Religion
During the World War II, the religion in the country was declining. Soldiers were engaged in wars and fighting with enemies in other countries. People left were busy with their life and survival. Even women had to work outside and they had to take care of children at the same time. So we had little time to go to church. When the war was over, religions encountered one of the best times in the 1950s. Parents of baby boomers moved into the suburbs and filled the pews, establishing church and being religious. Mass media bout religions also increased a lot. Religion became involved in television programs and books on religious topics sold well during the 1950s. The period between 1960s and 1970s indicated a generation of seekers. Many
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traditional values were questioned at this time along with traditional religion. People who believed in science thought that the god was a myth and the traditional religion was invalid. Many people began to get rid of Christianity and began to seek alternative religions or religious experiences, such as yoga, transcendental meditation, Buddhism, Hinduism.
The 1960s also saw the change in Catholicism. For example, followers had to celebrate the Eucharist in English instead of Latin. Cults and faiths also found their way to the United States, such as the Unification Church of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, the Church of Scientology, and the People's Temple. The civil right movement in the 1960s improved the status of colored people and provided a context for the emergence of non-Anglo religions. Mexican Americans, American Jews, and Asian Americans began to believe in their own religions and religions were diverse in the 1970s. As an immigrant from China, I was a believer in Buddhism. When it comes to 1980s, the period was symbolized by a more conservative trend and many people returned to church. The born-again Christians affiliated with conservative political organizations and initiated the New Right, a conservative social movement that supported traditional culture, family and social values. In the 1990s, an upward trend in church attendance was nationally manifested. Some people began to return to religious beliefs. Today, there are more than 100 religions in the U.S., but Christianity is still dominant with over 75 percent of …show more content…
Americans. Women’s movement During the World War II, women’s status in the society was relatively high because men were sent to wars and women had to take the responsibility of manufacturing and production. However, when the war was over, women’s jobs were taken away by men. Millions of women lose their jobs and 80 percent of them wanted to keep working instead of staying at home. In the 1060s, the movement for full equality was reborn. A feminist, Betty Friedan published the book The Feminine Mystique in which she argued that the glorification of role of wife, housewife, and mother limited the role of women and she encouraged women to try new life in the workplace. The Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, which motive thousands of women to engage in the feminist movement to achieve social, political, and economic equality. The 1960s saw the establishment of a series of women organizations, such as the National Organization for Women, known as NOW, Women’s Equity Action League, Federal Employed Women, and The Women's Radical Action Project and so on. These organizations worked together to end male chauvinism and improve women’s status. Although they worked hard for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, it was finally died in 1972 because it failed to get ratification by a minimum of 38 states. With women’s efforts, a series of policies favoring women were issued. For example, in 1973, the Supreme Court made abortion legal. In 1978, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act was passed to eliminate discrimination against pregnant women. In the 1980s, the conservative people seemed to be reborn and oppose feminists’ opinions. In order to resist the onslaught, the NOW expanded its membership and attracted third wave feminists who were concerned about the rights and benefits of colored women and lesbians. In 1993, the Family and Medical Leave Act allowed female workers to take leave after giving birth. Gender inequality in the workplace and political issues still exists today and the women’s movement is still working to solve these problems. Music When the Great War was just over, public songs in the United States were rooted in a rural fork tradition.
