Atheists more religiously literate than religious people.

reply to post by fooks

It didn't take brains for Jim Jones followers to drink the kool-aid, either. 'Following your heart' is seriously overrated, definately not foolproof, and can lead to a lot of trouble if you don't check in with your brain every now and then.

reply to post by fooks


i think i'd agree with that.

I have found illeterate people both as atheists, and true believers. Most atheists I have seen, where usually brought up in a Christian home, and later rejected it, claiming then to be atheist, but doing so, only as a rejection of the faith their were raised in, and they usually have no knowledge of other faiths. The the True Believer kinds that have been programmed at birth usually to accept the faith they are raised in, and never question it, or study any other faiths. So, they both are ignorant. I was raised Christian, and later rejected it in my late teens, and then threw my 20's, I called myself an atheist, and was ignorant of anything other than the Baptist faith I was brought up in. It was later, I want to say my late 20's that something propelled me to want to learn more of religions, and I studied them all to some degree. I wanted to know, at least the basics of them all. I studied some various sects of Christianity, sects of Judaism, they all have sects within them, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Baha'i, Mormons.... etc. Having done this, just as a personal interest hobby, I have to seriously recommend everyone do this, because it's enlightening to just know some basics of what others believe and practice. My family is still True Believer types, and totally ignorant of other faiths, and of course they believe their way is the only way, without even knowing what the "other" ways are. Personally, with more and more various world religions becomeing integrated in society, I think a nonbiased class on this should be mandatory for elementary school in social sciences. For me, I guess I am still technically an atheist, in that I do not beleive in a separate controller creater anthropomorphical diety, but I do believe in an al pervading consciousness and energy, which everything is, as well as reincarnation, karma, various deminsions, and worlds etc. I guess I adhere most to advaita Hinduism and Buddhism. But, if I had not studied them all(or most), all I would know is that True Believe Jesus is the ONLY way stuff I was raised with. But now, having understood the more philosophical apsects of spirituality, I can go back and look at Jesus and things in the Bible with a philosophical spiritual view and have, what I believe, a deeper understanding. I also accept the Ancient Alien view, and see much of the Bible as a document of ET intervention.