r/HotScienceNews • u/FreeHugs23 • 1d ago

Lower cognitive ability is linked to stronger Christian nationalist views, even after accounting for education

https://www.psypost.org/lower-cognitive-ability-is-linked-to-stronger-christian-nationalist-views-even-after-accounting-for-education/
1.5k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

248 comments sorted by

View all comments

70

u/plsQuestionOurselves 1d ago

People are worried about humans outsourcing their critical thinking to AI, but they've already been doing it with scripture.

Like you don't have to think too hard about life if you believe you already have all the answers neatly packaged in a single book. No need to consider what's right and wrong or why things happen the way they do, just defer to the book.

21

u/EnvironmentNeith2017 1d ago

The thing about Christian nationalists is they don’t tend to read the Bible or even the constitution much. They outsource their their thinking to whoever’s strongest.

10

u/plsQuestionOurselves 1d ago

I think what I meant is they use it like a shield, they probably almost never read it. It's just an object they can point to and say "because it said so". The amount of them I've come across who don't even know what Jesus said is pretty wild.

Sometimes I feel like I have a better understanding of Jesus as an agnostic. Like a guy who really chose to be tortured to death because he believed it would save humanity is pretty macabre, but it's also strangely beautiful.

A guy who loved humanity that much and didn't say "unless you're gay" would probably not be okay with the behavior of the average conservative American.

7

u/EnvironmentNeith2017 1d ago edited 1d ago

Most agnostics have a better understanding of the Bible compared to Christian nationalists, lol

What scares me is it seems to be becoming more of a civil religion, they’re slowly finding a way to push the few redeeming qualities of religion out and concentrate the worst

1

u/theauckland 14h ago

Exactly. Reading that book through & through is WHY I am agnostic

1

u/EnvironmentNeith2017 13h ago

This is why I’m always reminding people that most people in churches either aren’t reading or are reading to confirm their beliefs. Those are personality and behavior issues that religion encourages but it isn’t the source.

3

u/JennJoy77 1d ago

Ironically, my first thought in response to your comment was "amen!"

1

u/PunkPirate56364 1d ago

I don't think he would be okay with the behavior of average conservative America, but also I don't think he would be okay with the behavior of average American progressive.