How come being more educated makes you less likely to be religious?

Question

http://kspark.kaist.ac.kr/Jesus/Intelligence%20&%20religion.htm

I'm not saying that you can't be educated and religious at the same time. There are many great men who were very religious and at the same time very educated.

However, on average, the higher your education, the lower chance you are religious, or believe in God.

In fact, in the professions that require the most education and specialization, belief in God drops dramatically. Scientist, who study the world and how it works, are a lot less likely to believe in God.

"A recent survey of members of the National Academy of Sciences showed that 72% are outright atheists, 21% are agnostic and only 7% admit to belief in a personal God."

Why is that so that the less knowledgeable you are about everything, the more likely you are to believe in God? Wouldn't knowing how the world ticks and operates bring you closer to God, since it's his creation? This trend is universal, all over the world.

I'm interested in how Christians, Jews and Muslims are responding to this.

Answer 1

Perhaps one should do the same survey on the members of the Pontifical Academy of Science, and compare the results.

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontif...

Richard Dawkins and Double Standards in the "Religion vs. Science" Mentality / Galileo Redux

http://socrates58.blogspot.com/2008/03/r...

Dialogue With an Atheist on the Relationship of Christianity and Metaphysics to the Scientific Method (vs. Sue Strandberg)

http://socrates58.blogspot.com/2005/03/d...

It is a big myth that science was persecuted by religion and held it back. There are very few examples of science being persecuted by religion, and really none in the actual middle ages. Modern science began in the middle ages and it began among Christians, in monestaries as a Christian project.

http://www.doxa.ws/meta_crock/SN_science...

Answer 2

Because science makes it hard for those who were taught fundamentalism.

For me, intelligence, knowing facts of science does not negate my belief in God.  God Bless you.

Answer 3

I think it has to do with perpetually asking questions and not being content with the 'given' answers.

No-one with an enquiring mind can be content with "god did it" as an answer - there are just too many loose ends and unanswered questions - let alone all the contradictions.

Answer 4

Education tends to encourage people to consider viewpoints outside their own. They learn to reason logically and accept that their emotions are feelings, not facts. Since most major religions are based not upon reason but emotion, a solid education tends to bring people closer to real life and help them examine their emotional beliefs in a logical fashion.

It is possible to believe and still be educated. Many people do. But it's not possible to be educated -- truly educated, not just earn a piece of paper -- and believe in things that are directly contradictory to observable reality. That is why some religious people homeschool their children. (not to say that all homeschooling is for that purpose, of course it isn't!)

Answer 5

Interesting.  Very interesting.  Not surprised though.

Answer 6

"Wouldn't knowing how the world ticks and operates bring you closer to God, since it's his creation?"

That's actually a really cool and valid question/insight. Thank you for that ^^

It does make you wonder, though.

Answer 7

This is a phenomenon that is quite recent. If you study the history of scientific advances, it was the religious people who took the lead. It's a case of education being misused...much like bin Laden was supported by the Americans initially and later on he became so powerful that he turned against them or like a teenager who thinks he knows more than his parents.

Answer 8

Religion is fragile, even the lightest of intellectual criticism will crush it into nothing.

You're quite the intelligent guy for asking this.

Answer 9

"Professing themselves to be wise they become fools" (Romans 1:22).