I’ve never heard of Jordan Stout but I know of some extremely intelligent and powerful people who have had religious sentiments. Maybe Stout is talking about dogmatic religion.

it is easy to see things all black and white, but people have been known to compartmentalize. some people are brilliant in some areas and idiots in others. not all people who believe in a god or gods are idiots. they do this one idiotic thing, but that doesn't mean they are weak all over, or even weak; they may have other reasons. i use frank zappa as an example; i used it once before elsewhere and the response that he was an idiot. the respondent didn't get it at all. this is the thing: frank zappa was brilliant. he really was. but regarding cigarettes he was an idiot. he didn't just say oh i know it causes cancer and heart disease and all that but i can't help it. no. instead, he was convinced that cigarettes were totally harmless, right up to the moment they killed him. stupid! so does that negate all the brilliance? same with religion. now, we know lots of weakminded, idiotic religionists, but that doesn't mean everyone who believes in a god is an idiot. they're just idiots about THAT.

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