Does faith matter in America? Why should it matter? As our America is changing, so can its beliefs. Mitt Romney challenges the subject of faith in America by stating that those who take office should not be judged by their faith, but by their work. Romney believes that in times of faith is fundamental to America’s greatness in his speech “Faith in America.” He draws in the audience by not only speaking about the moralistic qualities of it, but by talking about the constitutional rights and liberty of our nation. He expertly uses the idea of America’s future to trigger pathos, and later has the audience agree with him by using ethos. His speech is compelling to the audience because they all have a personal relationship to the subject of religion. …show more content…
Mitt Romney speaks of this very straightforwardly. America must choose the right path to follow in order for future success in our politics, and overall society. As Americans, we all know that hard times are ahead and that they are inevitable. We should be concerned about national debt, the state of our public education in some parts of our country, crime and gun control, affordable health care, immigration rights, improving national security, countries in conflict with us, and so forth. In times of great despair, we as Americans should not hesitate to look to our faith for hope and answers. In order for our country to climb out of pit holes of anguish, we must have the courage and perseverance to defend our beliefs in our religion and not succumb to fear of rejection. As Mitt Romney stated “Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom.” The need for overall freedom is as essential as the rights and protection of our religious freedoms. Everyone is concerned about their future no matter what. We must either open up to our spirituality together or stay quiet alone. We all have personal issues, and faith can give us the hope and courage to overcome those …show more content…
Many people are strong in their beliefs in God and do not hesitate to share it. Although being proud of your faith is good, it can lead to generalization and discrimination. Mitt Romney believes that a person should not be characterized singularly on their religion. He states that if a mormon runs for president, he should not be elected or rejected only because of his Mormon faith. Mitt explained that if he were to become president, that everything he would do in office would not be directly related to being religious, but just be for the good cause of the
When it came down to the government during the convention of May 1776, instead of protecting our rights they had passed them down causing us to be under common law. If one had denied the Christian faith and went against everything it believed in, such as, “there are more Gods than one, or denies the Christian religion to be true, or the scriptures to be of divine authority, he is punishable on the first offence by incapacity to hold any office or employment ecclesiastical, civil, or military,” (Jefferson 176). This is what most people had thought about if you did not follow their religion. Thomas Jefferson believed that the wall between church and state should be very high in order to keep out and prevent hostile situations. Using an example from today’s news, many people get uncomfortable in the United Stated with the Muslim religion because of the previous horrific events that led to many cruel deaths in our history. By this, the way that we look at these people is forever changed because of the incidents and who knows if we will ever not be hostile with one another because of it. If church and state hadn’t been separated we may have not become a true democracy from what our developing country was seeming to lead towards. More people would not be as accepting of each other, and not that they are still not today, but I feel as if it may
I like that Moore is not hesitant to express thoughtful criticisms about the pretensions of the church and the undemocratic ways that Protestants have sometimes attempted to dominate American society. His commentary stimulates constructive discussions about what should and should not be the proper role of Christianity, especially Protestantism, in a religiously pluralistic culture that has constitutional guarantees for religious freedom and the separation of church and state.
The essay that I will be summarizing is called Faith, Truth, and Tolerance In America. The author of this essay is Edward Moore Ted Kennedy. The thesis of this essay is Kennedy’s beliefs about faith and country, tolerance and truth in America.
Just as there is a variety of identities involving race, gender, and class, so too are there a range of religious identities. Byzantine Catholics, Hindus, born-again Evangelicals, atheists, agnostics, and Buddhists are only a few religious identities I have encountered in America. This environment, at best, allows religious variety to be understood and embraced—and at worst, divides us. In Acts of Faith, author Eboo Patel discusses his belief that the “faith line” will define conflict and concord in the 21st century.
New brands of distinctly American Christianity began developing early in the country’s history. Before the revolution, George Whitefield set the stage for American religious movements. The most important factor that helped launch these movements was the American Revolution. The country was ripe with conversation and action on a new understanding of freedom. The revolution “expanded the circle of people who considered themselves capable of thinking for themselves about issues of … equality, sovereignty, and representation” (6). The country was beginning to move toward an understanding of strength lying in the common people, and the people’s ability to make their own personal decisions on issues of leadership and authority. There was a common belief that class structure was the major societal problem. The revolution created the an open environment that pushed equality of the individual, allowing political and religious beliefs to flourish and grow without being held in check by authoritarian leaders.
In Stephen Prothero’s, Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know and Doesn’t (New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2007), 297 we discover the average American’s lack of religious knowledge. Prothero discusses religious illiteracy in three ways. How it exists, came to be, and just how to possibly solve this problem. Today religious illiteracy is at least as pervasive as cultural illiteracy, and certainly more dangerous. Religious illiteracy is more dangerous because religion is the most volatile constituent of culture, because religion has been, in addition to one of the greatest forces for good in world history, one of the greatest forces for evil. Religion has always been a major factor in US politics and international affairs.
