At a recent conference I attended, a British presenter described the rapidly diminishing number of Christians in the UK. After doing so, he turned to the several Americans in the room and joked, “Don’t worry, though, you’ll be joining us soon!”

The idea that Europe is a bellweather of religious adherence for the United States is a common one. Just as the Enlightenment first churned in European minds and nations to travel across the Atlantic and help give birth to the American Revolution, so liberalizing intellectual notions that tended to shift moral values and minimize the importance of religious authority have made the same trip. So, the argument goes, the steep decline in European religious adherence is a precursor of things to come for the US, especially the US church.

But, is this really the case? The liberalizing and rationalizing influence of Europe on the United States is well-documented. However, there is a problem with that: it creates a monolithic view of both the United States and Europe. Specifically, it only looks at Western Europe and it only considers the impact on Americans who are more likely to be attuned to European thought — those who are educated, wealthier, and urban.

While there may be an affinity between these two groups, a fuller picture of the populations in both Europe and the United States would be provided by recognizing that there are other groups of people beyond those who fit into these two categories.

While there may be an affinity between these two groups, a fuller picture of the populations in both Europe and the United States would be provided by recognizing that there are other groups of people beyond those who fit into these two categories. Specifically, there is an Eastern Europe, and the population there hold different beliefs than those in Western Europe. Recognizing this might help Americans better understand each other.

The Pew Research Center recently released a study looking at the differences between Western and Eastern Europeans in relation to national identity, religious belief, and moral issues. In it they found that Eastern Europeans tend to be much more conservative regarding their openness to people of other nationalities and religions, more insistent on the importance of maintaining a pure ethnic identity, less in favor of liberal moral stances (especially abortion and gay marriage), and more committed to their views of the church. There are charts breaking out the statistics on all of these items individually on the study website.

The authors of the study point out that there is no specific reason for this difference between Eastern and Western Europeans, though they do point out suggestively that the Eastern and Central European populations are almost entirely Orthodox Christian, with a few primarily Catholic countries. This is displayed in the chart below.

Is Orthodoxy the reason for this difference? Certainly, its autocephalous structure encourages greater national identity. However, I would suggest that there is something else behind this. Consider the map of Europe below that demonstrates which nations think they are culturally superior to other nations:

Notice in this map that the Eastern countries are almost unanimous in believing that their cultures are superior. Notice, also, where those countries are related to the rest of the world: they form a border between Western Europe and Asia. In fact, with the exception of Spain, the closer a nation is to bordering a non-European country, the more important it feels that its culture is. These are the same countries that have more conservative stances on the church, morality, and national identity.

To put it very simply, these countries have faced attack, invasion, and occupation from forces that were both non-European and non-Christian, such as the Mongols and the Ottomans. Several of them had to make a concerted effort to retain their cultural identity in the face of significant efforts to assimilate them. For a historical fiction on this, check The Bridge on the Drina by Serbian writer Ivo Andrić.

The Western European countries were largely protected by the the Eastern European  countries, saved from invasion by East Asian or Middle Eastern armies by the border they created. This meant that while the Western Europeans were no less bloody,  they tended to fight one another, not against those who held to completely different beliefs or cultural structures. This is why something like the Peace of Westphalia was possible among the Western European countries whereas the bloody edges of Eastern Europe remained over the years.

The Western European countries were largely protected by the the Eastern European  countries, saved from invasion by East Asian or Middle Eastern armies by the border they created.

It is little wonder that the Eastern Europeans would now hold to a more conservative stand on most issues, especially those that they see as defining their cultural identities. They have fought hard to keep those identities over centuries, and the fact that the West is moving in a more liberal direction is hardly sufficient reason to modify that.

So, what does this have to do with the United States? In previous posts, I have pointed to the divisions among Americans, both politically and religiously. These were especially clear when looking at the Pew political typologies.

The groups that have been most maligned by the elite, are those Pew has called Country First Conservatives. These are the ones who tend to be the most politically and religiously conservative, as well as the most supportive of Pres. Trump.

Could it be that one of the reasons that this group holds so firmly to its identity is at least partly because it has felt embattled for so long?

Could it be that one of the reasons that this group holds so firmly to its identity is at least partly because it has felt embattled for so long? It feels as those who have not honored or understood its positions and ideals have simply sought to overwhelm and destroy it? While, the relatively safe elite, unscathed by those outside forces in part because of the hardscrabble lives of these conservatives have absorbed much of the shock, look on these conservatives as backward and unsophisticated–even when these conservatives sometimes have more in common with the marginalized people that the elite often style themselves as championing?

Of course, this is too sweeping a generalization, as well. However, it does give us reason to pause and reflect on the frame we use to judge the political and religious differences in the United States. Perhaps, especially those of us who have been blessed with relatively easier lives with less struggles can refrain from judging those who disagree with us having less insight or importance. Instead, we can give thanks for the hard work they have done, recognizing that how they have lived is part of what has helped us succeed, and we can reach out to build bridges of understanding by listening to their stories of struggle first before preaching about what we think is a more enlightened way to live.