Chapter 3 The American Religious Heritage

Freedom of Religion in the United States The fundamental American belief in individual freedom and the right of individuals to practice their own religion is at the center of religious experience in the United States. About 80% of Americans are Christians, about 2% are Jewish, and another 4% belong to other religious faiths such as Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism.

Religion has always played an important role in the history of the United States. The Catholic faith: introduced first by the Spanish in the 1500s; Many of the cities were named by these missionaries and settlers—San Francisco, Santa Fe, and San Antonio, for example. The vast majority of the European settlers were Protestants, most from England.

The Development of Protestant The Protestant branch of the Christian faith broke away from the Roman Catholic church in Europe in the 16th century because of important differences in religious beliefs. Catholic pope and the priests told people what was right and wrong, and they granted them forgiveness for sins against God and the Christian faith.

The Development of Protestant The Protestants insisted that all individuals must stand alone before God. “priesthood of all believers” However, Protestants formed separate churches, called denominations. The largest Protestant denominations in the United States: Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, and the United Church of Christ.

Among the early settlers who came to America in the 1600s, there were many Protestants seeking religious freedom. The desire for religious freedom was one of the strongest reasons why many colonial settlers came to America. When the Constitution was adopted in 1789, the government was forbidden to establish a national church. “live and let live”

The Protestant Heritage: Self-Improvement Protestantism has traditionally encouraged a strong and restless desire for self-improvement. Christianity often emphasizes the natural sinfulness of human nature. “self-help” books, self-help seminars and support group meetings “God helps those who help themselves.”

Material Success, Hard Work, and Self-Discipline The achievement of material success is probably the most widely respected form of self-improvement in the United States. The idea of mixing materialism and religion may seem contradictory. Some of the early European protestant leaders believed that people who were blessed by God might be recognized in the world by their material success.

They also believed that the capacity for self-discipline was a holy characteristic blessed by God. Self-discipline was often defined as the willingness to save and invest one’s money rather than spend it on immediate pleasures. The belief in hard work & self-discipline in pursuit of material gain and other goals is often referred to “the Protestant work ethic” or “the Puritan work ethic”.

Volunteerism and Humanitarianism The idea of self-improvement also encourage individuals to contribute some of their time or money to charitable, educational, or religious caused that are designed to help others. The philosophy is sometimes called volunteerism or humanitarianism. E.g.: Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockfeller

The motive for humanitarianism and volunteerism: Many Americans believe that they should devote part of their time and wealth to religious or humanitarian causes in order to be acceptable in the eyes of God and in the eyes of other Americans.

Born-Again Christians and the Religious Right The most dramatic example of the idea of self-improvement is the experience of being “born again”. When they truly opened their hearts to God and Jesus Christ, their lives were so completely changed, it was like being born again. Conservative religious beliefs→ Politically conservative

September 11, 2001, and the National Religion The overwhelming feeling in New York was sadness, a deep, terrible sadness that hung in the air. Immediately, there was an outpouring of love, charity, and patriotism around the country. This mixture of religion and patriotism is what some scholars have called the “national religion” of the United States.

Religious Diversity in the United States: A Spiritual Kaleidoscope The belief that the individual, not the organized church, should be the center of religious life has encouraged a tolerance and acceptance of all faiths. This climate or religious freedom has, of course, strengthened the development of cultural pluralism in the United States.

Wade Clark Roof cites four trends that are creating a spiritual kaleidoscope in the United States. 1. There is the change from being a “Protestant-Catholic-Jewish nation” to one with multiple religions; 2. There is religious “expressive individualism,” the switching of faiths—from one Protestant denomination to another, or even from one faith to another.

3. There are many new religious organizational structures emerging in the United States. 4. The trend is toward a new spirituality, especially among young people prefer to identify themselves as being spiritual, rather than religious.

In conclusion, cultural and religious pluralism has also created a context of tolerance that further strengthens the American reality of many different religions living peacefully within a single nation.