# why is america obsessed with god and politics? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 28, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-obsessed-with-god-and-politics/669873 "2013-09-28T16:26:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sentrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@sentrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sentrix)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-obsessed-with-god-and-politics/669873/1 "2013-09-28T16:26:44Z")
just looking down the threads. well…why folks? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-obsessed-with-god-and-politics/669873/2 "2013-09-28T16:29:17Z")
We were obsessed with e-cigs a little while ago. It has to do with what questions people are asking, which aren’t all god and politics. Look through a few pages of older postings in each forum. ---
**Author:** ![Clark\_Cello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Clark\_Cello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_Cello)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-obsessed-with-god-and-politics/669873/3 "2013-09-28T16:29:41Z")
Because the weather has been boring lately? ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-obsessed-with-god-and-politics/669873/4 "2013-09-28T16:36:43Z")
It’s not football season yet. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-obsessed-with-god-and-politics/669873/5 "2013-09-28T16:37:30Z")
America [sic]? Haven’t the vast majority of culturally significant and lasting architectural, musical, painted, and printed works involved either religious or political matter? Seems like a basic human trait, rather than an American one. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-obsessed-with-god-and-politics/669873/6 "2013-09-28T18:58:02Z")
What are you comparing it to? Much of Europe is [more racially homogenous](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/16/a-revealing-map-of-the-worlds-most-and-least-ethnically-diverse-countries/), but they still have political debates at the macro level. [Much of the rest of the world is more religious](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gallup_Religiosity_Index_2009.png), but America is pretty high up there among its first-world kin. Combine a racially diverse makeup, a religious history of Quakers and Puritans, etc., relative isolation from other major religions (Europe was continually exposed to the other Abrahamic traditions and they’re also closer to East Asia), a two-party system, and the great prominence of American media (which tends to upsell minor controversies for viewership), you get the picture, however inflated, that the country is strongly divided. America is also bigger and more rural than many other first-world countries (especially European ones), meaning less mixing of its population. Nearly [60%](http://pewsocialtrends.org/files/2011/04/American-Mobility-Report-updated-12-29-08.pdf) of Americans have never lived outside their home state, and the states themselves are pretty divided politically, so between that and the media’s influences, it’s a self-reinforcing cycle of internal division. “Us vs them” is how you sell TV time, how politicians differentiate themselves, how you sell wars, how you prove your personal superiority, etc. – all very American values. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-obsessed-with-god-and-politics/669873/7 "2013-09-28T19:15:17Z")
This is better suited to Great Debates than GQ. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-obsessed-with-god-and-politics/669873/8 "2013-09-28T19:35:17Z")
Europe sent its religious fanatics to America. Case in point: today’s Scandinavians are known for atheism, nudism and modern art … while Scandinavian-Americans are solidly part of the rural Christian-Republican base. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-obsessed-with-god-and-politics/669873/9 "2013-09-28T19:38:26Z")
> [@sentrix](#): > > just looking down the threads. > > well…why folks? America as a whole isn’t represented by this message board, ya know. If you’d get out and meet real Americans all across the country, you’d realize that we’re actually obsessed with breasts. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-obsessed-with-god-and-politics/669873/10 "2013-09-28T19:52:32Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > It’s not football season yet. Yeah, it is. ---
**Author:** ![Conservian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@Conservian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Conservian)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-obsessed-with-god-and-politics/669873/11 "2013-09-28T20:04:50Z")
> [@sentrix](#): > > just looking down the threads. > > well…why folks? Ironically, many of the threads/posts here that seem “obsessed” about God appear to be initiated by those who’re either agnostic or atheist. ---
**Author:** ![Conservian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@Conservian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Conservian)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-obsessed-with-god-and-politics/669873/12 "2013-09-28T20:14:29Z")
> [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > Europe sent its religious fanatics to America. Case in point: today’s Scandinavians are known for atheism, nudism and modern art … while Scandinavian-Americans are solidly part of the rural Christian-Republican base. ☹ Hope they’re the same caliber of “fanatics” that were responsible for laying the foundation of what was to become, America. ---
