I think maybe the low intelligence or stupid bit comes from people assuming lower income and less educated people tend to be more religious. I don’t even know if that is statistically true, and I make no assumption it is, but it appears that way to many people. Thing is one can be poor or uneducated and still be intelligent. And, plenty of very educated people in Americe believe in God and are very religious. I sat next to a man while flying home to Memphis a few years who had been raised in San Francisco, but then spent the last 15 years of his careers in Europe, Germany was his last country, before returning to the states to live in Memphis. He said to me how odd it is to him that a C-level executive can be so well educated, smart, logical, and then be so religious they teach bible study on Sunday. It was hard for him to compute in his head. I think a lot of Americans have a hard time understanding that also, but there are many many Americans exactly like that. People kind of compartmentalize these things, and it does not seem contradictory to them.
Having lived in the bible belt I understand it much better now. The only bothersome thing is how it bleeds into politics for them. The churches are so present here. Big churches with family events, women’s events, all these group activities that it is part of the fabric of life even aside from God. It is a place to meet up with friends, attend special events, dinners. I think the people who grew up with that have a hard time understanding not having it. All of that is very nice actually. Other places have large rec/social centers in a community or subdivision. There are social directors, community theatres, groups that meet, all sorts of other gathering places.