Faith

Will More Education ‘Liberalize’ Your Views on Faith & Heaven?

Researchers Claim Education Doesnt Lower Faith or ReligionEducation is a wonderful thing. As the saying goes, “a little knowledge never hurt anybody,” right? But, when it comes to beliefs on personal matters of faith, what impact does an increase in education have?

According to a new study, the more educated you are, the more liberal you‘re going to be when it comes to your thoughts on who’s going to heaven (and who’s not).

The conflict between science and religion has been well-documented for years. Many have lamented the pro-evolutionary views that scientists embrace as a result of their training and understanding of the universe. While the commonly-held view is that education leads one to be less religious, an article written by University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor Philip Schwadel and published in the Review of Religious Research, comes to a somewhat different conclusion.

Rather than simply not having any religious views as a result of increased education, USA Today’s Cathy Lynn Grossman writes that Schwadel has found that, “Each year of education ups the odds by 15% that people will say there‘s ’truth in more than one religion.’” What does this mean, you ask?

It seems that as people become more educated, their views on religion — at least some aspects of it — liberalize. In addressing these important issues, Schwadel looked at 1,800 American adults’ religious beliefs and education. The results are intriguing.

Apparently, the assessment shows that, as people move through high school and college, their friendship circles naturally widen. This means that people will likely befriend individuals with whom they have major disagreements on matters of politics, faith and the like.

As Schwadel says, when it comes to thinking about the afterlife, “People don’t want to say their friends are going to hell.” Thus, ideals about who God will accept and who he won’t purportedly begin to evolve. According to Grossman, for each year of education above and beyond the seventh grade, Americans are:

•15% more likely to have attended religious services in the past week.

•14% more likely to say they believe in a “higher power” than in a personal God. “More than 90% believe in some sort of divinity,” Schwadel says.

•13% more likely to switch to a mainline Protestant denomination that is “less strict, less likely to impose rules of behavior on your daily life” than their childhood religion.

•13% less likely to say the Bible is the “actual word of God.” The educated, like most folks in general, tend to say the Bible is the “inspired word” of God, Schwadel says.

So, rather than declining in their beliefs, people actually increase religiosity as they become more educated. While some may find this information hard to digest, believing that allegiance to religion does, indeed, decline as education increases, Schwadel isn’t the first research to come to this conclusion. In a paper for the American Religious Identification Survey, Barry A. Kosmin of Trinity College wrote the following, referring to people with advanced (post-graduate) degrees:

People with advanced education are disproportionately represented among both non-believers and churchgoers…The previously positive relationship between education and high school drop-outs has been reversed.  It would be a mistake to infer, however, that a continued expansion of advanced education will produce a religious revival: both the post-graduate and the total populations are becoming slowly less religious over time.

People, then, as a whole are becoming more secular. This, too, is an interesting theory to note. Not everyone, though, would agree with these assessments. According to Daniel M. Hungerman, a faculty member at the University of Notre Dame, higher levels of education do, indeed, lead to a decline in religious participation later in one’s life. He writes:

An additional year of education leads to a 4-percentage-point decline in the likelihood that an individual identifies with any religious tradition; the estimates suggest that increases in schooling can explain most of the large rise in non-affiliation in Canada in recent decades.

Grossman makes this point as well, also quoting Kosmin: ”the educated elite look a lot like the rest of America.” Essentially, this means that the educated are just as likely as the uneducated to embrace the belief in a higher power.

What do you think? Does more education make one less likely to embrace religion? Take our poll:


(h/t USA Today)

Comments (169)

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  • hugodehenderson
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:55pm

    I would like to see the federal government totally out of the education of our children. Leave it to the individual states to educate its citizens. Perhaps the states should leave education to the counties. That is how it was at the time our country was founded.

    Report Post »  
    • JGraham III
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 9:29pm

      The intellect is only 1/3 part of a person’s soul. ( the other two parts are the emotions and the will.)The knowledge of good and evil apart from God was what Adam and Eve’s downfall was, driven by pride of course. I have never encountered so much pride as what is found in the “highly intellectual ones”. They are too often unteachable and nearly always uncoachable especially in the field of faith. Cool. I have two (count ‘em) degrees, but that don‘t cut nuthin’ with God. Faith many times is expressed WITHOUT the need to know who what where why how. I have learned that the hard way because I am driven by intellect as are many others. It was when I believed God without needing to know all the details of His workings that I began to grow as a believer. There is nothing wrong with a first class education, but if it becomes your god…there are problems ahead. The Bible declares that it contains “all things that pertain to life and godliness.” That is good enough for me. Books can be written and theories endlessly expounded about how the universe came into existence, but unless God reveals how it came to pass, intellectuals are just blowing smoke in the end.

      Report Post »  
    • Obama>Jesus
      Posted on August 7, 2011 at 6:20pm

      @Lux
      If you had anymore useless things to say, you’d have your own book in the bible

      Report Post » Obama>Jesus  
    • Lux
      Posted on August 8, 2011 at 12:56am

      And Jesus still loves you NObama<Jesus.

      Report Post » Lux  
    • localwes
      Posted on August 8, 2011 at 5:46am

      Right on JGRAHAM III. It is not getting an education that does it, it is being taught by a progressive educational system.

