Peer Pressure and Christian Belief

You'd think someone with a book entitled "The Age of American Unreason" would be able to identify weak links in her own writing. 

Susan Jacoby opens her new column in the On Faith website, "The Spirited Atheist," with 5 myths about atheism. Writing about "Myth #2: Atheists think all religious believers are stupid," she acknowledges that believers can be quite intelligent, yet-- 

there is a strong correlation between simplistic fundamentalist beliefs, relying on a literal interpretation of sacred texts, and lack of education. As the level of education rises, the number of people who believe in materially impossible tales such as the creation of the universe in six days; the literal resurrection of the dead; and the Virgin Birth diminishes. That is why fundamentalists have been tireless in their efforts to inject religious teaching into public schools. So it is generally true (although there are of course many exceptions) that the less people have learned about science, history, and different belief systems, the more likely they are to cling to a rigid form of faith.

At least she simply identified the factors of strong faith and poor education as correlation and not causation. But by letting the reader know that the correlation is "strong" and offering no range of possibilities as to why the correlation exists, Jacoby may as well have used the word "causation."  As a result, though she objects as myth that atheists think all religious believers are stupid, she reinforces the myth by acknowledging that a few smart believers exist, defying the odds and holding to a faith incongruous to the level of their IQ.

Jacoby actually illustrates at least one reason why there may be a "strong correlation" between lack of faith and higher education.  Though we humans fancy ourselves as independent thinkers, none of really escaped the tractor beam of peer pressure since we first felt its pull in Middle School.  We are instinctively tribal--we are primal joiners.  This means not only are we anxious to identify with those we consider our peers but we are also desperate to distinguish ourselves from those our peers dismiss.  So, a grad student not only adopts the skepticism of his professors and peers but also wants to avoid the suspicion he's like the yahoos who cling to faith. I've found that the more a person feels he's vulnerable to this suspicion among his peers, the harder he feels he has to work at distinguishing himself from the yahoos.

You've never really freed yourself from that force that keeps the herd in line ever since you first felt it in adolescence.  This is true when it comes to the books we say we like, the politics we say we prefer, and the stores we say we patronize. Is peer pressure keeping you from considering the claims of Christ?