Chapter 3 the american religious heritage

Freedom of religion The fundamental American belief in individual freedom and the right ofindividuals to practice their own religion is at the center of religion experience in theUnited

OUTLINE

A.INTRODUCTION

B.BODY

I Overview

I.1 Religion in general context

I.2 Freedom of religion

I.3 Others

II Main content – Religious heritage

II.1 The development of Protestantism

II.2 The Protestant Heritage: Self-Improvement

II.3 Material success, Hard work, and self-discipline

II.4 Volunteerism and Humanitarianism

II.5 Born-Again Christians

II.6 The Religious Right

II.7 The National Religion

II.8 Some Religious destinations and festivals

C.CONCLUSION

A.INTRODUCTION

American is well-known as the world's third or fourth-largest by total area and

the third most populous It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse andmulticultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries.However, it would be a mistake without talking about its stake in religious heritageresulting in many traditional values All of these combine and create a nationalcharacter

B.BODY

I Overview

I.1 Religion in general context

From the beginning of the history, religion has played an important role in theUnited States The Catholic faith was first brought to the North American continent bythe Spanish in the 1500s and after that, many historical factors have led to the multi-religions America

Americans learn in their history classes that many of Europeans who originallysettle there were escaping religious persecution in their countries The freedom ofreligious practice become a factor that strongly motivated the formation of thecountry- where there is no government interference on religious practice There exists

a doctrine “ separation of churches and state”, meaning that the government is not togive official support to any particular religion, nor to prevent individuals frompracticing their chosen religions In combination with other factors, United States ofAmerican became a promised land- a destination for people who want a free spirituallife

This may be the answer for the country pluralism on religions Almost all of thereligions of the world are now practiced in the United States Ninety percent of allAmericans say that they believe in God, although not all of them participate intraditional religious organizations About 80 percent of Americans are Christians, 2percent are Jewish, and another 4 percent belong to other religious faiths such asIslam, Buddhism, or Hinduism Although the overwhelming majority of Americansare Christians, all religious make important contributions to the American culture Theimmigrants have brought with them their traditional religions of East Asia likeDaoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Shintoism and so on And the Native Americanreligions are still studied and practiced right now All the religions in the UnitedStates are living in harmony with each other

To be religious in America means different to different people Generally, thepurpose of religion is perceived as providing spiritual guidance for people, helpingthem to lead a life according to the tenets of their religion For Christians, forexample, this means following the principles of brotherly love, forgiveness, charityand humanity.“ Being religious” also means belonging to a place of worship likechurch, temple or mosque People are considered to be more religious than theaverage if they participate in the activities more regularly However, there still havemany people who do not belong to any religion Those people normally do not believe

in any Surprise Being exists Some of them may hold spiritual beliefs but do notsubscribe to any “organized religion” However, generally speaking, religion relatedactivities still have a big immense influence on the American’s daily life

In comparison, Britain or Vietnam are also the countries with the quite highlevel of religion diversity There are many religions all live together in harmonythough a dominant religion may exist In the Britain, Christianity holds 71.6% and inViet Nam, Buddhism takes more than 90 percent totally There are many differences,

of course, about the history of appearance or the attitude of the people For example,

in the United States, the religious communities were formed much latter than in theBritain and Vietnam All of these make the picture of religion vary from country tocountry

I.2 Freedom of religion

The fundamental American belief in individual freedom and the right ofindividuals to practice their own religion is at the center of religion experience in theUnited States By limiting the power of the government and the churches andeliminating a former aristocracy, they created a climate of freedom where theemphasis was on the individual The United States came to be associated in theirminds with the concept of individual freedom This is probably the most basic of theAmerican values

The United States is a multi-cultural immigrant heritage The great diversity ofethnic backgrounds has produced religious pluralism Almost all of the religions ofthe world are now practiced in the United States Ninety percent of all Americans saythat they believe in God, although not at all of them participate in traditional religiousorganization About 80 percent of American are Christians, 2 percent are Jewish, andanother 4 percent belong to other religious faiths such as Islam, Buddhism, orHinduism All the religions make important contributions to the American culture.People of Hispanic origin now make up nearly one-half of the Catholic churches TheAsian immigrants have brought with them the traditional religions of East Asia-Daoism, Confucianism, and Shintoism, as well as Buddhism From the beginning ofits history until now, religion has played an important role in the United States

