Temat: What is the role of religion in American society and...

“Upon my arrival in the United States,” Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in 1835, “the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention.” Throughout American history visitors have remarked on the religious character of the United States. G. K. Chesterton for instance, concluded that America thought of itself in religious terms and that the United States was “a nation with the soul of a church.” Indeed, the statistics are staggering. Gallup poll data shows that 94 percent of Americans believe in God or a universal spirit, as compared with 76 percent of the British and 62 percent of the French. In addition, 65 percent of Americans claim membership in a church or synagogue, and 42 percent attend religious services in any given week.
• Americans are undeniably a religious people. To a remarkable degree, many seek to fashion their conduct around religious principles, and their religious communities very often define their social networks. Extolling the unique religious character of the United States has become a staple of political discourse. Throughout their history Americans have believed that their country occupies a special place in the divine plan (the use of religious metaphors, such as America as Eden, America as New Jerusalem, and America as a Land of Mission). When Thomas Prince sat down early in the eighteenth century to write his history of New England, he felt compelled to begin his narrative with the Genesis account of creation, so confident was he of America’s special place in providential history. The Puritans saw themselves as the New Israel, fleeting the Egypt of England for the Promised Land of Massachusetts. Even Benjamin Franklin, so much a man of the Enlightment, proposed that the seal of the United States depict Moses leading the children of Israel across the Red Sea.
• In addition to historical identifications with ancient Israel, millennial notions have also shaped American self-identity and its hopes for the future. Jonathan Edwards believed that the millennium would begin in Northampton, Massachusetts. Joseph Smith taught his followers that the center stake of Zion would be in Jackson County, Missouri. Countless religious visionaries have decided that America would provide the most fertile soil for constructing one sort of utopia or another. America’s sense of destiny has also filtered into political rhetoric. One has only to chart the political slogans through the centuries – John Winthrop’s “City upon a Hill,” in the 17th century, “the sacred cause of liberty” during the revolutionary era, “manifest destiny” in the 19th century, and “making the world safe for democracy” in the 20th century – to get a sense of America’s belief in its divine mission.
• Religious pluralism and diversity: there are about 3000 religious denominations (including sects and cults) in America. The First Amendment to the Constitution prohibits an established national religion and protects the individual’s right to practice the religion of his or her choice.
• Major religious groups in America:
1. Catholic Church – 26 %
(WASP dominated before the Second World War)
2. Protestants:
- Baptists – 19%
- Methodists – 8%
- Lutherans – 5%
3. Judaism – 2%
4. Islam

Catholics: The first Catholics in America were missionaries from Spain, Portugal, and France. In the 16th century they set up churches in what is now Texas, New Mexico, California, and Florida. In the 17th century Catholics from England settled the colony of Maryland. But the greatest influx of Catholics to America occurred in the 19th century. Catholics immigrated to the United States from Ireland, Germany, and France between 1830 and 1880 and from eastern and southern Europe during the 1880s. During the 19th and into the 20th century, American society, however, was predominately white Protestant. White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) set the basic character of national life and were often intolerant of Catholics. The term, WASP was coined probably after the 1930s. It refers to the descendants of the first British immigrants to the American colonies, especially as distinct from the Roman Catholics, Jews, and other European ethnic groups, blacks and Latin Americans. Once the nation’s “ruling class,” predominant in the supply of political, economic, and social elites, it is still considered by many to be the most privileged and influential group in American society.

Mainstream Protestantism: Along with the Congregationalist Church, which is the denomination established by the early Puritans, the Presbyterian, Lutheran, Episcopal, and Reformed churches constitute what is referred to as “mainstream Protestantism” in America. Baptists and Methodists, once peripheral sects, are now usually considered part of mainstream Protestantism as well. Other Protestant denominations, such as Mennonites, Pentecostals, and Southern Baptists, are sometimes referred to as “radical” Protestants. Worship services of radical churches are less formal and liturgical than services of mainstream Protestants. Many radical churches encourage “speaking in tongues” (prayer characterized chiefly by incomprehensible speech practiced in ecstatic forms of worship), faith healing, and “born-again” conversion experiences. Mainstream churches tend to be middle or upper class, while radical churches usually consist of lower-income groups.
The United States was the first modern, Western nation founded by Protestants, not Catholics.

Sects and cults: Americans show little tolerance towards some cults. The Moonies, the Hare Krishnas, and the followers of Bhagwan Rajneesh are commonly regarded as bizarre and potentially dangerous. Their methods of attracting and holding members are controversial. Critics accuse the cults of manipulating and brainwashing their members.

Quakers - The Friends United Meeting, with only 58,000 members in 1983 is a religious body too small for inclusion in a general survey of religion. But this group, often described as “Quakers,” has an immense importance in the history of America. In its early days in the 17th century its members suffered persecution in England for their obstinate insistence on their own harmless practices – so, too, in the early American colonies except Rhode Island. The principal Quaker settlement in America was established in Philadelphia under the leadership of William Penn. Quakers insist on the equality of people before God, and worship in meetings with no minister or order of service, often sitting in silence for long periods. They abjure all violence. The ideals of the Quakers, including religious tolerance, were influential in the preparation of the Constitution of the United States.

Puritans – a group of English radical Protestants of the 16th and 17th centuries, who aimed to “purify” the Church of England of all Roman Catholic vestments and ceremonies. They wanted a simple church, devoid of hierarchical structure, in which they would have the right to ordain their own ministers. They thought of themselves as God’s chosen people. They believed that God had elected, or “predestined,” only certain persons to be saved. Devoting themselves to work as a way of pleasing God, they viewed their prosperity as an outward sign that God counted them among the saved. Many people trace the American drive for success through hard work to this Puritan, or Protestant, work ethic.

