America's deep Christian faith

Justin Webb the BBC correspondent in Washington gives a report on the importance of faith and religious belief in American life.

I found a worth noticing point: He says,

“86% of Americans believe in heaven and much more pertinent to current world events, is the fact that 76% or three out of four people you meet on any American street believe in hell and the existence of Satan. They believe that the devil is out to get you. That evil is a force in the world - a force to be engaged in battle. Americans will talk of praying as if it were the most normal, rational thing to do” then give us an example that “The jolly plump woman…has a son who is ill - the doctors are doing their best, she says, but she's praying hard and that's what'll do the trick”

It is strange for him but such things in Middle East are normal and rational as well. According to many medical researches on religious healing, it has been shown that this matter is common in the US. Interestingly, Middle East inhabitants have the same beliefs in this regard. Sometimes, I think why people who believe in God and have the same beliefs and attitude toward life, hate each other. Maybe this is the paradoxical effect of religion.
Anyway, does war against Iraq have the religious background? He ends his report with this sentence “Both (Bush and Blair) are religious men but the simple American faith - with heaven and hell, good and evil and right and wrong - appears rather better suited to wartime conditions”.
(posted by Iman)

Posted:Sunday, March 16, 2003 |