Instead of asking

[Sappho]

I have noticed a trend that atheists in general tend to be better critical thinkers, but I haven't had enough data to draw a meaningful conclusion on that. It seems theists tend to believe in other irrational things more than atheists, which makes sense, but I couldn't be sure about that either.

For the most part I blame indoctrination. They have been programmed to believe it, before they learned how to properly think or evaluate beliefs. It's in there deep, like a tumour, but it disguises itself perfectly as rational thought. It is also really good at throwing up any kind of mental defence to avoid being discovered or scrutinised.

I know the feeling of addressing beliefs you have been indoctrinated with. Mine just weren't religious. It's extremely uncomfortable, and it's very tempting to leave them alone and just accept the overwhelming emotional manipulation that makes you believe it must be true.

I would fully expect that if you took a group of children, developed their critical thinking and didn't indoctrinate them, that the overwhelming majority would never end up joining a religion. Theists are mainly victims, in my estimation.

You can have a very intelligent person in front of you, and have them change into a total moron when you bring up certain subjects. It's so obvious and jarring, it's painful to watch. Religion is one of those subjects, but it isn't the only one. You can tell when the person's beliefs are based on emotion and not logic, because their mindset totally changes. It shows how well the human brain can compartmentalise. They probably don't realise they're doing it, most of the time at least.

I appriciate you saying religion is not something exclusively for morons.
Your posts are usually the most rational ones.