Unique American Culture: Religion & Belief Tolerance - Essay Sample

Introduction

Culture encompasses aspects such as food, religion, art, clothes, beliefs and religion, marriage, language, and morals. It also involves aspects such as how we greet visitors as well as how we interact with our loved ones. Some of these aspects are, however, common in some other cultures, but some are specific to our culture. One of the elements of American culture that is unique is the religion and belief tolerance.

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The United States is the third-largest country in the World, and apart from the Native Americans, the population consists of immigrants from all over the globe (Zimmermann). The country is, therefore, among the top, diverse countries in the World. Different cultures have therefore influenced the culture, which in return as an impact in the World. Different groups of people in the United States have their religion as well as religious belief, and they are all allowed to worship. Although Christians are many as compared to other religions in America, non-Christians are also represented by a significant percentage.

The first religion in America was Christianity in the seventieth century, where Christianity was introduced by the Europeans with the first church belonging to the Roman Catholic Church. The Americans began to resist by coming up with their religions to counter Christianity (Pasquier 28). The Roman Catholic Church later split into Protestants churches with different perspectives on the Christian religious group. The meaning of religion as remained, but the churches have evolved by embracing different cultures and practicing religion differently. The splitting of the Roman Catholic Church is associated with conflict of the leaders in terms of how the church was to be run. More religious denominations continue to come up as people believe that there is a better way to run the Christian faith.

The religious culture of the American people is such that people have the freedom of worship regardless of their faith or religious group. The different religions in America may be taken for granted by the Americans. Still, it is not a common thing in different parts of the world that have restrictions in terms of the religions allowed in such countries. The religions in America include Christianity, which is the dominant religion representing 73% of the total population (Pasquier 24). Other religions in America include Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and other smaller religions with little following. The American people have a culture of tolerance of people of different religions and respecting them and their religion.

There were no many religions in the United States before the colonization; the religions have been brought by the immigrants who have migrated to America and have continued with their culture and religious beliefs (Pasquier 33). People have different opinions regarding the different religions, although they respect the right of the religion of other people. Religion affects the relationships of the people where people with common religion share common ideas; hence they are more likely to be friends than people from different religions. The origin of the person living in America is also likely to influence their religion because of the cultural background.

Religion in America began normally when there were a few religions, over the years religion has transformed where there are those who have changed their views, and others don't consider it has important has it used to be (Pasquier 53). The number of atheists is increasing, where more people no longer believe in religion. The change in beliefs is associated while the coming of many religions in America that have contradicting views. The advancement in technology has also made people begin to doubt the existence of God. More religions will continue to come up in America has the world become globalized, and people migrate to America with different beliefs and cultures.

American's Christian identity is gradually changing with the White Christians who were dominant at one time, becoming fewer. White Christians are now fewer than half of the adult population living in the United States of America. As of 2007, the majority of the people living in 39 states were White Christians. As of 207, the statistics had changed. White Christians comprised only 43 percent, while 30 percent comprised white protestant (Thompson). Additionally, white evangelical Protestants are significantly decreasing, and the non-Christian religion is growing. In some states, the number of residents who have no religious affiliation is greater than believers of any religion.

Religious pluralism in the United States is as a result of immigration. The immigrants had the liberty of freedom as they were not compelled to belong to the existing religions (Thompson). The immigrants introduced new expressions and religions, thus increasing the number of religions in the country. As a result of religious liberty, many Christian denominations started and churches such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This church belongs to the Mormonism religion, who believes that God and all other humans are equal and necessary beings. The freedom to belong to any religious affiliation is what makes the American religion unique.

The respect and tolerance of different regions in America are important to the people because it brings diversity if faiths and perspectives regarding God; hence the people get the opportunity to join the religion of their choice that the person agrees with (Pasquier 60). The different religions have different beliefs; there is the freedom to join any religion of choice. The people consider religion to be important because they believe that their God will solve their problems and that there is life after death; hence they will go back to God after death. Religion is also an important factor to the people where they believe that the supernatural being will punish the people who do not believe in him through worship.

Religion is also important to the American culture because it gives the people the sense of purpose where they get the meaning why they live. The different religions guides the people on how they are supposed to live, the believers consider religion so important that they want to live according to the requirements of their religion (Pasquier 75). The people belief that if they don't follow the teachings of the religion they will be punished by the head of their religion hence they try and comply with the requirements. People belief that the teachings of their religions is the correct thing to belief in and anyone who challenges the beliefs is wrong and evil.

Conclusion

In conclusion, religious tolerance that stands out in the American culture. In America, there is religious liberty, so people are free to belong to any religious affiliation. Apart from Christianity, there are other religions such as Islamic, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism as well as lack of affiliation to any religion. Freedom has led to an increase in the number of churches as well as in the number of people who are religiously unaffiliated.

Works Cited

Pasquier, Michael. Religion in America: the basics. Taylor & Francis, 2016.Thompson, Derek. "Three Decades Ago, America Lost Its Religion. Why?". The Atlantic, 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/atheism-fastest-growing-religion-us/598843/.

Zimmermann, Kim. "American Culture: Traditions And Customs Of The United States." Livescience.Com, 2017, https://www.livescience.com/28945-american-culture.html.