# US and inducing belief in God **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 22, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016 "2013-01-22T16:59:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![doubleminus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@doubleminus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doubleminus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016/1 "2013-01-22T16:59:17Z")
According to [this Gallup poll](http://www.gallup.com/poll/147887/americans-continue-believe-god.aspx), in 1967, 98% of Americans believed in God. In 2011, “only” 92%. Is this true ? If so, it seems that the US has the best system to induce belief. Could it be useful to have religion taught at schools ? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016/2 "2013-01-22T17:00:30Z")
Useful in what way? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016/3 "2013-01-22T17:01:01Z")
That’s what church and home is for. No. Besides, how do you decide which religion is taught? (Ignoring the Constitutional issues) ---
**Author:** ![doubleminus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@doubleminus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doubleminus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016/4 "2013-01-22T17:03:25Z")
More rational decision making in a variety of areas. And isn’t this a bit shameful ? I mean iran is less religious ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016/5 "2013-01-22T17:06:31Z")
How do you teach rational thinking by teaching an irrational belief? ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016/6 "2013-01-22T17:07:53Z")
> [@doubleminus](#): > > More rational decision making in a variety of areas. I don’t know that this necessarily follows a decline in religiosity. Religion is far from the only wellspring of irrational decision-making. > [@doubleminus](#): > > And isn’t this a bit shameful ? I mean iran is less religious Of course it’s not shameful. There’s nothing inherently wrong with being religious. ---
**Author:** ![doubleminus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@doubleminus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doubleminus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016/7 "2013-01-22T17:09:59Z")
Would it be difficult to have a supermajority in Congress and Senate for an amendment ? Any religion. The important thing is that it would be imposed. Best would be Fundamentalist Evangelism. Science would be allowed only in Sunday school or at home. Isn’t now the perfect time ? Tea Party and all ? It can be extremely useful for building character. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016/8 "2013-01-22T17:13:58Z")
> [@doubleminus](#): > > Would it be difficult to have a supermajority in Congress and Senate for an amendment ? > > Any religion. The important thing is that it would be imposed. Best would be Fundamentalist Evangelism. Science would be allowed only in Sunday school or at home. > > Isn’t now the perfect time ? Tea Party and all ? It can be extremely useful for building character. Could you please try to clarify what your goal is here? Is this some sort of mockery of someone’s opinion? ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016/9 "2013-01-22T17:14:03Z")
I think the OP is, based on his most recent (at the time I started writing this and didn’t bother to preview) post, arguing that an established religion in the US would, somewhat counterintuitively, lead to less widespread religions belief, based on the examples of other countries with an established church. Maybe. ---
**Author:** ![doubleminus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@doubleminus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doubleminus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016/10 "2013-01-22T17:14:41Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > I don’t know that this necessarily follows a decline in religiosity. Religion is far from the only wellspring of irrational decision-making. > > Of course it’s not shameful. There’s nothing inherently wrong with being religious. Not for an individual, no. But 92% for a whole country ? Especially one that makes noises about the bigotry of backwardness of much of the Muslim world ? That significant parts claim their president is Muslim, and not as a compliment ? ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016/11 "2013-01-22T17:14:46Z")
As I recall, one of the Four Horsemen of the New Athiesm (Dawkins, Dennet, Harris and Hitchins) makes a convincing argument that the US is like this because the Republican Party promotes religion and panders to the religious to win elections. I would guess I’m remembering Hitchens, maybe in “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything”, but maybe it was Harris, I don’t remember for sure. This does fit with a pattern I think is visible in the Republican Party. I think they stand for economic conditions favoring the very wealthy, and - at their core - nothing else. However, there is a big problem, as pointed out by Edward Conard, a Romney partner at Bain capital who promotes Republican politics and wrote a famous book a couple years back. What they stand for is exclusively in the interests of a tiny fraction of the American people, so they have to convince various other groups to vote against their own self interests. This is why they have promoted or embraced gun rights, climate change denial, outlawing abortion, birtherism, and a bunch of other nutty and dangerous politics. Evangelicalism in particular and religion in general is one of these. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016/12 "2013-01-22T17:17:17Z")
