the fact that many Americans are so religious is just utterly strange, and somewhat frightening Why? Speaking as somebody from the UK I can guess one reason. I

the fact that many Americans are so religious is just utterly strange, and somewhat frightening Why? Speaking as somebody from the UK I can guess one reason. In this country, and the other European countries I've visited, religious views are generally part of people's private, rather than public, lives. I no idea of the religious views of most of my friends. It's not part of the public persona of whether somebody is "good" or not. Their actions define that. So in this context the only people who are public and outspoken in their religious views tend to be the extreme ends of the religious spectrum. Either in viewpoint (the gays are evil nutjobs) or because their religion encourages them to get out there and convert folk. These tend to be folk that you don't want to hang out with - whether you are religious or not. It one of those odd internal dials that I have to turn in my mental model when I visit the US - that people within the "normal" range of religious views will come up to you and talk religion. Religious people commit less crime, get and stay married more, use less illegal drugs, donate and volunteer more References? By that logic more secular countries and areas would have higher crime/drug rates and lower volunteer rates... and the opposite seems to be true if anything. In the US anyway the percentage of atheists in prison is way lower than the percentage in the general population.. but maybe that meets atheists tend to be smarter criminals :-)