American religion

Religion
Group’s members
Nguyen Tran Anh Thu
Nguyen Thi Thu Trang
Nguyen Thi Thanh
Le Thi Quynh Nhu
Content
Introduction
Church and State
Christian churches and other faiths
Exercises
Introduction
The US is well known for its many traditional churches and less formal religions
Religion in the United States has both a very wide diversity in religious beliefs and practices and a high adherence level
According to recent surveys:
83 % : belong to a religious denomination
40 % : attend services nearly every week or more
58 % : pray at least weekly
What is the result of the separation of Church and State?
Freedom of worship
Who is the Pilgrim Fathers?
The English colonists who sailed on the Mayflower and founded Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts (1620)
Why did many people including Pilgrim Fathers go to America?
To avoid religious persecution in Europe
Religious beliefs are strong:
96% believe in God
90% pray
41% go to church regularly
Main religious preferences of Americans:

Christianity: (76% to 82.3%)
Judaism(1.2% to 2.2%)
Islam(0.6% to 2.6%)
Buddhism(0.5% to 0.9%)
Hinduism(0.4%)
Others (1.4%)
Church and State
the phrase "separation of church and state" in this context is generally traced to an 1 January 1802 letter by Thomas Jefferson, addressed to the Danbury, Connecticut, Baptist Association, and published in a Massachusetts newspaper
No established religion in the US
Christianity : built into some important aspects of American life.
US presidents always attend church regularly, but they may come from any denomination.
Since the 1960s some Americans have tried to stop government support of religion.
In 1963 the Supreme Court decided it was ‘unconstitutional’ for students to say the Lord’s Prayer or to read the Bible in class.
In 1997 a judge in Alabama was ordered to remove a list of the Ten Commandments from the wall of his court, but he refused.
Bible Belt: an informal term for those regions of the US, particularly areas in the South, where fundamentalist beliefs prevail and Christian clergy are especially influential.)
Bible Bashing: rude name for their preaching
Christianity

The three largest groups in the world of Christianity:
The Roman Catholic Church
The Eastern Orthodox Churches
The various churches of Protestantism
Catholic Church

part of the worldwide  Catholic church,  the Christian Church in full communion with the Pope
the largest single religious denomination in the US with more than 68 million members
the fourth largest population in the world
Protestant Groups

one of the 3 major divisions within Christianity.
- commonly divided into four broad categories:
+ Liberal Protestant
+ Moderate Protestant
+ Evangelical Protestant
+ Historically Black Protestant
Protestant Groups

Baptists: the largest Protestant group 38,662,005 members - 25.3%
Methodists: 5,473,129 members - 3.6%
Lutherans: 7,860,683 members - 5.1%
Presbyterians( Reformed): 5,844,855 members - 3.8%



Episcopal Church: (mainline Anglican Church, province of the Anglican Communion): 2.5 million


St. John`s Episcopal Church
 "Church of the Presidents”
Washington.D.C.
Protestant Groups

Other sects in USA
1. Jehovah’s Witnesses(7.5 million members)







(International headquarters of Jehovah`s Witnesses in Brooklyn, New York )
Other sects in USA
2. Christian Scientists


believe that God is divine mind and that matter is only a false sense of substance
see one’s true sense as spiritual







Mary Baker Eddy
3. The Mormons: (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)
- Established in NY by Joseph
Have strict moral rules
Do not drink alcohol or coffee





Other sects in USA
Salt Lake City, Utah
Joseph Smith

4. The Seven –Day Adventist
Have their Sabbath on Saturday
Believe that Christ will soon return to earth












Other sects in USA
The Seven –Day Adventist church, Westlake Village, California
Other sects in USA
5. Pentecostal Church: Where emotion are freely expressed and spiritual healing is practiced.
First Pentecostal Church. Apache, Oklahoma
Oregon Pentecostal Church
Other smaller churches


The Shaker
The Amish
The Mennonites 
The Hutterites
Evangelical Churches
Which believe that Christians should help others find God.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in USA - largest Lutheran denomination in the USA
Gathered by Billy Sunday, Aimee Semple McPherson and Billy Graham
Religious Cults
The Moonies (The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, members of the Unification Church)
Scientology organization

Other faiths
Shinto  Asatru
Taoism  Odinism
Caodaism  Theodism
Thelema  Nova
Wicca  Roma
Heathenism  Druidry
Kenetism  Baha`i Faith
Paganacht  Jediism
Jaiinism  Hellenism
Judaism  Zoroastrianism
Islam  Sikhism
Buddism  Hinduism
And many forms of New Age spirituality
Other faiths
Judaism:
The third-largest religious affiliation in the US
Identified as American Jews on ethnic and cultural grounds, rather than religious ones
About 5.3 million adults in the American Jewish population




Beth-El Temple in Birmingham, Alabama
Other faiths
Islam
- More assimilated and prosperous than Muslims in Europe
- The fastest growing religion in the United States (by immigration, and a comparatively high birth rate)



Islamic Center of America, Michigan
Other faiths
Hinduism: immigrated from India and other Asian countries
Buddhism: entered the US with the arrival of the first immigrants from Eastern Asia
Malibu Hindu Temple,
California.
EXERCISE
1. Most Americans believe in God
T
2. The official church in the US is Christianity
F
3. The majority of American population belong to Protestant churches
F
4. American president go to church regularly
T
5. A basic American principle is separation of church and state
T
6. That students read the Bible in class is constitutional
F
TRUE OR FALSE
1. Pilgrim Fathers:


2. Scientology


3. Sect

4. Cult

5. Synagogues

6.Fundamentalists
a. a small group of people who belong to a particular religion but who have some beliefs or practices which separate them from the rest of the group
b. Protestant members who believe the exact words of the Bible
c. Buildings where Jews worship
d. a religious system based on getting knowledge of yourself and spiritual fulfillment through courses of study and training
e. a small group of people who have extreme religious beliefs and who are not part of any established religion
f. English people sailing to America on the ship Mayflower in 1620 to avoid religious persecution in Europe