People enjoyed the peace and delight after the fierce war. In the 1960s, people began to introduce new elements to music. For example, songs like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger began to demonstrate political radicalism in their songs, considering that social movements were common in the 1960s. Singers and musicians paid more attention to lyrics and used lyrics to describe war and changes. These songs were well received because we were finding different ways to express the emergence of change. Many foreign musicians and their music also found their way to and exerted significant influence on our music. One of the most influential foreign musicians was Beatles consisting four young people in Britain. They held a national tour in America in 1964. I also went to see their vocal concert and I liked their rock-and-roll music. Many American musicians assimilated their techniques and style into their music. The 1960s also saw the contributions of young singers to modern American music. You might have heard about Jimmi Hendrix, a guitarist. He formed a band with his friends and it gained a large number of fans. Their music was much different from traditional music and it was a combination of jazz, soul, and blues. Rock festivals were another important trend in the 1960s. Some famous festivals included The Toronto Rock Festival, Atlanta Pop Festival, and Monterey Pop Festival. At
the end of 1960s, I attended the Woodstock Music and Art Fair with more than 350,000 young people. In the 1970s, it was a good decade for country and country-rock music. People liked country music because their lyrics were closely related to their daily life and they could find emotional comfort. When it came to the 1980s, the most apparent trend was the combination of music and television. The television station MTV emerged in 1981 and quickly attracted lots of young people. Singers post their ads about their CDs on MTV. I also liked MTV and often watched the channel for one or two hours after work. I got to know Michael Jackson and Madonna on MTV and they became extremely popular. New forms of music also appeared in the 1980s. Rap music was popular among young African Americans and they used rap music to express their anger and dissatisfaction about the society. Hip-hop then appeared and it was a combination of blue, jazz, and rap. In the 1990s, the advent of the Internet changed music a lot. We began to download music from the internet instead of buying CDs. However, it was always a debating issue. Sports Sports had become an essential part in our country’s economy, social life, and employment. However, sports did not develop rapidly until the post World War II. After war, the economic development was rapid and many large cities emerged in southern America, such as Houston and Phoenix. Professional teams began to relocate to these southern and southwestern cities. Better art facilities and stadiums were built to attract more audiences. In the 1960s, the role of television in sports became significant. By 1965, 95 percent of all American families had a television, including me. It was impossible for us to fly to different cities to watch games, so we usually watched games on the television. I noticed that people’s passion for sports increased rapidly since the 1960s. For example, the number of commercial health clubs increased from 350 in 1968 to 7,000 in 1986. The 1960s featured different racial and feminist movements. Athletes also participated in the movements. They stroke and took other measures to oppose racial discrimination. The color line was broken and more colored people joined American sports teams, such as Marion Motley. The encouragement for women’s sports began in the 1970s. The Educational Amendment’s Act was passed in 1972. It outlawed sexual discrimination in schools. The number of female athletes increased a lot. It was great to see more women in sports games. The first Women’s Professional Basketball Association which began in 1996. In addition, American sports became more international. For example, more than one third of players of the National Basketball Association came from other countries. I knew that Ming Yao and Jianlian Yi came from China. In the 1980s, there were three networks which broadcasted sports. I loved watching Super Bowl Sunday. It was popular in the 1980s and more than half Americans watched the program. Sports medicine was also an important trend in sports. It achieved great progress since the war. Although the Tommy John surgery was commonplace today, it was not in the 1970s. The arthroscopic surgery was also invented in the 1970s. The improvement in sports medicine allowed more athletes to continue their sports career after being injured. The sports themselves also changed a lot. When I was in the 1980s, basketball players could use forearms in games and it was dangerous. In 1997, it was prevented to make the game safer. Today, I also like sports and I am happy to see that you are still passionate with sports. It is safe to say that sports are extremely important today in America. However, the situation seems to be conflicting in the country. On the one hand, schools of different levels, from middle school and high school to colleges and universities, attach much importance to sports and athletes. The administration invests too much money in sports programs and schools may lack money to encourage art, science, and other activities. Almost all universities have their own basketball team and they provide scholarships for basketball players. As far as I know, there is no sports scholarship in China’s universities. The NBA games are popular in many other countries and the games are broadcasted on the television. To some extent, the games become a sports show and the athletes are actors. They are well-paid and gain national reputation. On the other hand, many people just like watching sports games and they do not like sports and the obesity is a serious health problem in the United States.
Religion and culture become one of the major conflict fronts. The American natives and the KKK (Ku Klux Klan) fought against the new cultural practices brought in by the immigrants. Traditional Protestants retained their religious beliefs but fought Catholicism and Judaism brought by the new immigrants. This created many mishaps and tension. Some politicians failed to win their seats because of their religious affiliation. Preachers tried to woo national audiences through media outlets like radio. The move was considered sophisticated but was surprisingly used to restore religions.
The migration led to the rebirth of American religion, which was associated with suburban living. Less than fifty percent of Americans belonged to specific churches before the onset of World War II, but by the middle of the 1950, this number grew to almost seventy-five percent. Families spend more time together due to the distance from other families and recreational facilities. Right after the war, many of the returning servicemen had to return to the work force and found this very difficult. Many jobs were filled with women and many did not want to give up these jobs because this meant a better lifestyle for them and their family.
