'Five Things That Shock Me Every Time I Visit America as a European' [View all]

[CousinIT]

https://medium.com/the-no%C3%B6sphere/five-things-that-shock-me-every-time-i-visit-america-as-a-european-3dc898892e74
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Religious extremism
The first time I’ve ever seen people praying together in public before eating a meal was in the US, during my first trip there.

And mind you, I grew up in what’s considered to be one of the most religious countries in Europe — Poland. Still, apart from occasional Catholic celebrations or events, you don’t see frequent displays of religiosity. At least not in public and not in big cities.

But that doesn’t seem to be the case in quite a few places around America.

— the US seems to be going in the exact opposite direction. And it’s no secret that they don’t exactly keep religion — of the fundamentalist, Christian type — separate from government policies.

Because that always turns out just fantastic, doesn’t it?

What also baffles me is that the Christian denominations most commonly present in the US — like the Evangelicals — are much less like actual religious groups and more like cults. Plus, they treat religion as yet another product to be shoved down gullible American’s throats for the financial benefit of a few white men with a superiority complex.

Some time ago, I even went to a Christian ‘megachurch’ to see if it’s really as ridiculous as it seems. It was much worse than that. . . .