**Author:** ![Conservian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@Conservian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Conservian)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-obsessed-with-god-and-politics/669873/13 "2013-09-28T20:17:48Z")
> [@Clark\_Cello](#): > > Because the weather has been boring lately? “Boring??” I call it beautiful and would love to get my hands on a lifetime supply of this stuff:) ---
**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:** [September 28, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-obsessed-with-god-and-politics/669873/14 "2013-09-28T20:19:49Z")
> [@sentrix](#): > > just looking down the threads. > > well…why folks? This forum isn’t _America_. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-obsessed-with-god-and-politics/669873/15 "2013-09-28T20:22:03Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > This forum isn’t _America_. It would be cool if the moderators analyzed the IP geolocations of all our active users. ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-obsessed-with-god-and-politics/669873/16 "2013-09-28T20:30:52Z")
> [@Conservian](#): > > Hope they’re the same caliber of “fanatics” that were responsible for laying the foundation of what was to become, America. Well, maybe some fanatical traits are helpful to be a pioneer in the wilderness. But Canada seems to do fine without mixing religion and politics. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-obsessed-with-god-and-politics/669873/17 "2013-09-28T22:07:19Z")
> [@Conservian](#): > > Ironically, many of the threads/posts here that seem “obsessed” about God appear to be initiated by those who’re either agnostic or atheist. And plenty are not. And atheists/agnostics would mostly stop talking about the matter if the believers would just _leave us alone._ > [@Conservian](#): > > Hope they’re the same caliber of “fanatics” that were responsible for laying the foundation of what was to become, America. You mean you hope they are genocidal slavers? And technically speaking, traitors. Traitors who _won,_ but still traitors. [QUOTE=Sir John Harrington] Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason? Why if it prosper, none dare call it treason. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-obsessed-with-god-and-politics/669873/18 "2013-09-28T22:20:29Z")
> [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > Europe sent its religious fanatics to America. Case in point: today’s Scandinavians are known for atheism, nudism and modern art … while Scandinavian-Americans are solidly part of the rural Christian-Republican base. ☹ On the contrary, the Scandinavian-Americans of the Upper Midwest are far more Democratic than their counterparts of German or other descent. > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > You mean you hope they are genocidal slavers? > > And technically speaking, traitors. Traitors who _won,_ but still traitors. The Founding Fathers weren’t genocidal unless they intended to kill every last single person of a certain ethnicity. And they were “slavers” only in the sense that virtually everybody else on the planet were “slavers” at the time. ---
**Author:** ![ruben4ruben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8c91f0/32.png) [@ruben4ruben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruben4ruben)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-obsessed-with-god-and-politics/669873/19 "2013-09-28T22:27:06Z")
This is tough question. I really don’t know, but Reply’s summary sounded quite good. I’ll have a go; Because: 1 the USA is a _(the)_ leading super power, engaged in perpetual war and an increasingly class divided nation. 2 the world (including the USA) has been increasingly violent and unstable for the past century. The 1st is a reason to be fixated on politics, since day one the gap between rich and poor has been painfully wide. This gap is widening at ever greater speed. (mach 3 since 2008) Even in Roman times they knew the mob stayed quiet and confident if they had bread. The 2nd is (for many) a reason to search for answers or salvation. Or at least to start worrying on a bigger level as faith and trust in governments is at an all time low. Internet, Youtube, blogs and _leaks_ have only increased the interest or disillusionment in politics. If i were to say “The End is Nigh!” in high pitched Hammer House of Horror voice and raise my hands would you forgive me? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Conservian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@Conservian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Conservian)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-obsessed-with-god-and-politics/669873/20 "2013-09-28T22:57:27Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > And plenty are not. And atheists/agnostics would mostly stop talking about the matter if the believers would just _leave us alone._ Look at the board and tell me how many threads are testimonials to Christianity? Next, examine the posts and make the same comparison. > [@](#): > > You mean you hope they are genocidal slavers? Learn something about where America’s religiosity actually originated from. Did you ever hear of a document called The Mayflower Compact? Start there and move forward… Hint: it wasn’t the Founders. > [@](#): > > And technically speaking, traitors. Traitors who _won,_ but still traitors. And frankly speaking, that just regurgitated anti-colonial nonsense. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-obsessed-with-god-and-politics/669873.md?page=2)