If you chose a particular religion, you were siding with the government religion of whatever region you were in. That's never been true in America, but also, the United States also has so many more immigrant groups which also tends to imply more religious diversity right away.
Susan JacobyThe biggest religious wars and persecutions in history occur when religions, each claiming their own absolute truths, come into conflict.
Susan JacobyAtheism is not a religion. One of the things, in fact, that atheism lacks are the kinds of rituals that religion does provide and I would be the first to say that.
Susan JacobyOne of the reasons there are largely Catholic and largely Protestant regions of Germany today is that people did sort themselves out geographically.
Susan Jacoby