The Role of Religion in the Country, Essay Example

In light of many issues that the United States is currently facing in America, I believe it is important to gain a greater understanding of the role of religion in the country. Currently, I am taking a course that enlightens me on what religion means in America. I wish to share these ideas with you because I believe that it will bolster your ability to engage in religious-themed debates with your family, which I am aware you regularly do during holidays and other family gatherings. Overall, I think that it is important to emphasize that there is no “right” or “wrong” religion. Instead, it is important to be open to all religious ideas and understand the historical context from which they are derived.

One of the most eye-opening experiences I encountered this semester was related to the fact that many Americans have extreme opinions regarding religion. However, the majority of them are not aware of the different cultures and religions that exist within its borders. While a majority of the American colonies were founded by individuals that follow the Christian faith, it is important to understand that this country is home to many diverse people and cultures. I read a poll entitled “Exploring Religious America” which was published in 2002. It indicated that a majority of Christians in the country believed that they are tolerant of other religions. It also showed that approximately half of Americans attended churches or similar prayer services at least once a week. However, others are split with regards to how they feel about Islam as a religion because of its relationship to the September 11^th terrorist attacks.

I found this information to be interesting because a majority of Christians claim to be tolerant of other religions. Ironically, almost half of those surveyed claimed that they did not feel comfortable with people as the Islamic faith because they connected these individuals with the 9/11 attacks. It is interesting that a majority of religions, especially Christianity, teach that one should “love thy neighbor”. With this bias, the individuals that claim that they are tolerant of all religions are not in reality. This is a common problem that religious individuals have in America. While they believe the principles of their personal religion and try to follow whichever laws guide them, they are not able to live fully by these words 100% of the time. This is unfortunate because this is one if the major causes of religious conflict in the country. If people were more able to follow the laws put forth by their religious books, the world would be a more peaceful place.

Many children are aware of the story of America’s beginning. While young, we are told that people from Europe fled the country to America to seek religious freedom. We learned that the individuals were referred to as Puritans: we have read many stories about them in high school. The fondest memory I had of the Puritans before taking this class was my required reading of The Crucible in 10^th grade. This book stuck to my memory because it demonstrated that the Puritans were a very religious group of people. Although they left Europe to escape religious persecution, they were not tolerant of other ideas and frequently accused individuals that were disobeying Puritan rules of witchcraft. Unfortunately, witchcraft was punishable by death. Even individuals that were willing to “admit their guilt” and confess their “crimes” to the government would be outcast from society forever.  This was ultimately the way of the Puritan government in the colonies to maintain control over their people. Therefore, while we think of the Puritan’s as a truly religious and pure group, they are not in reality. This religion exemplifies one of the first instances in which individuals exhibited a religiousbias towards one another. Although this situation occurred within one religion, it is evident that there was no religious tolerance for other ideas because the community would not allow its members to worship differently than the rules imposed by this society.

Before the American Revolution, the colonists had no true sense of American identity. Instead, their religious identity appeared to comprise a majority of their life in terms of culture and social structure. This is an important consideration because it emphasizes the value that early colonists placed on their culture. This is also emphasized by examining how the early American countries were structured. Each colony was comprised of citizens that derived from a specific part of Europe and consequently brought their religion with them. Because of this, the colonies were relatively homogeneous and did not interact much. The concept of religious tolerance was not presented until after the American Revolution when the forefathers began to draft the Constitution.

The colonies exhibit succinct examples of religious intolerance in the society. Although the individuals living in the colonies moved to America for religious freedom, they were only concerned with their religious freedoms and not those of others. Therefore, when they relocated to the country, they were primarily concerned with staying within their communities and limiting the level of communication they enacted with individuals from other societies. They were viewed as heathens! Over time, these cultures began to communicate with one another more frequently to facilitate trade and other functions that would make living life easier. This trade also resulted in an exchange of ideas, which allowed the colonists to begin gaining a greater understanding of the other cultural and religious beliefs that were present in America at this time.

