Is religion in the US phonier that religion elsewhere in the world?

You're confusing phoniness with America's right to freedom. Other countries kill you if you're not the religion you're "supposed to be". And contradictions aren't in faith itself; the contradictions lie in the execution. If a person doesn't completely understand their faith and they are still learning, they're obviously not going to come across as the most knowledgable people. Maybe people wear things to appeal to a certain group of people, but you can't simply ume that. How people choose to practice religion is up to them, and the religion itself can't be blamed for imperfections when humans are anything but perfect.