How Does American Culture Influence Religion

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.

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

The decline in religion across America is most likely related to the increase inIndividualism, among many Americans in the 21st century. “The decline in religions practice has gone down 29% from the Silent generation to the younger Millennial” (Decline of mainline Protestantism and Catholicism). Many argue that culture influences, portioning to college and other environments, would be the greatest factor in the big question as to why Americas on a religious decline. However Individualism seems to be the greatest contributing factor. Individualism highlights selfish motives, only caring about ones self, and laziness. All things that religious believes takes away from a individual.

There are multiple reasons the Anglo-Americans began to turn on their mother country. I suppose it all starts with the cultural changes during the 18th century. These new ideals began to cause controversies among society. As time evolved, tension grew larger during the Seven Years War, which then led to the American Revolution. The Revolution is like a snowball effect. All the prior events built up causing Americans to turn on their mother country during the American Revolution.

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

.In the new world there are two dominant religions that we see in the readings which were the puritans and the Catholics. Even though both of this religions had may differences they also had some similarities. A similarity that seems commend in both religions is that they both believe that all actions and results were the way they happened because of god. Puritans believe that the rich people were rich and the poor people were poor because god wanted them to be that way (23). The Jesuits believe that they were send to the new world because and that god wanted them to teach and improve the believes of the natives because god wanted them to do so (37). They both believe that there is one god and Jesus Christ was the son of god (24, 31). They strongly believe in the bounds of love and need to help and give to your neighbor (24).

From the initial formation of the American colonies, there has been tension between Protestant and Catholic religious ideology. In his book Who Are We, Samuel Huntington discusses the importance of the early American settler’s dissenting Protestant values. Without the Protestants, Huntington claims, American culture as we know it would not exist (Huntington, 59). Huntington is right that American culture was formally designed by dissenting Protestants, although that history is fraught with prejudice against opposing religious groups. This tension is most notable within the concept and application of religious freedom throughout American history.

The functionality of America would not be the same without religion, it has been a monumental influence in the building of the United States. Over the course of American history, the ideas and influence of religion has played a significant role in shaping the lives of people and the culture of the nation. Throughout the 1600s, 1700s, and 1800s, groups such as the Puritans, Great Awakening preachers, and abolitionists left a lasting Christian legacy on specific peoples such as Native Americans, and African Americans.

This seems to make natural sense as the church is the central authority for moral and value-oriented decision-making in many societies. Traditionally, the church has been a strong influence on American values and culture. However, this influence is starting to fade. The number of Americans that attend church has been significantly declining over the past several decades. Additionally, the number of Americans that perceive themselves as religious is also under decline.

In order to understand any group of people, one might look at their religion as a means to understand their intentions, and thus interpret the society as a whole. Thereby, the identity of a people arise from both how they view themselves on a world level, but also how others view them. The Native Americans for example were collectively a harmonious people who viewed themselves as peaceful members of a cosmic whole. As stated in Chapter One of Themes in Religion and American Culture, as edited by Philip Goff and Paul Harvey, “Not surprisingly, Native Americans sought above all else to cultivate a harmonious relationship with nature and the powers that animated it,” (pg 8). Thus Goff and Harvey suggest the peaceful nature of the Native Americans.

In the articles they talked about the Vatican Synod and how it was not like any Vatican Synod before. In the Vatican Synod the bishops voted a ⅔ majority on how people who were divorced can marry again in the church. After, the article talked about how this votes might’ve been rigged for predetermined results. In the Vatican Synod, they also talked about a more merciful church for divorced people. For example, they had said that the church will provide spiritual help for those that were married then divorced and may soon be allowed to be welcomed back into the church. Also, there was a different setup than previous years in the Vatican Synod. For example, in years before the Synod was already planned out where all the changes and documents were already made. That’s not all that the Synod talked about, but we will discuss the other discussions and my opinions in this next paragraph.

Health care providers need an understanding of and appreciation for the cultural and religious beliefs of all patients to provide optimal care for them. As the United States population increases, so does the number of American Muslims. As a result physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals will more frequently encounter Muslim patients. Nationwide there are approximately 6 to 8 million Muslim Americans. Muslims face several barriers when communicating with other individuals.

I think the message is about to not let anyone with negative behaviors rattle the union, the sanctity of the church or our good will. I think the American culture lives out this particular value in the context of the Catholic Church. There are number of reasons why a person would resolve to leave the church; to be retractors or backbiters, especially since recent scandals shook the very foundations of the church in the United States. Through it all, the faith of the brethren did not waiver. Although it is hard to forget and forgive, the essence of the church, the true knowledge that the church was founded over 2,000 years ago, and a church that stood fast to the teachings of Jesus

Dewayne, you said that America lives in a Christian culture, and dwell in a Christian culture. If we talk about the beliefs and practices based on Christianity (that is prevalent in America), I do think that you can certainly say that there is such thing as Christian culture. However, I do not think that defining Christian culture is simple because Christianity does not bound by the culture. If American lives in a Christian culture, then other countries with Christianity should share the same culture. American is one of the most famous countries that was founded on the Christian values. Therefore, I think we often confuse Christian culture with American 'church' culture. For example, Korean Christian might have hard time understanding the practices

All in all, American society is established on the Western culture, yet America is a multicultural country because of the diversity of culture that brought by immigrants. Even though Western culture is dominating in America, Mexican and African American culture are a part of the social norm because their population are higher than Asian or the other minorities.