"To Europeans, religion is the strangest and most disturbing feature of American exceptionalism. They worry that fundamentalists are hijacking the country. They find it extraordinary that three times as many Americans believe in the virgin birth as in evolution. They fear that America will go on a "crusade" (a term briefly used by Mr Bush himself) in the Muslim world or cut aid to poor countries lest it be used for birth control. The persistence of religion as a public force is all the more puzzling because it seems to run counter to historical trends. Like the philosophers of the Enlightenment, many Europeans argue that modernisation is the enemy of religion. As countries get richer, organised religion will decline. Secular Europe seems to fit that pattern. America does not."
God, I do loathe "The Economist." This is typical. If you read "capitalism" for "modernization" it makes a lot more sense. As every vestige of social space and social relation is lost or broken, of course, "religion" as a means of recreating transcendent ties, social ties, a "reliable" other world gathers force. Everyone is afraid, alone, and here comes Jebus to save the day! On some level, everyone knows that at the rate we're going, we are heading for dust and ashes, so we long for "heaven," for "forgivness," for "righteousness," but more than all this, we long for unconsciousness which institutionalized religion is willing to give us in spades.
So where's the puzzle? I assume the diff between Europe and US in terms of religiosity is that life in Europe is not yet as fragmented/destroyed as life in the U.S. "As countries get richer"....my ass.
Joanna