Is Society Turning Away From Religion?

Emerson was an author in nineteenth century America; society and the church during that time were very different and much more conservative compared to society and religion in modern times. In the time that Emerson wrote Nature, religion greatly influenced law because it gave people ways to live, and a majority of the populous viewed those guidelines and beliefs of the church as laws, while as now the beliefs of the church are viewed almost as guidelines. Emerson was partially correct in his statement that says ethics changes, while religion stays the same in that that ethics changes with time, but religion does not change, but instead religion changes over time, though it takes extended periods of time for any major changes to become noticed.

Many people believe the United States is becoming a "Godless" culture. The argument is that we are losing our moral values, because religion is not an important part of our life anymore. This is the view of most Fundamentalist Christians and right wing believers. I vehemently disagree with this argument. I say this because there are many ways to practice religion. We have many ethnic populations in our country with many different religions. Because of this, there are many beliefs that differ from the Christian based or religions of only one god. Therefore, our country is not becoming Godless, there are many ways to practice one's faith.

Muslims are one of the most marginalized people in the U.S for their beliefs and their religion but after 9/11 discrimination and hate crimes against them had become even worse.Throughout the U.S people have been “Anti-Islam” and believed that the Muslim’s religion is absurd, want muslims to change their beliefs or, leave the country.According to “Anti-Islman Discourse in the United States in the Decade After 9/11:The Role of Social Conservatives and Cultural Politics”by David D.Belt on page 211-212, talks about how a post on Charisma News with an article title “Why I am Absolutely Islamophobic” was urging at the fact that Muslim-Americans needed to be deported as soon as possible ,or go under sterilization.Also Belt talks about one of Bush’s family friend being,Franklin Graham saying that he thinks the muslim’s religion is “very evil “and “wicked”.One last example a man named Gabriel had said Islam is the real enemy of America and that we supposedly “we will be doomed in war if we don’t realize it”. People are so brainwashed it honestly insane and very ignorant at the things people think about Muslims, its barbaric.They believe what Muslims believe in and their religion is wrong and they should switch to “Christianity” because it is the “American way “ or have them deported because the do not belong there and are “terrorist”.

In this article, David Bornstein talks about F.B.I report about the hate crimes against Muslims reached their highest level since 2001. In New York, hate crimes are one of the most violent crimes against Muslims since last decade. The 2016 election highlighted religious problems in United States as well as all over the world. Donald Trump’s solution to terrorism to ban Muslims from entering the country create nationwide protest. In United States, people from different ethnic backgrounds belief or faith at some point suffered or become victim of hate crime. The victims includes Jews, Christians, and Mormons, alongside Muslims. In the past, Bornstein reported on the Chicago-based interfaith youth core programme, which trains people to build relationships and respect

Maybe the societal events have shaped our views on certain religions, but it does not mean that we need to belittle and destroy what keeps people together, what gives them a reason to be. In the Virginia Statue for Religious Freedom, Thomas Jefferson stated that

As technology, science, and medicine changes lives, history, and economics, has it drawn our minds in awe and wonder forcing us to forget what religion means in this world? To forget the morals and standards that came with it? With more societal advances we seem to always be furthering ourselves away from the topic of religion; Even after the fact that America was founded on the basis of Christianity.

The decline in religion across America is most likely related to the increase inIndividualism, among many Americans in the 21st century. “The decline in religions practice has gone down 29% from the Silent generation to the younger Millennial” (Decline of mainline Protestantism and Catholicism). Many argue that culture influences, portioning to college and other environments, would be the greatest factor in the big question as to why Americas on a religious decline. However Individualism seems to be the greatest contributing factor. Individualism highlights selfish motives, only caring about ones self, and laziness. All things that religious believes takes away from a individual.

Religious intolerance has a been a plague on our society throughout time. In the 1700’s my ancestor, a French Huguenot named Leonard Varnado, sailed to America to escape execution for his beliefs. He was not the only one, many people from France, England and Scotland traveled to America in pursuit of religious freedom. America was founded by the people who left their lives, homes, and possessions behind to practice what they believed freely. Today many Americans still face the same persecution that their ancestors sought to escape all those years ago. In 2015 Supreme Court gave same-sex couples their long deserved right to marry, but many people still protest it due to it being against their own religious belief system. In fact, Senator and

