I am probably smarter than over half of them and probably not as smart as many of them.

[washingtonpost.com]

A very keen philosophical challenge to ego.

generalizations are generally wrong. there are christians who don't let their religious beliefs run their lives and there are those for whom their christianity is everything. they are both christians. are they the same? they are not. in addtion, people compartmentalize. i like to use the example of frank zappa. he was brilliant on so many levels. with regard to tobacco he was a fucking idiot. he believed tobacco was harmless and that the campaign against it was a hoax, to the day it killed him. so was he stupid or brilliant? yes. he was, in general, brilliant, and about tobacco he was stupid.

g

If having the ability to delude yourself into believing what ever you want is a form of intelligence then Christians are outright geniuses.

You'd have to define "smarter". It's "smarter" in a sense, not to smoke, or to abuse alcohol ... but very smart people do both and very dumb people do not. Association is not cause.

The Bible says "The fool has said in his heart, 'there is no god'", and theists frequently cite this to demonstrate that they are "smarter" than unbelievers. Way smarter.

So to me this is just a dick-waving contest that shows how stupid everyone is for making such meaningless pronouncements.

I'm not smart enough to con people into buying me a private jet. Or maybe it's just morals.

One's lack of belief does not, on its own, make one smarter. However, there is a clear association between educational level, which is one measurement of intellectual aptitude, and a commitment to secular, nonreligious values. In other words, in addition to personal freedoms, economic security, and an appreciation of diversity, education is one of the most important factors predicting, on a societal level, unbelief.

Depends on the christian. I know a few that I would consider way more intelligent than I am, and a few that ... well...not so much.

I think there are plenty of Christians smarter than I. But the only smart fundamentalists are the ones who make lots of money out of it.

Scientific Proof: Liberals Are Smarter Than Conservatives [wp.me]

Scientists Have Established a Link Between Brain Damage and Religious Fundamentalism @alternet [alternet.org]

Science hasn’t found an answer to this question, has it? Or has it? I don’t know that I’m any smarter than a Christian, but they sure can’t show any proof of a God and yet they still believe. So I just look at the facts and don’t know if that makes me any smarter or not.