Believing in God, But Not Literally

As I have previously remarked, mostly christianity is actually about good citizenship, not god. It's primary virtues are obedience and not rocking the boat.

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Now why would a religious belief keep us ignorant? No reason that I can see. Why wouldn't an intelligent religious person want to learn as much as a non-religious person?

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quite possibly, buts thats uselss if their faith also leads them to believe that the only viable source of knowledge is an ancient book.It is precisely becuasse the methodology of religion is one of obscurantism rather than investigation that makes religion a form of self-imposed ignorance.

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Exactly. That was the point I was trying to make about some of the negative criticism of religious belief I've been reading on this forum. They are criticizing a cartoon-version of religious beleif which is what they remember from their childhood, perhaps.

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Thats an invalid assumption. I experienced religion as actively anti-intellectual and purposefully suppressing investigation and instead channelling it into blind adoration when I was a teenager, and this was certainly carried out by active, ministering, adults.It is not a cartoon version. It is an accurate depiction of the actual conduct of religion in the real world.