...but intelligent people believe in God

I've been told that there have been a lot of intelligent people throughout history who have believed in God.

That's true.

While you ponder the significance of that, I'd like you to consider Marcus.

This is Marcus, and he's a very intelligent guy.

He heard a pretty ridiculous claim from an anonymous source.

He immediately didn't believe it and went about his day without giving it further thought.

Later, Marcus heard a friendly acquaintance make the ridiculous claim, but despite the claim's ridiculousness, Marcus trusted the source, so he actually believed it.

Yet because the ridiculous claim isn't actually true, you might think that it won't be too difficult to convince Marcus that he shouldn't believe it.

And at this point, indeed, it might not be too difficult to convince him of the truth.

I mean, he is an intelligent guy.

Now let's change the circumstances.

Let's say that Marcus was raised from birth to believe the ridiculous claim.

If that's the case, it will be much more difficult to convince Marcus that the claim isn't true.

After all, it was taught to him and consistently reinforced throughout his life by his parents, the very people nature has set him up to trust the most, regardless of their knowledge, or lack thereof, of the actual truth.

Let's change the circumstances again.

Let's say that not only was Marcus raised from birth to believe the ridiculous claim, but that the community of people who live around Marcus and his family were also raised believing the same ridiculous claim.

At this point, Marcus' belief will be reinforced by many other people besides his blood relatives, including probably his spouse.

His belief will be considered the norm and anything that contradicts it will seem alien and wrong.

Now, it will be very difficult to convince Marcus that the ridiculous claim is false.

Let's change the circumstances yet again by simply adding many years to the effect.

Let's say that the ridiculous claim has persisted throughout many generations.

Marcus's community is merely the most recent community to have been raised with this belief.

And the Ridiculous Claim throughout the years has caused beloved traditions to develop.

Traditions that provide happiness, stability, familiarity, and comfort.

Those traditions gave rise to institutions.

The Ridiculous Claim has rolled down a mountain like an avalanche, gaining momentum.

And now there are holidays that celebrate its different aspects.

Entire buildings constructed to facilitate rituals developed from the Ridiculous Claim.

complete with specialized vocations hierarchies uniforms schools and inspiring works of art in every medium naturally intense tribalism develops bonding people who believe the ridiculous claim thereby affecting political policy from the least powerful forms of government to the most powerful this intense tribalism also causes the stigmatization and ostracization of anyone who does not believe the ridiculous claim even

amongst friends and family.

Historically and even in some regions to this day, disbelievers may be tortured and killed.

At this point, not only would the ridiculous claim seem obviously true,

but the truth itself would seem obviously ridiculous.

Convincing Marcus at this point becomes an exercise in futility, as anyone who comes bearing the truth would not only seem ridiculous, but strange, devious, and even...

evil.

Let's change the circumstances a final time.

Let's say that the ridiculous claim bears with it a caveat that believing it results in the ultimate reward while disbelieving results in the ultimate punishment.

Now, not only does Marcus have a tremendous incentive to believe what has already been relentlessly instilled in him to believe since birth,

But he also has an incentive to spread the ridiculous claim to those who are unaware, or to convince those who disbelieve so that they too can be saved.

In this way, using Marcus's goodness, the ridiculous claim reproduces, causing people to think that not only should they believe it, but that they need to believe it.

Add this to all the previous circumstances and it would be simply amazing if Marcus could ever see the ridiculous claim for the falsehood that it is, despite the fact that he's an intelligent guy.

The funny thing about the truth is that it will remain true, even if you weren't raised to believe it.

The truth requires no indoctrination, communities, traditions, institutions, governments, apologetics, stigmatization, tribalism, incentives, or punishments.

Yet without these things, the ridiculous claim would utterly disappear, never to resurface.

The truth, however, will remain true and available to be discovered even if nobody spreads it by the edge of a sword, or by the point of a gun, or by the explosion of a bomb, or by a parent to their child.

At some point, maybe, just maybe, one day, Marcus will ask himself why the ridiculous claim needs so many dirty tricks to be believed.