I’m sure Pierce Brosnan is an intelligent man, and it is not my intention to offend any loyal Brosnan fans who may happen to read The Argonaut, but I’m afraid I must use him as a negative example.
This summer while promoting his film “Mamma Mia,” Brosnan did an interview with Reader’s Digest. When the interviewer asked him which of his Irish roots he has held on to, he listed, among other things, Catholicism, saying it never leaves you, and he goes to church whenever there is one around.
So far, no problem.

But then he said he also loves the teachings of Buddhist philosophy, which he calls his own “private faith.”
What? Does Brosnan know anything about Catholicism or Buddhism? Is he aware the two belief systems are incompatible? Apparently not.
Now, it seems this would be an excellent point for the interviewer, Meg Grant, to ask a question similar to, “That’s interesting; how is it you hold two contradictory religious views at once?” However, she doesn’t even touch it.

How can such a clear and problematic issue be so easily ignored? For what it is worth (not much), I don’t think either of them intentionally ignored the issue; they probably just didn’t notice there was one. Additionally, I don’t think such a response is abnormal. Based on many conversations I’ve had, my guess would be most people who read the interview didn’t bat an eye at Brosnan’s Buddhist Catholicism.
However, neither of those things is an excuse for not thinking. It seems we have reached the point at which we are incapable of recognizing contradictions in religious thought.

To put it another way, when it comes to religion, we are stupid.
If you are wondering how we got to this point, I have a suggestion you may not expect: the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was known as the “Age of Reason,” but I think it may actually have sapped our religious intelligence. Many thinkers during the Enlightenment saw religion as being superstitious and irrational, and they made an effort to draw a distinction between religious belief and rational thought. They wanted people to have rational beliefs, not superstitious ones.

The idea religious beliefs are separate from reason has stayed with us and become part of our collective mindset, but the religious beliefs themselves have not stayed away. The result is today most people hold religious beliefs but do not connect them to reason. In fact, we seem almost incapable of applying critical thinking we use in other areas to religious matters.

When talking to many people, it seems they do not even think it is possible to apply logic and reason to religious ideas, and some are even offended when you try to do so. At first glance it may seem we are being highly reasonable and skeptical, not allowing religion to claim it has anything to do with reason. However, since we still hold religious or “spiritual” beliefs, the end result is what we believe is, well, stupid.

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