Continuing my musings on why some people need religion and others do not, I come to the question of why Europe, Western Europe to be exact is so secular.
The latest statistics I found are between 1970 and 2003 and they include weekly church attendance; a somewhat of an indicator of secularism.
Church attendance in the Netherlands fell from 41% to 12%. In France the decline was from 23% to 8%.
Belief in a Christian god in the Netherlands was 80% in 1947 and in 2004 was 50%.
In Western Europe only 10-20% of the people said that religion was very important in their lives while in the U.S. nearly 60% say it is very important and nearly 80% believe in some form of divine being. Wow – now that is a difference.
There is no single answer but some factors stand out. The history of Western Europe is replete with religious drama where the “Church” took on a political and financial role in society that sometimes bordered on dictatorial and fanatical.
In Western Europe people actually learned something from history and vowed never again. In the United States, the Founding Fathers were versed in European history but not the ordinary man. Thank heaven the Founding fathers wrote the Constitution with knowledge of European religious oppression very fresh in their minds.
Early American immigrants were actually escaping European religious oppression when they came here. They were looking for a country where they could practice their religion in peace. They were looking for religious freedom so they were pleased with a Constitution that guaranteed them that freedom.
In Western Europe, they have seen what mixing religion and government can do and just decided to stay clear of organized religion in general.
Other reports about Western European secularism paint these Europeans as people that believe that religion should be seen but not heard; use it for funerals and such but that’s all. To me it indicates that they still require religion for ritual and ceremony but not for any personal or communal reason – it’s a habit.
I can empathize here a little like when our daughter was married; she and her husband (Scottish) chose a non-denominational minister of sorts that spoke of the spiritual life in the bounds of nature, if I recall correctly.
My own wedding much earlier was steeped in Catholic traditionalism with holy water and smoke and high ceremony but no matter how many times the priest says “what god has joined let no man put asunder” divorces are on the rise like no other time in history.
Will Americans eventually become secularists like the Europeans? Well maybe but not in our life time. Many current immigrants stay religious as part of their group makeup and identity. It takes a while for people to feel comfortable as Americans and only then will they entertain thoughts, ideas and beliefs other than those of their tightly knit ethnic community but in time…
The latest statistics I found are between 1970 and 2003 and they include weekly church attendance; a somewhat of an indicator of secularism.
Church attendance in the Netherlands fell from 41% to 12%. In France the decline was from 23% to 8%.
Belief in a Christian god in the Netherlands was 80% in 1947 and in 2004 was 50%.
In Western Europe only 10-20% of the people said that religion was very important in their lives while in the U.S. nearly 60% say it is very important and nearly 80% believe in some form of divine being. Wow – now that is a difference.
There is no single answer but some factors stand out. The history of Western Europe is replete with religious drama where the “Church” took on a political and financial role in society that sometimes bordered on dictatorial and fanatical.
In Western Europe people actually learned something from history and vowed never again. In the United States, the Founding Fathers were versed in European history but not the ordinary man. Thank heaven the Founding fathers wrote the Constitution with knowledge of European religious oppression very fresh in their minds.
Early American immigrants were actually escaping European religious oppression when they came here. They were looking for a country where they could practice their religion in peace. They were looking for religious freedom so they were pleased with a Constitution that guaranteed them that freedom.
In Western Europe, they have seen what mixing religion and government can do and just decided to stay clear of organized religion in general.
Other reports about Western European secularism paint these Europeans as people that believe that religion should be seen but not heard; use it for funerals and such but that’s all. To me it indicates that they still require religion for ritual and ceremony but not for any personal or communal reason – it’s a habit.
I can empathize here a little like when our daughter was married; she and her husband (Scottish) chose a non-denominational minister of sorts that spoke of the spiritual life in the bounds of nature, if I recall correctly.
My own wedding much earlier was steeped in Catholic traditionalism with holy water and smoke and high ceremony but no matter how many times the priest says “what god has joined let no man put asunder” divorces are on the rise like no other time in history.
Will Americans eventually become secularists like the Europeans? Well maybe but not in our life time. Many current immigrants stay religious as part of their group makeup and identity. It takes a while for people to feel comfortable as Americans and only then will they entertain thoughts, ideas and beliefs other than those of their tightly knit ethnic community but in time…
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