Why is Christianity more pronounced in the U.S. than the rest of Western society?

[bendog]

Christianity appeared and the Middle East and spread in Europe profoundly.
Taking into consideration the severe years of inquisition I may suppose that Europe should be far more "Christian" than the USA...
Americans tend to follow the traditions and the belief of Christianity a lot more than the rest of Western civilization. How can this be?

Our American tradition, and indeed our laws permit a freedom of religion rather than religion and the state being attached at the hip. Americans enjoy a unique long standing tradition of practicing religion without constraints.

The rest of the Western World has had to endure the coupling of religion and state. That means heresy laws are state laws. This is the peril of allowing religion to interconnect itself with otherwise secular government.

And things like genocide of Jews. And, the US never actually had a COME-TO-JESUS GOD-FEARING inquisition! And, Jesus knows we coulda used one! (-:

 

[Jantje_Smit]

And, the US never actually had a COME-TO-JESUS GOD-FEARING inquisition! And, Jesus knows we coulda used one! (-:

Vote for Huckabee and you can have your very own inquisition.

 

[Unkotare]

Christianity appeared and the Middle East and spread in Europe profoundly.
Taking into consideration the severe years of inquisition I may suppose that Europe should be far more "Christian" than the USA...
Americans tend to follow the traditions and the belief of Christianity a lot more than the rest of Western civilization. How can this be?

Europe lost its way.

 

[kaz]

Christianity appeared and the Middle East and spread in Europe profoundly.
Taking into consideration the severe years of inquisition I may suppose that Europe should be far more "Christian" than the USA...
Americans tend to follow the traditions and the belief of Christianity a lot more than the rest of Western civilization. How can this be?

That's ridiculously stupid, only American leftists coiuld possibly think that and that's because they are idiots

I didn't take the OP as leftist. Do you really believe that Western Europe is not more secularized than here? Religion has had much less influence in "stemming" tides in stuff like gay rights and stem cell research. Whether that's good or bad is simply one's personal belief.

Of course you didn't take the op as "leftist." What about Mao and Stalin, be honest, they leaned right, didnt they?

 

[bendog]

Christianity appeared and the Middle East and spread in Europe profoundly.
Taking into consideration the severe years of inquisition I may suppose that Europe should be far more "Christian" than the USA...
Americans tend to follow the traditions and the belief of Christianity a lot more than the rest of Western civilization. How can this be?

That's ridiculously stupid, only American leftists coiuld possibly think that and that's because they are idiots

I didn't take the OP as leftist. Do you really believe that Western Europe is not more secularized than here? Religion has had much less influence in "stemming" tides in stuff like gay rights and stem cell research. Whether that's good or bad is simply one's personal belief.

Of course you didn't take the op as "leftist." What about Mao and Stalin, be honest, they leaned right, didnt they?

WTF does Mao have to do with Christianity in the US v. Europe? As for Stalin, imo there's always been a social distinction between Russia and Europe, and even more so with countries never in the soviet bloc. But, again WTF does Stalin have to do with Christianity being more influential in the US that Europe? LOL

Did you not sleep well last night, Mr. Grumpy?

 

[kaz]

Christianity appeared and the Middle East and spread in Europe profoundly.
Taking into consideration the severe years of inquisition I may suppose that Europe should be far more "Christian" than the USA...
Americans tend to follow the traditions and the belief of Christianity a lot more than the rest of Western civilization. How can this be?

That's ridiculously stupid, only American leftists coiuld possibly think that and that's because they are idiots

I didn't take the OP as leftist. Do you really believe that Western Europe is not more secularized than here? Religion has had much less influence in "stemming" tides in stuff like gay rights and stem cell research. Whether that's good or bad is simply one's personal belief.

Of course you didn't take the op as "leftist." What about Mao and Stalin, be honest, they leaned right, didnt they?

WTF does Mao have to do with Christianity in the US v. Europe? As for Stalin, imo there's always been a social distinction between Russia and Europe, and even more so with countries never in the soviet bloc. But, again WTF does Stalin have to do with Christianity being more influential in the US that Europe? LOL

Did you not sleep well last night, Mr. Grumpy?

I didn't sleep at all, I flew last night from Atlanta to Amsterdam, I work in the Netherlands, what does that have to do with it?

So be honest, Mao and Stalin? they are republicans, aren't they?

 

[bedowin62]

Why would anybody put credence in anything Europeans do anyway? They are some of the world biggest cowards.. They will barely lift a finger to protect themselves. The so-called advanced social democracies of Europe have Muslim miinorities that assimilate even less than our Muslims do. Many have unsustainable debt, a few are propping up failed states, not so much for empathy but to preserve their failing Union.
Anti-Semitism is still rampant in Europe, not just by the native white people but by the large muslim immigrant population. if we didnt have LARGER NUMBERS OF IMMIGRANTS than Europe takes in then their birthrates for native europeans would be negative like ours.

 

[Unkotare]

It's not as bad now but for a long time America was made up of a lot of isolated towns and villages who had a church as the center of their social order. ....

