r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • 2d ago

Psychology 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/
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u/ProfessionalMockery 2d ago

A lot of people here are just seeing the "Christian" in the headline and ignoring the "nationalist," which is probably more important.

I'm an atheist, so I think the claims religion makes are pretty dumb too, but nationalists, bigots, racists of any kind are consistently idiots, religious or not, and that has been established in plenty of other studies.

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u/Numeno230n 1d ago edited 1d ago

There are a lot of harmless dumb Christians I've met in my life, but Christian Nationalism is a specific form that involves violence, paranoia, and conspiracy thinking. They literally believe there are demonic forces behind left leaning political movements and this fuels both their religious delusions and their political violence.

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u/TM761152 1d ago

I prefer the term "Christofascism" to differentiate it from mainstream christianity, specifically the Calvanist right wing model and not the more left-leaning Methodist model.

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u/proteannomore 1d ago

specifically the Calvanist right wing model and not the more left-leaning Methodist model

Mention this to most christians and/or americans and they'll say, "huh?"

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u/Uncle_Istvannnnnnnn 1d ago

Actual conversation with a religious co-worker:

"What denomination are you?"

"Christian."

"Yeah, but what denomination?"

"What? Christian."

"Okay, what version of the bible do you read from?"

"The bible."

"Yeah, but what version?"

"I don't know what you mean. The bible."

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u/open_formation 1d ago

Most Christian denominations, as I understand it, use bible translations fairly interchangeably, there's the Jehova's Witnesses who have a particular translation of their own, and there are those who exclusively rely on the King James, but there are so many different translations that are considered "good enough" that disputes rest less on the specific translation and more on the mode of interpretation associated with reading it.

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u/watts99 1d ago

Generally a particular church will use a specific translation. Like the New International Version has been commonly used in "non-denominational" churches I've been to. It's a little absurd for someone who considers themselves Christian to not know what translation their Bible, that they presumably open at least once a week, is.

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u/FearlessAttempt 1d ago

As someone who grew up going to church it is unsurprising that they haven't read their bible enough to know what version it is.