The Ideological Nation

Aronson. R. (2009). Religion Dispatches. 40 Million Nonbelievers in America? The Secret Is Almost Out Secularists have very quietly become one of America’s largest minorities -- how long before they use their power?

A population’s views on political issues may change as different circumstances occur each day. The environment around us has a powerful influence on the decisions that we produce and the views that we as American citizens choose to hold. After a semester in political science class my views and my political ideology have altered. Today I will explain how political science class has influenced my political ideology.

Can you imagine America being non-religious? Well that is what happening now with a decline in people who can say that they are religious or even practice any type of religion. This dropped in religious affiliation has come from the Millennial generation, who say they don’t belong to any organized faith. As we slowly see that religion declines in certain people, we can notice that, “indeed, by some conventional measures, religiously affiliated Americans are, on average, even more devout that they were a few years ago” (PewResearchCenter, “Religion & Public Life”). This change as happened as families become less and less motivated to find comfort with religion but instead have found it with symbols or some other object. I believe that the

The view on Communism throughout the 20th Century in the United States has been more or less fear leading to tension. In the book The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, readers were introduced to the structure, theories and ideology of the communist party. Though the power of free trade and capitalism was sweeping the west communist parties did form in crippled eastern European countries. As countries began battling to become a world power and worsening living conditions arose the fear and tension between the United States and Communism was at an all-time high.

Having lived in their shadow, much of the religions of gen-xers and millennials has been affected by the decisions made by baby-boomers. One major aspect that we maintain to this day is the understanding of religion as a tool for self-expression. Religion to many people today is a personal choice closely tied to self-identity. Due to the ever-increasing globalized nature of the world and the interconnectivity of our daily life, many millennials deal with the same ambiguity and cultural pluralism that was beginning to peak in the later years of the baby-boomer generation. Tom Beaudoin, in his book Virtual Faith, points to many shared similarities between the baby-boomers and generation-x: a distrust of institutions and authority, a dedication to self-expression, and a sense of instability that both pushes people towards and away from religion. Beaudoin, however, in investigating the claim that genX was a “theological wasteland” found quite the opposite while studying popular culture, such as music videos and fashion. “GenX pop culture offers ‘virtual’ religiousness when it imitates or simulates ‘real’ religiousness,” he writes.

The newer generations are usually more careless about tradition and religion. A lot of them have also been raised as unaffiliated. However, it’s not only the Millennials but also the baby boomers generation are becoming more and more unaffiliated, even though, the Gen Xers were raised in a religious tradition homes. Although, religion is declining in large numbers and people are moving away from it but, America remains to be a very religious nation with 58% of those who say religion is important in their lives. According to the article that’s one of the highest percentages compared to other democracies. Another reason affiliation has increased is because people who don’t attend church regularly also said they have no religion affiliation. There are many theories on why there is a rise in the nones. First theory is known as political backlash. This theory suggests there is a increase because people are going against the right of religion because church and religion all together is “judgmental, homophobic, hypocritical, and too political.” Theory number 2 is delays in marriage, which says people who are married are more likely to be religious than the unmarried. Theory number 3 is Broad Social Disengagement which is a theory that says the people don’t like to socialize and attend services. The author puts it as bowling alone and living seperate lives then they used to in the past. The last theory says the there is a rise in the nones because secularization is advancing in the United

I found the analysis in Robert Putnam and David Campbell book “American Grace”, of how much religion has change over the last 50 years most interesting and helpful to understanding how religion changes with the culture. In the book, Putnam and Campbell say America has experienced three seismic shocks in the last 50 years. In the 1960s religious congregants plummeted due in part to the older generations expectations of the younger generations. Then, in the 1970s and the 1980s the country had transformed tremendously in all aspects more for worse than the better giving the conservatives of the time an opportunity to resurrect evangelicalism and gave rise to the Religious Right. Since the 1990s, young people especially have been turned off by

