Its not that I don’t appreciate counter-intuitive thinking, but in this case it is misguided.

First, there have been many states and communities that have been praying and teaching creationism long before church & state separation got enforced. Religion didn’t stop being important in those places at all before the courts stepped in.

And second, Europe had a resurgence of religious and racial intolerance (well okay, mostly racial with religion fitting in that context) since the economic crash of 08.

Methinks someone mistook correlation for causality. Here are some other factors to consider.

Geography and/or Demographics - Europe is a smaller landmass than America. As a result, Europe is generally more urban, while America is more rural. And I can’t speak for Europeans, but in the US people in rural areas are more like-minded and similar looking and have less government interaction beyond traffic cops and thus they usually lean to the right. While people in urban areas are more used to interacting with minorities and different beliefs as well as the government having a more visible role in their lives and thus usually lean to the left.

Economics - Both here and in Europe, the right gained more power after the economy tanked. When we lose our minds in fear and panic, we’re apparently more likely to listen to and trust those who were already flipping nuts in the first place. With that in mind, consider how economic inequality had grown in America in the years, nay decades, before the 08 crash.

Btw - gee, thanks alot Regan. /sarc

Could either of these have anything to do with it? Nah, lets just give the wingnuts what they want. That’ll cost them their power for sure. /more sarc