In America there is a separation between church and state, however Obama does not follow that separate well in his Inaugural Address especially since he makes multiple references to God. In the opening of Obamas speech he says, “Freedom is a gift from God” this initial statement is where Obama establishes his connection between his belief and God. However, America has tried to keep a separation between God and the government. In the Anecdotes Obama uses to express his main focus of his second term of presidency he uses God as an example. For instance, “she is an American; she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own” not only is he expressing that she deserved equality, makes a clear point that she is equal under the eyes of god
With sounds of youthful laughter, conversations about the students’ weekends, and the shuffling of college ruled paper; students file into their classrooms and find their seats on a typical Monday morning. As the announcements travel throughout the school’s intercoms, the usual “Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance” becomes no longer usual but rather puzzling to some students. “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all.” Confusion passes through some of the student’s minds. With the reoccurrence of “God” in the backdrop of American life, the relationship between church and state has become of little to no matter for American citizens just as it has with American students. While congress makes no law respecting an establishment of religion, the term “freedom of religion” presents itself to no longer be the definition of “free”, while also having its effects on debates today. According to Burt Rieff, in Conflicting Rights and Religious Liberty, “Parents, school officials, politicians, and religious leaders entered the battle over defining the relationship between church and state, transforming constitutional issues into political, religious, and cultural debates” (Rieff). Throughout the 20th century, many have forgotten the meaning of religion and what its effects are on the people of today. With the nonconformist society in today’s culture, religion has placed itself in a category of insignificance. With the many controversies of the world, religion is at a stand still, and is proven to not be as important as it was in the past. Though the United States government is based on separation of church and state, the gover...
As James Madison, the fourth President of the United States said, “The religion of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man, and it is right of every man to exercise it as they may dictate” (Haynes, C...
This country was founded upon the Judo-Christian Faith and the our four fathers who created our government were true believers. In establishing this great nation, they understood the inherent rights that God, their Creator, gave to all men. Within these rights given to all citizens, there is a statement that reads, ”that all men were created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” (The Declaration of Independence: Full Text) They are endowed by their creator is referring to a divine power such as God. This nation was built upon faith and it often helped out in hard times such as, the attack on pearl harbor, as well as 9/11. Both tragic days in our society where faith and hope have been relevant in bringing this nation together as
The strongest phrase in Thomas Jefferson’s 1802 letter, “…or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,…” goes to the heart of American strength. It provides the foundation upon which this nation’s strength and resolve is built. It is the groundwork laid to allow American citizens to be who they are without government interference and that freedom allows the citizens to learn and grow from each other, building the foundation with the strength of cultural and religious diversity. America was built on this foundation and it is instilled in the heart of every proud American citizen. The content of this single letter and the resultant mirrored text within the United States Constitution has not only defined the way American society functions, but has lead to the growth of the country’s diversity and power in the world as a whole. The effect of separation of church and state in the United States evolved through hard won struggles and battles, resulting in great diversity among ...
A report by Pew Research last year showed, “The majority of Americans would be less likely to vote for a presidential candidate who doesn 't believe in God. Unsurprisingly, this is higher among Republicans – 70 per cent of whom would be less likely to vote for an atheist, in comparison with 42 per cent of Democrats” (Christian today). These statistics show that faith really does matter when voting for the next president. All of the individuals running in this year’s presidential election either identify with the Protestant or Catholic faith. These different faiths effect the presidential candidates’ views on abortion, taxes, gay marriage, etc. As the Christian Church and presidential election relate it is important to remember your standards and views, when considering who to vote for. The current presidential election will test the strength that the Christian Church still has in America. “America 's faith and culture leaders agree that what makes 2016 possibly the most important election in American history is not the severities of its socioeconomic problems, but rather the depth of spiritual decay into which the American people have fallen (Christian
Christianity’s role in America has rapidly changed over the last decades. Although it is still the most popular religion in the country its power over the people has decreased significantly. However, there are still many misconceptions towards American Christianity and in order to understand the unique nature of this religiously diverse country; one must understand its history and its citizens own views on the matter.
Philip Gorski (2011) illustrated the “existence of multiple and competing religion-political traditions” within America (Gorski, 2011, p. 183), and argued that civil religion can generation a “sense of inclusion and equality similar to liberal secularism, while also constructing solidarity and collective identity like religious nationalism.” (Williams and Fuist, 2014, p. 932) Civil religion is a “proper balance between individual autonomy and the common good.” (Gorski, 2011, p. 180) Rather than simply unifying all citizens, Civil religion ease the tensions between different or even opposing values.
The role of religion in politics is a topic that has long been argued, and has contributed to the start of wars, schisms (both political and religious), and other forms of inter and intra-state conflict. This topic, as a result of its checkered past, has become quite controversial, with many different viewpoints. One argument, put forth by many people throughout history, is that religion and the government should remain separate to avoid any conflicting interests. This view also typically suggests that there is one, or several, large and organized religions like the Roman Catholic Church, which would be able to use their “divine” authority to sway the politics of a given state by promising or threatening some form of godly approval or disapproval. By leveraging their divine power, individual figures within a religion, as well as the religion as a whole, could gain secular power for themselves, or over others. A second view, which was developed by many theologians through history, suggests that that without religion there would be a general lack of morality in the people and leaders of a given state, which would give way to poor political decisions that would not be in the interest of the people and perhaps even God (or the gods). This argument, however, does not address the fact that morality can exist without religion. In sociology, it is commonly accepted that social norms, which include morality, can result from any number of things. Religion, laws, or the basic desire of survival can all create these norms, so it suffices to say that as a society, our morals reflect our desire to live in relative peace through the creation of laws that serve to help us to survive. The argument of whether or not religion and politics should mix...