Why Americans Need Religion (A Theory)

Unless you live outside of a system, you are often unaware that other systems exist or are even possible. You may read about such systems and understand them in an academic fashion, but you cannot truly conceptualize what it is like to operate within them unless you live within them. In the U.S., we live under a capitalist system which is largely ran by market forces. In Japan, a country in which I spent 23 of my 50 years on this planet, they live in a system which is capitalist, but has protectionist aspects in order to keep their native markets alive and they have many socialist aspects underlying their daily existence. People operate largely as individuals in America and that shapes the culture here and people operate largely as part of a collective in Japan and that shapes the culture there.

Based on what I said in the first sentence, I know that everything I said in the remainder of that first paragraph can only be understood in the most abstract sense by those who haven't spent a long time in both countries. The bottom line is that American society largely has people responsible for themselves. It encourages people to look out for number one, to make their own destiny, and to rely on being the biggest, baddest rat in the race. In Japan, you actively want to be just like every other rat, have the support of society, your company, and your family in building your destiny. You are supposed to be looking out for everyone as well as yourself.

There are, obviously, outliers in each system. Some Americans are exceptionally interested in social harmony and helping their fellow man. Some Japanese are selfish and opportunistic about whatever helps them look out for number one. The difference is in the numbers and general tendencies. You can find all the anecdotal cases you want in each culture in order to negate my generalizations here.

Another big difference between Japan and America is that the society in Japan is paternalistic. That's a "big word" way of saying the government is, to some extent, your daddy. To varying degrees, so are companies. They promise that, if you do the right things and are an obedient child, you'll be looked after. That system has been crumbling as of late, but it's still generally in place. The Japanese government encourages this by indirect means. They don't regulate, but they do let it be known that companies that don't play ball  might find themselves getting the short end of certain sticks if they don't get their house in proper order.

In America, we have no such paternalism. You're on your own, Jack. In fact, the conservative politicians of the U.S. talk about how bad "big government" is and oppose regulating anything because it'll suppress free market systems and cost more tax dollars to oversee everything. My point is not about politics though, it's about the lack of an entity that will look after you in America. Many other countries with socialist policies or other systems which look after the well-being of their citizens have a paternalistic sense about them which America does not. No one has your back here, except... well, except God.

There is a strong thread of Christianity in the U.S. Eighty-three percent identify as Christian. That puts us close to Northern Island, but far from one of our nearest cultural neighbors, the U.K. The former is about 82% Christian and the latter 59%. Why are Americans so much more religious than some other Western countries and why do they feel the need to talk about their beliefs so much and to insinuate them into the daily lives of everyone?

My growing sense as I've been back in my native country for about two and a half years has been that Americans need God because they need to believe that someone "up there" is looking out for them because they sure as hell know that no one else is. The government especially isn't going to be there to help you out in times of distress or difficulty. In fact, Libertarians will often assert that private charitable organizations will pick up the slack if we eliminate entitlements for the least fortunate. No small amount of social support for the disadvantaged in the U.S. is at present provided by churches. The best estimate for the Catholic Church alone is that 17% of privately offered social services are provided by it. When the government doesn't offer enough, we look to God and those who offer help in God's name.

In Japan, people weren't very religious. I believe that this was because they had government and family. Families there were very different from those here. Children weren't expected to leave home as quickly as possible and extended support throughout a grown child's life was very common. The American family is fractured into "parents" and "kids" and often one separates from the other in early adulthood with the expectation of total independence. Japanese parents wanted their children to succeed, but they never really left a family. This is a situation which was not only embraced personally and on a bureaucratic level. The government keeps "family registries" in which you must be assigned a family and lumped with every member of that entity. A person who marries has to choose a family to "join" in a legal sense. It's not just a marriage to an individual, it's joining their entire family line.

The Japanese didn't need God because they knew they weren't on their own. Family was with them. Government was with them. Quite often, even their companies were with them. They had a strong sense of personal responsibility, but they also felt responsible for others around them. There was a social safety net, and it was less economical than psychological. Americans are much less supported in every way compared to Japanese so they need to look for a comforting concept of a "big, caring daddy" elsewhere. Many of them find it in church.

I was raised a Christian, but I gave that up after far too many stories about how some people would be saved when the book of revelations was finally opened and its first page lived in the world. I was 15 years old and I felt that it just couldn't be that "God" would punish people who never read a bible by virtue of having been born in a place where those teachings weren't a part of their cultural experience. Such a God would be playing favorites in an epic fashion. It seemed too much like winning lottery tickets instead of like divine wisdom.

Giving up on God was not an easy thing for me. Unlike many people who scoff at the notion of a supreme being, I did not suddenly conclude everyone else was being duped and I was smarter than them. It's not an easy loss. You're alone and unprotected. No entity greater than your parents cares about what becomes of you. Your smallness in the order of things is all the greater. You're not even a part of a bigger plan anymore as no one knows when you're sleeping, knows when you're awake, or cares that you've been bad or good.

As the years went on and I grew up and experienced more of the world, I embraced deist principles. I didn't find deism and then say, 'that's for me.' I believed what I believed as my notions formed and I one day stumbled upon a definition that surprisingly fit what I already believed. It just put a label on my pre-existing beliefs that would make it easier to communicate what I generally have come to believe and how I approach life and the meaning of it (or lack thereof). The part of deism which struck me as most profoundly in tune with what I'd come to conclude was that "God" does not interfere in the interests of man or the world. In essence, whatever entity is responsible for the mess we're all in set the wheel in motion and walked away. It's not looking after you. It's not answering your prayers. It's not punishing you for being bad. It's closer to the big old scientist in the sky than the sometimes caring, sometimes punishing pappy of Christianity.

One of the things which sealed the deal for me in terms of how I conceptualized "God" was my sense of all of the suffering in the world. If God were a concerned entity, his behavior would make him more like a tantrum-prone child that enjoyed pulling the wings off of flies based on the way the world is run at present than a loving entity. My guess is that God is more like an entity that let's the kids work out answers to their own problems rather than get in the middle of things, particularly when those kids made the mess in the first place.

I know that many people of varying religions have woven answers to various questions which request an explanation for why God, who is supposedly omniscient, omnipotent, and has a penis, doesn't just help us all out when we've been so very, very good. In particular, when good people suffer and bad people succeed, you have to start wondering what that's all about. Well, my feeling is "God" doesn't give a rat's ass. It's about the process, not the outcome.

I believe that most Americans need a caring father figure badly because their culture doesn't provide one in any other way. Religion fills that need, and I don't have a problem with that. Part of the reason for that is that I'm not one of those people who is sure she's "right" about the nature of existence. I think what I think, and it makes sense to me, but I could be wrong. I think people need to go with what works for them and that there is already enough fear in the world without removing the loving and protective daddy in the sky comfort that a lot of people get from their religion. I'm not going to crap on it as long as they keep their dogma off my philosophical lawn.