The Struggle Between Protestantism And Pluralism

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 the “Letter to Danbury Baptist,” the author Thomas Jefferson develops and refines the central idea of “separation between church and state” by explaining the importance of keeping a good relationship between himself and the Baptist people but also standing firm on the importance of the first amendment. The danbury Baptist people wanted to change the division of church and state but Jefferson used his rhetoric to help explain to the people that the separation of church and state is good for all men and all religions. Jefferson states, “religion is a matter which lies solely between Man

The freedom of religion is important to us because it lets us learn our religion freely so we don't have to worry about the country saying. “We are going to only have the religion of the church of England.” or something like that. “ In some instances, they have been seen to erect a spiritual tyranny on the ruins of the Civil authority; in many instances, they have been seen upholding the thrones of political tyranny; in no instance have they been the guardians of the liberties of the people.”(THE ESTABLISHMENT CLAUSE: A CHECK ON RELIGIOUS TYRANNY) This talks about how different religions were getting spiritual tyranny. The people didn't have liberties and were forced to follow one religion or they would’ve been criticised. “For him, America was not a “Christian nation,” but rather should recognize the equality of all believers, whether “Jews, Turks, Pagans [or] Christians.” “Government should protect every man in thinking and speak freely, and see that one does not abuse another.” He proposed an amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution in 1794 because of the “evils . . .

Thomas Jefferson fought for separation of church and state, in Virginia. Jefferson fought so strongly for this because under British anarchy, they were persecuted for their religion. This document brought conflict with Jefferson and the Anglican Church, as the Anglican Church believed that Church and State should be one. The idea of Freedom of Religion carries into our government. President’s can swear in with a Bible during oath, though the book may differ on religion. The separation between church and state was one of the most important policies in the United States Constitution and was inputted in the first amendment. In the 1st Aamendment it states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. The Virginia Statute For Religious Freedom has ensured Americans’ freedom to express whichever religion they choose, and it is a main part of why The United States of America is so

Prior to the 1800’s, English began to colonize North America to gain religious freedom and tolerance. As a result there were many groups and branches of many religions that fled to the 13 colonies as there were also those who settled in North America to escape religion, rather than find religious freedom. Separation between church and state showed how the founding fathers tried to not allow religion to shape or affect politics. However the Second Great Awakening and the Presidential election of 1800 demonstrated clearly how politics is influenced by religion. Therefore, between 1800 and 1848, just a span of 48 years, religion shaped the politics of the United States.

The Founding Fathers tried to protect citizen’s rights to religious choice and attempted to keep the government form religious interference. The purpose was not to disallow religion but to give the people a choice of whom and where to worship. Today, the views are not the same. Freedom of religion is being interpreted as freedom of religion as long as it is acceptable with everyone else. The Founding Fathers also wanted separation of church and state to protect the church from government interference. The concept has now become removal of religion from all aspects of government. The cases of Van Orden v. Perry and McCreary County v. ACLU are two prime examples, both with different results.

The public life of a citizen in an early American community varied greatly with the customs and culture of each society. The two largest factors that determined what was socially acceptable for citizens during that time were religion and politics. Often religion would shape how the community viewed politics and likewise politics would affect religion. However, it appears that before the American Revolution religion dictated politics and the subsequent laws that were written, while after the war citizens began to have political aspirations that would change how society viewed religion. Thus, marking a very clear shift where religion stopped being the primary influence on public life and politics began to take over that role.

The United States of America was founded on the basis of religious freedom. Judgment on the legality of the Separation of Church and State should not be based on one’s religion. The phrase “Separation of church and state” sometimes known as the “wall of separation between church and state,” is a phrase used by Thomas Jefferson in understanding the two clauses of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States: the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause. The Establishment Clause is prohibits the government fro making any laws dealing with religion. As the second clause, The Free Exercise Clause goes along with the Establishment clause stating that Congress cannot make any law pertaining to religion or a law that

The 1st Amendment of the constitution was implemented for one simple reason: to guarantee the basic human rights of the American citizens. The American citizens wanted to be assured of their basic and personal freedoms, so the founding fathers gave them that when they created the 1st Amendment. One of the specific things this Amendment guarantees for its citizens, is the right to exercise their religious freedom. Before the revolutionary war, there wasn’t much separation between church and state. They were under a British government, forcing them to follow the ways of the Anglican church. Citizens were required to attend church once a month in order to receive government news and if citizens were not apart of the church, they still had to pay taxes to fund it.

"Seperation of church and state" was about religious freedom, which we protect in this country. It did more than that (unbeknownst to us at the time). In passing this to protect civil liberties, we made way for other, more important liberties, to fall by the way. The Pledge of Alligience that we all rose for every single morning in school, the same pledge we all took for granted, was soon to be forgotten.

Originally, the separation of church and state stands for the principle that the American government must always keep up an unbiased attitude toward religion, as opposed to the English system which has an official state Church which it supports through taxes. Unlike what a majority people think, the isolation of the church and the government is not required by the first amendment, despite the fact that they kind of have the same final objective which is keeping the government from officially recognizing or

From the first settlers in the New World, religion had a place in this country. While Puritans had a foothold, it wasn’t until the mid-eighteenth century that religion became tightly woven into the fabric of the fledgling Nation. This essay will address the rise of Methodism in the United States; the growth of the evangelicals and the highlights of the politically charged aspects of religion in America from the mid-18th century to the Civil War. While there have been many events occur around politics and religion in America, the two that hold the most significance were African Americans being brought into the fold of the evangelical Church and the Civil War.

“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.

America existed on the basic idea of freedom; in the United States there are different types of religion; Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and others. If religion and state is separate that freedom that is aimed by every individual is reached. The first amendment does not necessarily state that the constitution and religion should be separate but it stated that congress have no right to judge or make any law that interfere with an individual religious rights. This makes sense because in America there are different religions and not all have the same view; it will not be easily to create the free country, America with these different views. The founder fathers themselves may have been from a slightly different background and made a constitution that knew no history of any individual but as a country that counts to hold everyone.

There exists a vast number of religions in the world that have their own belief systems and populations of followers that, naturally, gives result to a wide variety of religious diversity. Logically, the problem with this religious diversity is that it is hard to see how they could all be true at any rate. In response to this problem, two solutions have been proposed: pluralism and exclusivism. Pluralism makes a claim that all of the religions are true in their own way where exclusivism, on the other hand, makes the claim that only one religion is true in its beliefs. I will be discussing the differences between exclusivism and pluralism in depth as responses to the problem of religious diversity as well as comparing and contrasting Christianity and Hinduism to make a case for why exclusivism is the correct solution.