Why is Christianity so successful in America?

Religion was long used by the State in Europe in order to support the oppression of the peasantry. Thus, when radical liberals rose up demanding democratic reforms and rights, one of their objectives was often time dismantling the Church. This is most clearly seen with the French Revolution.

>>1437621
It's not. Christianity is dying in the U.S. too, just a slower death.

Most of Western Europe is much wealthier per capita than people in the US, so they don't need to seek out church benefits to maintain their standard of living. There is less social need for a church.

Western Europe is also more secular in general, which leads to more secular institutions, which leads to less need for church institutions, which leads to further secularism.

Why are they more secular? My theory is the reverse of yours: A free market of faiths in Europe has proved secularism to be most beneficial to those who want to live a materialist lifestyle. American secularism hasn't taken hold because there's still a stigma that atheists or nontheists are untrustworthy, and there's nothing worse for a materialist than to be disowned by their society.

>>1437730
>A free market of faiths in Europe has proved secularism to be most beneficial to those who want to live a materialist lifestyle
Secularism was imposed top down though.

>>1437730
>Most of Western Europe is much wealthier per capita than people in the US, so they don't need to seek out church benefits to maintain their standard of living. There is less social need for a church.
That's not a reason though. It'd also imply individual church's do a lot of charity work, which they generally don't in community
>Western Europe is also more secular per capita
Come on, don't spout this crap. Secular vs. Moralistic government has fuck all impact on people's religiously.

The simple fact is that a large portion of the U.S. population has always been fervently religious since they emigrated, as many of them were religious pilgrims. That's why it's dying a much slower death in the States.

>>1437621
Christianity makes it easier to rationalize all the crazy shit they do

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>>1437762
Not really honestly.

>>1437621
> In America, many denominations compete among themselves and have to market and innovate to stand out
Which is one of the main reasons why they are not Christian. Also, American Christianity is strong more because of its political aspects than because of any vitality in its theology, piety, or practice. For a variety of reasons, Christianity is identified with one of the major political parties. Identifying yourself as Christian in this country generally is a proclamation of which side you take in the "culture wars" than anything you can find in any Christian creed. It's why Donald Trump is proclaimed a Christian, and the so-called Christians in this country can even deny the Trinity and still be considered within the fold.

In Western Europe, they kind of stopped pretending they were Christians. We haven't got there yet.

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>>1437744
Yes, just like in America ;)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States

>>1437759
Churches have a social function in addition to being a place of worship. You can't deny that. The wealthier you are, the less need you have to take advantage of that social function.

If your pilgrim theory held up, the Northeast would be the most religious part of the US, given that THE Pilgrims literally founded Massachusetts colony. In fact, the most religious parts are the Midwest, South, and Appalachia. Why? Because they're the poorest regions.

n.b. Texas is unique because of its position on the border and endless oil cashflow.

>>1437793
The original pilgrims got pushed out and down south by European immigrants. The Mennonites are the only ones that truly remain.

>>1437793
What, are you implying that secularism was ever NOT imposed top down by a small elite?

>>1437800
Secularism of state is not necessarily secularism of lifestyle.

Both European countries and the US are broadly secular as states. Only Europe is secular by lifestyle (ie, its people are secular people).

>>1437798
Would like to know more specifics, but I disagree more broadly and assert that "pilgrims" are unimportant when looking at US religiosity.

>>1437730
Americans are WAY wealthier than almost all of western Europe with the exception of Luxembourg, Switzerland and Norway.

Nigger what?
Go read a Bible in a very public american place and see all the weird looks you get

>>1438997
The thing is that Christianity is such a force in the US even to this day that teaching evolution in schools is a "controversial" issue.

Another thing is that no presidential candidate would present himself as an atheist. Even Obama had to pay lip service to religion, "Oh yes, Jesus is the Lord. T-that's what I believe too folks".

>>1437621

Community and schools.

Children are convinced at a young age that Christianity is THE religion because of their peers. When Easter or Christmas comes around you don't see anyone talking about the pagan history of it. You just see teachers getting excited to get their family together and the children will talk to the non-religious students about what they learned about the holidays in Sunday School.

It inevitably ends in everyone accepting it as fact, and then when they're older they don't want to accept any other ideas.

Just look at how people view removing Pluto as a planet or the idea that Dinosaurs had feathers. If it doesn't fit what they heard as a child, then they don't want to accept it.

>>1439046
I grew u p in the Midwest and I remember my a high school science class where the teacher asked if anyone in the room didn't believe in evolution. One kid raised his hand. The kid was a transfer from a Catholic school. Usually it's only evangelicals that make a big deal out of it. It really is only an issue in the south where there is a large evangelical population.

>>1439251
I went to school in the Pacific Northwest (one of the least religious areas on the country), and it was a huge controversy. In honors biology, the teacher could only teach evolution by saying that it was only one viewpoint that lots of people don't agree with it. Most of the class believed in intelligent design.

Community specifics like income and general culture have a lot to do with it. I lived in a poorer area very close to a military base. There were a lot of religious people around, even in a secular region. You didn't experience that, probably because your area was much different. Plenty of the US is still very, very religious.

Christianity in the US plays a role of a quasi-national identity, since the nation is too young and too heterogeneous to have deep historical national identity in European sense, and it was actively promoted as such during the Cold War as bulwark against communism.

America was founded by puritans is still a society of backwards religious nutjobs by its culture

>>1439251
>The kid was a transfer from a Catholic school.
But catholics DO accept evolution. Did he transfer because the priests at the catholic school called him a heretic?

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>>1437621
>While in Western Europe the Churches are empty?

Leftist meme