That is the reason why the United States became the most religiously diversecountries in the world

In the comparison with Vietnam, it has religious freedom but some limitations inreligious practice The Government does not officially favor a particular religion, andvirtually all senior government and CPV officials, as well as the vast majority ofNational Assembly delegates, are formally “without religion” The prominent

traditional position of Buddhism does not others adversely, including those who donot practice a religion.

In the comparison with the Britain : it is the freedom of the religious belief andeveryone shall have right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion This rightshall include freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom,either individually or in public or private

I.3 Others

-United States is a place of worship

Over 3,000 large churches in the US currently draw crowds of more than 2,000people to a service, making intimate community worship a thing of the past formillions of Americans But we’re interested in the largest of the large; the so-called

“big box churches” regularly attended by over 10,000 people Raking in multi-milliondollar profits annually and giving new meaning to the phrase “go big or go home”,these megachurches are the new face of worship for the modern age of America Inthe United Kingdom, it is also the place of worship with many churches

In Vietnam: mostly are pagodas and temples such as Perfume Pagoda, Tomb ofGia Long, Temple of Literature, But Thap Pagoda and over one hundred of templesand pagodas in Vietnam attract thousands of people come each year, which make inthousands dollars profit annually

-The main clergy in United States

The main clergy in the United States is the pastor or Shepherd There is atremendous difference between preaching for a church and serving as their pastor.When a church calls a pastor, the people expect to do much more than preach He isalso shepherd the flock “ Feed the flock of God which is among you taking theoversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre, but one of aready mind, neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being example to theflock And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, he shall receive a crown of glorythat faith not away”

In Vietnam: The monk, referred to as a Venerable Sir and is reportedly theabbot of a pagoda in the provincial resort city of Nha Trang, is now believed to be theman seen naked and making love to a woman in the video and photos.

In the United Kingdom: it is not same as the United State when the main clergy

is the priest

-The United States with the national religious festival

One of most important national religious festival in the United States is theChristmas day In Christmas day, many people in the United States celebrate onDecember 25 The day celebrates Jesus Christ’s birth It is often combined withcustoms from pre-Christian winter celebrations Many people erect Christmas trees,decorate their homes, visit family and exchange gifts, and many interesting activities

In the United Kingdom, the national religious festival is also the Christmas day

In Vietnam: one of the very important ceremonies that are celebrated in Hoi Anold town is the festival held on Buddha’s birthday The day is celebrated on the 15thday of the 4th lunar month, and prayers and offering are made all over Vietnam Thisday is celebrated lavishly in the Phap Bao Pagoda All the followers gather in front ofthe pagoda to observe the religious rites and listen to the Vesak message, as well as tospeech given by the head monk of the pagoda They afterwards offer food and gifts tothe children and the needy

II Main content – Religious heritage

II.1 The development of Protestantism

a Protestantism in America.

Protestantism is the largest group of Christianity in the United States, with itscombined denominations accounting for about half the country's population TheUnited States is also the home for 20% of the world's Protestants, or some 150 millionpeople, making it the country with the largest number of Protestants

b The development of Protestantism

-The Protestant branch of the Christian faith broke away from the Roman Catholicchurch in Europe in the sixteenth century because of important differences in religiousbeliefs

-The Roman Catholic church was the center of religious life in western Europeancountries The Catholic pope and the priests played the role of parent to the people inspiritual They told people what was right and wrong and they granted themforgiveness for sins against God and the Christian faith.

