Elsewhere in America by David Trend
The book by David Trend, titled Elsewhere in America, focuses on the various issues that affect American society. Some of the problems that the book highlights include gender inequality, sexual orientation, health care, and terrorism, among other challenges facing most people in America. The book also looks at how contemporary culture plays a part in t6hese issues that have evolved over the course of time. Trend, in his book, discusses how religion has affected most of the social institutions and morality in modern American society, which has sometimes led to conflict.
Religion has affected how people make judgments on issues that affect them. Morality has been heavily tied to religion such that high morals are a sign of someone being religious. Ever since the settlement of European immigrants in the country, America is considered to be a Christian state, and thus, Christian doctrines have affected most of the ideologies in the country. Trend writes that “The marriage equality debates illustrate an important point about the relationship between politics and faith in American life.”[1] Most of the states did not want to legalizesame-sex marriage since it is forbidden in the Bible. Thus, such an issue shows that the issue of legality is affected by religion.
Religion has also affected the moral standpoint between different generations present in American society. While the older generation is highly rooted in religion and religious practices, the younger generation is more secular, and this has changed their view of morality and ethics. Trend writes that, “American young adult has difficulty identifying a significant “ethical” issue,and thatmany say that morality is simply a matter of personal choice.”[2] For example, the issue of sex before marriage is supported by many religious groups. However, many of the young people do not conform to such laws and practice sex casually without being married. Religion to the younger generation does not seem to influence their view of the world or ethical decisions like in the older generation.
Religious freedom is one of the most respected rights in America under the constitution. However, with many religious groups in the country, conflict arises due to their differing ideologies and practices. There is a rise of the secular lifestyle in America, and conflict between the non-believers and believers has increased. Trend states that religious beliefs and practices are not aligned with the contemporary American society since many people view them, “as personal assertions offaith and become detached from collective practices of worship.”[3] Thus, the believers’conflict with the non-believers because of varying views of the importance of religion. The non-believers do not conform to religious norms and thus conflict with the believers who follow religious rules to guide their moral compass.
The issue of religion and morality results in conflict in contemporary American society because of the varying views of the members of society, as discussed in David Trend’s book. Conflict arises when pone group holds to religious beliefs and practices while the other does not conform to such laws. Religion in America has affected the legality of some issues such as same-sex marriages that are opposed by some religious groups. However, those who do not conform to the religious group support the idea and view same-sex marriages as a personal choice of the couple. As such, Trend notes that the younger generation is more secularly inclined than the older generation who hold dear religious teachings; thus, conflicts arise.
Bibliography
Trend, David. Elsewhere in America: The Crisis of Belonging in Contemporary Culture. Routledge, 2016
[1]Trend, David. Elsewhere in America: The Crisis of Belonging in Contemporary Culture. Routledge, 2016, 34
[2]Trend, David. Elsewhere in America: The Crisis of Belonging in Contemporary Culture. Routledge, 2016, 95
[3]Trend, David. Elsewhere in America: The Crisis of Belonging in Contemporary Culture. Routledge, 2016, 33.