      Report Post »  
    • OuttoDoubt
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 2:54am

      @ JGraham
      So what you’re saying is the tighter you cover your eyes from the world, the more you believe in god? Well that doesn’t seem like much of a surprise. I could do the same but replace god with zeus or baal or buddah. The more I ignore the contrary evidence, the easier it will be for me to keep my false beliefs. When we suddenly understand how a phenom. works we no longer require a supernatural leap of faith. This understanding is what you hide from, standing in the middle of an iceberg yelling that you can’t find ice.

      As far as your “holy book” is concerned just about every religious text claims to be the one and only path to truth. Do you then accept each of them? If not, why is it that such a pitiful bit of evidence is all you require from one but not the others? Using this logic you should now accept the Bhaga Vad Gita and the Koran!

      And if your book is the word of god, does that mean I am to stone my children if they become unruly? Or should my wife, if widowed, be forced to wed my brother if she hasn’t given me a child? (that one is straight from the J man!) And shouldn’t you be on your way to be the first to strike me dead for trying to convince you to renounce your faith? It’s all in there, so is it the complete word of god or not? And if those are wrong then how do you know which passages are correct? Truly a dizzying paradox unless, of course, you simply cover your eyes again and continue to reject anything you don’t agree wi

      Report Post » OuttoDoubt  
  • numbers
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:42pm

    I believe that the education level is not as much an issue as the philosophy of those teachers currently found in secular institutions of higher learning. As kids move away from the nest, challenging ideas held by their parents, those ideas become firmer or upended by the slant given to issues by their teachers and friends. We all know that faith and God are almost universally mocked and belittled as fairy tales to which backward folks cling, desperately trying to explain the world around them. Of course, the researchers doing this study apply their own measure of arrogance and prejudice to the mix.

    Report Post »  
    • banjarmon
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 1:12pm

      Learn what you want…FAITH and FAITH ALONE WILL SAVE YOU.

      Report Post » banjarmon  
    • Locked
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 1:13pm

      “As kids move away from the nest, challenging ideas held by their parents, those ideas become firmer or upended by the slant given to issues by their teachers and friends.”
      By the time you get to post-graduate degrees, these “kids” are not “kids” any more. I completely agree that people are products of how they are raised and what environment they are in. A good friend of mine came to university at 18 as very religious. By graduation he was non-practicing, but he moved back home. His hometown is a close-knit Lutheran community, and within a few years he’s every bit as religious as he was before higher education. It’s not that he “lost faith” in college or “gained it” after; he simply was a product of his environment.

      TL;DR If you’re not surrounded by and constantly reinforcing your faith, it’s natural to not be as religious. Education is simply secular because, by and large, it has little to do with the supernatural.

      Report Post »  
    • jzs
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 1:31pm

      Makes perfect sense to me. When people move away from home to go to college, they are exposed to new ideas, people of different cultures and backgrounds, and read works by many of the greatest writers and philosophers the world has produced. The ideas and opinions your are exposed to increases dramatically. And most leave college, I believe, realizing that the world simply isn’t so nicely divided into right or wrong, black or white, good or evil.

      Report Post » jzs  
    • Roberto G. Vasquez
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 1:44pm

      The so-called higher education U’s are packed to overflowing with ultra-left (Marxist/communist) profs. That being the case, why is anyone surprised when junior comes home spouting athiest Darwinism/Marxism/communism?

      Report Post »  
    • godlovinmom
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 1:47pm

      The only thing I can say is, they became so wise, they became fools! I have first hand knowledge of this, raised in a moderate christian home,(catholic) as soon as I left home all heck broke loose, thank God I found him again, because I was going down the WRONG path. Through out history, whether religion or communism, socialism, whatever, they have always gone after the kids. Hitler youth comes to mind.

      Report Post » godlovinmom  
    • old white guy
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 1:49pm

      i have friends that are going straight to hell. they will be in the company of commies and the like . i guess they will be talking to barak the magic one.

      Report Post »  
    • Therightsofbilly
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 1:59pm

      @JZS

      Well, there you go again.
      With your communist shades of grey.
      No right or wrong?
      No good or evil?

      You are a fool.

      Report Post » Therightsofbilly  
    • Therightsofbilly
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 2:10pm

      @Locked

      I know I’m flogging a dead horse here, but it never ceases to amaze me how you, and your ilk, always seem to have a good friend or acquaintance that you can use as an example to bolster your point.

      I have a good friend who does the same thing all the time. Quite annoying.

      Report Post » Therightsofbilly  
    • Locked
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 2:15pm

      @Billy

      Sorry it annoys you that I have friends? Haha!

      Seriously, I like the guy, but he was a bit extreme. In our sophomore year together, he told me and my other roommate we were going to hell, despite being Christians, because we weren’t the “right” kind of Christian (ie, Lutheran). Years later he apologized for it. But since he’s been living back in his hometown for a few years now, I would almost bet that he’d say the same thing again.

      Again, it’s all about reinforcement. If you’re constantly exposed to a message, it starts to sink in. The “liberalization” in this article, people might note, is not from professors: it’s from friends. It‘s one of the reasons I’ve never understood the angst about college and anti-Christian bias; outside of philosophy or theology classes, you’ll almost never hear a professor talk on religious subjects. It’s the people outside the classroom that change you, not what you learn in it.

