Religion
in the
In most western societies, the last one hundred years have
been characterized by an increasing trend of
secularization,
which means that religion plays a far less influential role in social and
cultural life than it used to. In Europe, a growing number of people describe
themselves as nonreligious, atheist (denying the existence of God) or agnostic(uncertain about the existence of God). Far
less people go to church every Sunday than 50 or especially 100 years ago, and many
people declare that they practice their faith “in their own way,” that is,
outside any organized church. Education and marriage have long ceased to be the
monopoly of churches, as most countries created the institution of secular
marriage and secular public school system during the late 19th
century. As a result, religion has lost its earlier strong influence over the
moral education and world view of the young. Since divorce became legal and
quite easy to obtain, the majority of marriages is no
longer made “for life.” Sexual habits and morality have been completely
transformed: it is nowadays common that unmarried couples live together for
years without marriage, and more and more children are born outside marriage
too. Although the massive role of Christianity in the history and culture of
Europe is undeniable, many people would protest against the simple description
that European countries are ‘Christian’, arguing that this is discriminative
against the millions of non-Christian or non-religious people who live in
Europe today.
While such trends and developments have characterized American society too, the US on the whole has remained far more religious than
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Message at a gas station in Illinois |
Europe. European visitors are often surprised by the fact
that even relatively small towns have a large number of churches representing a
bewildering variety of faiths. Sunday morning is still church going time in
America: the majority of people drive to church or
Sunday school(school providing religious instruction) together with their
families. Most bookstores have an entire section of religious books, mostly
about the Christian way of life, and many of these publications sell in
impressive numbers. Bibles continue to be the nation's best-selling books. There
are billboards along the highway with religious messages; people display their
faith with such bumper stickers as “Jesus Saves.” American currency bears the
inscription “In God We Trust.” It is a common habit of politicians of both major
parties to finish their public speeches with the phrase: “God Bless America.”
Such subjective impressions are supported by statistics.
Although the Census Bureau is forbidden by law to ask questions about the
religious affiliation of Americans, private research institutions do publish
statistical surveys about the role of religion in the US. According to the
Fourth National Survey of Religion and Politics (see
)
conducted in 2004, for example, only 16% of respondents described themselves as
‘unaffiliated’ (not belonging to any church), but even 5% of the latter group
said they believe in God “in their own way”. This means that more than almost 90%
of people who answered the questions identified themselves as believers, and
84% are associated with a church. The survey published the following categories
and figures (their meaning will be explained below):
|
Evangelical Protestant |
26.3% |
|
Mainline Protestant |
16.0% |
|
Latino Protestant |
2.8% |
|
Black Protestant |
9.6% |
|
Catholic (incl. Latino Catholic) |
22.0% |
|
Other Christian |
2.7% |
|
Jewish |
1.9% |
|
Other faiths |
2.7% |
|
Unaffiliated believers
|
5.3% |
|
Secular |
7.5% |
|
Atheists, Agnostics |
3.2% |
As these figures show, the majority of Americans (about
55%) belong to one of the many
Protestant
denominations.
(The term ‘denomination’ means a religious group or sect; it is used as an
official synonym of ‘church’, which might mean a building as well as a distinct
organization.) Their proportion was significantly higher in the past: half a
century ago, an estimated two-thirds of the population was Protestant, and in
the 19th century, Protestantism was even more dominant. One reason
for the relative decline of Protestant influence is the high level of
immigration into the US, since the majority of immigrants come from Catholic
countries, especially from Latin America. Catholicscurrently constitute slightly less than
one-fourth of the American population, and their proportion is growing, due partly
to immigration, and partly to their higher average birth rate. Catholicism is already
the largest single denomination in the US, since Protestants belong to more than
one hundred larger and smaller denominations.
After Protestants and Catholics, the third largest faith
is
Judaism,
the religion of the Jews. Their proportion is currently below 2%, which
represents a decline, partly because Jews no longer immigrate in large numbers
to the US (as they did in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries), and partly because secularization affects Jewish communities too,
and today a large proportion (maybe the majority) of ethnic Jews do not
practice the ancient faith.
