One of the most viewed posts on this blog is a 2010 essay titled “A Christian America?: What History Shows.” It addresses the question of whether this nation was born Christian. What history shows is that most Americans at the time of the Revolution were “unchurched” and not much theologically Christian (more superstitious than religious). The evangelical movements of the 19th century Christianized America.
But there is another way to pose the question, “A Christian America?” How Christian are Americans today compared to people in peer nations–in other western, affluent, nominally Christian countries? In one sense, we are the most Christian people, but in another sense, the least. It’s about talking the talk and walking the walk.
Most
Americans are much more religious than people in other, comparable nations.
* The 2008 International Social Survey Program asked people around the world many questions about their religious beliefs and practices. Among 17 large, western, affluent, overwhelmingly Christian nationalities, Americans were easily number one. They were, for example, much more likely to say that they had always believed in God, that “God concerns Himself with human beings,” that they believed in heaven, and that they prayed daily. Americans were first by large margins over most other nationalities.[1]
* In a 2018 Pew study, Americans were the most likely among 17 comparable nationalities to say that they attended services regularly and that religion was very important in their lives.[2]
* I have been unable to find cross-national data specifically about people’s attachment to Christian doctrine, but given the numbers just reported and given what Americans say in domestic surveys–for example, 66% that they believe that Jesus was born to a virgin and 63% that they will go to heaven because they have confessed their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their savior–it is hard to imagine that Americans are not also first in adhering to specifically Christian doctrines as well.[3]
In these ways, America is, comparatively speaking, truly the most Christian among western nations. However….
Least
* “You shall not murder.” Exodus 20:13 (ESV).
– The U.S. homicide rate is, by far, the highest among 18 western nations.
– The U.S. is the only nation among its peers that executes people.
* “You shall not steal.” Exodus 20:15.
– The U.S. rate of reported robberies rate is third highest (after Belgium and Spain).
* “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you…. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.” Matthew 5:38-39.
* “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” Romans 12:19.
– The U.S. imprisons a much higher proportion of its population than any peer nation.
* “You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.” Exodus 23:9.
* “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For… I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Matthew 25:31-46.
-– The number of refugees the U.S. accepts proportional to population is the third lowest among peer nations.
– The U.S. accepts the lowest number of immigrants per thousand residents among all the peer nations.
* “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, … you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand…, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.” Deuteronomy 15:7-11.
* “Is not this the fast that I choose . . . to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house?” Isaiah 58:6-12.
* “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35.
* “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” 1 John 3:17-18.
– The U.S. has the lowest share of national income that goes to the bottom one-fifth of its people.
– The U.S. has the highest rate of poverty overall and (along with Spain) the highest rate of children in poverty.
– The U.S. has the third highest rate of people living with under $5.50 a day (as of 2011).
– The U.S. is by far the lowest among 11 peer nations in how much it spends on social support of the non-elderly and on how much of poverty it reduces by social expenditures.
– The U.S. contributes the second lowest percentage of its gross national income to assisting economic development overseas.
– Private giving is another matter altogether: Nine in ten Americans report having donated money in the previous year, which is the highest reported percentage among peers. But to what are Americans donating? In dollar amounts, about a third of American donations go to support churches themselves. (Such giving is unnecessary in many other countries, where churches receive tax money.) Another big chunk goes to causes such as education (think: alumni giving), foundations, the arts (say, the opera), civic activities (e.g., League of Women Voters), and the environment. Perhaps only 20 to 25 cents on the philanthropic dollar go to support health or other human services such as food banks.
* “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you…. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you….” James 5:1-3.
* “You cannot serve God and money.” Matthew 6:24. . . . “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:24. . . . . “Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers.” Matthew 21:12-13.
* “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15.
– The U.S. has the greatest level of income inequality among the peer nations and it has by far the highest concentration of national wealth in the hands of the top one percent of households. (The American one percent hold 42% of the nation’s wealth; second are the Dutch one percent, holding only 28%).
– The gap between what a CEO makes and what the average worker makes in America is by far the greatest in the western world.
– The U.S. (with Switzerland) does the least of any peer nation to redress economic inequality generated in the market.
* “You shall not bear false witness….” Exodus 20:16.
– The President of the United States.
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Notes
[1] Accessed via http://www.gesis.org/. The countries compared are: Australia; Austria, Belg., Den., Fin., France, Ger., Ire., Italy, Neth., New Z., Norway, Sweden, Switz., UK, and USA. 83% of Americans said they always believed in God; the Irish were next in all comparisons, here at 81%. 64% of Americans said they definitely believed in heaven; Irish, 46%. 43% said God cared about humans; Irish at 23%. 55% said they prayed daily; Irish at 35%.
[2] Pew Research Center, June 13, 2018, “The Age Gap in Religion Around the World.” The countries compared are the same as above, except swap Canada for New Zealand. Attend weekly: 36%; Italians second at 23%. Very important: 53%; Canadians second at 27%.
[3] Virgin: Pew Research Center for the People & the Press Poll, Nov, 2017. Heaven: Barna.
MADE IN AMERICA 