American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us

American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us

Address Three critical points from the reading that caught your attention.

Religion is closely linked to politics in numerous ways. In the traditional setting, religious leaders were considered as both temporal and political leaders. Even though there has been a significant separation between politics and the church, religion plays an essential role in influencing policymakers and decision-making process in governmental institutions. In various nations across the world, religious leaders influence political leaders to formulate policies that are in line with the necessities of religious beliefs. Issues concerning the role of religion in politics and public life, have taken on new meaning in various academic works in the twenty-first century, especially within the discipline of international relations. Regardless of the lasting influence of religion in the global sphere, discussion of religion in international relations is usually influenced by a noteworthy “secular bias” the final acceptance of the secularist division between politics and religion. But the dominance of this secularist bias is rapidly being challenged, and researchers are beginning to discover alternative ways of conceptualizing the link between religion and politics.

The three key points from the reading that caught my attention include:

1. Religious Polarization and Pluralism in America

 

According to Putnam and Campbell, about 85% of Americans identify with a particular religion, about 40% of Americans attend church services every week, about 59% pray at least once a week and about a third of Americans read the scripture at least once a week (Putnam & Campbell 20). People tend to develop stronger religious beliefs as they grow older, have families, and settle down. However, there is a group of individuals who remain consistent throughout their life. People in this group either develop strong religious beliefs from their childhood to adulthood and fail to identify themselves with any religious group from childhood to adulthood. An overview of the American spiritual practices in the last sixty years indicates that the oldest generation comprising of individuals raised in the 1950s was the most religious. This generation comprised religious individuals because after WWII, people viewed the sacred duty to be the same as a civic duty.

Therefore, it was their duty to participate in various religious activities. In the 1960s, there was a decline in the trust bestowed upon political and religious institutions. There was an increase in sexual/racial liberalism, which lead to political and religious conservative counter-reaction in the 1970s and 1980s.  Evangelicals emerged from this counter-reaction. In the 1990s and 2000s, liberal views on homosexuality and other moral issues developed. During this era, many young people believed that religion was too much about the rules, and it did not focus on spirituality.  There is a well-known fact among Christians that God chooses good leaders. This is based on the teachings of the Bible, whereby many prophets are kings who were sent by God lead to Israelites in times of calamities and war. Many leaders usually present themselves as leaders sent by God to accomplish particular missions.

Americans view God as a kind, loving, and avuncular God instead of an angry, judgmental, and fir-and brimstone God. In the past, religion played a primary role in American life, and it was an important marker of identity; politics was secondary. Whenever political leaders made a speech, they ensured that they quoted the Bible to indicate that they understand and recognize the Christian principles. The Bible’s teachings support the concept that political leaders should formulate policies favoring the poor. The Koran and the Bible encourage leaders to help individuals achieve their potentials in society. However, today many leaders are not interested in helping the poor people in the community. The main objective of people in power is to amass wealth and use the public to ascend to power. Social justice is also based on the teachings of the Bible because the less privileged people in society need to have equal access to resources such as education, employment, and healthcare. Political parties that usually favor the poor in their manifestos always clinched power.

1. Switching, Matching, and Mixing religious practices in the United States

The issue of switching, matching, and mixing of spiritual traditions in the United States also caught my eyes. American religious identities are reasonably fluid and fuzzy around the edges. More than half of Americans have either switched religious beliefs and practices from their childhood or failed into dormancy. Evangelistic and Mormons do their best to ensure that their children uphold their spiritual traditions and beliefs. Evangelistic and Mormons retention rates in the United States is at 55%. Mainstream Catholics and protestants have ensured that they keep a retention rate of about 40% and Jews at about 25% rate. The most critical element predicting is an individual maintains their faith and religious practices includes “whether an individual’s family of origin was religiously the same and observant. Family plays an essential role in supporting their children’s religious beliefs and practices. In families where children are made to believe that they have to serve God or other ideas, always maintain their faith from childhood to adulthood. People also switched religions and religious beliefs because of politics. Many Americans are likely to choose their religious beliefs depending on their political ideology than pick a political ideology founded on their religious beliefs and practices. Therefore, it is evident that many Americans switch their religions depending on their political switch. Churches can retain their followers by ensuring that they remain as neutral as possible because a switch from one political ideology will see many believers leaving the church (Putnam & Campbell 337). Some Americans are also kept away by some churches because of the church’s political affiliation. In the United States, different political ideologies hold different views on morals issues such as abortion, homosexuality, and animal rights.