In the table above, there are two general categories: “Other Christians” and “Other faiths”. Both include a large number of small groups. The “Other Christians” include Orthodox churches (mostly the descendants of Eastern and Southern European immigrants, such as Russians, Serbs, Romanians, Greeks, Armenians etc.), whose origins go back to early Christianity, as well as recent independent Christian groups often founded in the US, such as the Latter-Day Saints (better known as the Mormons), Jehova’s Witnesses, and other diverse groups.
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Message of religious tolerance on the back of a truck |
“Other faiths” include non-Christian groups other than
Jews, such as Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, but also recent organizations such as
Scientology.
As the figures clearly show, American society is
characterized by an unusual level of religious diversity. Even though
Christians represent the overwhelming majority (about 80%), there is an enormous
variety of churches and denominations, so no single religious group may claim
to represent the dominant part in American society.
Sociologists usually emphasize the role of local
congregations as cohesive social institutions: the average American family
moves to a new place several times in their life, and their integration in the
new environment is much assisted by the local church group. The churches also
have a very important social role as they maintain schools, colleges, and
hospitals, organize charity action to help the local poor, give aid to Third
World countries, etc.
Since this diversity, albeit to a smaller extent, has
always been typical of Americans, one of the cornerstones of the independent
United States is freedom of religion. The religious clauses of the
First
Amendment of the Constitution laid down the two complementary rules. On the
one hand, Congress must not establish any church, which means that no church
can be declared official and supported by the federal government with laws and
money (as opposed to Great Britain). On the other hand, Congress and the
federal government must not discriminate against or persecute anybody for their
religious faith. These rules have been later extended to all levels of
government, including states, cities and towns, and reinforced by a number of
decisions by the
Supreme Court.
Of course, this does not mean that Americans have always
been tolerant with people of different faiths. In the second half of the 19th
century, the Protestant majority of ‘old Americans’ were shocked to see the
large number of Catholic and Jewish immigrants flocking into the country, and Anti-Catholicism
and Anti-Semitism characterized large segments of the population. Similarly, followers
of old and well-established churches watched suspiciously as new ‘sects’ were
founded, often by a charismatic leader: for instance,
Joseph Smith,
founder of the Mormon church was lynched by an angry mob in 1844. But such
negative sentiments never entered official government policy: authorities
allowed each group to settle down, build their own churches, and follow their
own faith as long as it did not conflict with state or federal laws (as it happened
with the polygamy of Mormons, for instance). This long-standing tolerance of
the American government attracted millions of people into the country over the
years, many of which fled their homeland because they could not practice their
religion freely and openly at home. The Massachusetts Puritans in the 17th
century, the German Protestants of Pennsylvania in the 18th century,
the Irish Catholics and the Jews in the 19th century, or Christians
of all sorts from Communist countries in the 20th century were all
driven by the same desire for freedom of religious practice.
The fact that the Constitution forbade the government to prefer
or discriminate against any church (this idea is called
separation of church and state) has significantly influenced the
relationship between religion and the government in the US. For example, there
are no legal or official religious holidays in the US. Christmas and Easter are
important religious holidays for the millions of American Christians, but they
cannot be made official federal or state holidays, because that would amount to
a preference for Christianity over non-Christian religions and so it would
offend the First Amendment. (An interesting consequence of this religious neutrality
is that American greeting cards often carry the message “Happy Holidays!” or
“Season’s Greetings” instead of “Merry Christmas!” or “Happy Easter!”) All
religious organizations are free from all taxation, because taxes could be used
as a tool of political discrimination and pressure. On the other hand, no level
of government may provide any financial resources for religious purposes,
because that would also raise the suspicion that the city or the state
government favors certain churches over others. As a result, denominations
support themselves entirely from the donations of their followers and private
business operations (e.g. publications, lease of property
etc.). Donations are tax-deductable, but churches receive them directly from
individuals, not from the government (
so it is impossible for tax-payers to
direct 1% of their taxes to a church, for example, as in Hungary). Sectarian
schools do not receive any government money either; they maintain themselves
from tuition fees and money provided by the church or its members ( unlike in
Hungary where the government finances sectarian schools as well). The
separation of church and state is sometimes interpreted so strictly that it
might appear funny for a European. For example,
Supreme Court decisions forbade public schools (which are maintained from
taxpayers’ money) to allow religious instruction on their premises (even after
school time is over), to say public prayers, even to display the Ten
Commandments on classroom walls. In one case, even a Christmas display in
December was declared unconstitutional by the Court, because it was placed
inside the city hall (a local government building)!