Interestingly, the Puritans were seen as extremists by a majority of the Christian communities living in the colonies. After the Salem witch trials were complete, may Puritans began to question the validity of their lifestyle, and many individuals chose to leave these communities. While this was seen as a grave sin by the Puritan community, this event marked an important moment in American history. This demonstrated, for one of the first times, that America truly is a place of religious freedoms. Those who disagree with a particular religion or lifestyle have the option to leave this life behind and join another community that is more closely aligned with their personal beliefs. It is this sentiment that led to the founding of the United States and the revocation of the British crown as the ruling party of the colonies. Overall, people were not satisfied with the social structure that had resulted from the colonization of America and instead wanted to seek unity as a way of increasing their strength. During this moment, individuals needed to become more tolerant of one another. When seeking to overthrow a powerful government, diverse people needed to work together to achieve a common goal.

While it would appear that the Puritans may be dissatisfied with the concept of a unified nation, this is not the case. Jonathan Edwards, a leader of the Puritan Movement, supported the concept of the American Revolution because he wished for his ideas of purity to spread to the other individuals living in the colonies. This incentive is interesting because while Edwards’ exact goal was not achieved, he was successful in supporting the concept that America should be founded as a Christian nation. As such, his involvement paved the way for the establishment of the United States as a country, in addition to the religious conflict that is still present in the nation today.

Many Christian individuals believe that since the Constitution and Bill of Rights are based on the Christian principle of the Ten Commandments, that the nation was created to be a Christian country. However, the forefathers purposely created the nation so that there would be a clear separation of church in the state. These individuals were able to predict accurately the many religious debates that would occur between politicians in the country. In fact, they felt that it was important to state clearly the rule while drafting the laws of the land. Despite noting the need for including this law, the forefathers were also aware that they would only be able to require tolerance legally. Tolerance does not mean that we need to appreciate religions that are different from our own. Instead, it means that we have to protect the rights for people to practice these religions safely. It appears that the world would be a better place if we had respect for these religions in addition to tolerance, but there has not been much evidence for this as a possibility in American history. Although people may disagree with each other about which religion should be followed, we would all benefit from trying to learn more about these religions. This enables us to understand why these people follow the diverse faiths. By doing so, we will come one-step closer to acceptance and living with one another in harmony. The human experience connects all religions; simply by talking to one another, we can come to understand each other in a deeper way.

The most important aspect of America is the understanding that faith is not a concrete concept. The United States is one of the country’s in which an individual could feel comfortable being born into one religion and then deciding to convert to another as an adult. This is in part due to the culture that has been established by American citizens. In the modern setting, many children are born to parents from different cultures and religions. While many parents decide to raise their child as a member of one religion or the other, others do not choose and allow the child to make this decision on their own. For example, many children that are born to one Jewish and one Christian parent are baptized and given a naming ceremony or bris, and later allowed to choose between the two when they can speak. Many families in the modern setting have children that follow diverse religions, and this is an important component of what makes America special.

However, the concept of people converting religions is not just a recent trend. When America was first being colonized, many diverse peoples were traveling to Europe to the new world, encountering many native peoples along the way. One of the most well known instances of this was Bartolome de Las Casas’ invasion of the Indies. When this explorer and his crew arrived, he brought Christianity to the Indies. It is important to consider that the original intent of Las Casas’ journey was to bring wealth back to his native land. However, he, like many Spanish explorers before him, intended to bring Christianity to new lands, thereby spreading Spanish influence. During these early times of exploration, this spread of religion was commonplace. Hernando Cortez spread the faith to the former Mayan territory contributing to the existence of the faith in these territories when the influence of the Spanish explorers has diminished.

During the early days of exploration, individuals living in the new world were often required or heavily influenced to alter their religious practices. However, while this was detrimental to the people living during these periods, this enhanced the understanding that people living in these areas had of different cultures. Consequently, the Spanish were able to return home from their journeys with both the knowledge and riches they were able to acquire from these conquered areas. Besides, the conquered peoples were able to compare their understanding of the world to the new understandings introduced by the Spanish. In many cases, this helped these cultures become more rich and diverse as time progressed, facilitating the acceptance of new concepts over time. This history heavily influences modern America. The integration of new ideas and thoughts helps drive progress in the nation and is ultimately, what makes this country so special.

Religion impacts America largely. Even people that do not have a religion or may be agnostic are influenced by the general politics and discussions of religion in this country. As time progresses, it is important for all American citizens to understand the history of religion and how it drives our current practices. Modern politics is heavily influenced by the Christian history of the nation in addition to current events that have pitted some religions against others. Even 14 years after the September 11^th terrorist attacks, people are still discussing whether Islam as a whole should be judged for what small groups of terrorists did. More than 200 years after the founding of the nation, we are still forced to question whether we should be required to tolerate people of other cultures and religions or whether we should make attempts to understand them. Our history is filled with ignorance towards individuals on the basis of their religions. I personally believe that it is important for us to work past this as a nation so we could make this great both nation even greater.

