American Religious groups and History - Essay Example

American Religious groups and History America and its colonies got their first religious awakening between the 1730s and 1770s in which there was a religious revitalization. The Protestant churches established their cultures across the region during an evangelical upsurge (Eck 5). During this period, there arose a period of great faith which was aimed at countering the age of Enlightenment by trusting the heart other than specializing in human reasoning. Presbyterians in Pennsylvania and New Jersey were the earliest active religious groups under the leadership of Reverend William Tennent and his family. Tennent was from Scotland, and all his four sons were clergymen and were determined to preach the gospel of salvation. The family also established a seminary for training more clergymen called the Log College. Today the college is today called Princeton University and offers several theological courses. The American Religious experience is based on mass awakening in which there were several religious groups resulting in the modern-day religious composition. Religion in the US is composed of a diverse religious beliefs and practices, and it plays a vital role in many of the peoples' lives. Many of the Americans are Christians while a few claim no religion in which Protestants makes 46.5 percent and 20.8 percent identify themselves as Catholics (Eck 7). There are also other religious groups are Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism, which make just a 6 percent of the population. The state of Mississippi is known to be the most religious with many attending services every week and feel that religion is an important part of their lives. Religion has formed an important part of the American culture, politics, and social life since the colonial period when Germans and Europeans settled in America. The constitution gives freed of exercising of one’s religion and does not allow the government to have a state religion. American people have a big similarity with the developing countries in which religion has a big role in their lives. Other wealthy nations do not value religious beliefs like the Americans who love to identify with a religious group. Religion has played a vital role in the establishment of major universities and learning centers such as the Harvard, Princeton, Williams, and Yale among others. Different regions of the country have different representations of the religious groups with the rural consisting of few Catholics except some areas such as Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. Most of the Catholics are in the urban areas such as the Great Lakes and the industrial and mining regions. Judaism is also a religious group in America and is the second largest after (Christianit Glahe 207) and Frank y. Many of the people prophesying Judaism faith are Jews and their descendants and have existed since the 17th Century. Islam takes the third position in America although it just represents a 0.9 percent of the entire population. The other religious groups include the Rastafarianism, Baha’i among others. There are people who do not profess affiliation to any religion and are associated with Atheism, Agnosticism, and Humanism. This population is increasing at a high rate although they are associated with materialism, criminal behavior, and cultural elitism. America is therefore experiencing an increase in religious groups and increase in those who profess no religion. During the period of religious movement in America, the great awakening led to divisions among the denominations such as Baptists, Methodists, and the Presbyterians. Although the first American Protestant Mission was in 1820 in Hawaii, most of the triumphalism happened in the 1960s (Glahe and Frank 29). According to historians, revivals were good means used by the humble colonialists used to challenge the prerogative of those who believed in material wealth. The great awakening is also seen as the continuation of the earliest religious traditions and beliefs. Some social happenings such as the existence of class and slavery faded during the revolution age. Other historians say that the rise of religion was a result of the social and political effects of the revival of the colonialism while some argue that it was just an interpretive fiction. Pentecostalism was seen as a representation of a dysfunctional reaction to the social pressure and preached more on conformity to the religious doctrines. No single denomination ever emerged as the candidate for the Church of America, and, therefore, there is complete separation of the state and church (Witte and Joel 12). Some early reasons persons such as Henry Patrick and Richard were proposing Christianity as the main American religion since it formed the majority but in 1736-1799. Their efforts were put to an end by Madison, who pushed for a constitution amendment to have religious liberalized giving way to freedom of worship (Jefferson 232) According to some historians, religion is a sensitive matter, which should never be left in the hands of people who tend to believe in it. Religion plays a great role in American politics especially during the elections and scholars are shying away from doing research on issues dealing religious matters. Thre is renewed attention to religion in various institutes such as religious education institutions, schools, and journals on matters of religion. There was a time in history when religion was very important, and it was impossible to learn in a school owned by different faith. Many historian scholars are interested in studying religion and theology, which have their rules and transformations. In America, there is a growing religious visibility in the nation's public life, especially in the nation affairs. Historians see religion as stubborn especially in the face of secularization pressures since mega churches are winning a lot of attention from the media, government, politicians, and institutions (Glahe and Frank 210-213). There has emerged some historians and sociologists inclined to religion and specifically identify themselves with some religious groups. There have been several religious exchanges in America with people converting to different faiths over many years. For instance, Asians have become Christians, and some Latinos have joined Protestant churches in many regions (Tweed 146). There is the massive growth of Pentecostalism and other evangelical religious groups especially in Latin America, which will affect many immigrants to the US. Immigrants are known to join the existing denominations or religious groups. One thing about religion in America is that respect for religious pluralism is observed although some of the founders of the nation believed that the government should adopt Christianity. Separation of the state and the church was a good idea for all faithful in America including Christianity and Islam. Countries in which the state and the religion are inter-twined experience instability as the major religion rules over the minor. The American experience of many religious groups is a lesion to other nations to adopt the freedom of religion. Today America’s Demographics representing religious groups are changing showing a big diversity of the nation's religious groups. Many Americans also confess not having any religion and are comfortable living together with the rest of the citizens. Any effort to impose religion by the government is always met with opposition by both religious groups and everybody talks of democracy. Contrary to what many people think, the US as never founded on Christian values although majorities were Christians. There is a lot of neutrality when it comes to religious matters, as people are free to make their individual decisions. America has experienced religious freedom for centuries because of the constitution’s ability to protect the freedom of religion. Works Cited Eck, Diana L. A new religious America. HarperCollins World, 2002. Glahe, Fred, and Frank Vorhies. "Religion, liberty and economic development: An empirical investigation." Public Choice 62.3 (1989): 201-215. Jefferson, Thomas. "The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed." Julian P. Boyd 16. Tweed, Thomas A. Retelling US religious history. Univ of California Press, 1997. Witte, John, and Joel A. Nichols. Religion and the American Constitutional experiment. Westview Press, 2011. Read More