Arrested Development Clan

Well I see that I was consistent.

That's a cool chart. I also like that Utah and Nevada are major exceptions to the obvious trends pointed out by it. This is good stuff.

Yeah, well, look at those states. Mormons and Gamblers/Tourists

Just saying, it probably has something to do with it

I like the chart mostly because it proves my point religious people tend to make decisions and believe things only based on their religion where as non religious people base decisions and knowledge off of facts. It is my opinion and no offense to anybody, but I think religious people are a bunch of idiots wasting their life, time, and knowledge capacities on something they have no idea if it even exists or not. I personally have no faith in anything that isn't proven or I think can be easily be made into existence.

Then see this thread: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=174

That thread gets better every time I see it.

I don't understand why non-religious people feel the need to proselytize more than people with religious beliefs.

I pretty much try to avoid religious arguments and discussion, I think everyone is entitled to their own opinion and belief, if someone genuinely wants me to share my feelings with them on a personal level, then that is great, but other than that, it is a waste of time.

The only thing that chart proves is that if you throw a bunch of statistics around, people will think there is a correlation. You could just as easily replace "Religiousness" with "Race." And if you go to the source for "IQ Scores," those numbers aren't an actual "average IQ" -- those numbers are an estimated average IQ based on a lot of other information, some seem relevent, e.g. proficiency, but a lot don't seem like they directly correlate to IQ, e.g. teacher salary, school revenue, class size. There is even a disclaimer before the information, "But keep in mind that this data should not be taken too seriously. IQ testing has been widely criticized as being too generalized, and NOT a valid assessment of anything too important." Also, the source doesn't look like it's really that trustworthy. Why use statistics like this when it would make sense to use figures on literacy rate instead?

I personally believe that some people don't have maps... oh wait.

I am with scavengeriot on this one. I don't have any problems with people having their own faith and I personally don't believe in it but I do have a problem with the people who push their views on others which tends to be what religion does. I've gone to church and they wanted everyone to go out and bring more people in, which I really don't like. If you want to do it go ahead but there are too many viewpoints to call one correct.

But I did find it interesting how the states with less religiousness tended to have lower crime and murder rates.

I like the above conversations and it's what I intended. Just to talk about it without being forceful because it is a really touchy subject. I enjoy hearing about different religions and feel that everyone is entitled and should be allowed to practice any religion they wish as long as they don't have to kill people to do it.

BTW: I feel the same way about stats. They can be made to look good for any argument. Just pick your sample from a select group of data.