      Report Post »  
    • Marci
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 2:25pm

      I agree with Numbers–it’s not the education level, but that which is being taught. And many, MANY professors push a “no God” theory. These same people then fight for Islams right to have their own laws in our society. Makes NO sense.

      Report Post » Marci  
    • Therightsofbilly
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 2:26pm

      @LOCKED

      Your “friend” sounds like a very weak minded, malleable kind of follower that is not confident in his own beliefs.

      Best of luck to him.

      Report Post » Therightsofbilly  
    • Locked
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 2:37pm

      @Billy
      “Your “friend” sounds like a very weak minded, malleable kind of follower that is not confident in his own beliefs.”

      Actually, according to this study it seems he’s the typical American!

      Report Post »  
    • jzs
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 2:56pm

      Billy, what you’re describing is a form of mental immaturity or mental illness. From Wiki: Splitting (also called all-or-nothing thinking in cognitive distortion) may mean two things: splitting of the mind, and splitting of mental concepts (or black and white thinking). The latter is thinking purely in extremes (e.g., goodness vs. evil, innocence vs. corruption, victimization vs. oppression, etc.), and as such can be seen as a developmental stage and as a defense mechanism.

      Report Post » jzs  
    • Therightsofbilly
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 3:03pm

      @LOCKED

      There you go stating the obvious again.

      Our future does not look so bright, does it? Or should I be asking someone else that question?

      Report Post » Therightsofbilly  
    • Therightsofbilly
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 3:05pm

      @JZS

      Really now, what would you do without “Wiki”

      Report Post » Therightsofbilly  
    • Right_on_the_Left_Coast
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 3:18pm

      Correct. “Education” does not make one less religious. But schools and colleges are no longer halls of balanced education. They are halls of leftist, anti-christian and humanistic propaganda, with a few twisted facts thrown in.

      And of course any impressionable kid or young adult is going to be affected by such propaganda. I was even tempted to compromise at times myself. I didn’t like believing my friends might go to hell either. But I knew that just because a truth is unpleasant, doesn’t make it false. It doesn’t cease to be true just because I stop liking it. But too many students have been duped into believing that religion is not real anyway. You just choose one because you want to belong to a group. And if parts of that belief system are less than pretty, you can assert your individualism by denying them without ever examining the possibility that they might actually true.

      Report Post » Right_on_the_Left_Coast  
    • Servant Of YHVH
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 3:43pm

      The only way that “more education” would tend to make people more liberal about their faith is because the longer they go to school the more they “allow” themselves to be brainwashed by people that are afraid that their truly is a God because then they would have to admit to themselves that they will be Judged for the false teaching that they spout. There are kids out there that are able to withstand this constant brainwashing and I say good for you but it is very difficult to withstand that constant battering and abusing of the kids by these liberal weirdos.

      Report Post » Servant Of YHVH  
    • Servant Of YHVH
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 3:46pm

      @jzs
      Good post, you made it sound like you almost believed it yourself. Just remember that the Tea Party loves you because the Tea Party loves all the Tea Party members including the closet ones. Keep up the good work.(wink wink)

      Report Post » Servant Of YHVH  
    • Therightsofbilly
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 4:10pm

      Hey LOCKED,

      I just saw your post over in the unemployment numbers story.

      You not only had a “Good friend” in that post, but you had a Sister, her two friends, and an ex life partner.

      You just can’t make this stuff up.

      Therightsofbilly  
    • Xkiller
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 9:15pm

      I agree. Most of the big schools are nothing more than breeding grounds for future liberals.
      I want my kids to go to school and learn something useful. Now a days they don’t teach them to think they teach them WHAT to think.

      Report Post »  
    • Lux
      Posted on August 6, 2011 at 3:50am

      @Right_on_the_Left_Coast.

      You are 100% correct, “just because a truth is unpleasant, doesn’t make it false. It doesn’t cease to be true just because I stop liking it.” And I would add that whether it is popular or unpopular, truth, eternal truth, is unchanging. It has been my observation through life that those who love truth are blessed with knowledge and power. “Men may lie and rant and rave; they cannot frustrate the designs of God, nor stop the progress of eternal truth one moment—its course is onward, ONWARD, ONWARD, and it defies opposition. The omnipotent power of eternal truth will stand unscathed in the view of gathering hosts, and the nations will know that God rules in the heavens. Truth, eternal truth, is the groundwork of the Christian’s hope: it is the only sure rock on which he can build. Forsaking that to support some favorite dogma, he falls into the mazes of infidelity, skepticism, error, and delusion, and is on the highway to destruction. The power of God will always attend those who love the truth and keep it.” (John Taylor)

      The gospel is calculated to lead us on from truth to truth and from intelligence to intelligence, until that scripture will be fulfilled which declares that we shall see as we are seen and know as we are known (see D&C 76:94), until one will not have to say to another, know ye the Lord, but all shall know Him from the least unto the greatest (see Jeremiah 31:34) Continued….

