Belief Makes You Stupid: Difference between revisions

Some of the more stereotypical character traits - which are not always present in a work - used in this trope are:

* BeingReligious opposed topeople [[Science Is Bad|sciencewill withbe variousopposed reasonsto cited for itscience]]. Consequently, Religiousreligious people will be against medicine, either [[You Can't Fight Fate|refusing to treat the sickness because its considered the will of the Powers-That-Be]] or they will only use religious ritualstry to fix it with religious rituals. They may also hate technology even when it could solve the problem they're facing.

* Religious people are uneducated, as education centers overseen by religious people either lack or shun scientific knowledge. They will happily[[Easy Evangelism|quickly apostatize]] when given a little bit of scientific knowledge, and [[Bonus Points]] if said religion is made easy to disprove. Expect the latter two in an [[Author Tract]].

* Religious people are all [[The Ditz|inherently unintelligent]] and/or [[UnwittingGullible PawnLemmings|easily manipulated]]. Anyone [[God Guise|impersonating their figure of worship]] or [[Hiding Behind Religion|claiming to be working on their behalf]] can get religious people to unthinkingly obey them. This can go hand-in-hand with religious people only belivingbelieving because they've been brainwashed or religion itself is considered brainwashing.

* Religious people [[The Fundamentalist|cannot get along with or tolerate anyone who doesn't follow their religion.]] and/or Oftenare toinherently theviolent. point that they often react violently to non-believers, andAnd apparently the very idea of "interfaith" or "non-denominational" groups is unheard of in the story.

* Religious people onlyare winso newsmug followersabout their religion that [[JoinBerserk or DieButton|bythey force]]react or [[Appealbadly to Force|the threatquestioning ofanything usingabout forceit]].

* Religious people are uncultured killjoys and/or workaholics whoof willeither opposethe anythingstodgy consideredmilquetoast enjoyablevariety or thatthe makesaggressive peoplebusybody passionatevariety. Bonus points if religious people are depicted as fearing their own desires.

Compare [[If Jesus, Then Aliens]], [[No Such Thing as Space Jesus]], [[Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions]], [[Lawful Stupid, Chaotic Stupid]], and many versions of the [[Corrupt Church]]. Contrast [[God Guise]], in which the effect is quaint or humorous rather than abrasive, [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe]], where belief actually alters reality, and [[Flat Earth Atheist]], where ''dis''belief makes you stupid. Likely to be a [[Straw Character]]. Probably takes the Enlightenment side of [[Romanticism Versus Enlightenment]]. Overuse or one-sidedness may be a sign that the work is an [[Author Tract]]. If the belief is actually true, expect reinforcing action from a [[Celestial Bureaucracy]].

As with other tropes, this trope is a commentary on Real Life attitudes crafted to suit the purposes of various authors. While, like all stereotypes, there's an element of truth, and there is always going to be a [[Vocal Minority|certain percentage]] of religious people who exhibit one or more these characteristics, that does not mean one should assume those characteristics apply to every religious person they meet ''or'' every follower of a particular religion. Each religion should be assessed on as much of its history as possible, along with teachings and merits, rather than tarring some or all with the same brush. On that note, the assumption that religiosity is inherently irrational and/or makes a person that way is one many religious people find ''deeply'' insulting. {{noreallife|we at All The Tropes do not condone bad-mouthing real-world religions, or putting down people for their religious beliefs. Above all, remember the [[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgement]].}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* Kanzaki Kaori and Stiyl Magnus in ''[[A Certain Magical Index]]''., due to Allall of the [[YouArtistic FailLicense: Biology Forever|Failingbiological Neurologyliberties Forevertaken]] combined with the ensuing [[Your Mind Makes It Real]]. Granted, the science side in this series isn't any better...

* ''[[Simoun]]'' [[Deconstruction|takes this trope, puts it over its knee, gives it a paddling, whips it with chains, and throws its lacerated corpse in a ditch]]. The series' depiction of its one 'strong atheist' character's bitter, unhelpful, avaricious stupidity and almost palpable, reptilian sleaziness is... quite something. There ''are'' sympathetic non-religious characters, including one of the main romantic leads, but overall this is pretty much the anti-''[[Agora]]'' in its portrayal of religion.

== Comic Books ==

* Termight Empire in [[Nemesis the Warlock]] are religious fanatics seeing aliens as demons, worshipping clearly insane leader as a God and getting themselves killed with undying fanatism. Nemesis' battlecry is ''Credo!'' (''Believe'' in latin), but he points out he means it like "belive in yourself".

== Film ==

* ''[[Agora]]'', focusing on the death of the philosopher Hypatia, depicts Christians as fanatical assholes, in whichwith their fanaticism is raised [[Up to Eleven]] thanks to the sheer intolerance towards pagans and Jews; the "stupid" part of the trope comes from the fact their intolerance blinds them to the point of stupidity, attacking at random with disastrous consequences. The accounts used comescome from pagan writer [[wikipedia:Hypatia#Late Antiquity to the Age of Reason|Damascius]] (who was enemies with the Christians) and Edward Gibbon (a strong atheist).

* Although the [[Discworld]] novels criticize organized religion much more than belief itself, the third ''[[Discworld/The Science of Discworld|The Science of Discworld]]'' book, ''Darwin's Watch'', employs this trope somewhat.

** In ''[[Planescape]]'' lack of belief is [[Flat Earth Atheist|plain weird]], thanks to being set mostly in the parts of the Multiverse that run on [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe]]. Everyone believes if something, if only their precious [[Manifest Destiny]]. There's a vocal atheist faction, but it believes in hidden truths and even they can be priests, just of [[Concepts Are Cheap|ideas/abstract ideals]] rather than personified powers. Inner planes are different, but there people are mostly concerned with survival (and occasionally politics) instead.