Religion In North America Essay

A clear issue in North America is the religious effect on society. Stereotyping to religious norms and culture gets in the way of everyday life and have a toll on the victim and offender. Faith plays a big role in lots of lives in North America, but can have an effect on politics. Politics is a complicated subject that has no end to disagreement. Lots of people let religion influence their politics, and that can be either good, or bad. Religion can affect abortion access, same-sex marriage, and freedoms of transgender people.

Religion is the underlying foundation for any overall beliefs within the economy for religious people. From the time of new settlements, there has always been barriers regarding religion. For example, “as when Spanish settlers sought to impose Roman Catholicism on the Pueblos in the Southwest, leading to the Pueblo uprising of 1680.(RDIN, 2018, pg 1)” The religious stances of the people also lead to the middle colonies. The middle

colonies happened when “rampant ethnic and religious diversity forced various groups to find some way to coexist.(RDIN, 2018, pg 1)” The middle colonies are the proof that although forced, the colonies learned how to compromise and how to live with each other without conflict over religious topics.

An English Quaker, William Penn, founded his “Holy Experiment” in 1680, which was a place of religious toleration and it attracted Lutherans and Quakers, along with smaller groups such as Amish, Mennonites, Schwenkfelders, and so on. The first amendment guarantees the right of ‘free exercise’ of religion all together. It also guarantees the right of all religions allowed to freely compete in the marketplace and have a share of the market. Americans, however, have not always welcomed religious newcomers with their open arms. “The immigration of the Irish, following the Potato Famines in the Old World, met with resistance from American Protestants, who wanted to retain their hegemony.

(RDIN, 2018, pg 6)” The example above shows that although the amendment is in place, it is not always enforced to the people. And up until recent centuries, religious freedoms were a luxury in a few areas in the world and most people were expected to conform to their countries dominant religion, or they were to suffer the consequences. In canada, there is a guarantees of religious rights (just as America) from the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Canadian Constitution). A criminal code also criminalizes anti-religious speeches.

The United States, and Canada have the greatest religious diversity of any countries in the world, and essentially, all religions practiced in North America share an Ethic of Reciprocity called the Golden Rule in Christianity, that enforces that everyone treat others decently.