I vividly remember sitting in my ninth grade world history class, only six short years ago, when my teacher announced that next week we would begin a four week study on world religions. A nervous murmur swept through thirty students, all thinking the
During the 1960s and the early 1970s, music reflected the political and social changes that America was undergoing at the time. Some of these major changes included the African-American civil rights movement and the conflict over America’s role in the Vietnam War. During these hard times, people turned to music for hope, peace, happiness and answers.
New brands of distinctly American Christianity began developing early in the country’s history. Before the revolution, George Whitefield set the stage for American religious movements. The most important factor that helped launch these movements was the American Revolution. The country was ripe with conversation and action on a new understanding of freedom. The revolution “expanded the circle of people who considered themselves capable of thinking for themselves about issues of … equality, sovereignty, and representation” (6). The country was beginning to move toward an understanding of strength lying in the common people, and the people’s ability to make their own personal decisions on issues of leadership and authority. There was a common belief that class structure was the major societal problem. The revolution created the an open environment that pushed equality of the individual, allowing political and religious beliefs to flourish and grow without being held in check by authoritarian leaders.
Religion of the protestant church was an important factor in the pre-war timeline culture. The Second great awakening, which occurred in the 19th century, greatly impacted American society. This new point of view in terms and matters of faith led northerners to cherish the theory of Christian perfection, a theory that in fact was applied to society in an attempt to eliminate social imperfection. On the other hand, southerners reacted by cherishing a faith of personal piety, which focused mainly on a reading of the Bible; however, it expressed very little concern in addressing society’s problems.1
The ‘60s were the age of youth, as millions of children’s from post World War II became teenagers and rebelled against the conservative fifties. Denying civil rights to African-Americans and liberation to teenagers in previous decades and Vietnam War, created a vortexes which lead to massive rebellion against the status qua. Music of the 1960s was characteristic of the revolution that was going on during the decade. It was a time of rebellion and counter-culture in which the teenagers and college students were critical of government, business, religious institution and other various aspects of life. Era marked by civil rights movement, Vietnam War, environment of drug abuse and sexual freedom formed new music like: folk rock, soul and psychedelic rock. These genres starkly contrast the teen idol music of ‘50s pop mainstream. Writes John Covach; “World was exploding, and rock musicians were listening more closely than ever.”(Covach, 152) Such stark contrast in pop music directly relay to changing social culture in America, which further echo’s the relationship between music and culture.
Rock and Roll was the start of a new revolution in America. It introduced the world to many of the famous artists that continue to be a part of our lives today. "Artists who became popular in the 1950s such as Elvis, began to pave the way for others such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly" (The History of Rock 'n' Roll until 1960). With the introduction of rock 'n' roll, there came many new changes to the lives of many Americans. Rock and Roll was a major contributor for the change in teens' behavior in the 1950s because it encouraged new freedoms for teenagers, encouraged new fads among teenagers, and caused a generation gap.
Music of the sixties will reflect the style of the past decade made by artists that became famous by their mainstream in the 1950's like Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Dion. etc. in 1963 many social influences changed the concept of popular music, and it was like the renaissance of music, why? because it changed the diversity of what we experience with music in our days. Many issues made impact in music like the murder of JFK, The war at Vietnam, the civil rights movement, made music reflect that change. In the 1963 came the famous British Invasion, most of the people say that the ringleader of the Famous British Invasion were the Beatles, the BeatleMania, very similar to having the girls fervor by One Direction and Justin Bieber, it also came Motown, R&B, Folk and Protest Music, and all its variations.
Throughout the year Christians have strived to do the will of God. From to converting people into Christians to making a society pleasing to God. Christians in America have been present since the colonial times. In the late 19th century, they were still thriving in the United States. In the early 20th century they were still involved in the broader American culture, committed to shaping public policy and welcome in political life. But as time continued, evangelicals started to create their own subculture, no longer involving themselves in politics and the rest of the American culture. By mid to late 20th century, evangelicals saw that the nation was becoming further way from God and it was affecting them. They sought to partly reinsert themselves in the American culture and politics and found they were not as welcome as before. Even though they are not welcome, Christians must try to do the will of God by turn peoples eyes back to Him in everyday life and politics.