-On the other hand, the Protestants insisted that all individual must stand alone beforeGod If they sinned, they should seek their forgiveness directly from God rather thanfrom a priest speaking in God’s name Every individual was solely responsible for his

or her own relationship with God

-After broke away from the Catholic church, they found that they could not agreeamong themselves about many beliefs Therefore, the Protestants began to formseparate churches, called “ denominations” There was much bitterness among some

of the religious groups in the 1600s and many Protestant denominations experiencedreligious persecution A number of people were even killed because of their beliefs.The result was that many Protestants were ready to leave their native countries inorder to have freedom to practice their religious beliefs Consequently, the earlysettlers came to America, there were many Protestants seeking religious freedom.-A large number of Protestant denominations were established in America Somedenominations hoped to force their views and beliefs on others but not succeeded Theidea of separation of church and state became accepted With the Constitution in

1789, the establishment a national church was forbidden, there are no denominationgaining control over the others The Government and the church had to remainseparate So a great variety of different Protestant denominations developed and grew.Today, the various Protestant denominations have completely separate churchorganization The Protestantism has been a powerful force in shaping values andbeliefs of Americans

The comparison between American, Britain and Vietnam

The United States Britain VietnamDenominations Protestants, the

Catholic church,the southern BaptistConvention, theUnited Methodistchurch, the church

of God in Christ

This group includedthe church ofEngland, Church ofScotland, Church inWales, Protestantand all otherChristian

denominations

The mainstreamprotestant

denominations may

be roughly groupedinto nine families:Anabaptist,

Anglican, Baptist,Congregational,Lutheran, Quaker,Reformed

Rite, Scripture Christians believe

in Jesus Christcoexisted with GodSunday is the dayset aside forworship services,praying in thechurch

They generallyemphasize thedoctrine,

justification byfaith alone apartfrom good worksand a belief in theBible alone as thesupreme authority

in matters of faithand morals

Christians believe in

coexisted with GodSunday is the day setaside for worshipservices, praying inthe church

They generallyemphasize thedoctrine, justification

by faith alone apartfrom good work and

a belief in the Biblealone as the supremeauthority in matters

of faith and morals

Practically, allVietnamese peoplehave an alter in theirhome and businesswhere prayers areoffered to theirancestors( calledancestor veneration)They worship insome religiouscelebrations such asdeath anniversaries,the starting of newbusiness, belief inghost and spirits incommon

II.2 The Protestant Heritage: Self-Improvement

a Self-improvement

Self-improvement or self-help is a self-guided improvement - economically,intellectually, or emotionally - often with a substantial psychological basis Manydifferent self-help groupings exist and each has its own focus, techniques, associatedbeliefs, proponents and in some cases, leaders "Self-help culture, particularlyTwelve-step culture, has provided some of our most robust new language: recovery,dysfunctional families, and codependency”

products of a culture in which people believe that “God helps those who helpthemselves”.

One of the most popular self-help books in the United States is “The Power ofPositive Thinking” written by a Protestant Minister, Norman Vincent Peale.According to Peale, the key to self-improvement and success is self-confidence

Americans buy hundreds of millions of self-help books a year In addition,Americans attend thousands of self-help seminars and support group meetings to helpthem stop smoking or drinking, lose weight, be better parents, have happierrelationship and develop self-confidence

In comparison with Britain and Vietnam

Main religion

Attitude of people

Doctrine

Self-improvement

II.3 Material success, Hard work, and self-discipline

The achievement of material success is apparently the most widely respectedform of self-improvement in the United States The idea of mixing materialism andreligion may seem contradictory; religion is considered to be concerned with spiritualmatters, not material possessions How can the two mix? All Americans believe inGod, the God will bring them the best thing and always try their best to work hard Some of the early European Protestant leaders believed that people who wereblessed by God might be recognized in the world by their material success Otherchurch leaders in the United States, made an even stronger connection betweengaining material wealth and being blessed by God

American religious leaders, however, never encouraged the idea of gainingwealth without hard work and self-discipline Only by hard work could these naturalresources be converted into material possessions, allowing a more comfortable

standard of living Many scholars believe that the emphasis on these two values made

an important contribution to the industrial growth of the United States Protestantleaders viewed the work of all people as holy, not just that of priests They alsobelieved 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 moneyrather than spend it on immediate pleasures Protestant tradition, therefore, may haveplayed an important part in creating a good climate for the industrial growth of theUnited States, which depended on hard work and willingness to save and investmoney