No, I do not think that the United States could become a fascist nation. I say this because this country would never allow it; in order for a nation to become fascist it requires certain conditions that America would never comply with. Fascist nations are often dominated by the control of men, and there are too many women’s rights activists in the U.S. to allow such a thing. Also, a fascist nation severely limits educational, art, and press expression. Americans have a heavy belief on high educational standards as well as the freedom of expression in the arts, and it is unconstitutional to constrict the voicing of the press. Fascist governments are led by a dictator, and the checks and balance system was put in place to prevent any one section

Political ideology can be defined as views on how the government should run and is most commonly associated with a political party. It is essential to understand one’s political ideology to be a productive citizen in the United States government. Voting is the right and responsibility of the American citizen, and if citizens do not know their political ideas, they are not able to correctly participate. In addition to this, it is important to completely understand one’s political views to know which candidate to vote for, and not just his or her party and the candidate’s party. Understanding one’s views will lead to focusing on that when voting and not just relying on a party’s candidate to mirror one’s views.

This article takes a convincing stand against individualism as the most significant driven force in the contemporary society. It suggests that the individualistic future is far from inevitable, but the rising generation for Americans needs help to resist individualism, because they cannot do it alone. Millennials are less likely to be married and religious, and less likely to be patriotic than earlier generations. The author argues that the Millennials’ liberalism and skepticism of parties and programs runs deeper than their adherence to a particular ideology, it has a common denominator – individualism. It explains many generational traits, the personal optimism and the social mistrust, the tolerance to minority groups and the decreasing interest

An ideological state apparatus (ISA) reinforces the ideas, beliefs, and practices of a political system and helps to create hegemony in a society. Sport is one form of an ideological state apparatus. The process uses popular cultural figures such as athletes and widely viewed sporting events to further engrain political ideologies. It is fairly simple process, especially among young children, which typically idealize these athletes. The use of sports as an ISA is displayed across many different political beliefs.

To properly understand self, culture and society I will be writing about material and ideological conditions presented in present society and their alternatives. The material conditions presented will be according to Rifkin and the ideological conditions presented will be according to Roszak. Material conditions would be the production, exchange and organization of society and ideological conditions would e the ideas that already exist in the organization of society.It is essential to understand both material and ideological conditions in order gain a greater insight of out social situation, which is what I intend to do within this essay.

hroughout history, advancements in society and culture have come from individuals, not minority groups, or ideologies. In the historical timeline of humanity, equality has never existed; it is an abstract, a belief, for which the west is now paying the price. Is this a coup or a revolution, an accident or an intended consequence? Consequently, as the cultural chaos continues, the accelerating continuation of equality and politically correct moral relativism throw up some important questions.

What is political ideology and how does the basic theory help identify our moral values? Political ideology is defined as a set of beliefs and ideas that one can apply onto policies and events or one’s moral code and world view ("Political Ideology"). Our moral values are what tell us what is good or bad. It is the little voice inside us that lets us know something is wrong when we do something bad. The basic theory is that these values are how we are taught and choose to vote and politically decided what party best suits our ideals. These morals are what we look up to when we look for a candidate that we are choosing to vote for and help promote to family and friends to vote for. If we morally do not believe in the candidate than we moral

Many people believe today’s American society is poised, if things continue the same way they have been for the last twenty years (slippery slope), to become morally bankrupt and a tattered remain of its former self. (belief) The problems in today’s society all stem from three main moral atrocities and conditions that progressives have forced on to the society of our beautiful country.(post hoc) Our society has gone from having the respect of all the world to being a laughing stock of the Christian world. (appeal to popularity) Only by going back to the faith and beliefs that made America great will America be able to regain her footing in the world. (common practice) American can be either a beacon of Christian light in the world or we will be taken over by the Muslims. (false dilemma) It is a short walk to the bonfires of hell from where we are right now in the state of the world. (appeal to fear) I shall argue in this paper that it is the lack of sound Christian political leadership, homosexuals’ right to marry, and woman not respecting men and staying at home are the foundation for the destruction of American society.