American Religion Project : The United States

Adhering to your religious and personal beliefs in a society where there have been generational shifts in attitudes toward nonmarital sex is challenging. These changes in sexual attitudes and behaviors are connected to growing cultural individualism in the United States. When a culture places more importance on the desires of the self and less on social rules, more relaxed attitudes toward sexuality are the almost inevitable result. You are faced with the decision of conforming to a society where the acceptance of premarital sex is at an all time high. Yet, your religion and personal beliefs have shaped your moral compass, which makes it evident that you do not wish to stray away from your decision of abstaining from sex until marriage. In efforts to assist you in effectively communicating your desires to your girlfriend we will evaluate your relationship through key communication concepts such as: culture, Social Exchange Theory, Social Penetration Theory, listening, and Self-Discrepancy Theory. .

In his book, The Religious Beliefs of America’s Founders, Gregg Frazer attempts to break apart the debate going on today about whether or not the founding fathers were Christian. In the preface of the book, Frazer states, “I want to force extremists on the Left and Right to make a case for their vision… this book is an attempt to allow [the Founders] to defend themselves through the written record of their words.” In his book, Frazer makes arguments that eight of the most prominent Founders were not Christian or Deist, but rather they were “theistic rationalists,” a term that he uses countless times throughout the text. Frazer examines the eight key Founders as well as important theologians and ministers of the time. He defends theistic

Most people believe that the United States was founded as a Christian nation. After all, our money is emblazoned with “In God We Trust,” our Pledge of Allegiance declares that we are “one nation under God,” and in court we swear to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.” It’s true that the Founders were heavily influenced by Christian ideals. And while the U.S. Constitution prohibits any religious test or requirement for public office, the majority of U.S. presidents have been openly Christian. Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, two of our most famous presidents, however had no formal religious affiliations. Jefferson shunned orthodox Christianity at an early age and cut and pasted together a condensed version of the New Testament, removing most miracles and all references to Jesus’s divinity. He did, however, continue to believe in God as a precise, impersonal creator of the universe and its laws. Lincoln, on the other hand, spoke frequently of God during his presidency but never formally joined a church. Today, academics remain uncertain about whether or not he was a Christian as some aspects of his faith remain a mystery.

Have you ever wondered why people in the American society think any kind of demonstrated behavior is acceptable? The Christian views once instilled in United States citizens have grown sparse today, in comparison to what they once were. Opinions of many people have changed concerning multiple issues. Many founding views were centered on Godly principles as portrayed in the U.S. Constitution, and as well as the Declaration of Independence. As society continues to argue over the inclusion of religion in politics, members of society reap the effects in many areas, particularly in the education system. I strongly agree that the United States was founded as a Christian nation.

American Protestants had fought to hard, and with great struggles to go back to the way the religion of the past. From Jeremiah Moore Baptist preaching style, to the circuit riders and all their travels, trying to spread the new word, would mean they would have to go back to the Catholic ways.

Religion’s influence in the South is appropriate, in multiple aspects. Religion is tied to politics in different levels of government and in everyday life. In the State of North Carolina, our state constitution directly mentions God/religion in the preamble, which is as follows, “We, the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for the preservation of the American Union and the existence of our civil, political and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those blessings to us and our posterity…” With this North Carolina is stating that the use of religion is appropriate for governmental attributes and therefore is appropriate therein.

Bellah, as a result, believed that America’s key resources for finding a common identity and unifying people is enable by the national spokesperson for the civil religion, the President. This civil religion finds expression in the President’s various addresses to the nation. In essence, Bellah claims the legendary wall between church and state has not precluded the incorporation of religious imagery into the political address. In fact, the American populace as a whole wants and, in some cases rather, expects religious languages and discourses in Presidential rhetoric which are extremely important to

Nonetheless, anti- Catholicism still exists in different ways in modern times. While there are no longer legal prejudices that bar Catholics from holding government positions, the rhetoric still exists in every day culture. There are still individuals who are misled concerning Catholic doctrine. It is not considered inappropriate to make fun of Roman Catholic beliefs, unlike it is considered taboo to make fun of Jewish customs. For any type of insensitivity, this lies in the lack of understanding that many individuals have regarding what is truth and what is fiction and the false foundation that much of this rhetoric stands upon. For centuries Protestants were misled by the beliefs that a Catholic influence in America would introduce papal control. Today, this belief is largely overshadowed by generalized misinformation, rather than fear of domination. The government has taken measures to prevent righteous arson from fanatical groups, an improvement from the 1800’s, where the burning of Catholic churches and convents was rampant. Perhaps one aspect that has changed drastically since early American times is the amount of news media given to the pope. Currently Pope Francis is a world renowned icon who is giving a positive outlook to Catholicism with his “common man” to his homily and interaction. Pope Francis is dispelling the hierarchical stigma attached to the Catholic Church, which as illustrated, was the source of discrimination and oppression for Catholics

and fund a religion. The original settlers in America were looking for religious freedom, in particular they were trying to get away from the state sponsored religion being practiced in England at the time. The Anglican church was the “church of England” and bishops were appointed by the King of England (Heyrman 2017). If you didn’t belong to the official religion of the country, you were an outcast. A lot of these outcast were the people who originally settled the United States, they wanted to get away from state sponsored religion. However, once in America they started the same system of government supporting a favored religion. Instead of one national religion, individual states supported different churches. According to Shmoop (2017): “Congregationalism

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

The United States of America has the most diverse religious population in the world. In places like Iraq, Syria, Israel, Afghanistan, Yemen, and other countries too numerous to mention, countless lives are lost over religious differences. In America, a Protestant can live happily next door to a Jew, who might live across the street from a Muslim, or a Catholic, or a Sikh, or even a Humanist! This is in no small way attributed to the fact that the US Constitution’s First Amendment includes what is known as the establishment clause, which states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” effectively separating affairs of religious institutions from secular,

“God is not one and neither are the religions…” This has been the statement of the modern American Jesus Stephen Prothero, and this statement clearly explains the concept of religious pluralism. According to Prothero, religious pluralism related to the diversity of religion in the society and it exists in the society all over the world. According to Prothero, the world keeps changing and newer era takes place in the world, and the religious aspects face diversity in the form of religious claims, acceptance norms, truth and social norm, which should be fully welcomed. The religious pluralism is widely observed in the United States and that is why the Christianity was affected, which is the most followed religion. In the beginning, some Christians

The Catholic Church During Colonial Period between 1565-1783. The life of the Catholic Church in US. Began with the

If I were to write an essay on Christianity and the United States government.My topic would be on Christianity within the United States government. My thesis statement would be Christianity greatly influences the United States government. The topics of focus would be where Christian influences came from when Christian influences were first introduced to the government, how Christian influences impacted the government.

“American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us,” by Robert D. Putnam and David E. Campbell, and “America and the Challenges of Religious Diversity,” by Robert Wuthnow, give different thoughts to religion and politics in the United States. Putnam and Campbell utilize the concepts of shocks and aftershocks to highlight religious changes in the United States. On the other hand, Wuthnow uses observations to focus on the encounters of religious diversity in the United States. Wuthnow compares American Christianity with other popular religions in America and how Christianity has affected the perception of religion. Putnam and Campbell’s “American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us” is a more persuasive assessment of American religion and politics.