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Example research essay topic: The Influence Of Christianity On Modern American Culture - 2,008 words

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The question of whether or not America is a Christian country seems to be evident at a first hand glance. Religion, especially Christianity, has been in America before it was even called America. Christianity is the most popular religion in America today, counting all of the different denominations together. But in the last century its growth has slowed down. The United States of America is the most religiously diverse country in the world today. Over the last hundred years or so America has seen an influx in non-Christian religions as well as their growth.

Muslims, Buddhists, Agnostics, and Atheists, America is home to about 20 significantly popular religions. Christianity has changed since the classical ways. For instance, why would a country who pledges its allegiance to a nation under one God, and who marks its currency with in God we trust not be centered around Christian beliefs? Early on in the history of the United States the country did focus itself around Christian ideals. However, in modern judicial interpretations have established a wall of separation of church and state and effectively banished religion from public affairs in America. 1 You cannot talk about Christianity in America without talking about church and state. The opinion of our forefathers interpreted by the Supreme Court is that church and state are to remain separate.

This has been a controversial topic in more recent years. In June of 2003 a three-judge panel of the 9 th U. S. Circuit of Appeals ruled 2 - 1 that the words under God amount to a government endorsement of religion and violate the separation of Church and State. This ruling was immediately attacked by President Bush and the Congress and asked that the full 9 th Circuit review the case again.

There have been ruling such as this and rulings going in the complete opposite direction holding up things like the Pledge of Allegiance and a students right to pray in school. In his book A Season for Justice, David A. French says that our government a government founded and formed by men of faith is not a neutral player in the culture war. While Congress, the Supreme Court, and the President may or may not be opposed to Christians, they have together, over many years, created a comprehensive legal structure that is biased against faith. 5 This is one of the hardest topics to decide on for myself personally.

We have God engrained into our nationalistic culture. Many of our courthouses scattered across America there are depictions and stone monuments of the Ten Commandments 6. This separation comes from a clause found within the First Amendment. As a result of this separation of church and state, many strides have taken place over recent years in order to insure that American citizens were not expected to recognize any Christian beliefs. In the past few years some schools have even banned the symbol of a Christmas tree during the holiday season. Basically, the whole idea of the separation of church and state implies that, Government cannot make any law respecting an establishment of religion-any and all religions!

Nor can government prohibit the free exercise of religion And no religion can use its political influence upon government to establish itself socially in a favored position over other religions. 1 Consequently, it is already quite clear that there has been a decline in the acceptance of America as a primarily Christian country. However, religion still plays a vital role in American life. The issue of religious freedom has played a significant role in the history of the United States and the remainder of North America. Europeans came to America to escape religious oppression and forced beliefs by such state-affiliated Christian churches as the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England. That civil unrest fueled the desire of Americas forefathers to establish the organization of a country in which the separation of church and state, and the freedom to practice ones faith without fear of persecution, was guaranteed. That guarantee was enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.

S. Constitution as, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof... 1. This Amendment left the door open and made the United States a free religious market. It didnt take long for Christians to break off from one another to form new denominations in upwards of almost 900 different ones that still exist in the United States today. America was the first nation in the western hemisphere to be founded by mostly Protestants instead of Roman Catholics. The Roman Empire had been setting up new nation states and converting the people they had just conquered to Christianity.

I believe that the fact that America was started by Puritans was an early sign of our willingness and interest in new religions 2. The religious diversity started almost right away and has been a concurrent them until today. Christians set up new denominations some that succeeded some that did not. Many people during the early years of our country had switched more than once from one to another.

But religion was not always the dominant aspect of popular culture. Christianity is not what it was 300 years ago. Towards the end of the nineteenth century there is a general state of apathy towards Christianity. Christian Sects published in 1896, Lyon writes: The study of this subject and the conversations I have had with various representative men have surprised me by revealing the state of confusion and change in which all beliefs, except those of the Roman Catholics, now exist. Few of those who claim to hold the faith of their fathers are aware how far they have drifted from their faith 3. As the division of Christian denominations accelerated, people living in the 20 th century experienced the coming and going and varied shifting of religious conservatism and liberalism.

While technology raced to the moon and beyond, many major events occurred which shaped religion and Christianity in America today. Events such as Fundamentalism giving rise to Pentecostal movements and the state of Israel being established. The Civil Rights movement and its trials and tribulations saw a deviation away from primarily white religions by blacks, also during this time since it was the sixties a certain counterculture of young youths dabbled and experimented with several Eastern religions among other things. Also the New Age movements started and converted many 4. What is the reason for the deterioration of the importance of Christianity in America? Also, is this deterioration evident in all forms of religion, or Christianity alone?

