intelligence

Kimberly Winston 8-19-2013
Person taking an IQ test. Photo courtesy RNS/shutterstock.com

Person taking an IQ test. Photo courtesy RNS/shutterstock.com

A new study of almost a century’s worth of data shows that the smarter you are, the less likely you are to believe in God.

The study, conducted by Miron Zuckerman, a psychologist at the University of Rochester, examined the findings of 63 earlier studies — one dating back to the 1920s — that measured intelligence and religiosity. The majority of those studies found that more intelligent people were more likely to lack religious beliefs.

“The relation between intelligence and religion is negative,” Zuckerman said. “It was very early in the study that we realized that.”

But Zuckerman is careful to point out that his work — known as a “meta-study” because it examines a range of other studies — does not mean only dumb people believe in God.

Rather, he said, it shows only that more intelligent people may have less need for religion.

Jim Wallis 10-27-2011

Finally, as President Obama has announced, this American war will soon be over, with most of the 44,000 American troops still in Iraq coming home in time to be with their families for Christmas.

The initial feelings that rushed over me after hearing the White House announcement were of deep relief. But then they turned to deep sadness over the terrible cost of a war that was, from the beginning, wrong; intellectually, politically, strategically and, above all, morally wrong.

The War in Iraq was fundamentally a war of choice, and it was the wrong choice.

Duane Shank 9-07-2011

Two long pieces this weekend described "one hell of a killing machine," and "the dark matter

Jim Wallis 6-23-2011

Last evening, President Obama made his long-awaited announcement on beginning withdrawal of the 103,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

Brian McLaren 6-15-2011

In addition to my summer reading recommendations from the other day, I need to mention a few more.

Jim Wallis 6-02-2011

One of the amazing things about scripture is that, even after thousands of years, it continues to inspire. Many scholars believe that the prophet Isaiah lived in the 8th century B.C.E.

Hannah Lythe 5-26-2011
[Editors' note: As part of Sojourners' campaign to end the war in Afghanistan, we will run a weekly Afghanistan news digest to educate our readers about the latest n
Betsy Shirley 5-04-2011
Seconds after news of Osama bin Laden's death, I logged on to Twitter and watched the 140-character updates roll in.

David Cortright 5-03-2011
The killing of Osama bin Laden brings partial closure to the long war against al Qaeda.
Nathan Schneider 2-11-2011
Throughout the coverage of the uprising in Egypt, we've been repeatedly told that Egyptians trust their military more than any other pa
Duane Shank 1-27-2011
In Tuesday evening's generally well-received State of the Union speech, President Obama appealed to the center with talk of reducing the deficit and controlling federal spending.
Becky Garrison 1-10-2011

I welcomed in the New Year in Tucson, Arizona with the kind folks of the Restoration Project

John Fleming 11-16-2010

[Editors' Note: Former state trooper James Bonard Fowler plead guilty this week to a misdemeanor manslaughter charge in the 1965 shooting of Jimmie Lee Jackson in Alabama.

Nathan Schneider 7-28-2010

It's out: An enormous trove of documents about the war in Afghanistan yesterday appeared on Wikileaks (whose servers currently seem to be overwhelmed by the traffic) together with comprehensive report

Duane Shank 7-19-2010
The Washington Post today blanketed the front page with this lede:

Lisa Sharon Harper 4-29-2010

Certain moments in our nation's history have consistently opened the door for the least civil voices to enact evil through civil policy: think the institution of race-based U.S. slavery, the Indian removals, Jim Crow laws, legalized segregation, the federal protection of lynching mobs, and, don't forget, the Japanese internment camps, among others.

Kathy Khang 4-16-2010
I have a problem. My internal filter doesn't always work.
John Gehring 3-10-2010
The Washington Post has a new op-ed page writer drawing scrutiny for his hearty endorsement of "enhanced interrogation," which translated from Orwellian into English means torture.
Brian McLaren 12-17-2009
The president's campaign speech in Philadelphia on race and his speech earlier this year to the Muslim world from Egypt were, in my mind, two of the most important presidential speeches of my lifet