on attitudes of Christianity for most of its believers.

I have no sympathy for the Christian church which continues to work its seedy scary nasty fear/guilt based misogyny on its followers. dwindling as they are, and its arrogance and refusal to modernise will see its demise within a matter of a couple of centuries - its loss will not be mourned.

[Peter Pedant]

// Stephen Chartrand is a third year political science major, hopeful journalist and author.//

oh god poor guy - my brain has turned to mush faster than it wold have if I hadnt read it

he has obviously spent a lot of time on a thesis/idea which is riven by illogicalities and non sequiturs

can you be religious and tell an inquirer you arent ? yes easily
if you say you are religious - does that mean you are ?
think Bishop bell who is currently doing time for abusing curates
[ you were closer to God if you prayed without any clothes on and the curates believed him ] was he religious or not
He would say he is and was
we would say he couldnt be

and no the world ISNT becoming more intelligent
which is the header that made me read this awful crap
There is something called - regression towards the mean

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regression_toward_the_mean

thick parents tend to have brighter children
and bright parents tend to have less bright

which is regression towards the mean
( the mean stays the same )

non sequiturs start at the headline ......

[Peter Pedant]

// I believe that most faiths were formed in a world where life was hard, scary, brutal and short. //

o god this is a day for non sequiturs

two counter examples

The Roman religion clearly wasnt - roman archeological strata are always far thicker than anyone other reflecting the astounding affluence of its society

and the egyptian pharaonic religion
again astoundingly rich ....

oh well - I think it is me .....

[jim360]

Even as an atheist, the suggestion that atheism is linked with increased intelligence is absurd. And, indeed, a pretty unintelligent suggestion.

[naomi24]

andy-hughes’ bizarre criticism of Christianity better describes Islam. All religion is “increasingly irrelevant to a modern society”, but Islam’s “regressive secretive archaic practices” are without a shadow of doubt far more damaging than any other to a modern society.

As for the claim that atheists are more intelligent than religionists, that depends upon the definition of ‘intelligence’. Rationality, not academic achievement, defines true intelligence. The assumption that the two necessarily have something in common is a fallacy. They don’t.

[jomifl]

Possibly it is a matter of religion diminishing and atheism increasing by default. Perhaps improved communications and education is the reason.

[naomi24]

Improved communication certainly provides the opportunity to consider other ideas.

[mikey4444]

I think it would be unwise to associate a decrease in attendance at church and belief in a God, with an increase in atheism.

[andy-hughes]

Naomi - //andy-hughes’ bizarre criticism of Christianity better describes Islam....//

My criticism - despite your adjective - is of the church, not the faith, an important distinction I feel.

[naomi24]

andy-hughes, The church from whose appointed representatives you are, by your own admission, happy to receive blessings. You appear to be somewhat confused.

[vetuste_ennemi]

"As humanity has evolved, religion has singularly failed to keep track and develop...
the exception is the Muslim faith, but that thrives because it tenets are far more a part of daily life".

I certainly agree that Islam's tenets are part of daily life, not only that of Muslims, but, increasingly, that of many many Europeans, Andy.
Your task today is to explain in any way that is convincing how your observation equates to any civilised definition of "development".

[Khandro]

Very good prog. last night BBC 2; Episode 1, 'The Story of China', by Michael Wood, it bit muddled in the editing dept. but excellent otherwise. Religion was stamped out under the so-called Cultural Revolution, but Confucianism, now thriving better than ever, with it's emphasis on morality, ritual and reverence to ancestors. Worth thinking about, and it will be repeated tonight BBC2, 11:02 - 12:05.

[mikey4444]

Ratter...I think it is more to do with people being better educated an informed than intelligent.

[vetuste_ennemi]

Have recorded it.