> [@](#): > > Is this true ? As with any poll, the devil (so to speak) is in the details. Personally, I’d guess it is true, but it doesn’t really say that much about how religious or secular people in the US actually are…more about what they expect they should say to poll questions and perhaps a casual believe that there is a God, gods or a higher power/spiritual belief. > [@](#): > > Could it be useful to have religion taught at schools ? No, I don’t see how you arrive at that. Could you expand on what problem you are trying to solve here? ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016/13 "2013-01-22T17:23:17Z")
> [@doubleminus](#): > > Would it be difficult to have a supermajority in Congress and Senate for an amendment ? > > Any religion. The important thing is that it would be imposed. Best would be Fundamentalist Evangelism. Science would be allowed only in Sunday school or at home. > > Isn’t now the perfect time ? Tea Party and all ? It can be extremely useful for building character. Amending the Constitution also requires that the amendment be ratified by three fourths of the states’ legislatures. This will not occur, Americans are religious, but they (in general, fanatics certainly do exist) are in favor of freedom of religion and the seperation of church and state. > [@doubleminus](#): > > Not for an individual, no. But 92% for a whole country ? Especially one that makes noises > about the bigotry of backwardness of much of the Muslim world ? That significant parts claim their president is Muslim, and not as a compliment ? You’ve made my point for me; the United States and Iran are both highly religious. Yet, one is a liberal democracy, the other is a repressive theocracy. Clearly, other factors are at work. ---
**Author:** ![doubleminus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@doubleminus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doubleminus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016/14 "2013-01-22T17:23:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Could you please try to clarify what your goal is here? Is this some sort of mockery of someone’s opinion? Nah… Just run of the mill sarcasm. It just occurred to me that a country that was built to be free of institutionalized religion, turned out to be a country having religion impacting more that any other Western country, and probably more than other countries in general. American debates that touch religion somehow (and most do) are almost unintelligible elsewhere. For instance the number of debates about religion in these forums. THe same could be said of American Sex, of course related. But this is funny enough for a separate thread. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016/15 "2013-01-22T17:27:51Z")
> [@doubleminus](#): > > Nah… Just run of the mill sarcasm. It just occurred to me that a country that was built to be free of institutionalized religion, turned out to be a country having religion impacting more that any other Western country, and probably more than other countries in general. American debates that touch religion somehow (and most do) are almost unintelligible elsewhere. For instance the number of debates about religion in these forums. > > THe same could be said of American Sex, of course related. But this is funny enough for a separate thread. That’s freedom for you. When people are allowed to make their own choices, it means you might not agree with what they choose. ---
**Author:** ![doubleminus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@doubleminus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doubleminus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016/16 "2013-01-22T17:28:03Z")
> [@XT](#): > > No, I don’t see how you arrive at that. Could you expand on what problem you are trying to solve here? I trust Hegel’s idea of otherness. In order to have real freedom from religion, one must experience being oppressed by it. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016/17 "2013-01-22T17:29:43Z")
> [@doubleminus](#): > > I mean iran is less religious In Iran, religion is taught in the schools. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016/18 "2013-01-22T17:30:13Z")
> [@doubleminus](#): > > I trust Hegel’s idea of otherness. In order to have real freedom from religion, one must experience being oppressed by it. Except, the United States has real freedom of and from religion. ---
**Author:** ![doubleminus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@doubleminus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doubleminus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016/19 "2013-01-22T17:31:06Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > That’s freedom for you. When people are allowed to make their own choices, it means you might not agree with what they choose. Do you think that Obama expressed his real religious beliefs, say in the inauguration speech or he had to fake it ? Is he free to say what he feels on this issue ? Even now, after he was elected. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016/20 "2013-01-22T17:32:11Z")
> [@doubleminus](#): > > Do you think that Obama expressed his real religious beliefs, say in the inauguration speech or he had to fake it ? Is he free to say what he feels on this issue ? Even now, after he was elected. What does that have to do with the topic? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-and-inducing-belief-in-god/648016.md?page=2)