Jeremy Berg starred in the video titled “God is Green”  which talks about the green nature of life. The video is a reflection of the green environment that nature presents to humankind and that this is God’s natural setting. It is hoped that most people find their peace and happiness while spending time in contact with the green vegetation that nature offers. In this case, the expectation of the many is to maximize such time and get in contact with as many natural encounters as possible. The author seemed to have been promoting the people’s perception of what nature ought to do to help reach to the inner core of everyone’s life. The natural setting is also manifested by the presence of plants and animals that are linked to the work of God.  God being green in the nature of the plants signify the growing need to have a refreshing in everybody’s life. Most of the people who have been cited as having close ties with their spirituality will value the natural green setting that life’s offers to all. In all cases, it is noted that the people who are concerned with the welfare of the people have a chance to be linked with their creator every time they are in contact with nature.

‘Rabbi Schorsch video’ is a reflection by Dr. Schorsch about the growing concern among the Jews to have a collection of the teachings about their world brought together in one documentary. Dr. Schorsch describes in totality the distinct nature of the roles of all the Jewish religious leaders and how they are all interested in coming up with comprehensive knowledge collection about their history. Watching the video shows the intricate state of affairs in the Jewish religious and cultural wellbeing. In this case, the understanding is that most people have a desire to come up with both knowledge and understanding of the religious welfare of the people. The growing concerns of the people in this country touch on the ability to be connected to their source of religious guidance. They have come up with a firm consideration of all the religious teachings. In all cases, the nature of concern for all religious groups featured here target to bring the contents of all the religious factors into focus. In this video, it is also featured that the people who are mostly targeted are those of a similar following on religious matters. The idea of the Jewish Council in charge of the Jewish religious teachings come to fore.

The “Elder Shenandoah Eel Clan Onandaga video” is presented by some theologians who see it fit that good mix of both respect and understanding for all the religions must exist. In this video, there is a link between the modern religions and the current ones. Some of the major concerns in this video are the basic interest brought about by the current state of affairs in the name of social cohesion. The Dalai Lama and other religious leaders have been featured to talk about the issues that affect the well-being of these people. The direct link between the state of nature as put by The Dalai Lama and the rest of the rest of the religious leaders are concerned with the state of religious wellbeing in their lives. The language of concern is also in the nature of thought that has been put. The video focuses on creating awareness to the effect that most of the people who have found themselves at the center of focus were that they ought to be concerned with their welfare.

It is evident from “U.S. Hispanic Catholics” vide that the members of this religion are declining in their numbers. This also reflects on the numbers of those who are now in the Catholic denomination among them. Most of them are seen to be influenced by the need to have a chance to create their religion. The Latinos, who are mainly in the religion since the beginning of times, mostly inhabit the Catholic Religion. They few Hispanics who are now in the US Have a close link with their leaders and very close to each other. The video details that the numbers are so little to the point that they can now manage or worship in few churches.

In the “Interview with Episcopal Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori,” Bishop Jefferts busted on those opposed to climate change discussions. She noted that Climate change is an issue that affects the world’s poorest and that everyone should support talks to end it. She further asserted that in any case, anybody will be against the talks, he or she will be failing to use God’s gift of knowledge. She was very categorical in her assertions that it was only through a commitment to end the crisis that humankind gained merit.

“America’s Changing Landscape: A Conversation with Martin Marty” offers a glimpse of the changing nature and dynamics of religions in America. The concern is that people have moved from being pious to less pious. He observes that the previously strong religions have morphed to lesser committal ones. In this regard, he observes that the development of any religious perspective in the current America can easily be accepted unlike in the past.

The effect of religion on US elections cannot be underestimated. This is evident in the video “View: Religion and the Red, White and Blue 08.” Ideally, it focuses on the 2008 elections and the way religion influenced the decisions made by the citizens. It describes the fact that in this election, the element of religion came out so strongly, and this was regarded as the most religious election. The issue of the red and the blue states came up taking both a religious and racial angle. The video points out that these instances of religious elements have since influenced the American society and that the future of the American politics shall be based on these very new developments.