Second Great Awakening: American Religious Freedom

Throughout history, America has faced disagreements that led to various complications, one of them being religious freedom. Americans claimed to have always supported religious freedom and that the First Amendment backed that up. However, according to David Sehat, this was only a myth. The myth he argued that there was a moral establishment that constrained religious liberty, therefore American religious freedom was only a myth. Sehat overstated this claim because there have been many historic measures that have shown American religious liberty, such as the Second Great Awakening, the emergence of new religious movements, and religious liberty court cases. The Second Great Awakening reformed American’s religion. This revival movement began

However, around the 1940s, the Japanese were sent to internment camp. This happened due to the treat Americans felt after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, so they were transported to the camp and imprisoned. Some might feel that these restraints against the Japanese were to limit the Buddhism to spread, but the camps allowed the freedom of religion and even had a variety of Buddhist, Catholic, and Protestant temples. The campsites wrote letters to one another and started to take on “the establishment of religious identity was a component in the process of Americanization as Buddhists began to lay claim to a U.S. cultural identity” (Laderman/Leon 56). They changed the name to Buddhist Church of America, sponsored Sunday schools, spoke English, and even called their leader “ministers” instead. According to Sehat, conservatives claim that the United States has always honored Christianity above other religions, recognizing the role of religion as the foundation of morals to be enforced in law” (Sehat 283). Despite the fact that the Japanese were imprisoned, their religions were permitted at the