the average IQ in the U.S. is 98

[DonCoquixote]

60. There is an answer

but it is far from "politically correct."

The fact is, the so called "fundamentalist" religions, be they Dixie Baptist, pro Ben-Ladin Islam, Hard-line Catholic or sadly any and all variants of Religion, all encourage numbers, regardless of the parent's ability to actually raise a child, or the lack thereof. This suits the churches, as they can take over a lot of the role, and they do NOT need nor WANT a bunch of intellectual children questioning them. They do not want the children for their heads, they need them for their hands, so that the churches can hand them farm tools and weapons, and so that they can grow up to hand the fruits of their work to the church.

Want an example?
http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/articles/2013/04/11/homeschooled-kids-now-grown-blog-against-the-past.html

Here, these kids were raised out of school so that they could be good religious types. Now, I know some people have their reasons to homeschool, but the reason it is embraced by religion is because it keeps their kids away from things that will question the faith, which is a very nice way of saying they want to keep the kids as stupid as their parents. After all, if you train these kids to THINK, than they might not be what the church wants.

It is true that many times the process of deliberately "religious education" backfires: Madonna, Rosie O' Donell, and Fidel Castro are all famous example of Catholic Education However, that does not change the intent of Religious education, which is to keep the faith, even at the expense of one's mental development.

So, how does this rant tie back to American IQ scores? Because, even in Public education, there is an intense amount of pressure Religious Institutions can place. It is no accident that many Charter Schools end up being run by Religious educators of all stripes. In Florida, there was a scandal because the Scientologists were found to have been influencing the Charter schools, in particular making textbooks based on their ideas of learning, which in their case, were PART OF RELIGOUS DOCTRINE.

http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/charter-school-dangers-on-display-in-scientology-case/1218150

I picked this example because, while it is easy to pick on the more established "God of Abraham" faiths, it is indeed true that newcomers like the Scientologists can use the flaws of our education system to their advantage; our education system gave them a back door, and in the case of Charter schools, a front door, to make children led to their door. Of course, while the Scientologists brought about scrutiny on themselves, most people missed the point. They were only doing what the established religions were already doing, just that they were newcomers to the game.