--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Europeans had highly developed regional…" description: "\"“Europeans had highly developed regional and national cultures and societies before they bolted on Protestantism. America, on the other hand, was half-..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ad/kurt-andersen-8221_american-exceptional_europeans-had-highly-developed-regional_2388694.jpg" --- # Europeans had highly developed regional and national… ![“Europeans had highly developed regional and national cultures and societies before they bolted on Protestantism. America, on the other hand, was half-created by Protestant extremists to be a Protestant society. American academics accept the idea of American exceptionalism in one of its…” quote by Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ad/kurt-andersen-8221_american-exceptional_europeans-had-highly-developed-regional_2388694.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ad/kurt-andersen-8221_american-exceptional_europeans-had-highly-developed-regional_2388694.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ad/kurt-andersen-8221_american-exceptional_europeans-had-highly-developed-regional_2388694.jpg) > ““Europeans had highly developed regional and national cultures and societies before they bolted on Protestantism. America, on the other hand, was half-created by Protestant extremists to be a Protestant society. American academics accept the idea of American exceptionalism in one of its meanings—that our peculiar founding circumstances shaped us. “The position of the Americans,” Tocqueville wrote in Democracy in America, “is…quite exceptional,” by which he meant the Puritanism, the commercialism, the freedom of religion, the individualism, “a thousand special causes.” The professoriate rejects exceptionalism in today’s right-wing sense, that the United States is superior to all other nations, with a God-given mission. And they also resist the third meaning, the idea that a law of human behavior doesn’t apply here—scholars of religion insist that explanations of religious behavior must be universal. The latest scholarly consensus about America’s exceptional religiosity is an economic theory. Because all forms of religion are products in a marketplace, they say, our exceptional free marketism has produced more supply and therefore generated more demand. Along with universal human needs for physical sustenance and security, there’s also such a need for existential explanations, for why and how the world came to be. Sellers of religion emerge offering explanations. From the start, religions tended to be state monopolies—as they were in the colonies, the Puritans in Massachusetts and the Church of England in the South. After that original American duopoly was dismantled and the government prohibited official churches, religious entrepreneurs rushed into the market, Methodists and Baptists and Mormons and all the others. European countries, meanwhile, kept their state-subsidized religions, Protestant or Catholic—and so in an economic sense those churches became lazy monopolies.\*10 In America, according to the market theorists, each religion competes with all the others to acquire and keep customers. Americans, presented with all this fantastic choice, can’t resist buying. We’re so religious for the same reason we’re so fat.”” [Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. America’s high religiosity is explained by a free‑market religious economy where many competing faiths meet universal human needs for meaning. **In simple terms:** Religion thrives where many choices exist and people seek meaning. Key Takeaway Consider how competition shapes belief systems. Themes religious economy American exceptionalism market dynamics cultural history religious competition Mood analytical critical informative Type sociological economic historical When to use this quote - policy analysis - academic debate - public discourse - religious entrepreneurship Key Concepts free market theory religious pluralism human existential needs Questions to Reflect On - How does competition affect religious vitality? - What would happen if the state re‑imposed a monopoly? A Different Perspective State‑supported religions may limit diversity and innovation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American exceptionalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-exceptionalism/) [Bolted Protestantism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bolted-protestantism-5941587/) [Commercialism Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commercialism-freedom-5941588/) [Democracy in america](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy-in-america/) [Freedom of religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom-of-religion/) [Human behavior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-behavior/) [Protestantism America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protestantism-america-5941585/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Religion Individualism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion-individualism-5941586/) ## Related quotes > [The problem with liberal Protestantism in America is not that it has not been orthodox enough, but that it has lost a lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-l-berger/the-problem-with-liberal-protestantism-in-america-is-not-that-it-has/) [Peter L. 