Such severe restrictions look strange especially because religion
has always pervaded American political life. Despite the
stringent bans mentioned above, it is considered completely normal that the word
‘God’ appears on dollar bills, in the motto of the seal of the United States, or
in the
Pledge of Allegiance
to the American flag, which is recited by millions of schoolkids every morning
in public and private schools alike. During the inauguration ceremony,
the new president takes his oath of office on the Bible, and the speakers on the
occasion always include a minister who delivers a non-denominational
benediction. Every session of Congress opens with a non-denominational prayer.
Politicians frequently make reference to God and the Bible in their speeches.
They do all this with a clear political purpose: in a society where so many
people value faith in God and religion, politicians send a positive message
about their own character and their purposes if they use religious language or
religious metaphors. But they are expected not to display any personal bias in
favour of a denomination or a faith, and usually they do not emphasize their own
religious preferences (especially if it clashes with some of the policies they
support). Nonetheless, it is a telling fact that all the American Presidents
have been active church goers, and all of them belonged to a Protestant
denomination with the exception of the Catholic
John F. Kennedy.
America’s religious roots are predominantly Protestant.
The first English settlers in Virginia were mostly Anglican (the established
church at the time), while the earliest settlers of New England were
Puritans,
a minority Protestant sect in England in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries. Puritans were radical reformers who criticized the Church of England
for preserving many of the traditions and ceremonies of the hated Catholic
church, and demanded strict religious discipline in private life too. They thought
of themselves as God’s chosen people, and believed that God had elected, or
“predestined,” only certain persons to be saved. Although nobody could be sure
of salvation while on Earth, they viewed success and prosperity as an outward
sign that God was pleased with them and counted them among the saved. Many
people trace the American drive for success through hard work back to this
Puritan, or Protestant, work ethic.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, Protestants
of many denominations immigrated to America from all over Europe, including
Presbyterians from Scotland and Northern Ireland, Lutherans from Germany and
Scandinavia, Baptists and Methodists from England, and members of various
European Reformed Churches (among them
Hungarian Calvinists). The followers of
these churches often quarreled among themselves over theological and practical
issues and split up, forming several similarly named denominations that are
almost impossible to be distinguished from one another by the outsider.
The
term
Mainstream or Mainline Protestants
is usually applied to the denominations that are the descendants of these old
Protestant churches. The most important Mainline Protestant churches include:
The
Congregationalists, the denomination descended from the New
England Puritans. In 1957 they united with other Reformed groups to form the
United Church of Christ).
Nowadays, they are a rather small group in the US, with less than 2 million
followers (below 1% of US population).
The
Episcopalians,
the American branch of the Anglican Communion (they adopted the name ‘Episcopal
Church’ in the USA because the name ‘Anglican became unpopular after the US
gained its independence from Britain). Their estimated membership is about 4.8 million (1.7% of US population).
The
Lutherans, the oldest branch of Protestantism, founded by
Martin Luther
in Germany and brought to America by German and Scandinavian immigrants. The
various Lutheran denominations together include about 13.5
million followers (4.6% of US population), which makes Lutherans the third
largest Protestant group in the country.
The
Presbyterians, a form of Calvinism of Scottish or
Northern Irish origin. They are also divided into a lot of different
denominations, whose combined membership is close to 8 million (2.7% of US population).
The
Baptists,
whose origin goes back to 17th century England, but the church grew
really large from the 18th century in the USA. The Baptists are
distinguished from other Protestant churches primarily by their belief that
only adults should be baptized. Baptists of various denominations constitute
the largest Protestant group in the US, having an estimated 47 million
followers, over 16% of the total population. They are the dominant faith in the
South, where they are organized in separate white and black congregations.
The
Methodists,
another church of English origin, founded in the 18th century by
John Wesley,
originally an Anglican clergyman, who came under the influence of Arminianism.
Methodists mix Anglican and Calvinist ideas in their theology but firmly reject
the Calvinist doctrine of predestination. The various Methodist denominations
together have about 20 million followers (6.8% of US
population), making Methodism the second largest Protestant group.
