Indoctrination, geographical location, fear of death, lack of education, lack of intelligence?

People believe in the God of their parents and their grandparents, most people do. That's to say if you were born in Ancient Greece you'd be worshiping Zeus, in Old Norse times you'd be worshiping Thor and so on.

I believe it links back to being hardwired for thousands of years to do as and trust what figures of authority tell us.

That's to say if your Mum tells you not to touch the hot stove because it will hurt you usually won't. Or if you are out with your Dad and he tells you not to walk near the cliff edge.

Over the years the trait of doing as we are told and trusting what we are told has lead to survival of our species and each time those who didn't were dwindled out because that's the way it works.

Now apply this to faith, let's say like me, you were told by teachers and relatives that a particular faith was true. Of course as a young and impressionable child you will believe that but as we grow up we start to question things such as this, some persist in their delusion and others break free of it to tell others.

Currently more than ever more and more people are awakening from this and while religion is still a part of our lives it is losing it's grip and one day I honestly believe it will be gone completely.

It would be arrogant to expect it to happen in my short time here on Earth but it will do, little by little, bit by bit and that's what's exciting.

Since there is absolutely no logical reason to assume there is an afterlife, I decided to make the life I have now as much fun as possible.

One can simply look at where the church is doing most of it's evangelizing in the world. Who is more susceptible than the needy?

Let me see...
My parents were borderline religious. Ostensibly, they were Episcopalians...but we didn't have a Bible in the house, and we rarely went to church...usually only once a year, at Easter.
I grew up in Upstate New York.
I have the same healthy urge towards self-preservation as anyone else. I dunno if I'd go so far as to call it "fear of death"...there are a couple of things I would willingly die for.
I have an Associate's Degree. I could have gone further, but I had kids, and they seemed more important at the time.
I have always scored very well on IQ tests. I am an avid reader.
And I am a devout Christian.

Of course, I am a "one of a kind" ;-D

Does this help answer your question?

All are highly positively correlated with religious belief.

Of course, correlation is not *necessarily* causation. But it can be. And in this case, often is.

"Does education and intelligence cause many people to become less religious or non-religious?"

It is a fact that the more education a person has, and the higher they score on IQ tests, the less likely they are to be religious. And the less education a person has, and the lower they score on IQ tests (to the border of mental defects), the more likely they are to be religious.

I think it has more to do with insecurity about what controls us and what happen when we die than anything else