ANYONE WHO WENT TO ST PATRICK'S COLLEGE AND STILL THINKS THAT HE'S A CHRISTIAN IS A BIT WEIRD.

Robert and Richard are again having a spat about Christian beliefs - the existence of heaven and hell and the Holy Seagull i.e. situation normal.

I keep out of it because:

• The stupidity of the argument gets me annoyed
• I refuse to comment on Robert's blog until he shows some degree of common sense and continuity.

Instead of wasting my time with thought processes that are becoming increasingly scarce and valuable given the effects of old age and chardonnay, I did a Google search on "Why educated people believe in god" and found this:

"The study of religiosity and intelligence explores the link between religiosity and issues related to intelligence and educational level (by country and on the individual level). Religiosity and intelligence are both complex topics that include diverse variables, and the interactions among variables are not always well understood. For instance, intelligence is often defined differently by different researchers and also all scores from intelligence tests are only estimates of intelligence because concrete measurements, like those of mass or distance, cannot be achieved given the abstract nature of the concept of "intelligence". Religiosity is also complex in that it involves wide variations of interactions of religious beliefs, practices, behaviors, and affiliations in diverse cultures.
A meta-analysis found a negative correlation between intelligence quotient (IQ) and religiosity for western societies. The correlation was suggested to be a result of nonconformity, more cognitive and less intuitive thinking styles among the less religious, and less of a need for religion as a coping mechanism. Some studies have shown a correlation between national average IQ and levels of atheism in society, although others have questioned whether any correlations are due to a complex range of social, economic and historical factors, which interact with religion and IQ in different ways. Others argue that any differences in national IQ and levels of atheism are not necessarily due to levels of religiosity or nonreligiosity, but are correlated with economic, educational, environmental, and social factors. Less developed and poorer countries tend to be more religious, perhaps because religions play a more active social, moral and cultural role in those countries.
One study suggests that intuitive thinking may be one out of many sources that affect levels of religiosity and that analytical thinking may be one out of many sources that affect disbelief. However, others who have reviewed studies on analytic thinking and nonbelievers suggest that analytical thinking does not imply better reflection on religious matters or disbelief.
A global study found that Jews, Christians, religiously unaffiliated persons, and Buddhists have, on average, higher levels of education than the global average. On the individual level, one study observed that education level is positively correlated with a belief in a god in African countries, and negatively correlated in western countries."

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Religiosity and Intelligence

Well, you probably didn't read that. No matter it was full of gobbledygook and American spellings. Maybe have a look at this graph.

Graphs are almost as good as pictures and are easy to read. If you are (like me) too lazy to read the graph I'll give you the highlights:

• Jehovah Witnesses are poorly educated
• Americans are a bit dumb
• Catholics are more stupid than most other Christians
• Christians are more stupid than Muslims, Jews, Hindus and Buddhists.
• Anyone who went to st Patrick's College and still thinks that he's a Christian is a bit weird.