Mr. Gilmore Cordova High School Sociology

 85% of Americans identify with a religion  52% Protestant  24% Catholic  2% Jewish  90% say they received some religious training  New England and Southwest – Catholic  South - Baptist  Plains States - Lutheran  Utah - Mormon

 Is the importance of religious in a persons life  86% of adults believe in a divine power  60% claim they know God exists  56% pray at least once a day  30% attend services weekly

 Older people more religious than younger  Women more religious then men 1. Social Class  High class standings “who is who in America” 33% were protestant 12% Jews  Catholics & Methodists ranked Moderate social standings  Baptists & Lutherans ranked most in lower income

2. Ethnicity  Religion usually stands out in nation or geographical area  Islam Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia  Hinduism India  Confucianism China  Anglican England  Jewish Israel  Every Ethnic group displays some religious diversity

 Secularization – the historical decline in the importance of the supernatural and the sacred  Technology and science push this  Birth, Illness, and Death seen more in science than faith  Conservatives see any weakness in religion as moral decline  Progressive views see a liberation from beliefs of the past, allowing choices

 1963 U.S. Supreme Court banned prayer in public schools, violated separation of Church and State  Seen as the Rise of Secularization  Over past years religion has returned to public schools

A. Civil Religion  Quasi religious loyalty binding individuals in a basically secular society  Formal religion loses power, citizenship takes on religious qualities  U.S. way of life considered moral good in world  Liberal and Conservative example  Singing the National Anthem at games  Flying the Nation’s flag on holidays

B. Post denomination  People seeking spiritual development outside the established churches  More people becoming spiritual seekers away from formal denominations  Has 5 core choices  Believe in higher power  We are all connected  Spirit world along with natural world  Want to experience the spiritual world  Pursue Transcendence (yoga, meditation)

 A conservative religious doctrine that opposes intellectualism and worldly accommodation in favor of restoring traditional, otherworldly religion  Protestants mainly fall into this group  Southern Baptist largest fundamental group  Catholics and Jewish groups forming

 Has five distinctive ways  Takes the words of sacred tests literally  Rejects religious pluralism (tolerance)  Pursue the personal experience of God’s presence  Oppose secular Humanism ( science and medicine)  Endorse conservative political views  Opponents regard fundamentalists as rigid and self righteous

 Many fundamentalists have turned to this  “Prime time Preachers” 700 Club  Found only in the USA  Billy Graham and Robert Schuller most famous  Infamous: Jimmy Swaggert, Jerry Farwell, Oral Robert, Tim and Tammy Faye Baker