One of the most evident and obvious reasons is because of the modern beliefs and views of God by the American people. In present day American culture, citizens are comprised of many different ethnic and religious backgrounds. Although there has been a decline in some religions, there has also been a spectacular growth in some religions, the flowering of new faiths, and periodic revivals of religious enthusiasm. 1 Because there is such a broad range of cultures within modern American culture, people have eventually come to realize in the past few decades that many religions spurred from similar beliefs. This has caused the barrier between traditions to be lowered, and people crossed into other peoples religious territories with remarkable ease and frequency. 2 As a result of the mixing of different religious beliefs and practices that began to occur, new images of God, Jesus, and religion as a whole have began to emerge. The first real generation that experienced a large diversity in the religions present in America was Generation X.

Due to the overwhelming amounts of different religions; people from this generation have come to realize that all of these religions must come from somewhere. 3 One of the most important points that people draw from all different religions is that there are common practices and believes within them all. Mostly all of the prominent religions in the United States are centered on one God. Not only this, but Jesus is also recognized as an important figure in multiple religions such as Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. The fact that non-Christians see something of immense value in Jesus helps make Jesus a truly universal figure. 3 Besides the different ways in which various religions view Jesus, there are also many new ideas about Jesus and who he was that have begun to emerge during the twentieth century. These ideas seem to spur from everything that goes on around the world including in other religions.

Now a days, many Christian meetings center around ideas such as the importance of feminism, liberation theology, interfaith dialogue, and religious pluralism in understanding the significance of Jesus. 3 Many present day American citizens have adopted a method of picking and choosing, not in swallowing the whole package. 3 This idea implies that rather then adapting all parts of one religion, people instead tend to adapt only certain beliefs that they find to be true, and also leave out ones that they feel they should not accept. Although this practice is wide spread within many people in the current world, it has been going on throughout history. For example, the Gnostic Gospels are a collection of multiple other Gospels written about Jesus and his life. However, they were left out of Christian teachings.

Why is this? According to Cox, the people who made the selection were all celibate men who, in effect, scissored out embarrassing references to Jesus relationship to Mary Magdalene and texts that suggest God may be female or that one could find him or her without the mediation of a hierarchy. 3 The fact that religion operates in this country as a voluntary commitment obviously works to its great benefit, since it is free and able to harness popular democratic tendencies by recognizing pluralism and the freedom to choose. 4 This to some extent also causes competition between equally acceptable religious alternatives. Modern cultural issues evidently play a part in how Christians today view Jesus and God. However, there have always been multiple versions that exist. As previously discussed, American society is very open to different types of religion, and no religion is held in higher respect to others. In early Christian history, it probably was not acceptable as it is now to have varying forms of Jesus and God.

What gives way to many of the current images of Jesus and God is the way in which the American consumer culture transforms religious beliefs and practices. 5 Consumerism can be seen as a problem for multiple reasons. One is that it tempts us to become entangled in the love of lower things, which causes our advance to be impeded and sometimes even diverted, and we are held back from our pursuit of higher things. 5 This causes an unwanted transformation in religious beliefs because it causes us to constantly reach for desires that will never be fulfilled. In the end the only thing that can truly satisfy ones desires is God, and in the end he is all we should enjoy. The consumer culture in America has also had a detrimental effect on common Christian practices. Because we have so many things such as food at our disposal, Americans have tended to become extremely lax on practices involving fasting.

This is because we are much more accustomed to changing beliefs and accepting their limitations than our patristic and medieval forbearer's. We are much more ready to let go of our concepts of God. 5 Works Cited Scumski, Bonnie. Religion in America, Green haven Press, Inc. , 2002. pgs 20, 29, 31. Portfiled, Amanda. The Transformation of American Religion.

Oxford university Press, 2001. Page 230 Borg, Marcus. Jesus at 2000. Westview Press, 1997. Pages 95, 98, 99 Roof, Wade. Spiritual Market.

Princeton University Press, 1999. Page 87 Miller, Vincent. Consuming Religion. The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc, 2004.

Pages 15, 126, 128 Lawrence, John Shelton, Jewwtt, Robert. Captain America and the Crusade against Evil. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2003.


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Research essay sample on The Influence Of Christianity On Modern American Culture

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