Why aren't most Europeans religious ?

Question

Why have they lost their way ?

Answer 1

Probably because of the long history of fanaticism, dogma, and religious war on the continent.

Answer 2

I imagine that if the United States suffered the kind of carnage on its own territory that most European nations suffered on theirs, the U.S. would get a little more serious about this kind of thing as well. These religious fantasies don't protect a nation - at some point, you've got to take the bull by the horns and do it yourself, and that's what the European nations seem to have realized, to some extent at least.

Answer 3

Interesting question.

I think Europeans have a longer sense of history than americans and they remember the suffering and destruction that resulted from having established churches.

Also, WW I and II did not show off the religious in an especially good light.

Answer 4

My opinion/observation: They hold in suspect religion because people are, by nature, rebellious against institutions & the church became too powerful of an institution...so they rejected it.
Also, through education & philosophy, they have become humanists (as is happening in America), holding self higher than God. In a sense, they decided that they could handle life better on their own, thus becoming their "own gods"
The USA is headed down this same path today. Although most of the rest of the world is still very religious. Christianity is actually spreading faster today than ever in history.

Answer 5

The Eastern Europeans are heavily Catholic. As for Western Europe, it might be the nine-or-so centuries of religious warfare. My guess is they got a little tired of the slaughter, so tossed out mythology in favor of reason and logic.

Answer 6

Take a look at their history from 325 CE to 1945 CE, when religion was in charge there. I think they've had their fill of the Way. (Just an opinion, since i'm not European.)

Answer 7

They are religious in Eastern Europe (Poland,Latvia etc).
In Western Europe education standards are very high and a large proportion of the population goes to university.
In any society religiosity decreases as educational attainment rises.
The same pattern can be seen within the USA.

Answer 8

Europeans don't care about religion. Europe has been around for thousands of years. America is only about 400 years old. They went through their religious years, now we are going through ours.

Answer 9

Americans have spent their time on economic and technological advances. Europeans thought it might be nice to work on social and philosophical advances. We're not there yet, but the signs are good.

Answer 10

Why are most non religious european countries the ones with the least amount of crime?

So who exactly has lost their way?