Why is the US so much more religous as a country than majority of developed countries

actually Jesus didn't say the kingdom of Heaven was here.

He said my kingdom is not of this world

he told the disciples as he was leaving that he was going to prepare a place for them

The Bible clearly says we are foriegners on earth and our true home is elsewhere.

If like Mr. Meowgi you don't believe the Bible then fine but it does clearly say that Heaven is elsewhere

 

Jesus taught that the Kingdom will never come upon the earth in the manner that men predicted (like a city or country), not that it doesn't exist here and now. It is a kingdom within those born of God: "Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:20-21).

How can the Kingdom of God lie within you, and not be present in this very moment, other than one just not witnessing it? Good News indeed.

 

Meowgi made the same response I was going to. Jesus used the exact words "The Kingdom of God is within you."

If people want to see it otherwise that is up to them. But please don't belittle those that see the words and then say they are what Jesus was talking about.

 

Random interlude, but religious related...

On the Daily Show they were showing Mel Gibson's objection to stem cell research where he says, and I paraphrase: "If you can show me one person who wasn't at one time those stem cells, I'll give you a cigar"...very smug about it.

Then it cuts to Lewis Black who says: "Adam and Eve, Mel! I'll take two cigars!"

Sorry for the interruption, carry on.

 

John 7:38
Then Jesus said to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come."

John 13:33 - 14:6

Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, "Where I am going, you cannot come," so now I say to you. ...

Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?"

Jesus answered him, "Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward." ...

"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.

Thomas said to Him, "Lord we do not know where You are going and how can we know the way?"

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

 

The motivation for coming here was freedom from a state-imposed religion. All of those other factors you cited did indeed become factors after arrival here.

Is the religious content of their writing meaningless?

 

Well certainly there is a blending and a combination of artistic imagery. Christian religiious traditions are at the heart of the functioning of our government... or were until activist judges deemed that our ancestors couldn't have meant what they were practicing or saying....

 

I agree with you that freedom to practice religion was large part of why people first came here. But at that time, they weren't thinking on forming a new government that would become the United States of America.

When they did start to organize for that purpose, freedom of religion was one of their concerns along with all of the others I mentioned. While religion was the reason why people came here, it wasn't the driving reason of why the U.S. was formed as an independent nation.

The founding fathers mentioning God or referencing religion is not meaningless, but neither is it unusual to the founding of the U.S. European monarchs also wrote with frequent references to God and religion at that time. It was common. It would certainly be a stretch to say that like most other men the founding fathers wrote using religious references therefor our country was founded with religion being the basis.

I think it was definitely a concern of theirs, but didn't outweigh the desire to govern themselves, eliminate taxation without representation, quartering of soldiers in homes, the tyranny of a foreign monarch etc. Once it was clear they were going to attempt to found a new government the freedom of religion became an aspect that they definitely wanted included. But they didn't use the bible as a model for the new government, and it wasn't the driving force behind creating the new government.

 

Well, to answer the thread topic (and I'm sorry if this has been posted already): the US appears much more religous (sic) because a lot of modern evangelical doctrine has more to do with an old-testament sensibility than a new-testament sensibility.

I really do think the evidence for that is overwhelming, even in this thread and in the discussion above about the coordinates of heaven.

I'm not trying to pass a judgment about it; but the old testament cared about things like homosexuality and enemies and money, whereas Jesus had a message of tolerance, giving, and compassion. But that's just my reading of the good book -- I don't have a mulah to help me on Sundays at the moment, and I don't look to our elected Mulah in Chief for spiritual guidance either.

 

Not necessarily.

Modern democracy that we pioneered comes directly from the Enlightenment that rejected a Biblical world view. The idea that Man is endowed with enough rationality to choose their leaders is the opposite of the Biblical view that Man should submit themselves to higher power.

For that matter many of the Founding Fathers weren't even Christian or Christian in the way that we think of Christianity today. They acknowledged a higher power but believed free will was more important than faith.

 

Here is the reason why the US is much more religious as a country than the majority of developed countries.....

Religion is the opiate of the masses, and we have lots more masses than the other developed countries of the world.

 

Faithfulness that is offered freely is still a centerpiece of (even) evangelical Christianity today.

 

Wow -- talk about people starting duplicate threads.

I think there are about 4 threads intermingled in here!!!


- Why is the U.S. more religious?
- Where is heaven?
- What caused the initial settelers to come here?
- What symbols are most prevelant on national documents?