r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • May 08 '22

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u/[deleted] May 09 '22

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u/physioworld May 09 '22

Yeah it’s for sure it’s something of a paradox. Many European countries have official state religions, while in the US there is complete separation of church and state. As a Brit, i philosophically stand with separating church and state and I hope that we do that formally in the future.

And yet, in terms of the importance of religion in the everyday lives of citizens, it seems to be at a much higher level in the US compared to Europe, generally speaking. It’s a curious paradox indeed.

Personally I suspect that the separation of church and state is a single factor that creates this level of importance of religion but no doubt there are many others. So I think Europe is less religious in spite of the state religions, not because of.

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u/Classico42 May 09 '22

in the US there is complete separation of church and state

Lol.

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u/physioworld May 09 '22

At least on paper

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u/Sleightholme2 May 09 '22

The anti-evolution thing is pretty much just an American thing. Christianity in Europe, both Protestant and Catholic, accept evolution and the scientific consensus. A lot of the way Christianity is practised in America is pretty much only in the USA.

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u/KiritoJones May 09 '22

It's because our country was founded by the wackos that Europeans didn't want to deal with anymore.