Besides their long history, Mainline Protestants share
other similarities, primarily in their moderate – critics would call it liberal
– theologies. Mainline Protestant churches tend to emphasize the communal role
of faith and give relatively little attention to doctrines. They believe that
church doctrines should be adapted to social and historical changes but without
abandoning the historical basis of Protestant Christianity. They tend to accept
different and non-literal interpretations of the Bible, arguing that the
biblical text should be read with its historical and cultural context in mind,
and criticized by using man’s God-given reason. They are open to similar-minded
but historically different denominations; many of these mainline denominations
established full communion with one another, accepting each other’s ministers,
theological degrees etc. Most of them accept women as ministers, and treat gays
and lesbians with a certain degree of tolerance. The term ‘mainline’ was
originally invented to suggest that these denominations together gave the
majority, the ‘norm’ of Protestantism in the US. However, as the table above
showed, this is no longer true: most Mainline
Protestant churches are in decline, whereas Evangelical Protestant churches are
growing, and have become the largest segment of American Protestantism.
The other major group of Protestant denominations is called
Evangelical Protestants.
The term might be misleading for Hungarians, since
evangélikus in Hungarian is the name of the Hungarian Lutheran
Church (some of the Lutheran denominations in the US also call themselves
‘Evangelical’). But in English, the adjective does not identify a specific
Protestant group but rather a general attitude to
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Allegedly "the biggest Crucifix in the Western Hemisphere" in rural West Texas |
Christian faith. The origin
of the term goes back to the Greek euangelion
(‘good news’), the name of the four Gospelsof the New Testament. So the adjective
‘Evangelical’ was meant to emphasize that these Protestant groups wish to
return to the original word of the Bible and build their faith and religious
life on it. The idea has important theological consequences. Evangelical
churches are traditionalist or fundamentalist in their theologies, refusing to
give up or modify certain doctrines that are no longer considered
unquestionable by mainline churches. These doctrines include
the inerrancy of the Bible (the books of the Bible are inerrant, cannot contain
any errors, therefore the Bible is the ultimate authority in all questions of
faith and moral life), the belief in the existence of heaven and hell, the
expectation of Christ’s Second Coming in the near future, and the necessity of
a personal conversion of each Christian, a kind of spiritual rebirth with the
help of Jesus (the so-called ‘born again’
experience). Evangelicals
also emphasize personal devotion (active participation in church and community
life), the spreading of the true faith among others (it is almost always
understood as converting others to their version of Christianity), and
representing Christian values and principles in public life. As a result of
these convictions, Evangelical Christians tend to dislike Mainline Protestants
(they call them ‘liberal churches’ and see them as groups who strayed from the
‘true faith’) and have little tolerance for groups who represent different or
opposing views in religion or public life (e.g.
Catholics, Jews, liberals, abortion advocates, gay and lesbian groups, etc.).
Nowadays, Evangelical Protestants constitute a strong basis of support for the
Republican Party (see
The Republican Party).
None of the traditional Protestant groups listed above can be entirely separated from Evangelical Protestantism. Practically each of the traditional mainline groups have one or more splinter denomination that follow Evangelical theological ideas, so the dividing lines run not so much between different Protestant traditions, but between different denominations within the same tradition. For instance, the largest Baptist denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, has a fundamentalist theological orientation, so the majority of Baptists should be considered Evangelical rather than Mainline. There are also many small and strongly fundamentalist Protestant denominations, such as the Mennonites and the Amish, whose origins go back to the German Anabaptists of the 16th century, or the Pentecostals, who believe that true conversion to Christianity may only occur with the help of the Holy Spirit, and its outward sign is speaking in tongues.
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Bookstore of the Church of God in Christ, a Pentecostal Protestant denomination, in Memphis, TN |
Worship services of Evangelical churches
are usually less formal and liturgical than services of Mainline Protestants,
and their followers usually consist of lower-income groups. Both of these
factors, as well as the active missionary work in society and their simple and
powerful message offering a solution to people struggling with personal
problems, contribute to the rising popularity of Evangelical groups, usually at
the expense of Mainline Protestants.
