Religious Diversity-US
During this semester I learned that religion has been very important in U.S. history since the founding fathers. Even though they tried to create a secular government, the people saw the need of religion in their lives. I also realized that many new religions were created in North America since its independence. Americans have this religious drive that is currently shown even in their currency ”In God We Trust.” Americans were mainly Christians (Protestants); and they were forcing the natives to convert to their beliefs. One of the first denominations that were implemented by Americans was the puritans, which gave birth to newer denomination such as Baptist and Congregationalists. Also further splintering occurred among Methodist, Pentecostals, Fundamentalists and Adventists, each bearing a diminished resemblance to their original parents. Soon after, a wave of Jewish started settling in the 18th century brought by the opportunity that allowed them to freely practice their religion. Later, many other religions were created either from the existing ones or from scratch(Evangelical, Mormon, Jehovah’s witness, Orthodox from different countries, other Christian and non-Christian denominations) and many others were brought from overseas( Buddhism, Muslim, Hindu, among others).
While doing the first application I had to study my community in a 3 mile radius from where I live. It was very interesting to find the diversity of this small area even though I knew we have a vast majority of Mormons in the state of Utah. As a matter of fact Mormons still were the majority as shown in the chart. Here, we were evaluating the amount of establishments in the area of Murray with a 3 mile radius. Then, it is followed by Baptist and the other religions. I found that our community
is diverse in Christianity, but not too diverse within other religions. Christianity is the prominent religion in
Utah. I found it interesting that each
Christian denomination practices their beliefs in a different way, but yet they
each have the same mission statement which is to spread the word of God to all
nations. I also realized that the
relation between the state and religion is not completely separated; in other
words we can say that the principle of secularism is not fully implemented in
the state of Utah. According to the survey that I did, most people think that religion plays a role in laws,
education, and politics within the state of Utah. They mentioned clear examples such as: the LDS
influence at SLCC, the liquor stores ruled by the state, and several others. I think that overall the state of Utah is
secular, but it still has some influence in governmental institutions and I also
believe that Utah is probably the least secular state in America. My conclusion of this assignment is that America
is the most religiously diverse nation in the world. Each religion is unique with its own rituals
and explanation of how the world works.
It is easy to compare another religion with one’s one beliefs and find
many differences. I think that everyone should
be more accepting of people’s freedom to choose their religion. One cannot
expect that everyone will be drawn to a certain religion, or any religion at
all for that matter. Something that could be worked on is a
better understanding of what different religions believe in and not demanding
answers to questions. Every religion has a question that cannot be answered,
that’s why faith is necessary. I think is important to accept others religions so we can encourage freedom and tolerance for all beliefs and this can create a
more generative pluralism for our community.
During the second application I was assigned to do research on Scientology. The groups were presented in the following order: Adventists, Jehovah’s Witness, LDS, Heaven’s Gate and Peoples Temple, Nation of Islam, Summum, Church of Christ(Scientist), Scientology, Eckankar, Wicca and finally Atheism. I learn that the first three faiths the Adventists, Jehovah’s Witness and LDS have something in common, which is the belief of the apocalypse or the revelation stated on the bible that mentions the end of the world by the second coming of Jesus Christ. They are also Family oriented religions and encourage missionary teaching of the word of God. They have their own scriptures and they use the Bible as well. The Next group of faiths, which are Heaven’s Gate and Peoples Temple, Nation of Islam and Summum, are considered to be cults. I was very impressed by the Heaven’s Gate and Peoples Temple because of the manipulation or brain washing they had by their leader. I still remember his words when he said “If you want me to be your God, I’ll be your God.” I think it is unbelievable how a person can influence masses to the point of making them commit suicide and hurt others. Summums in the other hand caught my attention with their mummification, which means to guide one's essence to a greater destination following the death of the body. The idea is a little odd to me, but what really caught my attention was the exaggerate prices they charge to perform this ritual. About the Nation of Islam I thought that was very interesting to have a clearer view of their beliefs and so on. The next group of faiths are Church of Christ(Scientist), Scientology, Eckenkar and Wicca; which are spiritual faiths. Like any other religion christian science are controversial; in their case it is because of the views they have on medical treatments and the rejection of them and their kids to be treated. About Scientology, which was the faith that I was assigned; I consider that the bases
of the church are very interesting and full of very important knowledge. I consider Hubbard to be a brilliant
writer as well. Despite their good will towards certain issues, their groups to
fight drugs and other helping entities; I think that this organization tends to have more of a enterprise drive than a faith drive like other religions. They put too much emphasis on how to make money or improve economic well-being of the members. I still believe that the information given in Hubbard's books is very useful, that is why I am going to start reading Dianetics and if I like it I will continue with other of Hubbard's texts. The Eckankar faith based their believes on personal spiritual experiences as the most natural way back to God. I found it interesting that they use of Certain mantras or chants, which are used to facilitate spiritual growth. and the last religion of this spiritual group is Wicca, which is consider to be a witch cult. I also learned about this faith that they use witchcraft and they do that not to harm others, but to do good to them. I realized that this faith is based upon the idea of gender polarity and the worship of a Moon Goddess and a Horned God, which the Goddess and the God may be regarded as the Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine. To conclude all presentations I learned about the Atheist; which gave great points of view to the fact that everyone judges them or titles them as bad or evil people. They could be good people, the only thing is that they lack faith and want more evidence of veracity. I like when the lady in the interview the presenters showed said that she is willing to believe in God and Christianity if someone proves to her that all that is true. In other words she is willing to believe in everything that can be proven.
This course helped me understand and acquire a lot of knowledge about how American's religions were founded and how much influence on people they have since the very beginning. I think that now, I have a better understanding of many religions, which before I had a misconception. I notice that in the U.S. the vast majority or the mainstream of the population is Christian. Many of the religions created in the U.S. have had great acceptance in the world, especially those ones that implement missionary work, like LDS and Jehovah’s Witness. There are some other ones that caused a lot of controversy like Scientology, but they are still able to bring members to their faith; despite the fact that they are only directed to people that have a higher income. This course also showed me that mankind has the need to believe either in a superior being or in some other theory that explains the creation. I think that as humans the reason why we need to explain the unknown with faith is because we cannot support it with real facts and this is why the more developed our sciences and technologies get the less we are going to believe in faith.
I think that religion and public life intersect largely when it comes to government and politics. This especially affects everyone whether they are that religion or not. Living in Utah, for example, we are all affected largely by the LDS community whether we are LDS or not. Much of the government officials here are LDS republicans and the laws reflect that, especially concerning controlled substances among other laws. Americans, being the Christian beings they are, have brought religion into the government through our currency (“In god we trust”) and the Pledge of Allegiance (before they took it out) also mentions “One nation, under god”. In court systems, during a trial, they make you swear on the Bible before you testify.
I think that religion and public life intersect largely when it comes to government and politics. This especially affects everyone whether they are that religion or not. Living in Utah, for example, we are all affected largely by the LDS community whether we are LDS or not. Much of the government officials here are LDS republicans and the laws reflect that, especially concerning controlled substances among other laws. Americans, being the Christian beings they are, have brought religion into the government through our currency (“In god we trust”) and the Pledge of Allegiance (before they took it out) also mentions “One nation, under god”. In court systems, during a trial, they make you swear on the Bible before you testify.