The years 1960-1969 were very impressionable years. With events that changed America , turning the innocence and hope of American people into violence and anger. The young nation of the 60s were the most influential of all ,with rioting about war or turning music into culture. This was a completely different america than it was years before . In a Music standpoint artists such as The Beatles , Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix were changing the way music was made . They were changing music into an artform , a way for people to express their feelings , beliefs and ideas. The Music of the 1960s evolved into an artform which lead the path for American music of today.
Religion in the 1950s was a very important aspect to many citizens living in America. The amount that religion affected the population was shown by the increase of religious groups at the time, it was stated in “The 1940s: Religion: Overview.” from American Decades, “..by 1950 more than 55 percent were members of religious groups, a figure that would increase to 69 percent by the end of the 1950s.” However, this number had not been the same throughout 20th century America. The amount of people in America that had been going to worship their religious figures during the Great Depression was a very small percentage of Americans. The number only started to increase after World War II came to a closing and brought major economic prosperity to America. This burst of church growth in America during the time
These are subjective matters and can never be truly confirmed, only observed, but it is obvious why Woodstock had the largest influence on society and pop culture as a whole. Quite simply, it was the perfect combination of music, people, art, peace and love. It lived up to it’s billing of ‘three days of peace and music’ and its messages of hope and tranquility were fault not only across the nation in a traumatic time, but all over the world, largely due to the fact the Vietnam was dragging on, making the peace subject of the festival much more significant and allowed the three day event to have a world wide influence. The effect of these festivals was so strong and long lasting that most responses in a survey cite music and music festivals as ‘the best experience of the 60s’ (Weiner and Stillman, 64). The Vietnam war going on at the time became a focal point for many concert goers promoting peace, and this is one of the main issues Woodstock became so widely regarded as the most important festival of the 60’s, possibly of all time – in a political sense at least. With public opinion dropping on the idea of sending more soldiers overseas as casualty rates grew whilst ground was lost, Woodstock was a shining beacon to those opposing the war against communism in South East Asia. The draft, enforced by Richard Nixon, was a large factor in this; by forcing peaceful young males into a war they didn’t believe in, Nixon was alienating himself from the public, and most importantly the then-young Baby Boomer generation, which dominated the decade. Draft researchers Lawrence Baskir and William Strauss have noted that ‘Vietnam was a crises they all faced – whether in the barracks, on the campus or in the streets. Unlike other Americans, most members of the Vietnam generation are reluctant to judge a man by his personal response to the war. They know that the labels – loser, coward,
Evangelicalism did not evolve or operate in a space. It is essential to consider the ways in which members of this group participated in and changed their culture, and, conversely, to assess how its social context provided both the ideas which evangelicalism adopted or transformed and those which it actively rejected or resisted. As movements that came of age during the first half of the nineteenth century, Evangelical Protestantism can be understood most clearly in the political, economic, and religious contexts of post-revolutionary American society. Although the movement would come to effect profound changes in its society it was very much in a sense that the culture had grown ripe for its emergence. The tension between the evangelical movement and the past movements radicalism and centrism suggests that American society was still very much in transition from one era to another: the Revolution was not yet complete.
Religion is an important aspect on studies of early mental health practice. Religion is important to as many as 75% of the population, more profound and relevant with people over 65 years of age and older (Richards and Bergin, 1997). Religion plays a pivotal role on older adults, it becomes part of their identity and personality (Koenig, Siegler & George, 1989). According to Koenig (1989), religion incorporates people’s rituals, beliefs, and practices pertaining to the “transcendent.” Which means, these beliefs relates to the supernatural and mystical elements of the world (Koenig, Siegler & George, 1989). Religion is always practiced within a community, group, or cult. Religion is often organized and it incorporates beliefs, rules and regulations on the afterlife. Religion is unique in a sense that binds people in a community, who share the same beliefs and sentiments in solidarity. Religion could be measured relating the mental, physical, and emotional outcomes with humans who are believers of the supernatural world.