Robert Putnam And American Grace Analysis

“Conservative evangelicals who had returned to the Democratic Party in 1976 now defected back to the Republican Party, solidifying a trend in the making.” The Religious Right had effectively crystallized a general trend in the electorate. After the election of 1980, the Religious Right became “synonymous with the GOP in popular imagination” and socially conservative values became synonymous with the conservative movement. Despite the dissolution of the organizations that comprised the Religious Right later in the 1980s, its influence on conservatism in America had solidified and, until this day, has remained a decisive factor in both local and national

As the 1950's saw America in a state of national exhaustion, religion-in-general experienced a surge in popularity. Many critical views were silenced or ignored as people became more accepting of a wide variety of beliefs. While the revival was unexpected and unstructured, several events fueled the movement.

What is certain however, is that young people today are far less likely to have a religious socialisation from parents and schools. They have grown up in a consumerist, materialist society and look for satisfaction through these things rather than a future in heaven- implying that consumerism could be the new religion of our time. Moreover, one cannot just assume that it is the young generation that is losing importance over religion, secularisation trends show that it is the whole of society. This is because of desacralisation and the development of science in which more people are turning to science and rational thinking. Young people are just more prone to this due to

A wave of revivalism swept over the United States during the First Great Awakening that took place between 1734 and 1750. Many people came to accept the Christian faith during this time. This acceptance of the faith and different religious practices were not permanent and “by the end of the 18th century, many educated Americans no longer professed traditional Christian beliefs. In reaction to the secularism of the age, a religious revival spread westward in the first half of the 19th century. This ‘Second Great Awakening’ consisted of several kinds of activity, distinguished by locale and expression of religious commitment.” (Outline of American History).

Times were changing and some Americans welcomed contemporary culture, mass entertainment, racial, sexual, and traditions while other frowned upon it. Evangelicals Protestants felt threaten by the old-fashioned values and the upsurge of Catholicism and Judaism due to immigration. Believing that the precise truth of the Bible made the foundation of Christianity, fundamentalists organized a campaign to get rid of modernism in order to battle the new liberties that challenged traditional ethics.

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.

While the majority of Americans (almost 80%) identify themselves as Christians, religion in the United States is characterized by both a large diversity of believers and variable attendance and adherence levels (Eck, 2002). However, an August 2010 poll showed that almost 70% of Americans believed that religion was losing influence in everyday life, yet most feel that is a negative thing even though politicians continue to discuss religion while campaigning (Religion Losing, 2012). In light of these statistics, many religious scholars have turned to more quantitative methods to establish ways to both improve service attendance, solidify the financial health of churches, and establish a faith-based understanding of current psychographic trends. One of the predominant ways this is happening is through people like George Barna.

The 1960s was a rapid, evolutionary new burst in religious change. People during this era ignored their parents and grandparents values, and made their own. This caused a dramatic decrease in churchgoing numbers, and christian values in the south. These changes can be connected with the direction the world was going. Politics, mobility, and great leadership had a huge impact on the religion of the 1960s.

Simple things like going to work and school and just pure laziness have overtaken the importance of going to religious services. According to the website Oxford Research Encyclopedia it said, “In the post–World War II era, religious contexts supported the emergence of the modern Civil Rights movement.” This explains that after the war religion was very prompt in a family of this period and it lead to a Civil Rights movement which would ultimately end segregation. Now according to a study on 8th grade students they said that only 35% of the students go to religious services frequently and the rest of the students either go sometimes, on holidays, or not at all. This evidence proves how students and families used to go to religious services much more in the 1950’s than they do now.

What the broadcast of “America’s Changing Religious Landscape” contributed to my understanding of Protestantism in contemporary America was that Protestantism dominated America through 1607 to 1955. That Protestantism began to diminish once the Vietnam War started as new political movements occurred in the 1960s. There were drastic changes as little girls in bikinis were getting baptized and worship teams being changed into rock bands. In addition, despite the fact that Protestantism is declining in America it will not disappear from the world as 23,000 Africans convert to Christianity every day. 3.)

Christian living in America is dwindling because biblical principles and values are no longer regarded. Surprisingly to many, Christian values in America were held to the highest standard; no one even considered straying away from the Bible. Unfortunately now, Americans are ignoring Biblical principles and values and engaging in a life of drugs, alcohol, murder, and gender misconceptions. As a result, Christian living in America is almost non existent. However, some Americans would argue that Christian living in America is not dwindling because choosing gender, the right to abortion, and the free will to use harmful substances are all things that are grey areas in the Bible and as such, can be interpretation any way an individual sees fit.

PEW includes statistics showing the rapid decrease with participation to a -7.8% in less than seven years, while the increase of agnostic beliefs rose to + 6.7% during the same time, with minority religions’ Buddhism, Judaism, and Muslim indicating a slight + 1.2% increase. If you do not believe religion has an influence over politics don’t kid yourself, as an example the ultra-orthodox communities come in by the droves casting their votes to keep their cronies in office as to not lose their footing on perks and free handouts. If you can stomach watching any news channels on current events you can experience it firsthand. (PEW)

The religions around the world are practiced in America such as Christianity,Islam,Jewish,etc and this country still remains one of the most religious nations in the world today.Population also usually can be participates in organized religious practice while others can choose to engage in a private spirituality.Besides that,religion can be describes as spiritual belief in, worship of, or obedience to a God and considered to be divine or to have control of human destiny.I believe the percentages in American people that believe in God still be higher in 50 years ahead,but the religious practicing probably will decreasing.It has many factors such as age, race, gender, economic class, and other demographic factors that can affect American

Why are the youth being drawn in great numbers to the Christian faith? Could it be the sense of belonging that they are after? Has the culture that they have grown up in made it important to belong to a group? What makes the youth of the nineties different from their predecessors? It’s not like all of these kids come from disadvantaged or broken homes. Many of them are well-adjusted middle-class kids that don't need to be attached to something out side of themselves to be validated or excepted. The one thing that they all seem to have in common is that they have been raised in a much more complex social atmosphere than past youngsters. They have spent more time in front of a television than any other generation. They have been labeled a generation without a cause. Their energy has been sapped by endless hours of Nintendo and the constant race to stay on the cutting edge of fashion. They become consumers at younger ages too and that brings on the pressure to have the best, and have it first. Kids find themselves making one purchase after another and never coming away with anything that will last. The life that Hollywood romanices and glorifies leaves them feeling hollow and unfulfilled. The youth today are experiencing burn out at a very young age. Suicide

Putnam and Campbell’s “America Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us” does a better job of foreshadowing the future religious landscape in the United States. The two authors use the concept of ‘shocks, aftershocks, and earthquakes’ in order to convey religious turbulence in the United States. The earthquake of the 1960s was the most significant indication of change in which there was a steep decline in religious observance (Putnam and Campbell, 97). The 1960s was a transitional time for the United States as the Civil Rights Movement, immigration reform, and the sexual revolution dominated American culture. These events displaced religion from the lives of Americans and thus became a clarion call for the transition away