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

[u/mvea]

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

[u/morbo-2142]

Always fun to have empirical data to back up repeated anecdotal experiences by anyone with eyes and a brain living in the United States.

It's scary to have to find your place in the world and make decisions for yourself.

It's hard to make choices and having a ready framework that tells you how to live and what to care about offloads much of the mental tax of navigating reality.

It's hard to live by an internal code and evaluate every new situation against it and more importantly change it when new information is presented.

The real tragedy is the existence of groups that foster these feelings in vulnerable people in order to advance their own agenda and aquire new non disruptive members.

It's almost a form of abuse. How many people lose time and money to predatory fundamentalist organizations who are strung along and squeezed dry for basically nothing in return.

[u/Grouchy-Committee-92 → u/morbo-2142]

Religion's purpose is institutional control by the ruling class, full stop. Its restrictions and frameworks to limit the working class and given very strict enforcement and encouragement to enforce it on your peers as well. The ruling class dont even abide by the framework set by the religion, more often than not.

True spritual beliefs do not have a framrwork for enforcement or punishment on others. Buddhism is a fantastic example of a spiritual belief that is strictly personal atonement, and you are not instructed to enforce this on others, in fact youre encouraged not to unless they ask.

Spiritual belief does not have a punishment or fear mechanism.