      Report Post » Lux  
    • Lux
      Posted on August 6, 2011 at 3:54am

      Continued…, until the light and intelligence of God shall beam forth upon all, and all shall bask in the sunlight of eternal truth.

      In regard to my religion, I will say that it embraces every principle of truth and intelligence pertaining to us as moral, intellectual, mortal and immortal beings, pertaining to this world and the world that is to come. We are open to truth of every kind, no matter whence it comes, where it originates, or who believes in it. Truth, when preceded by the little word “all,” comprises everything that has ever existed or that ever will exist and be known by and among men in time and through the endless ages of eternity. And it is the duty of all intelligent beings who are responsible and amenable to God for their acts, to search after truth, and to permit it to influence them and their acts and general course in life, independent of all bias or preconceived notions, however specious and plausible they may be.

      We, as Latter-day Saints, believe, first, in the gospel, and that is a great deal to say, for the gospel embraces principles that dive deeper, spread wider, and extend further than anything else that we can conceive. The gospel teaches us in regard to the being and attributes of God. It also teaches us our relationship to that God and the various responsibilities we are under to him as his offspring. It teaches us the various duties and responsibilities that we are under to our families and friends, to the community,.Continued…

      Report Post » Lux  
    • Lux
      Posted on August 6, 2011 at 4:07am

      Cont… to the living and the dead. It unfolds to us principles pertaining to futurity. In fact, according to the saying of one of the old disciples, it “brings life and immortality to light” (see 2 Timothy 1:10), brings us into relationship with God, and prepares us for an exaltation in the eternal world.

      God has revealed unto us great and glorious truths, and He is prepared to reveal more if we will only place ourselves under His guidance and His direction. Let us seek to follow the principle that Jesus inculcated—to do the will of our Father who is in heaven, who said, “I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” (John 5:30.) We are here as much as He was here, and under obligations as He was to do the will of our Heavenly Father. We should subject ourselves to the law of God, the word of God, and the will of God. In closing I quote our living prophet President Thomas S. Monson, he said: “To those who humbly seek, there is no need to stumble or falter along the pathway leading to truth. It is well marked by our Heavenly Father. We must first have a desire to know for ourselves. We must study. We must pray. We must do the will of the Father. And then we will know the truth, and the truth will make us free.” This great council applies to both spiritual and secular knowledge.

      Report Post » Lux  
    • HankScram
      Posted on August 6, 2011 at 12:25pm

      Some folks think if its not black and white, its grey. And they deride the grey. Think of it as every other possible color. Its awesome to see beyond a black and white view of the world.

      Report Post »  
    • Lux
      Posted on August 7, 2011 at 4:09am

      HankScram prophets both modern and ancient teach in black and white. “Gray” apparently is not an option with them. In turn, they did not want their audiences to respond in shades of gray. Their words were expressions of absoluteness and plainness. They glory in teaching the message of Christ in plainness. Enos used “exceedingly great plainness of speech” to keep the stiffnecked people from “going down speedily to destruction” (Enos 1:23). King Benjamin told the assembled Saints, “I have spoken plainly unto you that ye might understand” (Mosiah 2:40).

      Plainness is best comprehended by the humble, the teachable, the intelligent, the wise, and the obedient. Often plain truths are perverted by the pretentious, the crude, the low, the critical, the contentious, the haughty, and the unrighteous. More so than in any other time in our history, there is an urgency in today’s society for men and women to step forward and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of plainness. God delights when His truths are taught clearly and understandably with no conspicuous ornamentation. Plainness in life, word, and conduct are eternal virtues. When the plainness of Christian teaching and living is lost, apostasy and suffering result. People walk in darkness when the light of plainness is taken from their lives. Continued….

      Report Post » Lux  
    • Lux
      Posted on August 7, 2011 at 4:11am

      Continued… “They have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away.

      “And all this have they done that they might pervert the right ways of the Lord, that they might blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men.” (1 Ne. 13:26–27.)

      Through this great prophet Nephi, along with other leaders and wise teachers, we come to realize that we learn more readily if principles are taught and explained in plainness. Brigham Young once said that if he could do but one thing to bless the Saints, he believed it would be to give them “eyes with which to see things as they are.” (Journal of Discourses, 3:221.) The truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ are plain, precious, and powerful. The lives of the worthy are plain, precious, and powerful.

      The prophet Alma carried on this tradition of teaching in “plainness.” For instance, Alma delivered the “word of God unto the people, first in the land of Zarahemla, and from thence throughout all the land… [so] plainly that [they could] not err” (Alma 5:1, 43). On another occasion, he noted that “Amulek had spoken plainly” concerning death, the resurrection, and the day of judgment (Alma 12:12). Continued…..

      Report Post » Lux  
    • Lux
      Posted on August 7, 2011 at 4:14am

      Continued…. Some groups in the land of Ammonihah were angry with Alma, “because of the plainness of his words” (Alma 14:2), and then they became angry with both Alma and Amulek “because they had testified so plainly against their wickedness” (Alma 14:3). Twice Alma noted that he spoke with such plainness that his audience could not err in understanding his meaning (Alma 5:43; 13:23; see also 2 Nephi 25:7,30).