What do you mean "not as bad"?

 

[Unkotare]

during the Enlightenment when Europe was weening itself off of Christianity. ....

That is entirely incorrect.

 

[norwegen]

I have a personal understanding of this phenomena. America was founded during the Enlightenment when Europe was weening itself off of Christianity. Maybe moving across the ocean to settle in the New World interrupted that process.

Far from it. The migration of evangelical Christians to the New World helped to create not only a Christian society but also an enlightened one. Seventeenth and eighteenth-century America was that critical juncture in time and place in which Enlightenment rationlaism and covenant theology - along with classical antiquity and the common-law traditions of the English jurists - all mutually reinforced the precepts about society and human behavior that the Americans were embracing. Very few American pastors denied the Enlightenment for the sake of their faith.

To be sure, that the Americans' republican principles - their natural law principles - being derived from these four different intellectual traditions produced some tensions in their polemics, but from all these traditions they built a society rooted in experience and reason.

 

[occupied]

It's not as bad now but for a long time America was made up of a lot of isolated towns and villages who had a church as the center of their social order. ....

What do you mean "not as bad"?

Maybe you would enjoy your local collection of pious busybodies having their noses all up in your business and having the power to ruin you but I am glad that sort of arbitrary small town power is dying off.

 

[Unkotare]

It's not as bad now but for a long time America was made up of a lot of isolated towns and villages who had a church as the center of their social order. ....

What do you mean "not as bad"?

Maybe you would enjoy your local collection of pious busybodies having their noses all up in your business and having the power to ruin you but I am glad that sort of arbitrary small town power is dying off.

Sorry, but I'm not interested in the dramatic personal story you want to tell. People in small towns finding faith, support, and community through their religion seems just fine to me.

 

[IsaacNewton]

I have a personal understanding of this phenomena. America was founded during the Enlightenment when Europe was weening itself off of Christianity. Maybe moving across the ocean to settle in the New World interrupted that process.

Far from it. The migration of evangelical Christians to the New World helped to create not only a Christian society but also an enlightened one. Seventeenth and eighteenth-century America was that critical juncture in time and place in which Enlightenment rationlaism and covenant theology - along with classical antiquity and the common-law traditions of the English jurists - all mutually reinforced the precepts that the Americans had about society and human behavior. Very few Ameircan pastors denied the Enlightenment for the sake of their faith.

To be sure, that the Americans' republican principles - their natural law principles - being derived from these four different intellectual traditions produced some tensions in their polemics, but from all these traditions they built a society rooted in experience and reason.

Many of the founders though were deists, not Christians. Many of them thought Christianity, like all religions, was a scourge on humanity and they said so.

 

[occupied]

It's not as bad now but for a long time America was made up of a lot of isolated towns and villages who had a church as the center of their social order. ....

What do you mean "not as bad"?

Maybe you would enjoy your local collection of pious busybodies having their noses all up in your business and having the power to ruin you but I am glad that sort of arbitrary small town power is dying off.

Sorry, but I'm not interested in the dramatic personal story you want to tell. People in small towns finding faith, support, and community through their religion seems just fine to me.

Of course it does, you think you would never be on the receiving end of scorn and ostracized. In one way that shit helped build America as oddballs and free spirits left their stuffy towns to settle the west.

 

[norwegen]

I have a personal understanding of this phenomena. America was founded during the Enlightenment when Europe was weening itself off of Christianity. Maybe moving across the ocean to settle in the New World interrupted that process.

Far from it. The migration of evangelical Christians to the New World helped to create not only a Christian society but also an enlightened one. Seventeenth and eighteenth-century America was that critical juncture in time and place in which Enlightenment rationlaism and covenant theology - along with classical antiquity and the common-law traditions of the English jurists - all mutually reinforced the precepts that the Americans had about society and human behavior. Very few Ameircan pastors denied the Enlightenment for the sake of their faith.

To be sure, that the Americans' republican principles - their natural law principles - being derived from these four different intellectual traditions produced some tensions in their polemics, but from all these traditions they built a society rooted in experience and reason.

Many of the founders though were deists, not Christians. Many of them thought Christianity, like all religions, was a scourge on humanity and they said so.

They were not Deists. Why do liberals not know their own history?

You no doubt think Jefferson was a Democrat, too.

 

[occupied]

I have a personal understanding of this phenomena. America was founded during the Enlightenment when Europe was weening itself off of Christianity. Maybe moving across the ocean to settle in the New World interrupted that process.

Far from it. The migration of evangelical Christians to the New World helped to create not only a Christian society but also an enlightened one. Seventeenth and eighteenth-century America was that critical juncture in time and place in which Enlightenment rationlaism and covenant theology - along with classical antiquity and the common-law traditions of the English jurists - all mutually reinforced the precepts that the Americans had about society and human behavior. Very few Ameircan pastors denied the Enlightenment for the sake of their faith.

