Thanks both to those who answered the question as asked and those who told me some long stuff.
I’m smart enough not to drink from this poisoned well, at least.
It certainly helps.
I was raised by an “education mama” who was also very religious. She was not educated herself.
The church I went to, while it operates some private schools, does not believe in education (and also believes in boredom and control; fortunately they only did this at the church itself). I read the whole Bible, went “this makes no sense” and so became an atheist.
I don’t consider myself smart. I know, and know of, too many people who are smarter than I am. If I’m smart then there are tons of geniuses.
This. Being an atheist takes almost no brainpower at all. The arguments are so incredibly simple you could get a six year old to understand them. What’s hard, is making the conscious decision to accept everything that goes along with being an atheist; when you’re dead, you’re dead. Your loved ones aren’t waiting for you in paradise. They’re rotting in a hole in the ground. It doesn’t really matter what you do with your life because when you die all the memories which make up who you are get wiped. And it doesn’t really matter what impact you have on the people around you because the same thing will happen to them. One day, the last human will die and it’ll be like our entire species never existed. There really isn’t an objective basis for morality. The nihilists actually have a pretty good point etc…
All this is really hard to take. I suspect it’s the main reason people tend to drift back to religion as they get older. Atheists aren’t smarter than anybody else. They’re just not very good at ignoring horrible truths.
Less “tribal” I’d say. Don’t think that makes me more smart.
Intelligence and rejection of religion are correlated.
But I don’t know if that is the case of my rejection of religion.
I’m not all that smart, but I do my research. Usually a minimal amount, but it’s something.
It’s so clear to me how all religion was just made up to control people, or that the myths surrounding it were to provide answers before science could find them, or just to give comfort during dark times. It’s all so obvious and clear to me that I can comfortably be an atheist without doubt ever creeping in.
No, I don’t think I’m an atheist because I’m smart. I am fairly smart compared to lots of people I have met, but of course I’ve also met lots of people smarter (for certain values of smart; when it comes to human relations I am not smart at all).
There seems to be a subtext to the OP’s question, something like: do you feel superior because you’re an atheist? My answer to that would also be no. My sister, whom I love very much, had a born-again conversion as an adult, and her relationship with her deity seems to give her much support and comfort in the trying times of her life, as well as joy in the better times. The fact that I don’t share her faith nor believe it to be “true” does not mean that I think I’m in any way better (or worse) than she is. She has agreed not to try to convert me and I have agreed not to try to poke holes in her faith. It seems to work most of the time. As for people who are not my sister, I have not lived their lives nor have I walked in their shoes, and if they have lives that work and that include faith then I’m ok with that.
Also note that there is a lot of magical thinking out there that is not specifically religious, and that is just as misguided vis-a-vis reality as religious faith.
I’ve been an atheist as long as I can remember because, to date, no one has presented me with any evidence as to existence of any god.
I consider atheism to be the default. We are born pretty much a “blank slate,” and spend a lifetime filling in the blank. At not time should the supernatural enter into this. Anyone with at least average intelligence should understand this.
No, I was just brought up without any religion. Neither of my parents were religious (one made it to Catholic confirmation before giving it all up, the other wasn’t allowed to go to Hebrew School because my grandfather didn’t believe in that for girls). So, it just wasn’t part of the household. I had friends who were nominally Catholic or Jewish (not too many Protestants where I grew up), but it wasn’t a big part of their lives either. So, I just never had the indoctrination at home or any peer pressure. If you’re not brought up with religion, it seems unlikely you’ll become religious (exceptions exist, no doubt). I’m also not much of a joiner.
I had no belief in God or gods ever because it just never came up at home or with friends. So, while I’m fairly well educated (does that mean I’m smart?), it’s not like I reasoned my way to atheism – it was always just the default.
Not because I’m smart, because I’m cheap.
Any god that can create the universe wouldn’t be panhandling me to keep the lights on in his church.
I think it’s worth mentioning that my parents never made any conscious decision about it either. It was their parents who broke with tradition (mostly). My maternal grandfather lost his religion when the Nazis killed his family while he was on the run. My paternal grandfather was forced to go to Bible-thumper bible school, and got pretty cynical about religion after that. Paternal grandmother was treated really poorly by nuns in her Catholic school (had to pray while kneeling on raw rice as punishment for some behavior or other). It’s only my maternal grandmother that never had any real religion, having grown up in Soviet Ukraine.
So, by the time my parents came along, any religious observance was just for tradition - Christmas, Easter, and Seder, I think, and just the fun parts. And, that’s all it ever was for me, too.
Intelligence never entered into it.
Pretty much this. I was born atheist. My P(rotestant or resbyterian, I can never remember which) father and Jewish mother didn’t push religion. I grew up in a Jewish neighborhood. When I attended church or synagogue with my friends, it all seemed obviously pretend, and I just sort of kept my mouth shut.
It’s worked for me.
I’m an atheist because I tried reading religious texts.
I am an atheist because that was the path in life chosen for me by God.
I consider myself an agnostic a-religionist (that is, there may be some ‘first cause’ out there, but we don’t know anything about it (if it exists at all) and all religions past, present and future are human constructs and no/teach nothing useful about any “God”)
I also consider myself reasonably smart (Cum Laude in College, upper middle class, worked in a fairly important job). Not overly smart; my brother and SIL both have PhD’s and both are strongly Christian.
Had my doubts long ago (never really bought into the Trinity), but went to church until my 30’s, when I actually read most of the Bible and figured out that it really doesn’t teach much at all.
Dang, I was going to say yes, but after reading this thread I guess I won’t.
Still, I was raised in a very religious environment, got the full treatment right from the get-go, and I still wound up an atheist…can I get half a point at least?
Pretty much this. Even moreso, when they accept a religion with a very specific story and rules, instead of just a “god of the gaps.”
My 3 sisters and I were raised catholic. The 4 of us have 14 kids - ZERO of whom practice any religion. My eldest sister just recently converted to full-fledged disbelief. Just a pleasant tiny datapoint that makes me think there may be hope for our species yet!