“If we take Religion as any indication of irrationality then America should be one of the least rational countries in the world.”
Strongly disagree with this premise. Religion is one non-rational meme, but it is one of many and is neither the highest-status nor the most prevalent of the many popular irrational belief systems. Atheists may well be more rational on the one issue of religion, but can and frequently do subscribe to even more irrational belief systems, whether political ideologies, spiritual-but-not-religiousness, or delusions around their life strategy.
Many smart people are indeed atheists,but evidence is very much mixed as to whether atheists in general are more intelligent than the religious (1). In the same way, many people may come to atheism through rationality, but among the general population I don’t see any evidence that atheism vs. belief corresponds strongly with rationality.
“If we take Religion as any indication of irrationality then America should be one of the least rational countries in the world.”
Strongly disagree with this premise. Religion is one non-rational meme, but it is one of many and is neither the highest-status nor the most prevalent of the many popular irrational belief systems. Atheists may well be more rational on the one issue of religion, but can and frequently do subscribe to even more irrational belief systems, whether political ideologies, spiritual-but-not-religiousness, or delusions around their life strategy.
Many smart people are indeed atheists,but evidence is very much mixed as to whether atheists in general are more intelligent than the religious (1). In the same way, many people may come to atheism through rationality, but among the general population I don’t see any evidence that atheism vs. belief corresponds strongly with rationality.
1.http://anepigone.blogspot.com/2010/06/half-sigma-asserts-that-church.html