Some political ideologies believe that women should have the right to make decisions concerning their bodies. Therefore, they have the right to make a decision abortion, and some political ideologies also believe that people have the right to express their sexuality. Therefore, these political ideologies tend to support the issues of homosexuality, and finally, political ideologies have different views concerning animal rights. In this case, when churches affiliate with a particular political ideology, it means that they support the political ideology’s opinions on the moral issues of homosexuality, abortion, and animal rights. There is also a growing number of intermarriages in the United States. People no longer base their marriage on religious practices and beliefs of their potential partners. In the past, churches promoted the same religious intermarriages so that the issue of switching religion may be avoided. The book indicates that Jews and Mormons are most opposed to religious intermarriages. About 65% of Jews and Mormons do not support the idea of religious intermarriages. However, other religions, such as mainstream Protestant and other faiths, are least opposed to religious intermarriages. About 20% of the mainstream Protestants and other denominations are not opposed to religious intermarriages.

1. Religion in American Politics

I am also impacted by belief in American Politics. The authors indicate that Republicans tend to be more religious than Democrats. However, this had never been the case before. The observation that Republicans are more religious than Democrats developed because of their response to issues related to abortion and same-sex marriage. The questions that hold partisanship and religiosity together are abortion and same-sex marriage. In the 1950s, there was no much partisan divide. Individual political identities were created during a time when there was not a much-biased difference in moral matters (Putnam & Campbell 567). In the 1960s and 1970s, abortion became a widely debated topic throughout the United States. It caused a divide with parties developing distinct stands on the issue and people switching from one party to another in case they did not support the party’s position on abortion. In 1982 and 1997, there are a significant shift in the United States, and politics and religion developed close links. This was a case of generational replacements and not individuals altering their partisan identities. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the members of the public became more conservative on abortion and more liberal on the issue of same-sex marriage, particularly among young individuals.

How will you implement what you read at your practicum site?

I will apply this new information on my practicum site by talking about how religion influences political processes such as decision making and policy formation. Many people argue that politics and religion can be separated. However, this is not a valid argument given that religions and politics depend on each other for many reasons. In decision making and policymaking, the government depends on the religious leaders because they are always very close to the public, and they understand the challenges being experienced by the members of the people, and the religious leaders can solve the problems better. I will use this knowledge to ensure that many religious leaders are always involved in decision-making processes. I will also use this knowledge to explain how religion and politics are intertwined — the increasing use of complex discourse for legitimization.

Today, many politicians seem to obey the Machiavellian dictum, which states that it is essential to be. Many politicians and political parties use the philosophy of social justice to formulate their policies and manifestos. Religion is the foundation of various political ideologies and practices. Religion dictates how politicians should act while in office and what they can do to serve members of the public better. Spirituality helps in defining what can be considered as injustice and the right actions to take. Using my knowledge of religion and politics, I will attempt to find ways of ensuring that all problems occurring within my institution are solved appropriately according to the value of justice. I will also ensure that my organization serves the poor and deprived by providing that politicians in my area play a role in helping the poor. They could help them by donating items such as food money and other resources they require for their survival. Politicians must ensure that the poor and less fortunate in society are helped to achieve their potential. However, many politicians use their authority and position to amass wealth. The politician should hold onto the teachings of the Bible and other religious beliefs to determine their actions while in office and how they may serve the members of the society better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Work Cited

Putnam, Robert D., and David E. Campbell. American grace: How religion divides and unites      us.Simon and Schuster, 2012.