The Influence Of Religion In American Culture

According to data from the Pew Research Center, Americans are becoming less religious, but, simultaneously, more spiritual. Often described as “nones,” these individuals have rejected the trappings of institutional religion, yet still feel “a deep sense of spiritual peace and well-being as well as a deep sense of wonder about the universe.”

In Chapter 10 of Religion and Popular Culture in America, Joseph L. Price attempts to show sports as an example of popular culture as religion, because of its ability to shape the engagement of their fans and the fan’s environments. Although the majority of fans do not see sports as coming close to being a religion, Price gives several compelling reasons as to why sports are religion.

We all know that religion is an organized system regarding the spiritual or supernatural along with various practices that give numerous individuals a sense of purpose in the world and allows these individuals to understand things beyond their reach. However, while reading the articles from “Nones on the Rise,” it is evident that there is an increase in the number of individuals who claim unaffiliation to any religion in the United States. “Nones” gives the facts and figures of the Americans who do not place themselves in any religious category, with an approximate one in five of the public claiming no affiliation. But there are some individuals who denote themselves as spiritual or religious in some way. The entire article is an intriguing one because it breaks everything down, from what it means to be unaffiliated religiously to the composition of the unaffiliated, the demographics of the unaffiliated and theories as to why there is an increase in the numbers of the years. It is interesting to see how people view themselves when it comes to their beliefs.

Following the successes of Hernan Cortes with his conquest of the Mexica-Aztec Empire of Mexico and Francisco Pizzaro with his conquest of the Inka Empire in the Andean Region of South America, many other Conquistadors embarked upon expeditions to discover and conquer wealthy Native American civilizations. Among this new wave of conquistadors was Lope de Aguirre who accompanied an expedition led by Gonzalo Pizarro, a brother of Francisco Pizarro, to find the lost city of gold known as El Dorado. The film Aguirre: The Wrath of God is a work of historical fiction that provides additional insight into the motives and behaviors of the Spanish and Aguirre during this expedition, Spanish-Native American Relations, Spanish-African slave relations, the status of role of women within colonial society, the role of the Catholic Church within Spanish society, and the nature of Spanish society within the context of Aguirre’s excursion. Aguirre: The Wrath of God provides insight into the desire for a wealth of gold and glory by the Spanish when undergoing these harsh expeditions, the abuse and subservience Native Americans were subjected to by the Spanish Conquistadors, the African slaves served the Spaniards and had to complete exhausting and humiliating work, the inferiority of women compared to Spanish men and how easily they were dismissed by Spanish men, the desire for not only conversion but gold and wealth for the Catholic Church by allowing the Conquistadors to commit atrocities in the New World, and the Spaniard belief in the righteousness of their conquests in the New World due to the successful Reconquest of Iberia from the Moors.

Modern American society beliefs have influenced my identity, values, and beliefs. The American society believes highly in technology, which influences my beliefs, and has me relying on technology for many things. However the american society also shapes my beliefs in a different way, if there is something that America, as a society believes in, then I may find myself believing the opposite, simply because I didn't want my opinion to be made by society. My values are most definitely influenced by society, I often fall for society's attempts to tell me that i need more ‘stuff’, and that puts material items in my values. America, as a whole is less family centered, so I often find myself valuing my friends over my family. Lastly, my identity,

and fund a religion. The original settlers in America were looking for religious freedom, in particular they were trying to get away from the state sponsored religion being practiced in England at the time. The Anglican church was the “church of England” and bishops were appointed by the King of England (Heyrman 2017). If you didn’t belong to the official religion of the country, you were an outcast. A lot of these outcast were the people who originally settled the United States, they wanted to get away from state sponsored religion. However, once in America they started the same system of government supporting a favored religion. Instead of one national religion, individual states supported different churches. According to Shmoop (2017): “Congregationalism

Spirituality is one of the most important aspects of life to some communities, cultures, and nations. People who believe in God usually become more spiritual as they age. In American societies, the mosques and churches have older people than younger people. In most cases, we become more spiritual or at least start looking for religious answers when we are faced with a death in the family. In a study by Moremen,(2005), 26 older women who had not experienced a life changing even or recent death in their families were interviewed on their views in terms of “their place” in society” and the “order of things”. None of the participants were facing a terminal illness. The majority stated that they wanted to understand things and were looking towards