      Because of the truths found in the scriptures, and the manner in which they are presented, no one has need to “stumble” due to lack of understanding (1 Nephi 13:29). Both Nephi and Alma say they have spoken with such plainness that their audiences cannot err (2 Nephi 25:7, 30; Alma 5:43; 13:23). It is now up to the audience to heed the plainness of the prophets and to choose darkness or light, salvation or damnation, life or death.

      Report Post » Lux  
    • HankScram
      Posted on August 7, 2011 at 7:09pm

      @Lux,

      interesting stuff about the mormon prophets. i’ve read in the Book of Mormon of the great civilization that was in America over one thousand years ago. Can you direct me towards any existing cities from that time, any current archeological digs, any ruins, any roads, any tools, any weapons, any residual language – or any museum that has a single artifact from the great civilization in America that is discussed in the Book of Mormon? I haven’t been able to find anything. I’m not saying that Joseph Smith made the whole thing up or that he pulled it out of a rock in his hat, I’m just asking if there is so much as a dried up sheepskin hanging in a museum anywhere in the world.

      Report Post »  
    • Lux
      Posted on August 8, 2011 at 12:11am

      Hank I wasn’t just referring to “Mormon prophets” I was referring to all of Gods prophets. I could have provided you with many Biblical references that state the same message; however I thought it to be more beneficial to use the less common prophets of the Book of Mormon. If you’re interested in a more in depth look into some of those topics you brought up, there are some excellent books that can be read online, courtesy of the Maxwell Institute. These include:

      Book of Mormon Authorship: New Evidences of Ancient Origins
      http://maxwellinstitute.com/publications/books/?bookid=41

      Reexploring the Book of Mormon
      http://maxwellinstitute.com/publications/books/?bookid=71

      Rediscovering the Book of Mormon
      http://maxwellinstitute.com/publications/books/?bookid=72

      The Book of Mormon and DNA Research
      http://maxwellinstitute.com/publications/books/?bookid=106

      The Book of Mormon and Other Hidden Books: Out of Darkness Unto Light
      http://maxwellinstitute.com/publications/books/?bookid=9

      King Benjamin’s Speech: “That Ye May Learn Wisdom
      http://maxwellinstitute.com/publications/books/?bookid=31

      But since you’ve read the Book of Mormon then you should be aware that the purpose of that holy book is to convince the world that Jesus is the Christ, our Lord and Redeemer. It was written by prophets anciently, preserved, and translated in our era by the power of God as a tool to bring souls to Christ. Continued…

      Report Post » Lux  
    • HankScram
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 2:34am

      Lux,

      Thanks for the citations to articles.

      Where is the museum?

      I want to see even one artifact from the great civilization the book of mormon talks about that was here in America.

      Thanks

      Report Post »  
    • Lux
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 10:16pm

      You may notice one of my post ended in Cont… and for some reason not all of my post make it onto the blaze. I don’t know why the blaze is having issues, so if you wish to continue this exchange un-interrupted fell free to email me at lux4veritas@hotmail.com and I’ll be more than happy to answer your questions. You can continue to post them here, but keep in mind the unpredictability of the blaze. I’ve tried reposting my missing post well over ten times and they still haven’t shown up. So if you notice my post to be jumbled or out of order/context you now know why. Come on blaze!

      Report Post » Lux  
  • capecodsully
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:42pm

    “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13&14

    People want God to conform to their image of who they want Him to be. They want to make the rules and God follows. They might as well make a little god out of wood and put it on their mantle.

    Political correctness is not the road you want to be on.

    Report Post »  
    • beckwasfox
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 2:15pm

      You are right on! People don’t realize it but they will serve the Lord Jesus Christ or they will be decieved and serve the enemy. Many “elite” people are indoctrinated into luciferian religions while at college when they join groups such as the Skull and Bones. Marx was partially correct when he said that religion was the opiate of the masses but a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ is the cure to that opiate and many others.

      Report Post » beckwasfox  
  • SheriS
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:42pm

    This is the most absurd article I’ve seen in a very long time–the writer has to be stupid and liberal! I am a college graduate with some post-graduate study as well. Because I grew up in the state of Illinois, I was indoctrinated in the liberal ideas, but once I started working I saw the amout of money that went for taxes–state and Federal. I quit teaching and we moved out of that state. I haven’t been back in many years and although I have a lot of friends who live there–I will not return! Illinois and their liberal, often stupid ideas made me a Republican and a very proud one!

    Report Post »  
    • Locked
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 1:14pm

      The article does not have anything to do with political orientation, but rather how religious a person is. You are quite off topic.

      Report Post »  
    • Attention2Detail
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 1:43pm

      Not off topic completely, just on a tangent. Liberal religion and liberal politics are closely related. They are both based on personal preference rather than any transcendent authority. Real education, which I define as learning does not make a person more liberal, but time spent in our education system does. That’s because in our system there is less learning and more indoctination.

