n the United States, as Americans rush home to be with their families, not attend parties with work or school friends. Thanksgiving is the most American of holidays.
The United States has the reputation of being at once one of the world's most religious nations (Fuller, 2001, p. 1), and having one of the world's most religiously diverse societies. (For this reason, and in spite of the strains produced by US foreign policy, many Muslims throughout the Islamic world still feel a greater affinity for Americans than for other Westerners.) Official, "Established" churches in Western European countries receive state funding, but stand largely empty of worshippers. American houses of worship stand equal before, and separate from, government, and are filled with the faithful.
Historical Development of American Religion:
This unique combination of religiosity and diversity developed only gradually. In the beginning, Massachusetts offered religious freedom to the Puritan faith (from which the modern
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