The United States of America: once a small colony, now one of the world’s most powerful nations; a nation that has been fraught with wars, protests and continuous conflicts between religion and state. This essay will investigate the relationship between the religion and state, discuss the states declaration’s about this relationship and the practice of these declarations. Americans, after the September 11 attacks, have marginalised the Muslim community, which is largely due to their Christian origins and misinterpretations of Islam.
Christianity has been in America since the Colonial Era (1600’s - 1700’s), and for over three centuries has dominated and deeply engrained itself into American Society . Islam, however, has only been introduced recently, and this has caused Islamic Believers (or Muslims) residing in America to be misinterpreted. After the September 11 bombings in 2001, there was a huge hatred for Muslims as they were interpreted as a religion that promotes destruction in the name of ‘Jihad’, or as it is often mistranslated as ‘Holy war’ . Although, the meaning of ‘Jihad’ is much wider than just ‘Holy war’, it is an internal struggle, within each Muslim, “…to be a good Muslim as well as advance the cause of Islam.” The Western understanding of ‘jihad’ however has been twisted to become related to terrorism. Whereas, Christians claim to promote the qualities of hard-work, honesty and moderation, and are therefore highly thought of in American Society, not only because of their supposed all encompassing teachings, but also because of their dominance as a religion in the Western World.
In 2000, Christians made up the majority of the population in America. Shown by the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS)...
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Robinson, B. A. (2000, September 26). The Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Retrieved May 29, 2010, from Religious Tolerance: http://www.religioustolerance.org/rfra.htm
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Religion is a part of society that is so closely bound to the rest of one’s life it becomes hard to distinguish what part of religion is actually being portrayed through themselves, or what is being portrayed through their culture and the rest of their society. In Holy Terrors, Bruce Lincoln states that religion is used as a justifiable mean of supporting violence and war throughout time (Lincoln 2). This becomes truly visible in times such as the practice of Jihad, the Reformation, and 9/11. The purpose of this essay is to show that as long as religion is bound to a political and cultural aspect of a community, religious war and destruction will always occur throughout the world. A historical methodology will be deployed in order to gain
The Myth of the Separation of Church and State retrieved on January 7, 2005 from: http://www.noapathy.org/tracts/mythofseparation.html
Christianity’s role in America has rapidly changed over the last decades. Although it is still the most popular religion in the country its power over the people has decreased significantly. However, there are still many misconceptions towards American Christianity and in order to understand the unique nature of this religiously diverse country; one must understand its history and its citizens own views on the matter.
With sounds of youthful laughter, conversations about the students’ weekends, and the shuffling of college ruled paper; students file into their classrooms and find their seats on a typical Monday morning. As the announcements travel throughout the school’s intercoms, the usual “Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance” becomes no longer usual but rather puzzling to some students. “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all.” Confusion passes through some of the student’s minds. With the reoccurrence of “God” in the backdrop of American life, the relationship between church and state has become of little to no matter for American citizens just as it has with American students. While congress makes no law respecting an establishment of religion, the term “freedom of religion” presents itself to no longer be the definition of “free”, while also having its effects on debates today. According to Burt Rieff, in Conflicting Rights and Religious Liberty, “Parents, school officials, politicians, and religious leaders entered the battle over defining the relationship between church and state, transforming constitutional issues into political, religious, and cultural debates” (Rieff). Throughout the 20th century, many have forgotten the meaning of religion and what its effects are on the people of today. With the nonconformist society in today’s culture, religion has placed itself in a category of insignificance. With the many controversies of the world, religion is at a stand still, and is proven to not be as important as it was in the past. Though the United States government is based on separation of church and state, the gover...
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Staver, Mathew D. "Allowing Religious Expression in School Protects Students' Rights." Students' Rights. Ed. Jamuna Carroll. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "New Federal Guidelines a Real Blessing for Public Schools." Liberator Mar. 2003: 1-4. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.
To open this discussion, I would like to start with the civil liberty of freedom of religion. This liberty was identified in my original Constitution essay through the mentioning of the separation of church and state clause. The reason for my including of this liberty, and my stressing of its importance, is that I feel that the government interprets this liberty in a one sided fashion because of the incorrect interpretation of the already in place separation of church and state clause. I also include it because I believe that recently the attacks upon religion have metastasized and tha...
Religious Freedom Restoration Act In this paper I will describe the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. This Act was used to contradict the decision of the court case of Employment Division v. Smith, which allowed the government to forbid any religious act without giving a reason. The RFRA brought back the requirement that the government provide an adequate reason to forbid any religious act. The government once again had to show that the act was of compelling interest to the state.
Thomas, Oliver "Buzz". "How To Keep The 'United' In United States: Coping With Religious Diversity In The World's First 'New' Nation." Church & State Feb. 2007: 19+. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 1 Mar. 2013.
Islam in America has historically been misunderstood, and this is due to the misconception of culture and religion as well as lack of education and incorrect portrayal in the media, which gives a skewed idea of Islam. Especially in the United States, Islam has been seen as the “terrorist religion” or a religion for the extremists and a religion in which freedom is not an option. Among the countless misconceptions, the basis of stereotypes by Americans is due to the mix up between religion and culture. Furthermore, the media only fuels fire to these misunderstandings and lack of factual information about Islam causing Americans to lash out on American Muslims without reason.
"The ACLU and Freedom of Religion and Belief." American Civil Liberties. (2013): n. page. Web. 2013.
“Provisions of the International Religious Freedom Act.” Facts On File Issues and Controversies. Jan 21 2000:18.
Not a month went by without any reports on hate violence targeting the Muslim community. Murders of Muslims followed by threats and vandalisms on Mosques and temples to people being assaulted and called “Terrorists” or a “Bin Laden” were present. Not only that, but “many houses of worship, have been forced to employ increased security measures three years after six worshippers were gunned down at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin”, reported by Deepa Iyer on her article “The stories Americans tell about 9/11 leave out discrimination against Muslims”. Words of hate had become actions of hate. These kind people were scapegoats of the real terrorists and the faulty ideologies employed by these groups of people. There is no cure for the extreme prejudices. You cannot control the thoughts of the people, therefore you cannot control the actions of the people, and this goes both ways. The racisms had become so relevant and significant that one of the significant topics during the Presidential campaigns is on the Muslims. The campaigns are beginning to account for the problems of Islam. Gregoy Krieg of CNN reported that “GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump said he would consider compelling Muslims to register in “database” and that some mosques might be shut” and his fellow Republican candidate Ben Carson on his comparison on Syrian refuges to “rabid dogs” to Democrat
The turbulent world we live in today has countless imperfections. John Esposito, a professor in Georgetown University, states both alternative and intriguing ideas on the future of Islam and its upcoming era of reformation. The main issue is the extremists and fanatics who use Islam in order to justify their terrorist actions. Furthermore the Western media has stained the religion of Islam to the point where Muslim-West foreign relations have declined since the 1970’s. As stated by Esposito within his book, “The Future of Islam”, Islam had become the center stage of media networks and many news agencies; one witnessed “an explosion of interest in and coverage of Islam.” Islam has since then become a sensationalized topic and also has become the headlines of the 21st century’s history. Esposito further states how this misconception of Islam is a controversial and important role in today’s politics. Today’s Muslim population of over 1.5 billion people plays an integral role in today’s global history and Western society. Esposito’s main objective of this book is to explain “how we got to where we are and what we need to understand and do to create… ‘a new way forward’.” Esposito also explains throughout his book how Islam has been both a “source not only of compassion, morality, and virtue but also of terror, injustice, and oppression.” His ideas can be thought of as both promising and controversial to say the least.