• Rise of the evangelical movement:

- besides the increasing visibility of cults and sects, there has been another recent development in America’s religious life: the rise of the evangelical, or fundamentalist, movement, and its offspring, the electronic church. The term evangelical is applied across all Christian denominations to religious alliances that share the belief that a true Christian must have a born-again experience, that the Bible is the authoritative word of God, and that a personal relationship with Jesus is at the center of every Christian’s life. Evangelicals also share a desire to convert others to their way of believing. What has enabled the evangelical movement to gain a powerful sphere of influence in American society is its skillful use of television. Every Sunday morning, millions of Americans tune in to elaborate television broadcasts of popular preachers such as Jerry Falwell, Robert Schuller and Pat Robertson. With their show-biz flair, gospel entertainment, and sermons designed to tug at viewers emotions, these preachers resemble commercial television show hosts more than ministers.

Bible Belt – a term coined by Henry Louis Mencken, American Journalist and critic, to describe those areas of the United States, especially in the South and Midwest, where fundamentalist religious beliefs prevail (mainly Baptists), influencing the spheres of education and public morality. (Fundamentalism is a conservative movement in American Protestantism emphasizing as fundamental to Christianity the literal interpretation and absolute authority of the Bible).
• Religious denominations of American origin:

1. Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints)
- Mormonism, founded in the 19th century, is almost the state religion in one state, Utah. Mormons, are not just another Protestant sect. They have a complete theology of their own, which is in some respects outside the bounds of normally defined Christianity. In 1827 Joseph Smith received some revelations, one of which he produced as “The Book of Mormon,” in 17th century English. He and his followers set off to found a ‘new Zion’ in various parts of the Midwest. Finally they settled in the valley of the Great Salt Lake. The Latter-Day Saints believe in the Bible, as correctly translated, and in the Book of Mormon as the word of God; in the gifts of prophecy, healing, and revelation; and in the return of Christ to rule the earth in person. They practice the rites of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Until 1896 they practiced polygamy.

2. Christian Science
- the religion founded on the teachings of Jesus Christ as interpreted by Mary Baker Eddy in 1866. This church regards the teachings of the Bible as a science which adoption and application heal the body by means of mental and spiritual powers and processes. But this science is not restricted to the healing of the body or of the sick: the principles of this religion apply to every human need. Moreover, the practice of Christian Science must not be confined to the mental or intellectual sphere; it is authentically mental only if it is truly spiritual.

3. Jehova’s Witnesses
- was founded by Charles Taze Russell, a layman, in 1872 in Pittsburgh. Jehova’s Witnesses believe that the Bible plainly teaches that an old world has ended and that the Lord Jesus Christ is making preparations to return to earth. He will then destroy the organization of Satan and establish a complete state of righteousness on earth. In this Kingdom those who will have survived Armageddon will carry out Jehova’s mandate to people the earth with a righteous race. Thus the Kingdom, the Government of God, will be on earth. The attitude of the Witnesses toward present government is neutral, because they consider all existing political institutions hopeless. Witnesses separate themselves from these institutions. They emphasize that, though neutral, they are not pacifists but fight only for God.

• In America religiousness is conspicuous. Billboards, T-shirts, and bumper stickers bear messages such as “Jesus Saves.” There are even a few Disneyland-type tourist parks, such as South Carolina’s “Heritage USA,” devoted entirely to religious themes.
• Although the Constitution declares the separation of Church and State, religion has always pervaded American political life. The motto of the seal of the United States carries the biblical words, “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.” When the pledge of allegiance to the American flag is recited, the two words “under God” receive emphasis. Almost all American presidents have claimed affiliation with an established church. During inaugural ceremonies, U.S. presidents take their oath of office on the Bible. Every session of Congress opens with a prayer. Politicians frequently make reference to God and the Bible in their speeches (e.g. “God Bless America”). Religion is bound to have an influence on politics in a society where so many people value religion.
• Religious sensibilities have shaped American culture beyond the realm of politics. Sunday blue laws (state and local regulations banning various activities on Sundays, such as: liquor sales, general labor, boxing, hunting or barbering; they have declined since 1960s) persisted well into the twentieth century, and the Methodist township of Ocean Grove, New Jersey, managed to ban automobiles from its streets every Sunday until a court decision in 1979 declared the law unconstitutional. Unites States coins and currency bear the inscription, “In God We Trust.” Sunday schools began in the late 18th century to provide a rudimentary education for children of the working poor, but as common schools grew in popularity during the succeeding decades, Sunday schools provided religious instruction and served as a significant means of recruitment for Protestant churches. Public schools, however, shed their Protestant biases only slowly, and this reluctance prompted the great school wars in New York and Philadelphia over what amounted, Roman Catholics charged, to Protestant catechetical instruction in the public schools. At the Third Plenary Council in 1884, Catholics responded with an ambitious program of parochial schooling to educate and socialize Catholic children in the faith. The “school wars” of the 20th century placed conservative Protestants on the defensive. Ever since the Supreme Court’s 1963 decision banning prayer in public schools, fundamentalists have urged a reversal of that decision, and they have launched desultory efforts either to ban the teaching of evolutionary theory, once that battle was lost, to insist that public schools teach the Genesis account of creation alongside of Darwinism.
• Historically, religion has shaped higher education in America . A large portion of the nation’s most prestigious universities trace their origins to confessional or sectarian motivations: Harvard, Yale and Dartmouth (Congregational); the college of William and Mary and Columbia (Anglican); Princeton (Presbyterian); Brown (Baptist);
• Apart from Christmas, an ancient and customary mid-winter feast, there are no religious public holidays.