Why are Americans so religious?

[Voldemort]

Alickadoo said:

I think it has a lot everything to do with intelligence and common sense.

EFA

[MikeM6]

Is it not akin to asking why Saudi Arabia is so religious? Or Israel?

I suspect it has been a dominant factor in their society that has been preserved, presumably because it served either the society as a whole (pseudo welfare state) or those at the top of the hierarchy.

I would suggest it's not as simple as "they are thick", but more of a case of "it has worked for them".

I think the bigger issue is what would we replace it with? Religion, whilst being quite inaccurate and problematic in many ways, does contribute by holding nihilism at bay for many. If we have nothing to replace the religion as societies grow out of it, are we sleepwalking into a big problem for those who are philosophically literate enough to create a suitable alternative system.

I'm all for the removal of the power and organised religion, I do however think we might need to think carefully about what comes next and how we fill that vacuum.

Food for thought.

[Vasco]

Is it at all surprising when you realise just how thick many of them are ?
Little common sense, a stupid love of guns - and massive support for that idiot Trump - the worst of the lot!
Not a lot going for them, even before you consider their silliness over religion.

[MikeM6]

Vasco said:

Is it at all surprising when you realise just how thick many of them are ?
Little common sense, a stupid love of guns - and massive support for that idiot Trump - the worst of the lot!
Not a lot going for them, even before you consider their silliness over religion.

I'm not sure if you mean any of that, but it is a very ill informed and narrow view you hold there.

[Steve H]

MikeM6 said:

Vasco said:

Is it at all surprising when you realise just how thick many of them are ?
Little common sense, a stupid love of guns - and massive support for that idiot Trump - the worst of the lot!
Not a lot going for them, even before you consider their silliness over religion.

I'm not sure if you mean any of that, but it is a very ill informed and narrow view you hold there.

Narrow and exaggerated possibly but all good examples of entrenched views that apparently cannot be let go of.

Gun ownership is considered such an enshrined right by many in the US but it is based on the needs of the days of the frontier. Yes that’s not so many generations ago and it is so widespread it would be incredibly difficult to unwind but the belief that it is so important that tens of thousands of annual deaths should be ignored goes against any logic that I can see.

Trump, by any outsiders view, is the antithesis of any religious Christian teaching but because he fits in with other political views and references god on tv occasionally he gains an instant following. Surely this is nothing more than self delusion believing that the guy is actually god fearing or religious (or a worthy leader for any other reason)?


Like religion, guns and Trump are good examples of the human trait towards belief in something despite all the evidence.

[Vasco]

MikeM6 said:

Vasco said:

Is it at all surprising when you realise just how thick many of them are ?
Little common sense, a stupid love of guns - and massive support for that idiot Trump - the worst of the lot!
Not a lot going for them, even before you consider their silliness over religion.

I'm not sure if you mean any of that, but it is a very ill informed and narrow view you hold there.

I meant all of that, there's far too many involved for anybody to ignore how extreme some can get in the USA.

[MikeM6]

Vasco said:

MikeM6 said:

Vasco said:

Is it at all surprising when you realise just how thick many of them are ?
Little common sense, a stupid love of guns - and massive support for that idiot Trump - the worst of the lot!
Not a lot going for them, even before you consider their silliness over religion.

I'm not sure if you mean any of that, but it is a very ill informed and narrow view you hold there.

I meant all of that, there's far too many involved for anybody to ignore how extreme some can get in the USA.

I'm sorry to hear that, what you said is the equivalent of saying every Brit is a tea drinking, Harry Potter loving, buck toothed football hooligan.

There is just so much more to it than can be condensed into a post on a motoring forum.

[Vasco]

MikeM6 said:

Vasco said:

MikeM6 said:

Vasco said:

Is it at all surprising when you realise just how thick many of them are ?
Little common sense, a stupid love of guns - and massive support for that idiot Trump - the worst of the lot!
Not a lot going for them, even before you consider their silliness over religion.

I'm not sure if you mean any of that, but it is a very ill informed and narrow view you hold there.

