Interesting Article on religion in Europe.

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Belief in the Christian God makes slight gains.

[V. Barbarino]

Good article, only the WSJ can write that well.

I think there is another issue at play and that is science. Science has failed the non believers. Science is still no closer to answering the question of why and how are we here. Dawkins does a good job arguing his points, but he still can't get past the theory of big bang. He can only go so far where physics meets faith.

America is strong because we are religious, imho there is a direct correlation.

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Well, thus far there is no overbearing proof of a higher power.

There hasn't been any real documented evidence of God/Allah/FSM/whatever.

I wouldn't say the US is strong because of religion though. I would say the US is strong, in part, because in theory we have the freedom of religion, as well as the freedom from religion. Some of our greatest scientific minds have been agnostic at the most, and yes, some have held faith in a higher power. At the end of the day, the best part is, in theory, that it's nobody's business what your faith is.

Who that higher power is? Humanity may never know.

It could be the angry old man of the Christian faith, it could be Allah, it could be the pantheon of Greek gods, hell, "God" could very well be an artificial intelligence, akin to the Matrix. It's been kicked about untold times, but yes, we could very well be the thoughts of a machine. And the machine might not let us know.

Me personally? I have no opposition to those who hold faith in a higher power. My opposition stems from the corruption of existing faiths, wherein people tend to pick and choose what parts of the faiths they'll adhere to, and when to adhere to them. On the Christian side of things, I think they call it "Cafeteria Christianity".

[slamminshaun]

I read this on Saturday, front page in the WSJ.

What's interesting to note from the article is that separation of church and state is actually the reason religion is so huge in this country, or at least that's one theory. In countries like Sweeden, where the state funds and taxes religion, people have no interest in going because it's just one more tax you have to pay and like anything government, the church gets lazy.

You see, in America, the government stays out of it so the churches are free to sink or swim. You have church's in competition with one another and this prevents any of them from becoming complacent about their congregation and its membership, especially true among evangelicals. This "free market" system of religion actually increases membership much to the same degree our government's free market economic system increases wealth, education, and standard of living.

Also interesting to note is that much of the "God revival" in Europe is attributed to the stunning increase in Islam, almost as if people are seeking solitude from it. I guess being called "Eurabia" doesn't have a pleasant ring to it for them.