I don't think it is precisely true to say that religion makes people stupid, but it certainly can make people *behave stupidly*.
I mean, come on; people who throw rattlesnakes around their church to show that "the spirit is on them" who then say when they are bitten "I don't know why God allowed this to happen, but I know it's part of His plan."? Sure that's stupid. We all know exactly what happened; this person frightened a wild animal and gave it no way to escape, so it bit him; a mouse would have done as much and a six year old child would have seen it coming.
And this person did it specifically *because of his religion.* We're not talking about a snake lover who took religion as his excuse and cover to handle snakes; a snake lover would have done it properly, gripping the snake gently but firmly just behind the head to admire it before letting it escape into the bushes.
This is just one example, which I happened to see in a film in anthropology class many years ago, but we can all think of stupid behaviors prompted by religion. The Inquisition pops to mind. I can imagine a few sick people who want to torture, who take religion as their excuse and shield--but if religion didn't make the rest of that society behave stupidly, why would the normal people put up with it? People deny their children medical care, believing God will heal them if they just pray hard enough--can you imagine someone doing that without religion telling them they should?
Religion doesn't have to make people behave stupidly, but it seems to me that it certainly can, and that's something to worry about when religious people collect in large groups and accumulate temporal power.
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I mean, come on; people who throw rattlesnakes around their church to show that "the spirit is on them" who then say when they are bitten "I don't know why God allowed this to happen, but I know it's part of His plan."? Sure that's stupid. We all know exactly what happened; this person frightened a wild animal and gave it no way to escape, so it bit him; a mouse would have done as much and a six year old child would have seen it coming.
And this person did it specifically *because of his religion.* We're not talking about a snake lover who took religion as his excuse and cover to handle snakes; a snake lover would have done it properly, gripping the snake gently but firmly just behind the head to admire it before letting it escape into the bushes.
This is just one example, which I happened to see in a film in anthropology class many years ago, but we can all think of stupid behaviors prompted by religion. The Inquisition pops to mind. I can imagine a few sick people who want to torture, who take religion as their excuse and shield--but if religion didn't make the rest of that society behave stupidly, why would the normal people put up with it? People deny their children medical care, believing God will heal them if they just pray hard enough--can you imagine someone doing that without religion telling them they should?
Religion doesn't have to make people behave stupidly, but it seems to me that it certainly can, and that's something to worry about when religious people collect in large groups and accumulate temporal power.