Why is it fairly common for Americans to have bible verses on their social media?

37 comments

1. Because the ones who do that are probably religious?

   Not sure how this is an “Americans” thing.

2. 2/3 of our 330,000,000 people identify as Christians. Not surprising some of them take it seriously.

3. I’m going to guess the Bible.

4. “Fairly common” =/= “I saw it once”

   The less snarky answer is that it is less likely you’re seeing a lot people do it and more likely you’re seeing the same few people do it repeatedly.

5. Christianity probably.

6. They’re meaningful to those people. As to why make it public, Evangelical Christianity in particular has a culture of being fairly open about your religious beliefs and to “share what Christ has done for you in your life.” Edit: Though Evangelical Christians are not the only Christians that would do so, I’ve been most likely to see it among those groups of people.

   Edited: Capitalizing my Evangelicals.

7. What’s the point of being religious if you aren’t going to integrate it into your lifestyle and mode of expression?

8. While the US has one of the largest Christian populations in America, it wasn’t until after the 2nd World War that this Christian mindset became more deeply engrained in American popular culture.

   It gained momentum after our government needed a way to separate Americans from “godless communists” in the early days of the cold war, starting by adding the words “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954, which American schoolchildren of all ages were required to recite every day.

   Prior to the war, phrases that invoked “God” were not commonly associated with the US government; then suddenly, we’re forced by our teachers to accept this in a daily pledge or be punished, and in 1963 “In God We Trust” was printed and stamped on all US currency and coins.

   All because the USSR simply existed.

   Now we have millions of Americans cultured over several generations by our government into believing the US is a Christian nation founded and governed only by Christian values and doctrine.

   In short, the reason so many Americans pretend to be religious by posting biblical quotes and passages is because our government conditioned so many of us into thinking that way.

9. Confirmation Bias makes it seem more common than it is.

10. What kind of social media? What verses?

11. Because many Americans are religious and place an emphasis on the bible – especially those protestant denominations that largely subscribe to the concept of sola scriptura. My coworker has a bible verse tattooed on his back. There’s a lot of Christians. There are some biblical books I’ve never seen quoted though

    If America was largely made of Moslems, you might be asking why so many men choose to have beards or why a state might have the shahadah on its state seal. If America was largely LDS, then you would be asking why we don’t drink hot drinks. It’s just a watershed effect of religion.

12. The same reason that anyone puts any quote in their profile. It’s important or relevant them.

13. Because they are religious OP

14. Most often people think it looks cool, sounds deep, or inspirational but some are actually very spiritual and their religion and scriptures are important to them. Decor items with Bible verses are popular in some areas too.

15. They have nothing worthwhile to say

16. “What led to this culture”

    The culture of…having a religion? Are you from like China or North Korea?

17. People be religious sometimes man, nothing more to it than that

18. America is a very religious country. For most of American history, religious liberty was one of the main reasons why people would immigrate here.

19. People but things meaningful to them on their social media. Religion is important to many people. I’m confused on why this is a question.

20. Some people are religious. Others might think a particular verse from the bible is just a good quote. I used to have Hebrews 12:1 on my Facebook profile.

21. ‘Cause y’all exported your religious dissenters to this continent in the 17th and 18th centuries.

22. It’s the same reason no religious people post inspirational quotes. It means something to them.

23. Some passages from the Bible are just beautiful and profound. I’m an atheist, and I have Psalm 103:15-16 on some of my social media accounts.

24. Because most American Evangelicals (who I think are generally the people who display Bible verses on their social media) are blaspheming heretics who neither know nor follow the express directions of their deity.

    *Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.* Matthew 6:1.

    *And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.* Matthew 6:5-8.

    In the Bible, these are the direct and unambiguous instructions from Jesus. In other words, they are from not a letter from Paul or attributed to another source. These words are directly attributed to Jesus.

    All those public displays of righteousness and conspicuous public prayer often seen by “Christians” are expressly prohibited by Jesus.

25. Because a lot of people are religious.

    On the list of problems, I think most of us would agree this isn’t on the list.

26. Christianity.

27. There are alot of Christians in America

28. I do it from time to time. It corresponds to my daily reading

29. Because it is common for Americans to be religious?

30. I mean, it’s fairly common for religious Americans, but I imagine that’s not exclusive to America.

31. Have you ever noticed that people in Mecca seem to all have quotes from the Koran in their social media. But I can’t seem to place my finger on the reason why.

32. I’m going to guess it’s because you associate with a lot of religious people.

    (I’ve never seen such. But then, as an atheist I tend to avoid hyper religious people like the black plague as they drive me batshit.)

33. Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

    -John Adams.

    This nation was founded on and for Christianity. Even if our modern society has largely abandoned many aspects of it, parts remain.

34. People post random shit on social media all the time, sometimes it’s religious.

35. For many of us, our faith is very important. Why should we be expected to hide that?

36. An outward expression of one’s beliefs.

    Chicks think your deep.

37. This isn’t an American thing? Like all Brazilian footballers have this too. It’s just Christians putting verses that are important to them