Why is america so religious by western standards?

Lived there for 4 years. Unlike almost all other western nations it seems relgion plays a huge part in society. From debates about gays and abortion to your leader needing to prove he is a good christian. Its just very strange to me that both Obama and Trump on the campaign trail had show that they were at church and good god fearing people. Why should that even be a quality in a leader? If they are religious, who cares, let them believe in that, but it should not be a have a place in politics. Even your new supreme court guy. All the talk was that we need a good conservative chrisitan in there. Lived in ATL, Chi, and BK in my 4 years there and was blown away by how much religion plays a role in daily society.

I am taking them into account, but just denying you arent religious compared to other western nations is a straight lie. Not to be a dick, but what other western nations rely so heavily on god for guiding their policies and decisions? The UK and Ireland is historically very very religious, but society there has seemed to move on. During the last few UK elections the candidates have distanced themselves publicly from god. Ireland has a half Indian gay PM.

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