Since there is such a variety of Protestant churches in
the US, it is difficult to characterize them as a group. One common feature is
that they usually lack formal priesthood:
ministers(who are addressed as the
ReverendJohn Taylor, for example) are trained in
schools of theology, but they are not considered a group of people with unique
gifts (like priests in Catholic and Orthodox churches), only more learned and
knowledgeable about Christian doctrine. They are allowed – in fact, expected –
to be married and have children to set a positive moral example to their
congregations. Mainline Protestants accept both
men and women as ministers, but conservative Evangelicals usually exclude women
from the ministry. Most Protestants reject the visual representation of Christ
inside the church as a form of idolatry forbidden by the Bible. Therefore the visual
appearance of Protestant churches is typically simple and undecorated, lacking
the colorful frescoes, pictures and statues of Catholic and Orthodox churches, looking
more like lecture halls than a place of worship. Church
services are usually informal, not having so strict liturgical rules as
Catholic or Orthodox service: they almost always include singing of
psalmsor
gospels(in this sense, the word means church music
especially popular among Protestant blacks) as well as communal prayers, but
Americans are not surprised, for example, if a member tells about their
experience in a foreign country as part of the Sunday service.
Catholics (
) constitute the second largest religious group in
the US, and in the second half of the 20th century, especially since
the 1970s, their number and proportion has been rapidly growing in US society,
as a result of the large-scale immigration of Catholic Hispanics from Latin
America.
The first Catholics in America were missionaries from
Spain and France. In the 16th and 17th centuries, they
set up churches in what is now
Texas,
New Mexico,
California,
and
Florida. In the 17th century Catholics from England
settled the colony of
Maryland. But the greatest influx of Catholics to America
occurred in the 19th century. Catholics emigrated to the United
States from Ireland and Germany between 1840s and 1880s, and from Eastern and
Southern Europe, especially from Italy and the territory of Poland, but also
from
Hungary and the territory of modern Czech Republic and Slovakia, between the
1890s and the 1920s. Until the early 20th century, however, American
society remained predominantly white Protestant.
White Anglo-Saxon Protestants
(WASPs) set the basic character of national life and were often intolerant of
Catholics despite the official government policy of the freedom of religious
practice.
The minority position of the Catholic church in the US has
left its mark on the character and the social position of the church. Among
‘old Americans’ (earlier Protestant immigrants), Catholicism was considered a
religion which is somehow alien from the American spirit and American values.
The
Ku Klux Klan, the infamous
terrorist organization in the South, whose original aim was the maintenance of
the segregation and inferior position of blacks, also publicly incited hatred
against Catholics and Jews. The Catholic faith is still associated in the US
with certain typical ethnic backgrounds: mostly Irish, Italian, Polish, or
Hispanic. These ethnic groups were typically poor and often discriminated or
unofficially segregated by the Protestant majority, therefore they looked to the
church for help. As a result, American Catholics became the supporters of the
Democratic Party, which was more sensitive to the needs of the poor than the
Republicans. Also, American Catholics have traditionally been more liberal in
social and cultural issues than Protestants, especially Evangelical Protestants.
For instance, most Catholics opposed the
Prohibition
of alcohol in the 1920s. For most American Catholics it was a historic
breakthrough when
John F. Kennedy became the first and so far the only Catholic
to be elected President of the United States in 1960; his victory at the
election symbolized the acceptance of Catholics as full and equal members of
American society.
The relatively liberal views of the American Catholic
church has caused occasional controversies with the Vatican, especially since
the 1980s, since many American Catholics resent some of the official policies
of the church. Opinion polls show that the a significant proportion of American
Catholics disagree with the church’s opposition to birth control, while they would
support such reforms as the marriage of priests or the ordination of women. In
the early 2000s, the American church was severely shaken by a series of media
revelations about the sexual abuse of young boys by priests (for details, see
). These cases
happened in various places decades ago, but they were hushed up by church
leaders, and the priests were allowed to stay in office, which dismayed members
of the church.
Jews constitute about 2 per cent
of the US population. Many Jews came to America during the late 19th
and early 20th centuries, mostly from Eastern Europe (the Russian
Empire, Germany or
Austria-Hungary) to escape persecution or simply to find
better opportunities in a society where freedom of religion was strict law.
Similarly to Catholics, Jews often encountered hostility and prejudice,
especially before World War II. Despite that, they became very successful in
many areas of life, for example Jews of various origins played a crucial role
in the development of the American movie industry.
