Religion and Education

I am interested if anyone can find a correlation between educated people and religous people. I've tried looking for a graph or some kind of statistics but have fallen short everytime. I am curiuos to see if education, in terms of post secondary, has any influence on religion. It seems that most educated people (that i have talked to) are not religous and thats why i was interested. I am trying to see if my perception can be generalized for a greater population, outside of what i see. I am not trying to claim religous people are uneducated, but that the more knowledge someone gains, the less religous they become. Does this have any merit?

Its fair to say there are plenty of educated people who have faith in some form of religion but i would be interested to see what that percentage is. I would like to see, of all religous people, how many actually have an education. I would also like to see how many educated people have faith in religion.

Overall, i am hypothesising that with more education comes a lesser need for religion/faith. Am i wrong? Am i right?.....ia m not too sure, you tell me.

[edit on 11-4-2005 by Thomas Crowne]

I can only comment from my personal experiences, but I've found that most 'religious' people I've met are highly educated. Churches have played a role in education for centuries - monastries, universities and colleges all over the world. And the priests of most religious orders have doctorates of some kind. The catholic church has it's own observatories, radio telescopes, research centers, etc.

I'm not sure what you'll find, but I think it's probably just the same percentage as the general population.

here's what i think, it's an option only.

i think that religion is for the weak minded but that does not mean they uneducated, many educated people are religous because they are taught this way when they were young and brought up this way in their family.

here's what i don't like about religion, religion is about control and brainwash espically control.

[edit on 11-4-2005 by ulshadow]

This thread is locked for the obvious reason that the "educated" poster doesn't know the difference between education and religion.

I, a Christian with only about six years of higher learning, can tell the difference. Why can't a really educated person?

Reopened with a change in title.

I suggest caution on the part of all who enter. This is the kind of conversation piece that can get folks a one-way ticket to another board.

Ulshadow,
In regards to your very profound statement

"here's what i don't like about religion, religion is about control and brainwash espically control"

Suggest you take a good hard look around you ..concerning control and brainwashing. Take a good hard look at the caliber of many Americans from different backgrounds ..economic strata and thier families. How many of them define themselves by what they consume...not really by their education. By this I mean thier educations are only to support more of this rabid consumption levels...not really to think about what is happening around them.
Many are on a tredmill...from which they cannot get off..and furthermore dont want to think about it..any at all. Many if not most of them are not religious.
Intelligent thinking people..never define themselves by the latest joke...product they or their familys consume. etc etc...yet this is a very common fingerprint...nationwide. Look for this in the people surrounding you and then look at their edudational levels and then furthermore check out the brainwashing/control levels..on their very souls.
By the way Ulshadow...to be put on this type of a tredmill without one being very aware of it ..and thinking this is the n atural state of affairs means one is already brainwashed...controlled...what is the name of this religion...the religion of this type of seduction???

Orangetom