Politics and Religion: The Challenge of Religious Diversity Essay

“Religion in Colonial America” written by Jon Butler, is the first section in the book “Religion in American Life: A Shorty History” by authors Jon Butler, Grant Wacker, and Randall Balmer. “Religion in Colonial America” presents the religious atmosphere from the old world through the colonial period in America. Butler, a professor of American Studies, History and Religious Studies at Yale University is an expert in the field. In “Religion in Colonial America”, Butler sets out to inform its readers about the everchanging religious climate that occupied the people and society of America. In these stories, Butler presents an array of opposing views concerning religion by the people, society, and government in America. The major argument of this work suggests “religion powerfully shaped the peoples and society that would become the United States”. Moreover, Butler implies religion in America “usually stands with the grain of American secular history, not against it”. In this case, the government was not solely against religion but understood its importance to its people and society as a whole. “Religion in Colonial America” emphasizes that religion was central to some people and its society throughout the past but not necessarily central to government. Thus, “government would not itself seek to change the diversity by intervening in religion or by supporting one over another, but instead guaranteed they would uphold [free exercise] of religion for all groups”. This is

Today’s world is all about decisions. Should we get that new television? What about that new iPhone? Maybe the new Apple Watch? Notice how none of those questions had to deal with anything transcendent or in relation to God. Rather these questions focused on the material items that are available practically at the snap of one’s fingers. There is a lack of religious authority in cultural and social organizations in the modern society that we live in. Charles Taylor, in A Secular Age, focuses on showing that God is still present in our secular society, even when it seems as if He is removed. Taylor gives three separate understandings of secularization: separation between state and church with the movement of corporate practices without God, more

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

Lewis begins by quoting Thomas Jefferson on the separation of the church and the state, then makes the statement that the problem and its solutions arose "from Christian, not universal, principles and experience." "There are other religious traditions," he continues, "in which religion and politics are differently perceived, and in which, therefore, the problems and the possible solutions are radically different from those we know in the West."/2/

Obama attempts to handle this problem by separating the role of religion in one's personal life from that of one's public, political life. He differentiates between basing one's life and basing one's policy-making on the “uncompromising commitments” (7) of religion, calling the former “sublime” and the latter “dangerous”. In his view, religion should be central in private, but cannot be the deciding factor in choices that affect the public. Unfortunately, this

America is full and rich with diverse people, religions and values; they make America great. Just look at Riverside, California, there are over fifty churches of different denominations of Christianity, three synagogues, two temples, and one mosque; all coinciding peacefully in the city (Yellow Pages). Because Riverside is so diverse, religious pluralism and religious tolerance are two steps in making Riverside more connected. The first step is tolerance, a reflex that acknowledges a person will come across people of a different faith. The second step is pluralism, which is a better understanding of a person’s religion as well as the other religions around them. Many believe pluralism is the better of the two, because of the interaction

The choice to separate church and state is a contemporary issue that drives votes and is the exact opposite of taboo. If one does a simple web search of the word religion, a countless number of results from countless nations and journals (including the most popular press) shows that most nations are in current negotiations to separate their schools from their

When Matthew Engelke presented his Humanist interlocutors and their secular perspectives during his seminar on religion and public life, the secular was considered natural like drawing a breath, an action a person does without even knowing it. Another way to understand it is to say the secular is “the common ground we all stand.” In this example, secularism is viewed as the initial vacuum to which ideas, religion, perspectives on the world are brought into, the natural neutrality. Too be clear though, this naturalness of absence (or as he worded it, “the natural presence of the secular”) is a fundamental result of modernity, one that seeks to privilege at its basis a form of rationalist, secular-liberal mentality over other kinds. With

The United States is full of religious diversity. The foreign population has greatly increased, and the “proportion from Latin America (54%) and Asia (28%) greatly surpassed the proportion from Europe (13%)” (Fasciano). Many

In European times also known as the “Middle Ages” there was a strong leaning for religious people to dislike human affairs and to learn about the afterlife with God. As a response to this medieval learning, secularism showed itself in the growth of humanism. When people began to show more interest in human cultural triumphs and the possibilities of their satisfaction in this world. “The movement toward secularism has been in evolution during the entire course of modern history and has often been viewed as being anti-Christian,” (Shakespeare). Secularism has played a big part in government and religion too throughout the years. For instance, “If I were a dictator, religion and state would be separate. I swear by my religion. I will die for it. But it is my personal affair. The state has nothing to do with it. The state would look after your secular welfare, health, communications, foreign relations, currency and so on, but not your or my religion. That is everybody's personal concern!” (Gandhi). In our own democracy there is a separation of church and state with Gandhi’s belief system. The government should look out for mankind in all

Religion and Politics have played a loud and at some times discordant counterpoint in the United States for many years. There has always been a correlation between conservative politics and fundamentalist religion in American History. As American’s we’ve always had had the constitutional right to chose our religion. Yet our country’s leaders, that sit in the highest political seats have traditionally been evangelistic Protestants. Which have dominated religion in politics during the final decade or two in the twentieth century, and if the past is any indication, they will most likely continue to dominate the arenas, with some exceptions, at least through the early

In today’s modern society, more people are shifting away from the traditional set of Christian values and thus, the need for the separation between church and state has never been so vital. This separation can be defined as being a secular state, which is thereby stating that a government is neutral in religious matters, and supports neither the religious nor the non – religious. The United States of America has been label a secular state since the signing of their ‘godless constitution’ in 1787. However despite the founding fathers wishes for a “wall of separation between church and state” , religious pressure groups and bias conservative politicians still seem to obtain the ability to pass laws or government policies that have pro -

“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.

We need to pay close attention to the effects of secularism: confining the role of religion to the private domain of the individual and creating a dichotomy between "religious" and "worldly," between "private" and "public." It denies religion and its mediating institutions any public function and influence in shaping matters of public policy.

Over the past few decades, many theories have evolved around the idea of secularization as a concept in society. The secularization thesis refers to ‘the process by which sectors of society and culture are removed from the domination of religious institutions and symbols’. (Rosta, 2009, chapter 14)