I meant all of that, there's far too many involved for anybody to ignore how extreme some can get in the USA.

I'm sorry to hear that, what you said is the equivalent of saying every Brit is a tea drinking, Harry Potter loving, buck toothed football hooligan.

There is just so much more to it than can be condensed into a post on a motoring forum.

Perhaps you should read my comments better - my use of 'many' and 'some' should explain that I'm not talking about the 'every' that you now raise in relation to Brits.
.

[MC Bodge]

MikeM6 said:

what you said is the equivalent of saying every Brit is a tea drinking, Harry Potter loving, buck toothed football hooligan.

That's a pretty good summary of modern Britain

[732NM]

MikeM6 said:

I think the bigger issue is what would we replace it with?

Nothing. You cut cancer out, you don't have to put something else equally destructive in its place.

[M5-911]

732NM said:

Nothing. You cut cancer out, you don't have to put something else equally destructive in its place.

I think secular states have proven you wrong.

[732NM]

M5-911 said:

I think secular states have proven you wrong.

Most of the world is secular, including the USA.

[hidetheelephants]

M5-911 said:

I think secular states have proven you wrong.

There aren't any. I'll make an assumption and guess you're going to cite the USSR, China, etc. In both cases the cult of personality largely or entirely replaced the cult of religion, arguably they are the same thing anyway.

[M5-911]

said:

https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_state

Plenty to choose from. Some successful ones and plenty of awful ones.

[M5-911]

732NM said:

M5-911 said:

I think secular states have proven you wrong.

Most of the world is secular, including the USA.

Exactly, you cut out the so called cancer to replace it with something as incurable... Secularism.

[732NM]

M5-911 said:

Exactly, you cut out the so called cancer to replace it with something as incurable... Secularism.

No, religion is replaced by nothing.

[ChocolateFrog]

Skeptisk said:

Compared with other similarly developed countries in Europe, but also elsewhere eg Japan or China, Americans are much more religious, not just in the percentage believing in god but those for whom religion is an important part of their daily lives. But why is that the case?

Religion used to be a fundamental part of European life too and most Americans have their roots in Europe and are Christians. How is it that the importance of religion has dwindled in Europe but still holds firm in the US?

On the topic of religion in the US has anyone else been reading about project 2025? Pretty scary stuff (if you are not a Christian fundamentalist - or rather a white male Christian fundamentalist).

Linked to IQ

[ChocolateFrog]

Mercdriver said:

Easily led? Brought up to go to church from an early age so it is considered “normal”

I was 12 before I rebelled about going to church, made to go each week, indoctrination, hated it and refused to join church, not much my parents could do and they accepted it.

Now I will not set foot in any church of any denomination for any reason, to me weddings, christenings and funerals just keep people going to church even people who do not attend.

A lot of the world’s troubles are down to people not accepting other people’s religion.

I appreciate the architecture even if I have to contemplate how batst crazy you'd have to be to set aside the resources to build them for the reasons they're built.

It's actually insane when you think about it.

[ChocolateFrog]

Cotty said:

Mercdriver said:

Easily led? Brought up to go to church from an early age so it is considered “normal”

Isn't that pretty much the way for most religions. If your parents follow a religion then chances are any children will follow the same religion, if any. I wonder if left to their own devices with no parental or outside influences how many people would follow a religion.

I don't buy that.

My mum is part of the Salvation Army as is her mum.

I got to about 6 or 7 before I refused to go, she tried dragging me out of the house physically but I wasn't going, I never went again after that.

Total waste of half the weekend, if a very average 6 year old can grasp that what they're being told is complete bks then the argument is pretty weak when talking about adults.

[steveatesh]

Boom78 said:

We get quite a few young American/canadian LDS types around this way, each morning you’ll see them boarding trains at Cardiff central with their name/church badges on dressed in suits on their way up the valleys to spread the word, I bet they get a warm welcome up there.

We do have our own missionaries……

https://viz.fandom.com/wiki/Ivan_Jelical