Adhering to your religious and personal beliefs in a society where there have been generational shifts in attitudes toward nonmarital sex is challenging. These changes in sexual attitudes and behaviors are connected to growing cultural individualism in the United States. When a culture places more importance on the desires of the self and less on social rules, more relaxed attitudes toward sexuality are the almost inevitable result. You are faced with the decision of conforming to a society where the acceptance of premarital sex is at an all time high. Yet, your religion and personal beliefs have shaped your moral compass, which makes it evident that you do not wish to stray away from your decision of abstaining from sex until marriage. In efforts to assist you in effectively communicating your desires to your girlfriend we will evaluate your relationship through key communication concepts such as: culture, Social Exchange Theory, Social Penetration Theory, listening, and Self-Discrepancy Theory. .

Major religions dating back 4,000 years have served as institutions that bring individuals together in the form of communities that share similar morals, ideals, and customs. Religion greatly affects individual behavior both positively and negatively because of how important of a role it plays in many lives. Smidt (1999) notes that religious institutions act as a societal framework that provides a variety of services such as guidance, physical care, and social networks. It is at these institutions where individuals are first introduced to ideas about ethics, values, and customs. Thus, officials within each religion have an important role in shaping how their congregates view the world. Many religious institutions serve as the center of a particular

The United States has a history of being tremendously diverse in religions and cultures from all over the world. Although our nation is immensely diverse, one in four Americans are Roman Catholic today (Chase, 1-23-15). With such a large population, Roman Catholics have had multiple changes and barriers to their religious faith. Many Catholics can trace back to the point in time when their ancestors arrived in the United States and what specific events altered their religious experiences. Although most immigrants arrived to the United States during the 19th century, Catholic immigration occurred many years before the European movement My mother and father both grew up in the Roman Catholic faith with their ancestors migrating to the United States in the 1850s. Although their families came to the US at the same time, they had some different social and political experiences growing up.

In his book, The Religious Beliefs of America’s Founders, Gregg Frazer attempts to break apart the debate going on today about whether or not the founding fathers were Christian. In the preface of the book, Frazer states, “I want to force extremists on the Left and Right to make a case for their vision… this book is an attempt to allow [the Founders] to defend themselves through the written record of their words.” In his book, Frazer makes arguments that eight of the most prominent Founders were not Christian or Deist, but rather they were “theistic rationalists,” a term that he uses countless times throughout the text. Frazer examines the eight key Founders as well as important theologians and ministers of the time. He defends theistic

The United States of America has the most diverse religious population in the world. In places like Iraq, Syria, Israel, Afghanistan, Yemen, and other countries too numerous to mention, countless lives are lost over religious differences. In America, a Protestant can live happily next door to a Jew, who might live across the street from a Muslim, or a Catholic, or a Sikh, or even a Humanist! This is in no small way attributed to the fact that the US Constitution’s First Amendment includes what is known as the establishment clause, which states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” effectively separating affairs of religious institutions from secular,

The United States of America was founded on the idea of religious freedom. Pilgrims came to America to practice their religion freely. In the Bill of Rights, Americans have the right to freedom of religion. Religion is the foundation in the United States of America, so it should be taught in schools.

Putnam and Campbell’s “America Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us” does a better job of foreshadowing the future religious landscape in the United States. The two authors use the concept of ‘shocks, aftershocks, and earthquakes’ in order to convey religious turbulence in the United States. The earthquake of the 1960s was the most significant indication of change in which there was a steep decline in religious observance (Putnam and Campbell, 97). The 1960s was a transitional time for the United States as the Civil Rights Movement, immigration reform, and the sexual revolution dominated American culture. These events displaced religion from the lives of Americans and thus became a clarion call for the transition away

The growth of religion in America is one that is a complex thought and it has created a large development for what our currently country stands. Many main concepts are used for this time as to what caused America to grow, however there were a few that were on the controlling factors. The creation of Church of England and the reaction of that were created was the stating factor in a long journey. That journey then allowed for some individual leaders to rise and motivate others around them to start asking the hard questions that cracked the hard shell of the status quo. Because of these leaders at the individual level spoke up, they allowed for larger groups to make their voices here as more cultures and areas became available to the people around