      Report Post » Attention2Detail  
    • Servant Of YHVH
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 3:57pm

      @sheris
      Actually you are quite on target. When we are speaking about education and it’s indoctrination policies, it has everything to do with what you said. You just verified what a lot of these posts are stating about the environment that you are in at the time just tends to overwhelm people. That is why God says about fellowshipping with like minded believers. If something is said long enough and enough times then regardless of what you say or believe, it will permeate into a person’s core beliefs. That is why the one religious friend “quit” being religious. He didn’t quit being religious he just quit acting that way so that he felt more comfortable “fitting in”. When he got back amongst other believers then he went back to that way so that he fit in better. It is a shame when someone feels the need to do that but there are not really that many people strong enough to stand for what they believe regardless of how long they are around an antagonistic group. I would have to say that you were one of the stronger ones that even being in that environment (Illinois), when it came down to what you saw as right or wrong you were smart enough to leave and do what is truly right to you.

      Report Post » Servant Of YHVH  
    • Locked
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 4:36pm

      @Servant
      “Actually you are quite on target. When we are speaking about education and it’s indoctrination policies, it has everything to do with what you said.”

      Unfortunately, that’s not what the article was about. So, as said: quite off-topic!

      Report Post »  
    • HankScram
      Posted on August 6, 2011 at 4:24pm

      @servant,

      you are correct about indoctrination. that is what religions do. If you read the article, it goes on to say that more educated people are more accepting of different people’s beliefs, understanding that just because you believe something it doesn’t make it true, thus you can accept others having a different viewpoint.

      people ensconced in a particular religious group usually can’t do that. it really is about being open-minded.

      Report Post »  
  • Ella
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:39pm

    The more secular education instead of Bible/religious education the more brainwashed and liberal one will get.
    There‘s education and then there’s education. Teach philosophy, Darwin and certain literature like
    Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals, Carl Marx’s writings, Hitler’s Mein Komf, Mau’s teaching, you get my drift, you will get liberalism, socialism, communism etc. Teach ten commandments, character traits
    etc you will get a God fearing conservative.

    Report Post »  
    • Locked
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 1:17pm

      “The more secular education instead of Bible/religious education the more brainwashed and liberal one will get”

      I feel it’s rather a matter of environment. Universities are not inherently anti-religion; they simply don’t address it at all. Compare that, rather, to private Christian colleges or small towns dominated by church life. If one is not constantly receiving the same message (ie, religious messages), then it’s natural for the person to not be as religious. If you are constantly surrounded by those messages, you’ll be more religious.

      The argument you’re trying to make is, if something doesn’t talk about God, it’s anti-God. I don‘t think I’d agree. There’s a big difference between not having God in a conversation (non-believers) and having the conversation being anti-God (atheists).

      Report Post »  
  • Bearfoot
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:34pm

    A person can choose what kind of education he wants. That decision dictates what he will become.

    Choose wisely my friends!

    Report Post » Bearfoot  
    • Patrick in AZ
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:46pm

      Will More Education ‘Liberalize’ Your Views on Faith & Heaven?
      ————————
      On average, yes, because the education system is so hostile towards religion – especially Christianity

      Report Post » Patrick in AZ  
    • Locked
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 1:19pm

      @Patrick

      “On average, yes, because the education system is so hostile towards religion – especially Christianity”

      Could you provide examples of this in higher education? In 4 years of public university I never heard anything anti-God from a professor. There was a lack of discussion about God in general, but that’s a very different thing.

      I would say that higher education is, by and large, inherently secular. That is a middle point between being pro-theological and anti-theological. It simply doesn’t address religion.

      Report Post »  
  • This_Individual
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:30pm

    “According to a new study, the more educated you are, the more liberal you‘re going to be when it comes to your thoughts on who’s going to heaven (and who’s not).”
    This pagan understands your disgust on this one. How about the study that shows the correlation between intelligence free will? Or a free market economy.. or even limited government?

    Report Post »  
  • jim
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:26pm

    “(We) resolve that neither the state nor nation, nor both combined, shall support institutions of learning other than those sufficient to afford every child growing up in the land of opportunity of a good common school education, unmixed with sectarian, pagan, or atheistical dogmas.”
    – Ulysses S. Grant, Address to the Army of the Tennessee (DesMoines IA, Sept. 25, 1875)

    “God, the source of all knowledge, should never have been expelled from our children’s classrooms.”
    – Ronald Reagan, Address to National Religious Broadcasters (Washington, DC, January, 1984)

    Report Post » jim  
    • SacredHonor1776
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:55pm

      Hey Jim, you missed most of the quote, specifically the part where he wanted to keep religion and atheism out of the public schools;

      “Encourage free schools, and resolve that not one dollar of money shall be appropriated to the support of any sectarian school. Resolve that neither the state nor nation, or both combined, shall support institutions of learning other than those sufficient to afford every child growing up in the land the opportunity of a good common school education, unmixed with sectarian, pagan, or atheistical tenets. Leave the matter of religion to the family altar, the church, and the private schools, supported entirely by private contributions. Keep the church and state forever separated.” (Ulysses S. Grant)”
      – Ulysses S. Grant, Address to the Army of the Tennessee (DesMoines IA, Sept. 25, 1875)

      You can find a copy of this multiple online scans of newspapers from the time for verification.

      Let’s try not to whitewash history right? As conservatives you should be striving to remain truthful in all things!

      I think he’s right, neither athiests nor religionists should be indoctrinating our children! There are alot of different belief systems out there, and they aren’t all right! You’ll just confuse a child.

