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There are some more religious countries in Europe, such as Spain or Italy (or Poloand which isnt Western Europe though), but on average, North Amerca is more religious.
There are some more religious countries in Europe, such as Spain or Italy (or Poloand which isnt Western Europe though), but on average, North Amerca is more religious.
you would be surprised to see how non-religious Spain is compared to Italy or Poland. And those two are almost non-religious compared to North America.
you would be surprised to see how non-religious Spain is compared to Italy or Poland. And those two are almost non-religious compared to North America.
People are Catholic/Christian as a cultural tag since almost all western european culture is based on religion, but not religious. People love Gregorian Chants and Barroque, etc, but just as art, identity.
Not "religare", does not bound people anymore. Catholic church created western Europe out of cinders of the old world. So people are Christian as dogs have four legs.
Americans, on the other hand, take religion seriously, they respect religion, churches are packed on Sunday. In Europe, there are many people thant don't respect religion because religion has not respected people during centuries, but no hard feelings at all.
When anarchists started to burn churches and altars during the Civil War in Spain, 1936, the republican president, which was rabidly anticlerical told them..."you are a bunch of criminals because you are burning our legacy".
My first instinct was to say this is a question with a very obvious answer if you look strictly at statistics of self-reported beliefs and church registration, etc.
Even Irish that attend church are not strident about it.
I don't think any West European countries are particularly religious now.
Andorra...they are governed six months by the president of France and six months by the Bishop of La Seo, which is the bishopry..they banned pornography, marihuana smokers end up in jail, etc.
Western Europe is considerably less religious than the US. More importantly Americans are far more believing, evangelical, and hold a LOT of sway in politics and social policy than in the Europe.
Canada is far less religious than the US and religious views have no effect on politics or social policy in the slightest. In fact to bring up religious beliefs in political discourse is a one-way ticket to political suicide......Canadians are genuinely horrified at the idea of any religious belief having impact on government policy.
In Western Europe is not in fashion to be religious,but it does not mean that Catholicism holds an enormous and silent power capable of turning down elections and candidates...without the need to resort to mumble jumbo. The main party here, PP, is Catholic, but sectarians are kept under lid.
In Western Europe is not in fashion to be religious,but it does not mean that Catholicism holds an enormous and silent power capable of turning down elections and candidates...without the need to resort to mumble jumbo. The main party here, PP, is Catholic, but sectarians are kept under lid.
Ironically, I think that Catholicism began to lose its influence since the Second Vatican Council. It appear to lose some distinctive elements such as the masses in latin and the priest prayng towards the altar, and not to the people. Pope John XXIII and Paul VI tried to make the church "closer to the people", but - for a non-obvius reason, maybe just coincidence - people began to leave it.
It's not a purely European phenomenon. Brazil, once proud of being the largest catholic nation worldwide, has only just 64% of adherents today. The difference is that Europeans are migrating towards secularism, and brazilians towards pentecostal churches.
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