why is religion so important in america?
458529
Sheep...they're all sheep.  Programed to believe that reading a certain book and praying to a certain god will somehow save them in the afterlife.
1054677
Christian fundamentalism. Americans are a lot more uptight about such things than most of the rest of the world. Our (American's) adherance to religious doctrine served us well through the developmental stages of our country, but I feel that we're getting to the time where we should probably start thinking for ourselves a bit more.
300494
The US is supposed to be about freedom of religion.  Sure, you may get people yelling in your face, but at least you don't get thrown in jail anymore for being different.
525047
Western countries are controlled by a small exclusive club of people.  Religion is just another tool on their belt to control us with.  It's why western countries are split 50/50 on every damn issue you can think of.
500471
Religion in Politics?\nIt is becoming a major issue for some to keep the church and the state separate.\n\nFlag Burning: Freedom of Speech?\nFlag Burning is a good one, because most every country would kill on the spot for it, and yet we allow it. The flip side is that if we did not allow it what other rights would they take away?\n\nIs American Education Falling Behind Other Countries?\nI've seen a couple TV shows on it, and heard about it in school too. American kids seem to be learning less in high school than in other countries. Many blame it on funding, but funding in america is sometimes better than other countries. So the question becomes how well teachers are doing their job. They showed a list that said our education is behind even some third world countries.
632025
In America you can change your religion with or without proper reasoning.
395136
For many people living in a Globalizing world is a pretty frightening idea. Traditions that people held on to tightly are slowly unraviling, family values are apparently breaking down, jobs are becoming harder and harder to hold and so on. When you find situations like this it becomes easy to see why people feel empty, or feel like they need somewhere else to turn because life is confronting them with challenges that they are unsure they can handle. One of the better things about religion is that no matter what your belief system you find religion empowers the believer (though you could argue whether or not this is for better or for worse). Religion often provides not only a legitamation of a lifestyle but also a community of likeminded individuals satisfying our needs to be social. For these reasons religion is as important as ever in a secularizing world.
1047852
Because religion is all about social control , money and power.\nAll religions want to increase their market share just like any other business.
1115829
we must have balance in our schools,religion is everywhere in our society.walk around outside, and tell me, how many different people you run into.9 times out of 10, you will run into a person who has a different faith, (value system) then you do. look at our architecture, and tell me, how religion has shaped our buildings. look at our paintings, and show me, how religion has impacted paintings. look at atheism, and show me, how this religion is shaping our culture.religion is a part of everything and anything. i prefer to have our kids learn about Christianity, and other religions in school, so he can make up his own mind, rather then someone pushing religion on him, while on the outside.\n                                    God Bless
105262
America was founded on freedom.  Our forefathers didn't want the government imposing anything on its citizens.  In modern times, religious references in a public, governmental setting walks a fine line.
379790
Organized religion is seen for the farce that it is in many parts of the world.  Because of an uneducated southern belt, organized religion has managed to hang around a little longer in America,  but if God gets his way,  it will die out here by and by.
489226
Religion and patriotism are two entirely different things, especially in America.
817698
Although religion is good in many ways, it has also created a lot of wars. Music can cross boarders that religion can't.
996109
Atheism has doubled in popularity in America in the last few decades. And statistics clearly show that more fundamentalist countries don't do as well. With any luck, this recent trend will continue and human beings will be free from their need for religion.
1003634
Because America is screwed and it was screwed from the beginning. We always have biased oppinions and the media uses that to it's advantage. Since there are more Christians in America then any other religion, they impinge that into our values. Not to mention America was orignally formed from people who came here to practice their religion freely.
105860
Yep, I agree with everybody else here...a lot of Americans seem to have this crazy idea that Christianity is the official religion of American and we ought to design our lives and laws around it, and anything that the Bible says isn't allowed is just sick and wrong.  Funny, 'cause I seem to remember something way back in history class about this country being founded on the idea of religious freedom.
940842
It's important always.  Everyone should also remember that's it's as much freedom OF as it is freedom FROM religion.\n\nhttp://atheism.about.com/od/churchstatemyths/a/freedomfrom.htm