Today, the largest concentration of Jews is in New York
City, but also many Jews live in Southern California. The majority of Jews have
become more or less secularized: they either do not practice their faith any
more, or belong to one of the many liberal denominations within
Judaism,
which makes few demands on followers. But orthodox Judaism is also present in
the US. In fact, after the almost complete destruction of European orthodox
Jewish communities by the Nazis, the US has the second largest concentration of
orthodox Jews after Israel.
Yiddish,
originally the language of Ashkenazi Jews living in Eastern Europe, survived
more in the US than in Europe.
The
Holocaust has dramatically changed the perception of
Jews in the US. Anti-Semitism has practically disappeared from public life and
politics, and, mostly under the influence of Jewish lobby organizations, the US
became the strongest supporter and political ally of Israel.
There is a particular Christian religious group in the US
whose origins are also American, and that is the Mormon church, or, in their official name, the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
They are not just another Protestant group, since they have developed a
distinctive theology on their own, which disagrees with several basic tenets of
traditional Christianity.
The church was founded by
Joseph Smith,
a young and uneducated man, who claimed that he had
received revelations from the angel Moroni from 1823 onwards. The angel finally
led him to find a set of buried golden plates in 1827, written by the prophet
Mormon, which contained the history of certain Hebrew tribes: they sailed to
North America before the birth of Christ and became the ancestors of American
Indians. Smith allegedly translated the text with divine help and inspiration,
and published it as
the Book of Mormon in 1830. He soon found a group of
followers who called him a modern-day Prophet and venerated his ‘inspired’
translation of the Bible (in fact, an imaginative revision) and the Book of
Mormon as sacred. Smith and his group wanted to found their city first in
various places in the Midwest, but they were received with suspicion and
hostility due to their unorthodox religion, which included polygamy(having more than one wife). Finally, he was killed
by an angry mob in an Illinois jail in 1844.
After his death, the group's leadership was taken over by
Brigham Young,
who decided to find a new home in the West. They managed to cross the Rockies
and settled at the Great Salt Lake in present Utah. In this semi-desert area,
under incredible hardships, they managed to establish a prosperous agricultural
and mining community, but they were not admitted to the Union until they agreed
to renounce polygamy in 1890 (although many Mormons are still said to practice
it). Mormonism is still the predominant church in Utah, and they have some 3
million followers in the US, or about 1% of the population. The church is very
rich, since each member is expected to donate one-tenth of its income to the
church. The moral code of Mormons is strict: they are forbidden to smoke, to
drink alcohol, coffee or tea, expected to work hard and live virtuously. Each
man is expected to spend a period of time abroad as missionary, where they
should work hard to spread their faith. As a result, Mormon missionaries can be
regularly seen in their black suits, black ties and white shirt in Hungarian
city streets too.
The most controversial
feature of Mormons is their acceptance of the Book of Mormon and two other books
as parts of the Holy Scripture. These books contain the letters, translations
and revelations of Joseph Smith and other early prophets of the church. The
church’s current president is always considered God’s Prophet, who is assisted
by the so-called Apostles, or high-ranking church leaders. They believe in the
Godhead instead of the Trinity. These features of Mormonism are unique within
Christianity, and they have provoked a lot of criticism from other Christian
denominations, many of which consider Mormons to be altogether outside the
acceptable
agnostic
atheist
Baptist
Book of Mormon
born again Christian
Catholic
congregation
Congregationalist
Episcopalian
Evangelical Protestant
freedom of religion
gospel
Gospels
idolatry
Judaism
Ku Klux Klan
Lutherans
Mainstream or Mainline Protestant
Methodist
minister
Mormon church
Mormon
nonreligious
Orthodox churches
polygamy
Presbyterian
Protestant denominations
psalms
Puritans
secularization
separation of church and state
speaking in tongues (glossolalia)
Sunday school
Reverend
work ethic
Sources:
John C. Green, "The American Religious Landscape and Political Attitudes: A
Baseline for 2004"
Largest Religious Groups in the USA:
E. Fiedler―R. Jansen―M. Norman-Risch, America in Close-Up. 2nd Edition. London: Longman, 2001.
Leonard W. Levy, The Establishment Clause: Religion and the First Amendment. New York: Macmillan, 1986.