      Report Post »  
    • SacredHonor1776
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 1:04pm

      For that matter don’t stoop to what the liberals do, editing out much of the middle of the quote, while maintaining the second half that is critical of religion being taught in schools.

      It makes you just as bad as they are!

      Report Post »  
  • jim
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:17pm

    “Faith in the biblical sense is substantive, based on the knowledge that the One in whom that faith is placed has proven that He is worthy of that trust. In its essence, faith is a confidence in the person of Jesus Christ and in His power, so that even when His power does not serve my end, my confidence in Him remains because of who He is.”
    — Ravi Zacharias

    Report Post » jim  
  • nysparkie
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:10pm

    Lots of Doctorate’s in Theology out there. I don’t believe they are any less religious.

    Report Post » nysparkie  
    • SacredHonor1776
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:29pm

      Sorry, but I know quite a few atheists who took theology and philosophy to debate opponents! I also know people who took theology that aren’t very religious! One might describe as worldy!

      Hell there are athiests that become US Military chaplains!

      How much theology you learn, doesn’t make someone religious!

      Report Post »  
    • HUNITHUNIT
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:50pm

      Most biblical scholars believe that the story of Abraham was created by the Babylonians, and that Moses and the entire “Exodus” are impossible. Bet you don’t believe that. WAKE UP!!! GOD IS NOT REAL!!!

      Report Post »  
    • SacredHonor1776
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 1:02pm

      I don‘t know about ’impossible’. Actually, many scholars mention that portions of the red sea became shallow at certain times of the year or during a period of drought, so that it would have been possible for the people of Exodus to cross the sea on a strip of more or less dry land. LIke a land bridge. Add to that some scholars say with the right wing conditions, going through that passage, looks like the water on each side of the land bridge is ‘dividing’, its an optical illusion.

      So ya, even without ‘God”s hand, some scholars do have explanations for the story.

      Report Post »  
    • HUNITHUNIT
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 1:12pm

      I am not talking about the parting of the Red Sea. The archaeological record leaves no room for the Hebrew people to have left for that many years.

      Report Post »  
  • Pastor Melissa
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:09pm

    I think the piece not be discussed is the secularization of religious education and how it effects people in religious higher education. From what I have discovered it is mostly liberal minds who delve into higher religious education. Therefore, those who seek a higher religious education are inundated with a liberal perspective. Perhaps we need more conservative higher education minds getting into the field…

    Report Post » Pastor Melissa  
  • NWalters78
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:07pm

    This gives more credence to the saying, “danged dumbest ‘smart person,’ ever.” You can have all the learning in the world, but if it’s based on falsehood or foolishness, then you are the king of fools.

    I don’t worry about the outside enemy, they are obvious. I worry more about the traitors/infiltrators who would purposefully distort and destroy The Word, The Truth, and The Light. Read Jude and get back to me about the enemy within. And re-read I. Corinthians 1.

    Report Post » NWalters78  
  • thomasdaddy
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:05pm

    2 things.

    1. This was not a government study
    2. “Liberalized” view is of itself a ridiculous description in which it would indicate that people with liberal views don’t believe in god. False

    Liberals are probably less likely to force our religious beliefs on others or, justify our political views using contexts of the bible. Being a bible thumper doesn’t make you more religious, anymore than calling others un-American makes you more of a patriot!

    This article and study in no more than a means to justify ignorance in this country! Too much education, bad! Unreal!

    Report Post » thomasdaddy  
    • joe1234
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:39pm

      what god do you believe in fascistdaddy? let me guess…that racist eugenicist darwin is your savior and god…

      as far as liberals using the bible to justify their religious view…I guess you missed bela Pelosi….

      (CNSNews.com) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says she believes she must pursue public policies “in keeping with the values” of Jesus Christ, “The Word made Flesh.”

      Pelosi, a Catholic who favors legalized abortion, voted against the ban on partial-birth abortion that was enacted into law in 2003.

      http://www.cnsnews.com/node/66208

      and of coures people like Wallis and Jackson using the bible to advance their socialist policies…of course you just ‘missed’ that didn’t ya??? you miss a lot don’t you?

      of course you don’t have to worry about having too much education…thats rather obvious…*snicker*

      Report Post » joe1234  
    • cykoaudio
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 1:19pm

      2 things, 1-you missed the point of the article…and 2-the point is WHAT type of educatoin..I’m sure you would agree ppl seeking seminaries or theology doctorates are only going to become MORE religious in old age..just as the leading atheist in the world ANTONY FLEW became a deist after 80+ years of seeking out religion by arguing against it,as many scientists & archaeologists have as well..but most importantly,what I think everyone here is missing is,this goes for education in THIS COUNTRY,where we know some 7 or8/10 professors are liberal,and push liberal/atheist agenda’s in class,as I have been witness to at SUNY Ablany..so of course kids are going to get brainwashed into wanting to dilute their religion…kids in Saudi Arabia coming out of Madrassa’s are MORE fanatical than when they came in…& my biggest point is to WHERE the education is being taught,what country..because the education system in some countries in south america are ahead of ours ,at least in grade school,and china has fastest growing Christian population in the world,& their education system is better than ours,& controlled by the gov’t,so the kids see right through the bias,so there are many examples of countries whose education is better than ours but as they get educated they turn TOWARDS religion,not away..only spoiled american kids who are placated into submission w/i=pods,laptops,&500 tv channels think their being told the truth by lib professors

      Report Post » cykoaudio  
    • Locked
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 1:32pm

      “1. This was not a government study”
      It was done at a public university that receives government funding.