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We do not have a democracy in America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/there-s-a-big-difference-in-a-representative-republic-and-a-democracy/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Democracies have been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and in general been as short in their lives as they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/democracies-have-been-found-incompatible-with-personal-security-or/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [Furthermore, when citizens are all almost equal, it becomes difficult for them to defend their independence against the aggressions of power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/furthermore-when-citizens-are-all-almost-equal-it-becomes-difficult/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) ## More by Kurt Andersen > [“Since the turn of the century, American fundamentalists had reveled in their sense of persecution by an infidel elite, but in the 1960s the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/since-the-turn-of-the-century-american-fundamentalists-had-reveled-in/) [Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) > [“If I think it’s true, no matter why or how I think it’s true, then it’s true, and nobody can tell me otherwise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/if-i-think-it-s-true-no-matter-why-or-how-i-think-it-s-true-then-it-s/) [Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) > [“Libertarianism used to have a robust left wing as well. 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Lyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-s-m-lyon/) > [ That \[American exceptionalism\] is a reaction to the inability of people to understand global complexity or important issues like American energy dependency. Therefore, they… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zbigniew-brzezinski/that-american-exceptionalism-is-a-reaction-to-the-inability-of-people/) [Zbigniew Brzezinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zbigniew-brzezinski/) > [If people are being upstanding citizens of the Republic, then you have to widen the net to incarcerate them. This explains why America's prisons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/if-people-are-being-upstanding-citizens-of-the-republic-then-you-have/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [American exceptionalism, in the broad sense, is not a bunch of braggadocious words people say, "Yeah, we're better people. We have a better country.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/american-exceptionalism-in-the-broad-sense-is-not-a-bunch-of/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [The position of the Americans is quite exceptional, and it may be believed that no democratic people will ever be placed in a similar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/the-position-of-the-americans-is-quite-exceptional-and-it-may-be/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [“But the biggest problem with being fed lies about how great we are is that people won't be prepared for how evil this government…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aron-ra/but-the-biggest-problem-with-being-fed-lies-about-how-great-we-are-is/) [Aron Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aron-ra/) > [Our patriotic fervor was the result of the old and widespread belief in the idea of American exceptionalism, the idea that America was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-noonan/our-patriotic-fervor-was-the-result-of-the-old-and-widespread-belief/) [Peggy Noonan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-noonan/) > [The notion of American exceptionalism is effective in part because there is little on the face of it that is offensive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russ-feingold/the-notion-of-american-exceptionalism-is-effective-in-part-because/) [Russ Feingold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russ-feingold/) > [People get tired of talking about American exceptionalism, but I think this is an extraordinary thing about the United States, that we are a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-l-eck/people-get-tired-of-talking-about-american-exceptionalism-but-i-think/) [Diana L. Eck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-l-eck/) > [American exceptionalism requires understanding biblical view.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-demint/american-exceptionalism-requires-understanding-biblical-view/) [Jim DeMint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-demint/) [Browse all 75 American exceptionalism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-exceptionalism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Europeans had highly developed regional and national cultures and societies before they bolted on Protestantism. America, on the other hand, was half-created by Protestant extremists to be a Protestant society. American academics accept the idea of American exceptionalism in one of its meanings—that our peculiar founding circumstances shaped us. “The position of the Americans,” Tocqueville wrote in Democracy in America, “is…quite exceptional,” by which he meant the Puritanism, the commercialism, the freedom of religion, the individualism, “a thousand special causes.” The professoriate rejects exceptionalism in today’s right-wing sense, that the United States is superior to all other nations, with a God-given mission. And they also resist the third meaning, the idea that a law of human behavior doesn’t apply here—scholars of religion insist that explanations of religious behavior must be universal. The latest scholarly consensus about America’s exceptional religiosity is an economic theory. Because all forms of religion are products in a marketplace, they say, our exceptional free marketism has produced more supply and therefore generated more demand. Along with universal human needs for physical sustenance and security, there’s also such a need for existential explanations, for why and how the world came to be. Sellers of religion emerge offering explanations. From the start, religions tended to be state monopolies—as they were in the colonies, the Puritans in Massachusetts and the Church of England in the South. After that original American duopoly was dismantled and the government prohibited official churches, religious entrepreneurs rushed into the market, Methodists and Baptists and Mormons and all the others. European countries, meanwhile, kept their state-subsidized religions, Protestant or Catholic—and so in an economic sense those churches became lazy monopolies.*10 In America, according to the market theorists, each religion competes with all the others to acquire and keep customers. Americans, presented with all this fantastic choice, can’t resist buying. 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