Are Americans deeply religous?

[Amy Pie]

Generally... I don't know if this is a stereotype or if Americans are just more religious that say the British.

The reasons why I say this...
1) In the Simpsons, homer is constantly made to go to church even though he has no desire to, also the whole town goes to church (I don't even know more than 2 people who do)
2) On twitter, Americans have started trending 'happy easter' because it's their afternoon now but also 'he is risen' is also trending yet no religious references were trending when the British were saying happy Easter
3) Britian is more accepting of gays (I've heard)
4) I think there's more but I'll add them as additional details

I know my examples aren't very good but basically I just want to know If Americans are as deeply religious I'm general(obviously not everyone is religious). I know about 2 Christians even though the main attraction in my town is a really old church.

P.S. happy Easter from the UK
Also if you said to someone here you're off to church they would say 'why?' if you said you weren't going to church would Americans ask why
Why are Americans more religious?

[condominator]

They are more religious than the the British.

[Krad]

No more than the rest of the world.

I feel there is this thing called "American Christianity." These types of "Christians" believe going to church and having a Christian family makes them Christian. I also find that these types believe being good Americans make them good Christians.

EDIT: I do find this "why go to church" thing is a growing trend in America to. Especially in the media.

[John P. Myers]

Unfortunately the stereotypes are true. America is more religious than most of the rest of the world (except the middle east, and we see how that's going).

Even Canada is 4 or 5 times less religious than America, and they're neighbors. It's nuts.

Additional: Yes, i've been asked 3 or 4 times today why i didn't go to church. I believe there are 2 main reasons for it. First, the politicians cram it down everyone's throat. They use it to make themselves sound "right" and "pure". Second is the fundamentalists. They use the wealth to create pseudo-science, pseudo-news, pseudo-statistics that the believers just eat up. There are American christians who actually believe 90% of the world is christian! They honestly believe, and act, like they are the only religion around.

It is has gotten far too out of hand. The number of non-religious in America is increasing rapidly, but this seems to only be causing the christians to respond in fear, becoming more aggressive in their attempts to cling to what's left.

[Tim]

I don't know about "deeply," but America has a greater percentage of religious practitioners than any other developed country, with between 85-95% believing in a god. That is on par with Islamic Middle Eastern Countries.


That being said, only about 30% of Americans' attend church on a regular basis.

Also, many that do are just like Homer. They go because they are expected to.

[raspywealth901]

I myself am, but I've seen a decline in the past several years. the rise in Atheism here isn't nearly as much as it seems if you go just by church dropout rates, I think there are more non-practicing faithful out there than there are atheists.

I actually accept gays, it's not really my business what another person does with their time of this earth but such unions DO NOT belong in the church an this will not change.

ps, thank you and happy Easter to you,

[Francesca]

Generally, over the whole population of America, there are more religious people. They are certainly more religious than the English.

[khpiryv]

Yeah, America is probably among the most religious countries in the first world. When you have someone running for President saying that all same-sex marriages should be dissolved because they are an affront to religious freedom, who wants to make private consensual anal sex illegal, who wants to outlaw pornography... And this man is being taken seriously... Then you know religion in America goes far beyond its role in other countries.

I found it amusing that the religious right in America accuses Obama of being a radical leftist when Obama is considered beyond the rightmost limits of the right wing in many European countries. There are no actual leftists in America who stand a chance at winning the presidency, not by the standards of the rest of the first world.

[Hally]

Well, I lived in the UK for three years (Warwick), and the contrast just could not be greater. In the UK, I attended the C of E and my little boy went to a C of E school, the Queen is Supreme Head of the Church and the Archbishop of Canterbury is a member of the government -- and it was STILL less religious than in the U.S. I never once had anyone ask what my religion was, and I don't really even remember religion being a topic of conversation.

In America, total strangers will get right up in your face and ask, "HAVE YOU FOUND THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND ACCEPTED HIM INTO YOUR LIFE YET?"

Imagine someone walking up to you in Sainsbury's and saying that. It just would not happen!

I routinely have people knocking on my door and asking me to accept their version of Jesus. I never had anyone knock on my door in three years living in England.

People are always proposing laws that have a Biblical basis. We have a man running for president right now who says he wants to ban birth control because "it allows people to have sex other than the way it is supposed to be" -- in other words, it allows people to have sex for pleasure instead of just for having children. I'm not making this up! Imagine someone running for MP who said that.

I could go on and on, but yes, having experienced both, the U.S. is much, much more religious.

As to why, well, four hundred years ago, the English, in a stroke of pure brilliance, kicked out all of their religious fanatics. Those fanatics ended up in America, and we're their descendents. Okay, I'm kidding a little, but that might have something to do with it.