      “2. “Liberalized” view is of itself a ridiculous description in which it would indicate that people with liberal views don’t believe in god. False”

      Incorrect. The article states exactly which ideas of more liberalized, for example, who will go to heaven and hell, how likely someone is to allow for other deities than just one, etc.

      Report Post »  
    • Lux
      Posted on August 6, 2011 at 5:46am

      @ cykoaudio

      “it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. … The Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other” (2 Nephi 2:11, 16). And so it is with faith. It can be enticing to choose doubt and disbelief over faith, but when parents teach their children correct principles the outcome will most likely be their children being strengthened in their faith during times of opposition. This in turn will cast aside any doubt or disbelief their liberal professors throw their way, while reinforceing the belief that what their parents had taught them was true. It all starts in the home.

      Report Post » Lux  
  • Everlastinglove
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:04pm

    As age allows an increase in wisdom, religion is rejected and spirituality embraced as the natural course of the physical world. Spiritual truth brings peace to life in ways none of man’s religious constructs can.

    Report Post »  
    • capecodsully
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:48pm

      There is no spiritual truth without The Holy Spirit, only deception.

      Report Post »  
  • spirited
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:03pm

    “Essentially, this means that the educated are just as likely as the uneducated to embrace the belief in a higher power.”
    ————————————————–

    >and, without a doubt, that “higher power” is NOT Barack Obama!

    Report Post » spirited  
  • Meyvn
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:03pm

    There is no conflict between science and religion. Those that say there is are sadly mistaken.

    Report Post » Meyvn  
  • saranda
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:03pm

    Is this study saying then that the optimal education level for Christians is 6th grade and below? hmmmm

    Report Post »  
    • Locked
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 1:47pm

      No, it’s saying that those who do not attend higher education are more likely to be strict adherents to their particular brand of religion. Those who do are more likely to be generally religious as opposed to strictly so.

      It would be more correct to say if you don‘t go on to higher ed you’re more likely to be Baptist (for example); if you do, you’re more likely to be Christian in general.

      Report Post »  
  • NWalters78
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:02pm

    If you listen to liberal education, and take it heart, anything you viewed as holy or valid will be shaken. For example, you were a kid, you believe in God, period. If you defy God, you go to Hell. However, later you hear professors saying Hell is subjective and God may not be all that. If had no basic rearing or grasp of right and wrong, then of course you get swayed. The Bible warns of the stability of such Believers (not just non-believers) who sway back and forth like waves in a storm, and are steadfast as jello. Don’t worry about your obvious outside foes, worry more about the infiltrators outlined in Jude, Corinthians, etc…..

    Report Post » NWalters78  
  • santramir
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:01pm

    the editors of this Blaze magazine are starting to insult their readers’ intelligence just like any other liberal agenda mass media

    Report Post » santramir  
  • Psychosis
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 11:59am

    if you have faith in nothing , you will believe anything

    if you have no morals…………nothing is ever wrong

    if you have no faith, and no morals, you will believe anything that says your ok just the way you are

    Report Post » Psychosis  
  • HKS
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 11:56am

    Another plug for the teachers union, need more teachers for this professional education society. Opportunities unlimited for this occupation with the government in your pocket and the tax payers get to pick up the bill whether they want it or not.

    Report Post » HKS  
  • TRONINTHEMORNING
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 11:56am

    Brass tax….No Jesus, no Heaven. He is the ONLY way to salvation. That’s it kids. Hope the seed grows in good ground.

    Report Post »  
  • OkiePatriot
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 11:55am

    It seems to me the more education one gets the more common sense they lose…just my observation!

    Report Post »  
    • Hephzibah
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:14pm

      I vote “yes” because the more “education” one gets, the more biased programmed they are. Another poll with tricky wording.

      Report Post » Hephzibah  
  • Gonzo
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 11:55am

    I feel bad for people that don’t believe that Jesus is exactly who he said he was. You are missing one of the greatest joys in this world.

    Report Post » Gonzo  
    • thomasdaddy
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:07pm

      I feel worse for the happily ignorant.

      Report Post » thomasdaddy  
    • trolltrainer
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:40pm

      Aren’t you both talking about the same people?

      Report Post »  
    • joe1234
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:40pm

      @fascistdaddy…you know what they say, ignorance is bliss…you must be outrageously happy…

      Report Post » joe1234  
    • This_Individual
      Posted on August 5, 2011 at 12:51pm

      Gonzo is far from ignorant, Thomas. He may not like me because I’m pagan, or even a Libertarian. But ignorant, no. And I‘m not picking on you simply because I’m a Dolphin fan either :)

      Report Post »  
  • HKS
    Posted on August 5, 2011 at 11:49am

    Would that be some of that Gubment, liberal edumacation?

    Report Post » HKS  
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