Religion in America

To understand American culture, one must learn about religion. America is a fertile ground for old and new religions to flourish with diverse tendencies.

Washington National Cathedral, USA. (Source: Vietnamplus)

Most major world religions teach their followers to place their faith in the afterlife and to despise worldly possessions. The religious spirit of American popular religion has evolved in the opposite direction: to get rich in the world is to serve God. Perhaps that is also a motive for the development of capitalism in America.

Today, in the United States there are more than 200 nominal religions, large and small, divided into more than 300,000 local organizations. In contrast to many developed countries, the number of people who follow a religion or, in other words, are related to a religion in the United States accounts for 82% of the population (about 18% do not follow any religion), of which 76% self-identify as Christians (52% Protestant and 24% Roman Catholic); about 2% Judaism, 4% follow other religions (Muslim, Buddhism, Mormon...). There are about 45 million children, not including adults, attending classes opened by religious organizations. Every week, radio and television have sessions dedicated to religions. The Bible is a very popular book. Religions survive thanks to the contributions of their followers. The government does not directly subsidize any religion.

It seems that in America, decent people believe in God. Moral standards come from religion. The US President may start his State of the Nation address with a prayer to God, and if someone asks him what he is doing in a crisis, his first response may be to pray. God here must be understood as the God of Christianity.

The most important and largest religion in America is Christianity, in addition to Islam, Buddhism, etc. All religions have equal rights. The equal rights between religions were formed in America due to the evolution of history itself, especially since the founding of the nation. Up to now, religious nuances are quite strong in American social life.

After the Spanish landed on the American coast (15th century), the French (1608) and the Dutch (1609) sought to settle in North America. However, the British, arriving relatively late (1583), rose to dominate the territory and built the present-day United States. The first British to come to America brought with them the Episcopal Church, the Catholic Church, to Virginia, Puritanism to New England, the Baptist Church to Rhode Island, and the Quaker Church to Pennsylvania. Subsequently, many followers of the Episcopal Church continued to immigrate to America from England and Germany.

When America became independent from England, the Protestant denominations split into many new sects, competing for influence. The two sects, Methodists and Baptists, belonged to the “Episcopal” tendency, and gathered many followers from immigrants who came to exploit new lands. These two sects belonged to the Evangelical Religion, which was very developed in the South, especially in the black community.

At the same time, there were “prophets” who appeared and founded new religions. In particular, Mormonism may be the name of a mysterious prophet. This sect was founded by Joseph Smith in 1830, after claiming that an angel appeared and gave him the Book of Mormon.

In addition to the Mormon sect, there is also the Christian Science sect, founded by Mary Baker Eddy in 1866. This sect believes that human nature is primarily spiritual. In the United States, there are many Christian Science “doctors” who treat diseases with spirituality.

The second largest denomination in America is Roman Catholicism, brought by immigrants from European countries. Initially, they faced mistreatment, prejudice, and discrimination, especially when it came to voting in political elections. However, their prestige increased as more and more people immigrated from Catholic countries in Europe to America. Notably, a Catholic candidate, John F. Kennedy, was elected president. Until about the 1950s, Catholics held many leadership positions in the fields of labor unions, business, and politics.

Judaism, like Christianity, was only a small part of the American religion when it entered the United States, but gradually developed to become one of the three most important religions by the 1950s: Protestantism, Christianity, and Judaism. Until the end of the 19th century, the majority of Jews in America were of German origin. When Russian and Polish Jews, who were very conservative, flocked to America, they established closed Jewish communities. Their children and grandchildren studied well, and some became prominent intellectuals. Some still maintained Jewish religious customs. Some still thought traditionally in their hearts, but outwardly they were no different from other citizens. When discriminated against, Jews gathered organizations to fight effectively.

The Amish or Mennonite sect was founded by a Swiss religious reformer in the 18th century. Originally Protestant, they sought out rural areas and hated modern life. Many sects also competed to build isolated communities, becoming a traditional trend that persisted in the 20th century.

Small sects have some common traits: they believe that society at large is corrupt and beyond redemption. Most are pessimistic and predict the end of the world. Some groups die out, others thrive. Many advocate faith healing.

Eastern religions, especially Buddhism, attracted the “counterculture” movement of the 1960s and 1980s; Buddhists numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Twenty million Muslims lived in the United States; they were immigrants or descendants of immigrants, or American citizens (including blacks) who had recently converted to Islam. There were several hundred thousand Hindu immigrants. Native Americans revived their old beliefs.

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