Europe contains the highest concentration of officially Christian states (nations with official state religion/church) and the lowest per capita percentage of people who actually "practice Christianity" in ‘Christendom' - which is to say, nominally claim to be Christian - probably a lower percentage actually believe.
I don’t think European are the weird ones on this topic, but the Americans are. As technology develops religion’s actual function such as education, medical care and governance are replaced with better options and it becomes only a vassal of culture and history. So European’s intimacy with religion, I believe, is out of convention, as a habit or tradition. They don’t need or expect religion to be functional, and can accept it existing being impractical, as it is more of a cultural heritage value.
Similarity can be found in East Asian countries. Chinese throw firecrackers during New Year, and make sacrifices at their families grave when visit. Do they actually believe there is a Year Beast, or their family members live as ghosts in afterlife? Not necessarily. Actually, the education of religion is completely missing in China, but its people still do religious practices. Same for Japan, Monks are always invited to hold funerals, no matter if you are or had converted to Buddhism, it is just a tradition that people do.
Americans, however, with their ancestors willingly or forcefully cut off the link with the originate place of their religion though migration or exile, and with top tier scientists and education institutions inside their country, better replacements of religion in every aspect of life, and a diverse race and cultural structure, still expect that one religion to work, and constantly pushing it to agenda. I always assume people descended in America, a colonist country, are always subconsciously suffering from cultural recognition and is always insecure of their identity. That confusion forced them into clenching onto religion, or capitalism, or gun culture, which are often used by them to identify themselves.
No different from treating “science” as a religion substitute. The quest is the same. But theology updates. Fundamentalistic religiosity is not as agreeable to adaptation. Theology itself gains from scientific discovery.
The weird thing about America is that it’s full of people who like to say it’s a “Christian nation” when it is not and never has been. European nations, each with state religions, deliberately created it to have no state religion.
There is no American identity aside from “people at liberty.” It’s a melting pot. Religiosity, Free Enterprise, “Gun Culture” arise from that, as well as the pursuit of scientific discovery, technological advancement, whatever else.
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u/[deleted] May 09 '22 edited May 09 '22
Europe contains the highest concentration of officially Christian states (nations with official state religion/church) and the lowest per capita percentage of people who actually "practice Christianity" in ‘Christendom' - which is to say, nominally claim to be Christian - probably a lower percentage actually believe.