Practicing piety in public places

Of the most advanced industrial nations, the United States is the most religious. Popular piety and other forms of religious worship are so well established in the USA, because Church and State have been separated since the nation's founding (over 200 years), religious worship of all forms are allowed, and religious persecution is not tolerated under the Constitution. Religious worship has been and is voluntary and respected. Europe, on the other hand, has experienced a long history of the Church's detrimental power, including numerous religious persecutions, whilst also suffering from religion-based conflicts. These historical differences in part explain both the lack of popular piety in many European countries and regions, and the common public displays of piety in the USA.