Are you a religious fundie? You probably don't have a graduate degree.

[originalpckelly]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religiosity_and_intelligen...

I just happened to find this when do some reading on a related topic.

[sui generis]

1. eh, anybody who has authoritarian personality disorder

isn't the sharpest marble in the bag

[Virginia Dare]

2. Ignorance pretty much has to be first on the list...

of credentials for a fundie.

[HereSince1628]

7. The exploitation of ignorance is pretty high on the list, I'd say.

I'm not sure that the economic empires created by the Jim and Tammy Fayes, and Pat Robertsons of the world, not to mention thousands of huckster faith-healers and tent-revival entertainers were built by ignorant people so much as they exploited the ignorance and service to the legitimate or illegitimate trappings of religious authority.

[Virginia Dare]

9. Your handle...

where did your peeps land in 1628?

[HereSince1628]

13. In what became New Haven CT but

the American founder didn't much like rules, ended up going to Lynn Mass, and then became one of the founders of Southampton L.I.

[Virginia Dare]

16. Very cool..

My ancestors landed in MD and VA somewhat later--1660's.

[Warpy]

12. Ignorant and/or isolated

One of the staunchest PTL and 700 Club people I ever knew was a reaonably wealthy and well educated elderly matron in New England. She had been socially isolated for years, thanks to an alcoholic husband who simply couldn't be taken into polite company. He was a real piece of pee on himself work.

TV evangelism filled a need for her, probably telling her that the cross she was bearing (a drunken husband) in life would reap her a great reward in heaven.

Since she was fairly well educated, she didn't try to push that crap off on any of us. Her faith in evangelism was evidenced by all the pins encrusting lapel and purse.

So it's not just ignorance. It's desperation with life circumstances plus social isolation. It gives people a way out that doesn't involve lawyers and courts, just death.

[HereSince1628]

14. Yes, well vulnerable one way or another.

The scam will gitcha, gitcha, gitcha
one way...or another
they're gonna findya, findya, findya
one way...or another

...

[Virginia Dare]

17. Slightly OT but anybody..

know who is that ghastly Tammy Faye wannabe on the televangelist network these days. I was surfing channels the other night and caught a few minutes of her. She's like Tammy Faye on steroids or something.

[calico1]

3. Education and knowledge are sinful things.

Now go and pray for forgiveness!

[Atman]

4. Interestingly, that is often a "selling point" for them.

The inherent distrust of pointy-headed inta-leckshuls. Learning is a dangerous thing! It's wot got Adam and Eve evicted, doncha know! Bible says so! You and your scientist friends, you hate the lord! Yer gonna BURN! BURN I TELL YA!

[rfranklin]

5. As long as you know the fundamentals....

who needs a lot of book learning?

[BOSSHOG]

6. They are a barrel full of monkeys

They revel in their ignorance; don't need no stinking education, just got to believe stuff. Then they give money weekly to "Doctor" so and so who got his degree in Christology from the Holy College of the 700 Club. and they idolize warmongers like karl rove who got deferments to attend college so he could get out of military service and yet ole karl never did get a college degree.

To say religious zealots are ignorant constitution hating motherfuckers is thursday's understatement.

[originalpckelly]

8. And these are the people who think it is such a leap to think we...

came from monkeys.

[leetrisck]

10. Know lots of religious

people with graduate degrees & without - doesn't seem to make in difference

[cgrindley]

11. Well, it all depends on the notion of a personal god

I think that the question is sort of misleading. A couple of the articles referenced by wiki state that educated usually don't believe in a "personal" god but don't bother taking the question any further than that. Likewise, it doesn't really define what people mean by a "personal" god.

The idea of a personal God as some big white man in a beard who periodically carries you across a sandy beach is fairly ridiculous, but I'm happy to use the word "God" to describe the idea of a perfectly described and complete collection of the behaviors and laws and frameworks of the universe. I also am unable to see any meaningful difference between that "god" and some of the more philosophical interpretations of the Christian one. For example, my notion of "God" is all powerful, all knowing, eternal and perfectly just. My "God" ensures that gravity works for me, that my lungs evolved in a way that ensures that my blood is capable of drawing oxygen out of the air, that plants evolved a way to convert sunlight and water and a few minerals into good stuff for me to eat and so on. That my "God" does this, I suppose is proof enough that It loves me in Its own way. That the value of pi is changeless is probably evidence of "good", likewise, it's pretty nifty that we don't have insane and random fluxuations in gravity.

If I was asked if I believed in a personal "God", I suppose I'd be unable to answer the question without further clarification. If I was pressed, I'd probably say "no" to avoid fucking up the survey's data. If I was at a cocktail party with religious types, I'd say "yes" to avoid a fight.

I'm a nice guy and I hate confrontations and fights at cocktail parties.

[ComerPerro]

15. I do too! I have a doctorate in Christology from Bob Jones U!