It used to be. However, now the historical pendulum is swinging to the other side, and the Church apparently became a considerable power in the rural areas, and catering to its whims seems to be a good career move. Plus the need to ideologically differ from the Decadent West, kind of like why the god thing was placed on the money by the US to cater to the whims of the religious and to differ from the Decadent Communists.
More of the same, just from the other side now.
