Introduction: Neither the resolve of patriots nor the labor of men freed Americans from the hands of tyranny. The fathers of this nation, as well as those who fought for her ability to prosper were united by their unwavering faith and trust in God. The future of this world lay heavily upon their shoulders, yet they carried the burden willingly for the duration of their lives and passed it down from generation to generation. As a result, a new nation was born and grew into one of the most powerful countries of the world. Although America began as a Christian nation, it has pulled away from the fundamental beliefs that held this nation together. Despite their ancient predecessor’s emphasis on faith and Christianity, the current government has …show more content…
School’s have little to no tolerance for religious affiliation in general and Christianity specifically. They discriminate against students and teachers alike for the slightest display of expression to avoid “offending someone”, yet it is acceptable to offend those of religious affiliation (Limbaugh 6). Even the government, which used to be so full of faith and trust in God, has become corrupt and secular in nature, attempting to eradicate the influence of Christianity wherever possible. The evidence against Christians fluctuates from the refusal to allow a pastor to rent a room for Bible study in New York after 9/11 (149) to the opposition of the Rotunda Prayer in Congress (157). Intolerance of religion and Christianity is not the only way the government has strayed. Many states have supported homosexuality by authorizing the marriage of gays, a lifestyle the Bible openly opposes. The federal government legalized abortion in the 1970’s, allowing pregnant women to murder their babies before they have a chance to live. How can we say this is moral? This nation’s founding fathers would be very disappointed in the direction our government has taken by what they deem “permissible” and …show more content…
James Hunter uses graphs to depict the percentages of young people who think certain immoral acts are acceptable. On the subjects of stealing, cheating, premarital sex, and even suicide, a high percentage of young people say they would participate or at the very least condone it (165). Those with theistic orientations had the lowest percentages, but even those numbers can be shocking to the Christian with a good sense of moral values. As William Watkins discusses, society today has fallen away from the “old absolutes” that “did guide us forward,” (235) and developed “new absolutes” that “have done nothing of the kind. If anything, the new absolutes have brought us misery – individually and collectively,” (235). For example, on the subject of marriage, the old absolute says that marriage is “God-ordained and occurs between a man and a woman until death severs the bond,” (89). The new (and more widely accepted) absolute states that marriage is merely a contract between any two people that can be terminated by either person for any reason (89). Divorce rates are higher than ever and it is affecting families nationwide. Marriages between a man and woman are meant to last, for the sake of both the couple and any children they may have. Another absolute that society has created states that the value of human life exists
Religion of the protestant church was an important factor in the pre-war timeline culture. The Second great awakening, which occurred in the 19th century, greatly impacted American society. This new point of view in terms and matters of faith led northerners to cherish the theory of Christian perfection, a theory that in fact was applied to society in an attempt to eliminate social imperfection. On the other hand, southerners reacted by cherishing a faith of personal piety, which focused mainly on a reading of the Bible; however, it expressed very little concern in addressing society’s problems.1
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.
Thenature of this paper, which deals with the presence of a subconscious set ofparticularly American beliefs, inherently involves more reflection than thegathering of data. Whatsimportant is the way we live, not the historical manufacturing of facts whichis more evidence, not description, of the current Religion of the AmericanEconomy. And while most ofthese truths should be self evident (like any good preamble), some statisticswill be cited to illustrate their culmination in everyday life. To set this new dogma in context, Iwill also describe the founding principles of Christian living, with particularattention paid to the economic reality of what such living entails.
Religion in the New World exploded into the land with the colonization of thousands of immigrants. It played an important role in the development of thought in the West. Religion was one of the first concepts to spark the desires of people from other countries to emigrate to the new lands. While many religions blossomed on the American shores of the Atlantic, a basic structure held for most of them, being predominantly derived from Puritanism. Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement, showed the link the new settlers had to God when Sir Thomas Dale said the following in 1610:
Throughout the year Christians have strived to do the will of God. From to converting people into Christians to making a society pleasing to God. Christians in America have been present since the colonial times. In the late 19th century, they were still thriving in the United States. In the early 20th century they were still involved in the broader American culture, committed to shaping public policy and welcome in political life. But as time continued, evangelicals started to create their own subculture, no longer involving themselves in politics and the rest of the American culture. By mid to late 20th century, evangelicals saw that the nation was becoming further way from God and it was affecting them. They sought to partly reinsert themselves in the American culture and politics and found they were not as welcome as before. Even though they are not welcome, Christians must try to do the will of God by turn peoples eyes back to Him in everyday life and politics.
