【英美概况】【课堂笔记】美国宗教religion-in-United-States.doc

RELIGION in the UNITED STATES

Religious Liberty

· “Among the rights which the new nation guaranteed, as a political necessity in a religiously diverse society, was freedom of religion” (p. 86)
· The Constitution forbade the government to give special favours to any religion, nor were they allowed to stop or interfere with religion. The USA was determined it would have no state-supported religion.
· When there is a disagreement between the government and any religion, the American courts must settle it.

Protestants in the United States

· 60% of Americans are Protestant believers. The Baptists are the largest Protestant group.* The largest concentration of Baptists live in the Southern States of America and, although some Southern Baptists have liberal attitudes to black Americans, many believe and practice racial discrimination and prejudice towards them.

· Most black Americans are Baptists too, but they go to different churches than the white Americans. Church is a major social and community centre for the black churchgoers.
· There are over a 100 Protestant sects in America. They express variety on a theme, rather than major differences in belief. In recent decades there has been an increase in the number of fundamentalist churches, which often use the medium of television to communicate with citizens. These fundamentalists are sometimes extreme in their views.

Catholics

· The largest single religious group is the Roman Catholics. More than 25% of Americans identify themselves as Catholics. The increase in the number of Catholics is mainly due to later immigration waves of Irish, Polish and Italians. For instance, over a million Irish Catholics left Ireland, due to a famine there that saw many suffer starvation.

· There was significant prejudice against the Catholics by the Protestants. *
· In the 1950s, many Catholics began to question the idea of the separation of Church and State. The Catholic Church had developed many social institutions, including schools, to preserve their faith. The Church wanted the government to help fund the cost of these schools. The Supreme Court was asked to rule whether this would be unconstitutional. The Court ruled that it was unconstitutional, and that the government could not help religious schools.

Three Faiths

· By the 1950s, a kind of “three faiths” model of USA had developed. All Americans were considered to come in one of three basic varieties: Protestant, Catholic and Jewish.
· The Jews were a small minority in the first years of the American republic. Later, many Jews came to the USA and became successful. There are now many Jews in the various professions and in the academic world.

· Anti-Semitism appeared as the numbers of Jews grew. In response to prejudice and discrimination, Jews formed organisations to fight this. These organisations attempted to educate Americans about the injustice of prejudice.

“People are complicated. They are the combinations of good and evil, beauty and ugliness, truth and falsehood, wisdom and stupidity.”

He Manzi (1919- ), Chinese writer.

Religious Diversity

· The USA has seen the growth of many new religious movements. There were many experiments, both religious and otherwise, in alternative living. Sometimes communities developed with people who wanted to ‘opt out’ of mainstream society because they considered mainstream society, corrupt or lacking in moral virtue. One the most well-known is the Amish communities of Pennsylvania.

· Sometimes the beliefs and practices of these sects conflict with American law. Two instances are: the Jehovah’s Witnesses who want to refuse to allow blood transfusions when they have medical treatment, and the Mormons who believe that a man can have more than one wife.
· The Supreme Court has been asked to make decisions about whether these practices can be allowed or not. In both cases the Supreme Court said no they are not allowable. Another decision that is very well-known was the 1973 decision which made abortion legal, even though many Catholics and Jews campaigned strongly against it being legalised. There still exists a strong emotional reaction to the issue of abortion.*

· Other world religions have been increasing their numbers in America for example Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism due to immigration trends.

American Character of Religion

There are 3 unique aspects to American religion:
· All Americans of different religions live together under the same law. There is no state interference with people’s religious beliefs. There is no state religion. The various religious groups have coexisted more harmoniously in America than in the Old World.
· Religious beliefs of Americans have a strong social element to them. Half of all Protestants are active church-members, and even more Catholics attend church regularly. Many attend church not only for religious reasons but also to make friends and to become a part of the community. In contrast, 80% of England’s Protestants go to church less than once a month and in Sweden most citizens do not go to church at all.
· Every church is a completely independent organisation. Apart from having responsibility for finance and the buildings, the preacher preaches what he/she thinks is important rather than instilling doctrine (church teachings) into the churchgoers.

Why do so many Americans attend church?

· In American history, religion has not been associated with oppression or domination by other powerful institutions.
· Generally speaking, Americans have experienced greater religious freedom than Europeans.
· Churchgoing in America is seen as an opportunity to become a part of the community and to develop friendships.

Key Points
· The American government guarantees religious freedom.
· The American Protestants have a very diverse range of churches and sects even though they have the same basic beliefs.
· The Catholic Church is the single largest church in the USA. When immigrants from predominately Catholic countries, like Poland, Italy and Ireland, brought their religion with them.
· There was prejudice and discrimination against the Catholics and the Jews.
· Many Americans go to church for social as well as religious reasons.
· Attendance at church in the USA is relatively high compared with many European countries.

RESULTS OF SURVEY (1995-1997)
It polls a statistically valid sample of adults from a total of 60 nations. Some of their findings from their 1995-1997 survey:

The United States has a higher level of church attendance than any other country which is "at a comparable level of development."

53% of Americans consider religion to be very important in their lives. This compares with 16% in Britain, 14% in France and 13% in Germany.

The importance of religion has been declining in developed countries.

In those countries which are "experiencing economic stagnation and political uncertainty," the importance of religion is high.

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