If America Is Indeed A "Christian" Nation How Come We Rank So Low?

Question

on the Global Corruption Index, a survey of 133 nations conducted by Transparency International (an anti-graft watchdog). A score of 10 means a country is seen as being 'highly clean', and a score of zero means 'highly corrupt.'

How come more secular European countries are less corrupt than the USA?

The least corrupt country in the world was Finland, a very secular, Scandanvian country. Finland scored 9.7 out of 10. Bangladesh is the world's most corrupt nation with a score of 1.3.

Poor countries with political unrest are typically more corrupt. Here is where the USA ranked among the rich Western nations.

Finland- 9.7
Iceland- 9.6- Denmark
New Zealand- 9.5
Singapore- 9.4
Sweden- 9.3
Netherlands- 8.9
Australia- 8.8
Norway- 8.8
Switzerland- 8.8
Canada- 8.7
Luxembourg-8.7
United Kingdom- 8.7
Austria- 8.0
Hong Kong- 8.0
Germany- 7.7
Belgium- 7.6
Ireland- 7.5
USA- 7.5
Chile- 7.4

What do you think?

You can see the entire ranking here:
http://ushome.rediff.com/money/2003/oct/07corrupt.htm

I know we are not a "Christian" nation. This is directed at those who THINK we are and feel threatened by secular thinking.

It is also for those who assert that "Christianity" automatically leads to "morality" and so the fact the USA has the most Christians in the WORLD should automatically mean we are the most moral country in the world.

Which we are not. Hope that clears up any misconceptions.

Answer 1

There are too many variables that enter into the equation to attempt to trace it to Christianity or to any one singular cause.

Answer 2

Finland is number 1 because of the socialism idea we have, it is really strong here. It's not very apprecieted that in Finland you brag with your secural possessions, you would be considered as a big time idiot if you did it here.

What I am saying is that Finnish people aren't that much after of money, we love the socialism here. Because of it there are very few who are really rich, but we don't have any poor people. Everyone is middle-class. So there is no competition, and everyone is happy, therefore corruption isn't needed.

And because USA is very capitalist country there is a lot of competition; there are some people who would do anything to get to the top.

I am not saying that socialism is better than capitalism, it works differently on every country; I'm pretty sure capitalism wouldn't work here in Finland.

A small edit: over 90% of the people in Finland are christians, so I don't think religion has anything to do with corruption.

Answer 3

It has long been understood that there is a rough inverse correlation between a person's religiosity and the likehood they will commit a crime. Data from the US Bureau of Prisons suggests that, on a per capita basis, Christians are roughly fifty times more likely than atheists to wind up in federal prison.

My admittedly biased opinion is that religious people are more disconnected from reality and are much less likely to perceive a cause and effect relation between their actions and the quality of their own lives.

I suspect, when generalizing about entire countries, it becomes harder to discover the cause behind the effect. Even so, a quick scan of the entire 133 nations seems to indicate that Islamic nations have a long ways to go, as far as moral behavior is concerned.

Answer 4

I think that survey can not be used for arguing that we're all hypocrites. The measure of "corruption" is based on surveys, of which you only need THREE for a country to be listed, of "professionals" which merely ask about their PERCEPTION of corruption. It's quite possible that the US scores lower because our media obsesses over political scandal, while another country with, for example, a government-controlled media may report on other things and thus the public PERCEPTION of corruption is lower. Americans also tend to be extremely cynical in regards to our political officials, which would also slew our score. This is merely a measure of how corrupt a country PERCEIVES itself to be, internally (not even relevant to other nations), not a measure of how "corrupt" they ARE.

I don't think disillusionment with government has anything to do with what religion you claim to be. Though I would encourage you to look at other measures of "morality," like gay marriage rates compared to divorce rates or "out of wedlock" children and other supposed measures of "declining family values" and the like, comparing the US to more secular nations to see how poorly we score there.

Answer 5

i assume this factors out the great distinction between words and deeds. human beings can declare to be Christian all they like, yet whilst their behaviour isn't consistent with that, then they are arguably much less ethical than people who do no longer declare to have the intense floor initially. to evaluate Christian behaviour (as distinctive from words), we could continuously look at issues like: a million. scientific care of unfavourable human beings 2. Sharing of wealth & possessions 3. Willingness to forgive and forget approximately 4. Tolerance and compassion for others who could be distinctive. How do you think of the u . s . stacks up on those measures?

Answer 6

Any country that contains human beings is going to contain corruption, because sin causes corruption, and every human being is a sinner. Finland is the "least corrupt" because it probably has the least number of humans per square mile.
America began as a Christian country, but, as Bible prophecy states, it later began to speak "like a dragon" (Satan).
I wouldn't say that Netherlands was "less corrupt", given the fact that they are awash in drug use and practice "bedclearing" in their hospitals and nursing homes.
White Australia is guilty of genocide against the native Tasmanians and aborigines. I could go on forever....so don't put other countries that are just as sinful as we are on a pedestal.

Answer 7

I think correlation is not causation.

But I also believe that political mishandling is a problem when people vote on the politician who best shows their religious views. "Faith" votes have nothing to do with the abilities of the candidate, just how the politicians to use rhetoric to get people to vote on an irrelevant position.

Answer 8

America has never been a christian nation, just a country that allows freedom of worship.

Answer 9

This is corruption within the public sector. Corruption of government. Our government is not Christian...nor religious.

Answer 10

It's all the crooked politicians and illegal immigrants (and the businesses willing to hire them to avoid paying taxes).

Edit: FYI, God was never allowed in the US government or schools (private schools are a different matter), it's in the Constitution.

Answer 11

the united states isn't and never was a Christian nation. more of the founding fathers were deist anyways.

http://freethought.mbdojo.com/foundingfathers.html

research always beats assumptions :)