The belief in hard work and self-discipline in pursuit of material gain and other

goals is often referred to as “the Protestant work ethic” or “the Puritan work ethic

Many religious groups in the United States share this work ethic, and even Americanswho have no attachment to a particular church are influenced by the work ethic intheir daily lives Interestingly, in the last few decades, there has been a shift both inthe work ethic and in the meaning of work Yankelovich and other researchers reportthat in the past, most Americans did not expect their work to be interesting orenjoyable In the 1950s, for example, most people saw their jobs primarily as a source

of income Now, by a margin of four to one, they expect their work to give them asense of personal satisfaction and fulfillment, in addition to their income However,they always work hard The United States is the only industrialized country that doesnot have a legal requirement for workers to have a certain number of paid vacationdays Americans take an average of only two weeks of vacation time a year And therecent studies have painted a grim picture of the American working world: Longerdays, less vacation time, and later retirement: They are taking only 51% of their paidvacation days And 61% of those who do are working while they are on vacation.Think about that for a minute – even when we are given a “budget” of days to spend,

we only spend half of it, on average And you know how much Americans lovespending their budget

In comparison with Britain and Viet Nam

Factor The United States Britain Vietnam

Material success - Gaining wealth

always goes hand

in hand with working and self-discipline They

hard-It is a strongconnection betweengaining materialwealth and beingblessed by God By

- It is concept thatpeople are bornwith a certain faithand follow thereligious roots in

believe that only byhard work couldthese naturalresources beconverted intomaterial success,allowing a morecomfortable

standard of living

- It will beimpossible to begiven anything ifpeople do not makeeffort and “ Godhelps those whohelp themselves”

and the capacity forself-discipline was

characteristicblessed by God

- Americans areoverstressed andoverworked:

Longer days, lessvacation time, andlater retirement,

that, people can’t

be active inachieving success

their family.Whatever they do,they could notescape theirs.Buddhism teachespeople the way ofaccepting andliving in harmonywith others soVietnamese havefewer competitionswith others whenthey work

- People alwaysbelieve Buddhismand pray for theirluck, wealth and

Buddhism

Sometimes, theybelieve the luck theBuddhism broughtfor them rather thanwhat they can dothemselves

- Because peopleare not aggressive,

so they workcomfortably,

flexibly , but somesituations haveneither the creationnor the discipline inthe daily work

II.4 Volunteerism and Humanitarianism

a Improving oneself from helping other to share God’s bless

Americans made a strong connection between gaining material wealth andbeing blessed by God They also believed that the capacity for self-discipline was aholy characteristic blessed by God Hard work and self-discipline help them gainmaterial wealth The achievement of material success is probably the most widelyrespected form of self-improvement in the United States

The idea of self-improvement also includes the idea of improving oneself byhelping others In other words, individuals make themselves into better person bycontributing some of their time or money to charitable, educational, or religiouscauses that are designed to help others

b The other motive

Many Americans believe that they should devote part of their time and wealth

to religious or humanitarian causes in order to acceptable in the eyes of God and in theeyes of other Americans

Today, more and more Americans become involved in volunteer activities Menand women, whites and blacks, married persons and single … are willing to take part

in one or two organizations, contribute some of their time and money to charitable,educational, or religious causes

In the United States, just about everyone, at one time or another, has been avolunteer On any given day, millions of Americans give of their time and talents tobenefit their communities through volunteer service Volunteering is so pervasive inthe United States that it can be observed daily in almost every aspect of life

Many businesses encourage their employees to do volunteer work, andindividuals may get tax deductions for money given to charity

c Main organization: religious organization, educational organization, youth service

related organization, social or community service organization

d Popular activities for main organization

Collecting, preparing, distributing, or serving food , fundraising, and tutoring

or teaching were the activities volunteers performed most frequently for their mainorganization Men and women tended to engage in different main activities Men whovolunteered were most likely to engage in general labor or coach, referee, or supervise