Thanks for the replies so far.
Regarding the intellligence of religious believers, I have no doubt that they can be as intelligent as anybody else. But it surely is puzzling that an otherwise intelligent person doesn't recognise the mental contortions they have to go through to reconcile their religious views with reality. That, or they're wilfully ignorant.
Regarding the career/business element, which nicely coincides with Dan Dennett study, religious leaders are much like politicians in this sense. Irrespective of their own beliefs, their livelihood depends on saying what people want to hear. This certainly explains why someone who no longer believes will hide this fact to maintain the status quo. I'm willing to bet that a high percentage of the Christian clergy are like this. I'd like to be able to say the same about Islamic and Jewish leaders also, as it means that organised religion is a generation on two away from dying out, but their religions seem much more rooted in social and cultural tradition. As such, I think the conflicts in their mind will be much smaller. They might doubt many of the claims of their religion, but they can still retain their sense of identity.
On another point, it would be great to hear what some Catholics think about the Pope. How do they reconcile everything their religion is supposed to have taught about greed and wealth, worshipping false gods etc etc, with the extreme wealth of the Catholic church, its power hierarchy, and the idolisation of the Pope? Are they not skeptical of the process used to elect a new Pope, someone who is supposedly appointed by God? Does the child abuse scandal alter your perception of the Catholic Church? I just can't help but laugh when I see the Pope get driven round in his little glass box, being displayed like some zoo animal. He clearly doesn't think his god will protect him from the unwashed masses.
Regarding the intellligence of religious believers, I have no doubt that they can be as intelligent as anybody else. But it surely is puzzling that an otherwise intelligent person doesn't recognise the mental contortions they have to go through to reconcile their religious views with reality. That, or they're wilfully ignorant.
Regarding the career/business element, which nicely coincides with Dan Dennett study, religious leaders are much like politicians in this sense. Irrespective of their own beliefs, their livelihood depends on saying what people want to hear. This certainly explains why someone who no longer believes will hide this fact to maintain the status quo. I'm willing to bet that a high percentage of the Christian clergy are like this. I'd like to be able to say the same about Islamic and Jewish leaders also, as it means that organised religion is a generation on two away from dying out, but their religions seem much more rooted in social and cultural tradition. As such, I think the conflicts in their mind will be much smaller. They might doubt many of the claims of their religion, but they can still retain their sense of identity.
On another point, it would be great to hear what some Catholics think about the Pope. How do they reconcile everything their religion is supposed to have taught about greed and wealth, worshipping false gods etc etc, with the extreme wealth of the Catholic church, its power hierarchy, and the idolisation of the Pope? Are they not skeptical of the process used to elect a new Pope, someone who is supposedly appointed by God? Does the child abuse scandal alter your perception of the Catholic Church? I just can't help but laugh when I see the Pope get driven round in his little glass box, being displayed like some zoo animal. He clearly doesn't think his god will protect him from the unwashed masses.
