The impact of Religion on U.S. Politics and Society

A society permeated by a religious ethic of all influences

IntroductionOmnipresence of Religion in U.S.

• Entertainment Industry (Hollywood & Broadway) using biblical stories(e.g. 10 Commandments, Jesus Christ Superstar, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of Christ)

• Religion present in daily life (e.g. national prayer day, Thanksgiving, references to God on money, etc.)

• US the only highly developed country where religious practices are so widespread (e.g. Places of Worship reach 300,000 , play role of social congregation)

I. Separation of Church and State: A secular State

II. Religion in EducationIII. Religion and Politics (civil rights,

election campaigns)IV. Religion as a unifying and divisive

factor in the U.S

A. a secular state, a civil religion• “In God We Trust”• Civil Values“The fact that we have freedom of religion does not mean we need to try to have freedom from religion." The Culture of Disbelief, Stephen Carter, 1994

• Freedom of religion guaranteed under the Constitution1st Amendment to the U.S. Consitution (Bill of Rights)“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...”Article VI:

“no religious test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."

I. Separation of church and state

Principle of complete separation of church and state originated in Virginia, 1786, written by Thomas Jefferson:

“Almighty God hath created the mind free,” the act provided that “no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever.”

B. Religious Freedom and the Founding Fathers

Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, 1776

Preamble to the Declaration of Independence

“When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of nature and of Nature’s God entitle them a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

Jefferson was a child of the Enlightenment, and his own religious views as an adult, which he tended to keep to himself, never conformed neatly with those of any denomination. But on grounds of principle he was welcoming of religious pluralism: The way to truth, he believed, was to let all beliefs contend--freely, and out in the open. The practical side of Jefferson also acknowledged that, because religion is in fact a social force, it must be socially accommodated. Whatever the pillars of his thinking, Jefferson, a member in good standing of what today would be called the "cultural elite," held religion to be at once salubrious and relevant.

Source: Religion and the Cultural Eliteby Cullen Murphy, 1994

II. Religion in EducationWhat role does the Christian religion play in the American educational system?

A. prayer in schoolsB. spiritualism not theologyC. Evolution vs. Creationism

A. Supreme Court Rulings re Prayer in Schools

Landmark Decision: Engel vs. Vitale 1962"Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country. Amen.“Court ruled that government-written prayers were not to be recited in public schools and were an unconstitutional violation of the Establishment Clause (1st Amendment). Subsequent Cases:Wallace vs. Jaffree (1985), Supreme Court ruled Alabama's law permitting one minute for prayer or meditation was unconstitutional.Lee vs. Weisman (1992), the court prohibited clergy-led prayer at middle school graduation ceremonies. Santa Fe ISD vs. Doe (2000), the Court extended the ban to school-organized student-led prayer at high school football games.

Daily Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag in public schools since 1893

Religion and Higher Education:Stanford University’s Memorial Church

Teaching Creationism in Schools

Modern Version: Intelligent Design vs. Evolution

Scope’s Monkey Trial

• The jury sided with the law. Clearly, Scopes was in violation of Tennessee statute by teaching that humans descended from monkeys. He was fined $100 and released. But the battle that played out before the nation proved a victory for supporters of evolutionary theory. A later court dismissed the fine imposed on Scopes, though in the short term, the antievolution law was upheld.

• Video: Scopes Monkey Trial (0’41-14’)

A. Civil Rights MovementB. Election Campaigns 1960 and

2008C. Religious influence on Politics

III. Religion and Politics

A. Churches committed to civil rights for blacks

–Church is only refuge for blacks • victims of racism and segregation

– Found black churches• (schools, newspapers, banks follow)

–Gospel music: source of solace• Video: American Experience Freedom Riders: Music

SCLC: Southern Christian Leadership Council

• led by Martin Luther King, Jr., founded in 1957– struggled to gain footholds in black churches and

communities across the South. – Social activism in favor of racial equality faced fierce

repression. – Only a few churches had the courage to defy the white-

dominated status-quo by affiliating with SCLC, and those that did risked economic retaliation against pastors and other church leaders, arson, and bombings.

Final speech before his assasination in 1968: I’ve been to the Mountaintop”

MLK speech I've been to the Mountain top"

B. Presidential Election Campaigns

• 1960 Elections– John F. Kennedy

• 1984 & 1988 Elections– Jesse Jackson and Black Churches

• 2008 & 2012 Elections– Barrack Obama

Fear of CatholicismIn 1960, Presidential campaign historian Theodore H.

White observed that “the largest and most important division in American society was that between Protestants and Catholics.”

As a vital part of American Protestant life, evangelicalism reflected the strains of this conflict.

Anti-Catholicism, according to church historianGeorge Marsden, “was simply an unquestioned part

of the fundamentalist-evangelicalism of the day.”