The United States is a unique country. It is part of a few other countries that allows its citizens to be free to express themselves. Like other countries, the United States has set a standard or a social requirement for its citizens. There seem to be a social requirement to only speak english, have english name, wear certain clothes or practice a certain religion, Christianity. To some foreigners, this seems to be the the American standard, however, there can never be one standard for Americans. People from all over come to the United States so they can have the ability to practice their own religion without fearing being targeted. America's culture is a mixture of other culture so there could not be one standard. However, some people are targeted because they do not fit into America’s standard. To emphasize, the practice of Islam appears to create issues for some Americans. Islamophobia is common in the United States. Some Americans fear to be seen a practicing Muslims. Some free is they express their different religion in America thy will be personally targeted. Therefore, some often try to fit in the false American standards. In this paper I will argue, Muslim feel pressured and obligated to fit the American standard

Bad news travels faster and last longer than good news. Unfortunately this is a day-to-day reality of Islamic followers in America. The horror of 9/11, the native skin of the Boston bombers, and the endless horrific news from the Islamic State (IS) continue to regurgitate in the media year after year, month after month, week after week, and night after night leaving a listener with negative feelings toward the Islam religion and its followers, Muslims. Muslims bear the brunt of social construction because the United States continues to identify the Islamic religion as a whole verses excepting the different sects.

On the morning of the 11th of September shock waves through every TV screen were deeply embedded in American households which translated into anger and vengeance. It changed our foreign policies, landed us into wars that have created enormous turmoil and instability in the Middle Eastern region. Coming back home, a lot has changed since the horrendous day may that be Defense budgets, the way we travel, the price we pay for travel and the rise in Islamophobia. Many Muslims have been victims of Islamophobic comments and actions carried out by misguided and fearful nationalists, I personally believe many of these issues could be avoided if we weren’t so politically correct and didn’t fear interfaith dialogue. But the fear of being labeled racist and the pressure of being politically correct has led America into the hands of a volatile leadership who’s rhetoric revolved around fear, emotion and blame gaming.

This is due to the attacks of 9/1, which was caused by Al Qaeda, an Islamic extremist group. 9/11 has changed the mind of Americans on what they think of Muslims. According to Elaine C. Hagopian of Haymarket Books, “Muslims and Arab-Americans are increasingly under attack as a result of the U.S ‘war on terror’- at home as well was abroad. Since the tragic events of September 11, Arabs and Muslims have faced major assault on their civil liberties.” The 9/11 attacks have damaged the reputation of Muslims. The Muslims are not viewed as everybody else to most people, but something bad. They are being blamed on the actions of other people on a different continent! Additionally, by Christopher Ingraham, “If the incident does turn out to be motivated by anti-Islamic sentiment, it would be one of dozens of such events that happen each year, according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports program. Prior to the 9/11 attacks, the program typically recorded between 20 and 30 anti-Muslim hate crimes per year. But in 2001 that number rose more than tenfold to nearly 500. In the years since, annual hate crimes against Muslims have consistently hovered in the 100-150 range, roughly five times higher than the pre-9/11 rate.” Since September 11, more and more people are hating on innocent Muslims because they have the same religion as the group behind 9/11. People are assuming that bad and deserve to be harshly treated. The strive of destroying the Muslim faith has become a problem caused by American grudge against Al

Religion has changed dramatically over the past few decades. Where years ago, it was limited to a few specific set of beliefs in which the majority of people conformed to and few people deviated. Nowadays, religion is immeasurable and varies depending on where you live. Despite all the changes, there are a few basic elements that every religion follows such as; a set of stories, sacredness, community, belief of a higher power, rules/ethics, offer hope and a way to connect with the divine. Although the building blocks are the same, each organizations, religious practices and beliefs are unique.

Religion has been a powerful force in human history. Mankind has longed and searched for the answers to its purpose, the reason for being and the possibility of life after physical death. They reasoned that an afterlife would be a place of accounting and reckoning for the life they lived on earth. Religious belief systems seemed to give the answers as to how to prepare for the afterlife. Religion became the means of giving answers to those basic yet deep-seated questions of both life and death. Religion provided a format of rules and laws for conduct and treatment toward others based on the desires and wishes of a god or gods that people envisioned, imagined or invented. Religious belief systems have been a powerful force for good and bad...good in the sense that it provided a measure of individual behavior and order in society for the wellbeing of the whole, but bad in the sense that men of ambition who craved power and control over others would often use religion as a tool of manipulation and fear. A casual glance of history tells us that complete civilizations have been built, grown and maintained around elaborate religious systems, ancient Egypt being a prime example.

Opposition to gay marriage has increased since the summer and a narrow majority of Americans also oppose allowing gays and lesbians to enter legal agreements that fall short of marriage. Moreover, despite the overall rise in tolerance toward gays since the 1980s, many Americans remain highly critical of homosexuals ­ and religious belief is a major factor in these attitudes.