Conclusion: Religion’s place in America When America was first started, our founding fathers wanted a separation of church and government. They also wanted their people to have the right to practice any religion. But in its own public life, the U.S. has lost its own religious character (Wolfe 247). After all though, our country is the only society in which a presidential candidate can list Jesus Christ as a philosopher whose ideas impacted them greatly. A court in San Francisco must try to decide whether or not “under god” should be in the pledge of allegiance. The constitution states that the government should not endorse anyone religion. Whether or not the “under god” in the pledge is an endorsement of religion is controversial. U.S. government has used religion to their advantage in many circumstances. They changed the nation’s motto to “In God we trust” and added “under god” into the pledge in the 50’s and 60’s. This was a ploy during the Cold War, they used these changes to make the U.S. more religious and conservative nation. This was propaganda so that people would view liberalism and communism as absolutely terrible. Now churches view liberalists as the direct enemy of the church. Liberationists want religious people to be tolerant and less conservative. To be completely realistic there is not a single form of liberalism that will make everyone happy. With some versions, religious people will be completely against ideas presented. One cannot deny that the U.S. is religious. But most Americans lack knowledge of the religion they practice and the details of legislation and the policies they vote on. Some people vote blindly just because their religion is against it. The changes in religion and different denominations are a result of modernization. Soon a religious person in America will have more in common with secular Americans than other people who practice the same religion in a different country. Even though it was intended differently, it obvious to see religion has some part in government.
Works Cited
Wolfe, Alan. The Transformation of American Religion: How We Actually Live Our Faith. New York: Free, 2003. Print.
When America was first started, our founding fathers wanted a separation of church and government. They also wanted their people to have the right to practice any religion. But in its own public life, the U.S. has lost its own religious character (Wolfe 247). After all though, our country is the only society in which a presidential candidate can list Jesus Christ as a philosopher whose ideas impacted them greatly. A court in San Francisco must try to decide whether or not “under god” should be in the pledge of allegiance. The constitution states that the government should not endorse anyone religion. Whether or not the “under god” in the pledge is an endorsement of religion is controversial. U.S. government has used religion to their advantage in many circumstances. They changed the nation’s motto to “In God we trust” and added “under god” into the pledge in the 50’s and 60’s. This was a ploy during the Cold War, they used these changes to make the U.S. more religious and conservative nation. This was propaganda so that people would view liberalism and communism as absolutely terrible. Now churches view liberalists as the direct enemy of the church. Liberationists want religious people to be tolerant and less conservative. To be completely realistic there is not a single form of liberalism that will make everyone happy. With some versions, religious people will be completely against ideas presented.
One cannot deny that the U.S. is religious. But most Americans lack knowledge of the religion they practice and the details of legislation and the policies they vote on. Some people vote blindly just because their religion is against it. The changes in religion and different denominations are a result of modernization. Soon a religious person in America will have more in common with secular Americans than other people who practice the same religion in a different country. Even though it was intended differently, it obvious to see religion has some part in government.
Works Cited
Wolfe, Alan. The Transformation of American Religion: How We Actually Live Our Faith. New York: Free, 2003. Print.