Kennedy and CatholicismThe 1960 election of John F. Kennedy

In 1960, anti-Catholicism was notmerely an evangelical phenomenon. Itwas an American phenomenon. Bothsecularists and Christians, both evan-

gelicals and non-evangelical Protestants,worried about the universal claims of

Rome. The prospect of having a RomanCatholic president frightened many. Forthis reason John F. Kennedy’s candidacy

in the 1960 presidential election caused amajor controversy.

In his speech Kennedy said that he believed in an America “where the separation of church and state is absolute—where no Catholic prelate would tell the President how to act and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners how to vote.”

• Video: JFK’s speech in Houston, TX, Sept 12, 1960 on separation of church and state

Jesse Jackson: Black Churches and Politics

Jesse Jackson• American civil rights activist and Baptist minister – Participated in Selma march with MLK– Headed SCLC office in Chicago– PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) leader

• Candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988

• 1988 “The Year of Jackson”; the rainbow coalition

2008 Election

Video: Obama swearing on Lincoln’s bible for inauguration in 2008 “I solemnly swear…so help me God.”

Obama’s faith based outreach:

2008 Campaign: Faith based Outreach Plans

CNN Video Obama works to Mobilize Christian Left

NPR radio: Evangelical leaders blasts Obama

2012 Elections

C. Religious Influence on Politics• George W. Bush at the National Cathedral

“Washington National Cathedral is called to serve as the spiritual home for the nation. The Cathedral is a national treasure and an architectural feat, a place of stunning beauty built to inspire. Inside, artwork and exhibits tell the American story of faith. Outside, you can explore gardens and grounds shared with three outstanding schools—or peer with gargoyles from the city’s highest point.This is a place for spiritual enrichment above all, whether you come here for worship, a concert, a pilgrimage, or an insightful program. It is a place open to all.It is open to you.”

Video: Post 9/11 speech at the National Cathedral 10’

“The warm courage of national American unity. This is the unity of every faith and every background.”

III. Religion as a unifying and divisive factor in American society

A. WASP America (White Anglo-Saxon protestants)

B. Televangelists and mega-churchesC. The Factors that Divide – social issues

A. WASP America

• A Country Built on a Religious World Vision• A nation founded by protestants coming from

Europe• To what extent is the protestant religion

inseparable from the history of American society?

Christian Values which leave a mark on society

• Individual freedom, moral rigor, definite line between good and evil

• Material success accompanies that of the soul, positive meaning given to wealth

• Charities and Acts of good will towards others (social reform, Prohibition)

• Early 20th c. Conservative Protestants and Catholics reject social change

Modernists vs. Traditionalists and Evolutionists vs. Creationists

B. Televangelists and MegaChurches• Billy Graham• Oral Roberts• Jimmy Swaggart• Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker• Jerry Fallwell• Pat Robertson

Billy Graham

• Known as the Evangelical Pope• After initial animosity, reached out to

Catholics• Spokesman for the Evangelical Movement

Billy Graham’s Crystal Palace in LA

Video: ‘Just Say No’ by Dr. Billy Graham

C. Divisive Factors and Social Causes

2 issues continue to spark division along religious lines:

1. Abortion (Pro-Choice vs. Pro-Life)2. Same-sex Marriage

75% of “religious” Americans against both issues18% of all Americans against both issues

1. Roe vs. WadeUpholding the right to Abortion

Post 9/11 700 Club: Christian TV Show

• Video: Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson on who is to blame for 9/11– According to the Christian Right, who or what is to

blame for 9/11?

2. Same-Sex Marriage• Movement began in 1970’s• November 2013, fourteen states covering 34%

of the US population – issue marriage licenses for same-sex couples

• May 9, 2012, Obama became first US President to publicly declare support for the legalization of same-sex civil marriage

• Opposition by religious right

Religious right and the Tea Party

Videos:-Why American Politics have changed -Top 10 Angry Conservatives

3. Rising Polorization in US Political Life

4.Latest Religious Trends We're growing less and less religiousUniv. of Cal. Berkelery 2013 study:

the US was the least religious it had ever been since the 1930s2013:

20 % of Americans said they had "no religious preference," 1990:

8 % of Americans had no religious preference

• "Clearly, in our society," he writes, "two large groups are talking past one another. One fails to see legitimacy in religious values. The other fails to see legitimacy in irreligion." The fact that these two large groups are talking past one another is not a trivial matter. It has consequences--consequences for the nature of human inquiry and moral discourse; consequences, in practical terms, for the way in which we as a pluralistic polity deal with a host of pressing national concerns. The United States is not, after all, Western Europe, where religious alienation runs through society at all levels--is almost a form of common ground. Here, religious faith remains powerful. According to a recent Gallup Poll, nine out of ten Americans say they have never doubted the existence of God.

Source: Cullen Murphy, “Religion and the Cultural Elite” 1994

1. 33% marriages interreligious2. 40% population change religions3. 80% Americans against intervention of

religion in political life

Religious Tolerance remains fundamental national value