As many people already know, politicis and religion some times go hand in hand. Recently, president Obama delivered his Inauguration Speech to the world. There were several remarks mentioned that pertained to religion. Many of the remarks can easily tie in with the American culture core values, which include, Americans are among a chosen people, manifest destiny, morality yields prosperity, and the protestant ethic.
Eck, Diana L. A New Religious America: How a "Christian Country" Has Now Become the World's Most Religiously Diverse Nation. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2001. Print
While the American Dream of the post-war ‘40s and ‘50s was the same core ideology as the American Dream had always been, it expanded its previous definitions to include a uniform “American Way of Life”. Will Herberg argues that the true common religion in the United States is not western monotheism but this way of life that we have. He cites the fact that a majority of people at this time don’t let their religious beliefs affect their decisions about politics and society . He infers that there must be another force behind the country’s unity and it is our way of life. This way was more linear in definition than in the past and was reinforced by the pressure that the Cold War produced. Popular media reflected the conformism that was prevalent
In the past few years, America has been becoming more and more liberal with its stance on various issues. We are changing laws and practices that have long been in place, and while some view it as progressive, others view it as morally wrong. By encouraging changes in practices that were established with a Biblical mindset, America has begun to subtly alienate the Christian. Although America is still a land where individuals are free to practice their faith freely, it is becoming harder to display...
Since the early 1980's, there has also been an increase in the number of people
While America did not have a Christian Founding, it was deeply shaped by Christian moral truths and the Founders created a government that was welcoming to Christians as to practitioners of other religions. ---------
When John Adams wrote to Thomas Jefferson nearly 4 decades after the declaration of independence, he wrote “The general principles, on which the Fathers achieved independence, were the only Principles in which that beautiful Assembly of young gentlemen could unite.... And what were these general Principles? I answer, the general Principles of Christianity, in which all these Sects were united…” (America is a Christian Nation). The founders created the country based on these beliefs and now are being mocked and destroyed by the current state of the Country.
I believe that America’s morality is on the decline. America has always been seen as a moral country but now the society in America has changed drastically. After William Bennett viewed polls showing that: “We Americans now place less value on what we owe others as a matter of moral obligation; less value on sacrifice as moral good, on social conformity, respectability, physical pleasure and sexuality-and correlatively greater value on things like self-expression, individualism, self-realization, and personal choice.” In the past some things that seemed unacceptable in society are now considered as acceptable. Many controversial things that are seen or spoken on TV nowadays would have never been broadcasted in the 1940s and 1950s. Some of these changes include the increases in the illegitimate birth and divorce rates.
For many years we have heard about the separation of church and state. Despite being written as part of the First Amendment in the Constitution, can the two really be separated? What law actually dictates the separation of church and state? The truth is that the government has never passed a law implementing a separation of church and state. What is actually written in the Constitution is: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." America is one of the few nations in the world whose sole existence is due to religion. The pilgrims were the first to settle in America. They came in search of religious freedom, as did many others after them. Many of America's early documents, laws, and freedoms were based on religious beliefs. We could look at several similar examples. The fact is that freedom of religion, speech, press, peaceful assembly, and to petition the government are all covered in the First Amendment. The first of these firsts is the freedom of religion. This most likely means that when the authors of the Bill of Rights prepared the first ten amendment to the Constitution, the first thing on their minds was protecting or possibly creating a freedom of religion; but what about the separation of church and state? If our founding fathers intended the separation we are now levied with would their earliest documents contain phrases such as "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness…" This is part of the Declaration of Independence. Here is another example from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, "…that is this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth." Even in the Pledge of Allegiance the nation is referred to as "…one nation under God…" Religion also plays an important role in politics. As once stated by Ronald Reagan "politics and morality are inseparable, and as morality's foundation is religion, religion and politics are necessarily related.
One influential cult was based upon a mystical interpretation of Plato. Neo-Platonism was like a rational science that attempted to break down and describe every aspect of the divine essence and its relationship with the human soul. An Alexandrian Jew named Philo tried using Greek philosophy to interpret the Jewish scriptures. He wanted to unite the two traditions by suggesting that the Greek philosophers had been inspired by the same God who had revealed himself to the Jews.