Since the nineteenth century, it has been widely assumed that the spread of
industrialized society would spell the end of religion. Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud,
and Weber —
along with innumerable anthropologists, sociologists, historians, and psychologists
influenced by their work—expected religious belief to wither in the light of modernity. It
has not come to pass. Religion remains one of the most important aspects of human life
in the twenty-first century. While most developed societies have grown predominantly
secular,
with the curious exception of the United States, orthodox religion is in florid
bloom throughout the developing world. In fact, humanity seems to be growing
proportionally more religious, as prosperous, nonreligious people have the fewest babies.

When one considers the rise of Islamism throughout the Muslim world, the explosive
spread of Pentecostalism throughout Africa, and the anomalous piety of the United
States, it becomes clear that religion will have geopolitical consequences for a long time
to come.

Despite the explicit separation of church and state provided for by the U.S.
Constitution, the level of religious belief in the United States (and the concomitant
significance of religion in American life and political discourse) rivals that of many
theocracies. The reason for this is unclear.

While it has been widely argued that religious
pluralism and competition have caused religion to flourish in the United States, with
state-church monopolies leading to its decline in Western Europe, the support for this “religious market theory” now appears weak. It seems, rather, that religiosity is strongly
coupled to perceptions of societal insecurity.

Within a rich nation like the United States,
high levels of socioeconomic inequality may dictate levels of religiosity generally
associated with less developed (and less secure) societies. In addition to being the most
religious of developed nations, the United States also has the greatest economic
inequality.
The poor tend to be more religious than the rich, both within and between
nations.

Fifty-seven percent of Americans think that one must believe in God to have good
values and to be moral, and 69 percent want a president who is guided by “strong religious beliefs.”

Such views are unsurprising, given that even secular scientists regularly acknowledge religion to be the most common source of meaning and morality.
It is true that most religions offer a prescribed response to specific moral questions—the
Catholic Church forbids abortion, for instance.

But research on people’s responses to
unfamiliar moral dilemmas suggests that religion has no effect on moral judgments that
involve weighing harms against benefits (e.g., lives lost vs. lives saved)

So antispam bot is also biased about religion
Was banned for one post.