And then comes the piece de resistance: You should come to our church. It’s different. I have a news flash for you: No it is not.

Oh so true. Some are louder than others. Some have pushier acolytes than others. Some are classier than others. But they’re all essentially the same: Believe in the imaginary friend in the sky and get an eternal reward. Um… Yeah. Whatever.

My favorite response to “my church is different” is: They’re all the same, because they all ask me to believe in a being that doesn’t exist, except in a book. If I’m going to waste time fantasizing about spending eternity with a fictional character, I’d choose Mr. Darcy, thanks. Or maybe Harry Bosch. Or Ricardo “Ranger” Mancuso. Oh, hell, I’ll be a pantheist and take all three!

It’s a statment about a group, so a few exceptions (or a few examples that confirm it) doesn’t mean it is or isn’t true.

I’m not trying to prove the relative intelligence of believers versus non. I simply don’t like to assume the norm for all members of any group. If we can clearly see examples lying outside the norm, then it lets us appreciate the full spectrum of the group. This isn’t a scientific study, it’s my effort to grab a few datapoints to frame the universe.

What kind of person does it take to do that kind of thing? Is it just a certain brand of evangelicals that promote that kind of evangelizing?

A few people here have used this anecdote to question the intelligence of believers, and it makes me question the intelligence of some of them too. More than once I have been asked if I have been to church (you mean those buildings on almost every block in this country?) or if I have read the Bible (not the whole thing, but a big chunk of it, some parts more than once). And they seem to think that I have either not done these things or they have never occurred to me.

And then comes the piece de resistance: You should come to our church. It’s different. I have a news flash for you: No it is not.

This story reinforces my prejudice – albeit a common one – that generally believers aren’t as bright as non-believers.

I see this mentioned as a prejudice, and I see it denied by well-meaning atheists, but I’m curious – has the research been done? Do we really know if it is or isn’t true? Or are we just being PC for the sake of niceness?

This might be the wrong place to ask but if you can suggest a few names of smart believers whose very existence can destroy this stereotype for me I’d appreciate it.

And you want anecdotal evidence why? It’s a statment about a group, so a few exceptions (or a few examples that confirm it) doesn’t mean it is or isn’t true.

They aren’t really trying to convince you. They’re trying to convince themselves. This kid perceived a threat to his addiction. It’s like trying to take liquor away from an alcoholic – he reacts like a cornered animal.

Now surely there must be some very smart people out there who are believers.

Considering that the vast majority of Americans are believers, I’d say you are right.

If you want examples outside of intelligent theologians and academics, about half of biologists are theists of some kind, including Christian Francis Collins, who led the team that decoded the human genome, and Catholic Ken Miller, author of a leading biology textbook and tireless advocate for teaching evolution.

I think I couldn’t have resisted saying something like: “What? You couldn’t kill me, so now you try to convert me?”. Of course, it would have been a joke…

[derail] Now surely there must be some very smart people out there who are believers. I mean statistically there must be a few who have some kind of Nobel prize or Fields medal and still believe in the virgin birth…? This might be the wrong place to ask but if you can suggest a few names of smart believers whose very existence can destroy this stereotype for me I’d appreciate it. And no politicians please because I suspect most of them fake their faith for the votes.[/derail]