Why is it so hard to be openly atheist in today's world

[abaris]

We certainly have a more religious population than the EU. That doesn't make us a theocracy.

The Irish republic was a near theocracy for the longest time. About one or two decades ago (time moves by so fast these days), there was this blown out of proportion scandal with Sinead O'Conor where at one of her concerts she tore up a picture of the pope and called out "this is the enemy". It pretty much ruined her career, which is rather ironic, since to this day she claims to be a christian. For decades the catholic clergy more or less called the political shots in Ireland. That only changed within the last two decades or so.

That said, the real difference between the US and the largest parts of Europe is the religious push towards lawmaking. Repesentatives carrying their bible into their decisions, on the state as well as on the national level. That wouldn't sit well in Europe. Also the constant claim to be a christian is something completely alien, since it doesn't add to the political credit. A European candidate couldn't run on that ticket. At least in most countries. Christian values and morality also isn't of any interest when it comes to politics. There are numerous politians, who are divorced or living in an affair without that having any influence on their careers. Even back in the early 70ies, the German chancellor Willy Brandt was known to be a womanizer, divorced several times, and he still was extremely popular. The long time mayors of Berlin, Hamburg and Paris were openly gay and they were reelected several times. The mayor of Hamburg even was a member of the christian democrats, who had no problems with his homosexuality.

I'm certainly not saying that the US are a theocracy, but the level of religion influencing politics is certainly higher than in most parts of Europe.