To be sure, that the Americans' republican principles - their natural law principles - being derived from these four different intellectual traditions produced some tensions in their polemics, but from all these traditions they built a society rooted in experience and reason.

Many of the founders though were deists, not Christians. Many of them thought Christianity, like all religions, was a scourge on humanity and they said so.

They were not Deists. Why do liberals not know their own history?

You no doubt think Jefferson was a Democrat, too.

Jefferson himself was a deist who went so far as to edit his own version of the bible to exclude all the supernatural hogwash leaving only the philosophy of loving thy neighbor and helping the poor etc. He is also on record as totally despising the Calvinists who are the ideological ancestors of today's Christian right.

 

[norwegen]

I have a personal understanding of this phenomena. America was founded during the Enlightenment when Europe was weening itself off of Christianity. Maybe moving across the ocean to settle in the New World interrupted that process.

Far from it. The migration of evangelical Christians to the New World helped to create not only a Christian society but also an enlightened one. Seventeenth and eighteenth-century America was that critical juncture in time and place in which Enlightenment rationlaism and covenant theology - along with classical antiquity and the common-law traditions of the English jurists - all mutually reinforced the precepts that the Americans had about society and human behavior. Very few Ameircan pastors denied the Enlightenment for the sake of their faith.

To be sure, that the Americans' republican principles - their natural law principles - being derived from these four different intellectual traditions produced some tensions in their polemics, but from all these traditions they built a society rooted in experience and reason.

Many of the founders though were deists, not Christians. Many of them thought Christianity, like all religions, was a scourge on humanity and they said so.

They were not Deists. Why do liberals not know their own history?

You no doubt think Jefferson was a Democrat, too.

Jefferson himself was a deist who went so far as to edit his own version of the bible to exclude all the supernatural hogwash leaving only the philosophy of loving thy neighbor and helping the poor etc. He is also on record as totally despising the Calvinists who are the ideological ancestors of today's Christian right.

Jefferson was not a Deist, liberal.

 

[Unkotare]

It's not as bad now but for a long time America was made up of a lot of isolated towns and villages who had a church as the center of their social order. ....

What do you mean "not as bad"?

Maybe you would enjoy your local collection of pious busybodies having their noses all up in your business and having the power to ruin you but I am glad that sort of arbitrary small town power is dying off.

Sorry, but I'm not interested in the dramatic personal story you want to tell. People in small towns finding faith, support, and community through their religion seems just fine to me.

Of course it does, you think you would never be on the receiving end of scorn and ostracized.

Sounds like you want to confess something. I'm not a priest, go to church.

 

[IsaacNewton]

I have a personal understanding of this phenomena. America was founded during the Enlightenment when Europe was weening itself off of Christianity. Maybe moving across the ocean to settle in the New World interrupted that process.

Far from it. The migration of evangelical Christians to the New World helped to create not only a Christian society but also an enlightened one. Seventeenth and eighteenth-century America was that critical juncture in time and place in which Enlightenment rationlaism and covenant theology - along with classical antiquity and the common-law traditions of the English jurists - all mutually reinforced the precepts that the Americans had about society and human behavior. Very few Ameircan pastors denied the Enlightenment for the sake of their faith.

To be sure, that the Americans' republican principles - their natural law principles - being derived from these four different intellectual traditions produced some tensions in their polemics, but from all these traditions they built a society rooted in experience and reason.

Many of the founders though were deists, not Christians. Many of them thought Christianity, like all religions, was a scourge on humanity and they said so.

They were not Deists. Why do liberals not know their own history?

You no doubt think Jefferson was a Democrat, too.

It gets utterly tiring to have to educate the ignorant over and over. Stop watching televangelists, they lie with every breath they take.

"I concur with you strictly in your opinion of the comparative merits of atheism and demonism, and really see nothing but the latter in the being worshipped by many who think themselves Christians." -Thomas Jefferson, letter to Richard Price, Jan. 8, 1789

"History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes."
-Thomas Jefferson to Alexander von Humboldt, Dec. 6, 1813.

“My Parents had early given me religious Impressions, and brought me through my Childhood piously in the Dissenting Way. But I was scarce 15 when, after doubting by turns of several Points as I found them disputed in the different Books I read, I began to doubt of Revelation itself. Some Books against Deism fell into my Hands; they were said to be the Substance of Sermons preached at Boyle's Lectures. It happened that they wrought an Effect on me quite contrary to what was intended by them: For the Arguments of the Deists which were quoted to be refuted, appeared to me much Stronger than the Refutations. In short I soon became a thorough Deist.
- Benjamin Franklin -

It goes on and on.

There has been a concerted effort by current day evangelicals to rewrite the history of the founders to try to portray them as all Christians. But this is a lie. The country wasn't founded by christians and was not founded as a 'christian' nation. This is a myth that present day kristians use to comfort themselves.

Yes, you need to learn history. Not the history from the 'creation museum' or billy graham, but actual history.

 

[my2¢]

My reason is somewhat circular, in that I believe America is more Christian because there are a vast number of us that still believe blessings flow from God, not government.