Is America An Improbable Idea

One of the main reasons that the settlers came and founded America was for religious freedom. Colonist made the long and dangerous journey for other reasons as well, but a major factor was the search for religious freedom. Coming to America alone did not solve this problem; the journey to religious freedom was just that, a journey. Everyone had a slightly different idea of what this new nation’s ‘religious freedom’ should look like and it took many years to come to a compromise.

In Chapter 2, “Religion Matters”, Prothero briefly discusses how religion has impacted America even if it seems subsided, and why we tend to neglect it. When it comes to some of the major events of American history, Prothero argues that “none of the classic events in American history…can be understood without some knowledge of the religious motivations” of its major players. (Prothero) Perhaps part of the reason we generally ignore this statement is because of confusion and controversies it presents in government rulings and school teachings.

The word “God” or “Christianity” is often thrown around in the political world today. Candidates often can be seen supporting the invasions of other nations, but then claiming a strong devotion to God only a few moments later. The question is, “how has America become such a broken nation with such distorted views of the role of Christianity?” The emergent idea of America as a Christian nation is an important and relevant issue with many possible consequences. In reality, there are many cultural and religious influences in the nation, but many people have internalized the idea that the Christian religion is not solely an influential aspect of our society, but instead helps to construct the society itself. Personally, before reading

In American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation, Jon Meacham explores the dynamic relationship between religion and government in America in the hope that contemporary America can learn from the past. The period covered by the book spans from 1620 until Reagan’s presidency in the late 1980s. However, Meacham focuses on the Founding Fathers stances and their continued impact on American politics. More specifically, the book details the conflict over the separation of private religious expression and the more neutral ‘public religion’.

Summary: The division between church and state is a gray line that is often crossed and argued about. For example, Gwen Wilde, the author, argues that the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance requires people who do not believe in God to recite something they do not necessarily believe in. If a person chose not to say the full Pledge, including to utter the words “under God” they run the risk of being called unpatriotic. The author continually argues that the words “under God” add a religious doctrine that not all Americans believe in.

In this document, he states that religion has been, one of the many, yet most important basis for all American settlements. He claims men refer to religion in order to unify with one another and base their laws on religious beliefs. “Religion kept their little community together-religion assisted them in their revolutionary struggle; it was religion to which they appealed in defending their liberties” (Document 3). Grund also makes the point that the Declaration of Independence,which is based on religion, is annually read to the people for it announces and proclaims religious values put forth to unify and govern their people. “It is with the solemnities of religion that the declaration of independence is yet annually read to the people from the pulpit” (Document 3). This proves the fact that the basis of America was backed by religious beliefs and a belief in a one powerful God.  Finally, he states that based on what he had seen from his various visits to the US, that “religion which assists them in all their national undertakings”(Document 3).  He claims that religion is a power used daily by the American people to unify and bring together the society. This is significant to the motivation of reform by religion because it brings out the fact that during times of crisis and chaos, people return back to their faith in hopes of

Today there are more than 1,500 religious bodies in the United States, ranging from the more than 66 million members of the Roman Catholic Church to sects with fewer than 1,000 adherents. In virtually every region of the country, religion is being expressed in greater variety, whether it be the Latinization of Catholicism and some Christian faiths or the de-Europeanizing of some established Protestant faiths as with Asian Americans or the de-Christianizing of the overall religious landscape with Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, and others (Roof, 2007).

Even when the Constitution establishes a separation between church and state, traces of religion can still be found in public and government environments, such as the Pledge of Allegiance containing the words ‘under God’, American currency having ‘In God we trust’ and other such events and places. Consequently, this prevalence of Christian ideology violates all Americans’ first amendment right to freedom of and from religion and has a negative impact all citizens as it conflicts with their individual beliefs, religious or not.

Wilde quotes Eisenhower in “the transcendence of faith in Americas heritage,” criticizing the validity of his statement, bringing up Americans that have fought and died “for freedom while not believing in “spiritual weapons.” She gives the statistic of only 70 to 80 percent of Americans are affiliated with a form of Christianity and three percent with Judaism; therefore, several million Americans do not believe in the God the Pledge refers to.

Since the beginning of this great nation there has been a notion of the role of God and religious beliefs on which it was founded. The founding fathers were men of differentiating views on God and religion but the religious views that each held were important to the very principles and laws of the United States of America. An analysis of documents produced during the revolutionary era demonstrate the importance that God and their religious beliefs played in the independence of United States. To understand and see the importance that these religious ideals played in the independence it is important to understand what each founder’s religious ideology, how they developed this ideology

It is obvious that when the Founding Fathers were setting up the structure of American Government, they had God in the midst of their plans. Because there is no mention of the “separation of church and state” in any documents, it is clear that the Founding Fathers had no intention of the separation. Being men of faith and leaders of the country, they saw the relation between church and state as inseparable. They set up the government based on their faith and belief in God. Therefore, when God is taken out of the government, there is a missing link in its chain. Church and government are supposed to be directly linked to each other. It is the Christian’s duty to make sure that the responsibility of our government is handled well. This was illustrated well with the Biblical example of the parable of the talents.

In conviction, this nation, and our presence were established on our religious sponsorship from our progenitor yet all through our evolving history, religion does not assume a profound part in an advanced

Kramnick and Moore write their book to establish an understanding of were God should be in society and government. They use interpretations of men from the history of the United States to gather knowledge on how to regard religion in our government. They give a timeless solution to an understanding of what our government is trying to establish. They propose

“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.

The constitution and the amendments is what America follows and is considered a holy book itself. Stated in the constitution of Massachusetts 1780 “…in framing a constitution of government, to provide for an equitable mode of making laws, as well as for an impartial interpretation and a faithful execution of them; that every man may, at all times, find his security in them.” As mentioned before America is not just consisted of one religion but a collective of religion; it will not be fair or equal to have a single religion that represent all of America and to solve this problem the constitution was the key. The constitution represent