Why are Europeans less religious than Americans?

On what do you base your claim that people living in Europe are less religious than people living in America (and by “America” are we to presume that you mean the USA and not the continent/s)? How is the degree of more vs. less “religious” being measured?

I don’t think that’s necessarily the case, the main difference is that Americans tend to ram religion down your throat, both atheist & theist.

We have a stronger sense of identity in Europe that comes from having a longer history and deeper roots. What Americans call being ‘religious’ often seems very primitive and strident to me and not at all what I think of as being religious.

Most stats that I’ve read seem to support this model, that religion and theism is much more important to Americans than western Europeans. I know the stats are from a religious site, but unless somebody can rovide me counter evidence I’ll assume that my question is very accurate.

They tend to respect education more than we have. Look at the Finns.

@flutherother Do you mean being spiritual but not religious?

Superiority.

I think Americans are on a whole more fundamentalist than Europeans. There is a book called “Stealing Jesus” that documents the fairly new fundamentalism that rose up in the united states in the early 20th century and how it’s completely changed what it means to be religious.

I don’t think that more fundamentalist means more religious. It just means you take things in the Bible more literally.

@Paradox25 I think religion should have a contemplative spiritual aspect to it. That is my view though I am not religious myself.

@Paradox25 ”
Most stats that I’ve read seem to support this model, that religion and theism is much more important to Americans than western Europeans. I know the stats are from a religious site, but unless somebody can rovide me counter evidence I’ll assume that my question is very accurate”

Huh? The Pew Research Center isn’t religious.

I think of many Europeans (Italians, Spanish, Polish) as ultra-religious, ultra Catholic.

@Paradox25 is quite right in the question’s premise. In study after study, compared to US stats, more people in Europe attend a house of worship rarely or never, more say that they have no particular religious faith, and more self identify as atheists.

Here’s one study, but there are plenty more.
See http://www.pewglobal.org/2011/11/17/the-american-western-european-values-gap/ and scroll down to “Religion More Important to Americans”.

In ’’Why Americans Are More Religious Than Europeans’’ Nigel Barber speculates on this very question. See what you think of his answers.

@ETpro Yeah, it is pretty obvious stuff, and anybody can find this info almost anywhere to support my claim. I just don’t understand how the exact same types of people started to behave differently just from living on the other side of the Atlantic.

Go to Ireland – the Catholic church is everywhere.

@Paradox25 I don’t really know why. Perhaps being sheltered from the frequent abuses inflicted on the citizens by state-ordained religion in European states, the American people never grew as wary of religiosity. I wonder if there are any credible books exploring the question.

@jca, Anywhere the Protestants are not. The only time they share common ground is when they are fighting or blowing each other up.

I wonder if it is more socially acceptable to be non-religious in Europe than US? Is the ‘God Bless America’ attitude just so pervasive that it means that people are less likely to say or even think that they don’t believe in a god or religion? I know that even as a Brit, I find it hard to come out and say that I’m atheist, especially around religious people.

Europeans are less religious because their experiences. Look for example at the Thirty Years’ War in 17.c. Religion in context of special social, political and economic circumstances had must become obsolet, therefor becames the enlightenment a great importance in the 18.c. The term Enlightenment describes the development that began around the year 1700 to overcome all structures that hinder progress. Through rational thinking to the progress, louded the slogan. The aim was to create acceptance for newly acquired knowledge. The first result was the Great French Revolution, the depowering of the clergy and the dividing of church and state… The former Europeans who came to America as emigrants were often very religious and were in Europe prosecuted by other religious fanatics of other churches. This seems me the most important reason for the more religious people in the USA, but also the education plays a role.