Do you think you're smart because you're an atheist? Or do you think you're an atheist because you're smart?
You are making the assumption (by the 1st two posted answers) that anyone who is atheist thinks they are smart.
There are some. I've met a few.
Well, at least no one here thinks that just because we refuse to suspend our disbelief, that that alone somehow shows intellectual superiority, but all these things, the ability to use logic over fantasy, to read and hear things critically, to reject the suspiciously superstitious ramblings of the painfully ignorant (arrogant much?) yeah, I have little respect for the beliefs, not because they're outlandish and foolish, more becuase of the baked/added in Urge to Proselytize, their insistence on trying to convert us poor heathens to save our immortal, fragile souls... Blahh, save it, sister
Everybody is smart about something thats why it somehow works when you co-operate with others who have smarts - to get a job done. My Atheism has nothing to do with my smarts (if I have any left at my age!) An absence of belief is hardly noteworthy in my book, its what I actually do and say that counts that is why I like the ideal of co-operation /mutual aid whatever.
I think it depends more on what you seek.
Some seek the truth
Some seek confirmation of what they want to beleive.
Some seek only recreation and don't really give a hoot.
I could be wrong.
Sure, I am intelligent and that's surely a contributing factor, but equally as important is that I am open-minded enough that I wanted to know "the other side" and get an understanding of how other people thought and what they believed. It turns out that "the other side" is where I firmly landed. I still have that curiosity that drives me to want to understand how other people feel and think and what they believe, as it will always be a part of who I am.
I don't believe being an Atheist is anything to do with my intellect. It is the way I am and how my thought processes information . Simple really.
If it were so simple we wouldn't need a word like atheist to begin with. I've just ran into a lot of atheist who believe that they're intelligent because they know one thing more than say a Christian. My aunt was a multi-millionaire and grew up very poor but when she got money she believed that her IQ was higher and would always give out advice because she thought money equals intelligence even though she didn't earn the money she married it.
@SonderOpia Simple for me, but maybe not for others.Atheism is just a word meaning without Gods from ancient Greece it is not a title I wear ,it is others putting a label on people like me, with a no belief in the supernatural
I don't see myself as "smart". So kinda hard to answer that one. Ignorance though held me in Christianity for decades. So maybe an atheist because I was exposed to more knowledge??
I did my research. I read many holy books and studied religion going back thousands of years. I was raised Christian and broke free of this because of my studies. I believe I'm an atheist because I was smart enough to educate myself on the issue.