Introduction
Religion occurs as one of the most ancient practices, not only in the United States but all around the globe. A reflection on religion in the United States depicts that it is diverse in nature as evidenced by the existence of various religious denominations. In a nutshell, religion seems to play a crucial role in the lives of the American citizens. However, there is a need to comprehend the fact that there exists a certain portion of American citizens who do not conform to any religious dogma. The core reason as to why there are American citizens who are not aligned with any religion and others who comply with particular religions is the fact that the United Constitution espouses on the freedom of worship (Bradley 24). The Constitution gives the American citizens the freedom to worship a particular religion or not to worship any of the faiths. Overall, no religion has been endorsed as the official religion in the United States. Nonetheless, there is a need to note that so states closely identify with certain beliefs.
Abrahamic religions occur as one of the major religions that a significant portion of the American citizens identifies with. Speaking of Abrahamic religions, this mainly connotes Christianity. Notable is the fact that it is not only the American citizens who recognize or worship Christianity. All over the world, close to 2.4 billion people are Christians (Carter 554).
Abrahamic religion is a term used to distinguish the religions Judaism, Islam and Christianity when defining. All these religions have monotheist traditions and are the most dominant religions in the United States. Differences exist between the Abrahamic religions even though there was an exchange of the traditions in this religion over the years (Dodds 231). Christianity and Islam are the most practiced religions in the United States. However, after the 9/11 attacks, there has been a control on the religious practices in the United States. The 9/11 attacks in the United States is considered to be a religiously motivated attack on the citizens of the United States. It had the effect of stopping any radicalized religious teachings because it affects the safety of the citizens. Christians in the United States exist in different denominations, and they identify themselves using the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The presence of various freedoms has affected the practice of these religions. The existence of different religions has facilitated the interaction of these faiths. Consequently, the original teaching of these religions has been altered through misinterpretations. This has facilitated the shift of the followers of the Abrahamic religions from somewhat conservative to reformist. For instance, despite the strict nature of the Jewish law, there has been divisions over how the law should be applied which has led to separation in the Judaism into three different movements. Orthodox Jews believe that the Jewish law is unchangeable and as such it should remain the way it is. On the contrary, conservative Jews have taken a looser stand, and they believe that the God’s law allows for an alteration and as such the Jewish law should change with time. There are different opinions among the Jews in the United States on how the religion should be practiced. Apart from the views held by the orthodox and conservative Jews, there are the Reform Jews who believe that the Jewish law is just a guideline on how individuals should worship. The reformed Jews consider the Jewish religion more of a culture than a religion.
The practice of Christianity and Islam in the United States usually involves the conduct of missionary activities through the use of different platforms to spread the gospel. However, according to the rabbinic teachings of the Jews do not advocate for missionary activities because they don’t believe in conversion as a means to achieve spirituality. The missionary activities facilitate the spread of the gospel to unbelievers. The use of missionary activities has enabled the increase in the number of Christians and Muslim unlike those of the Jews who remain a small proportion, particularly in the case of Christianity which facilitates the intermingling with other religions, the spread of the gospel has been more pronounced because intermingling includes the exchange of ideas. Islam religion, however, limits the intermingling even though it is permitted and as such its spread is attributed to the religious teachings and ideologies rather than the use of missionary activities.
The continuity of the Abrahamic religions in the United States is somewhat guaranteed, this is mainly because the teachings of these religions are firmly rooted in the holy scriptures and scrolls. The religion of Islam considers all monotheist religions to be correct, which indicates that they believe the other Abrahamic religions to be on the right track. However, there is the notion that Islam is the only true religion and as such the Muslims consider it a superior religion than the other religions. The diverse views that are present in the United States have facilitated the understanding of the different denominations and religious factions. The United States has a law on the freedom of worship but in all cases, the religious activities of an individual should not jeopardize the rights of other persons. This has greatly contributed to the peaceful coexistence of Abrahamic religions especially the two predominant Islam and Christianity religions.
In the book Allah: a Christian response which written by Miroslav Volf indicates that Islam and Christianity worship the same God. The unifying identity among Christians in the United States is the death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the source of its faith and unique salvation. The history and most teachings of Christianity and Islam are mostly similar with a few differences that have been the source of controversy and hostility between the two groups. The motivation of a common ground and peaceful co-existence has facilitated the tolerance that exists between Islam and Christianity.
Currently, most Christian denominations in the United States are reformed and allow the practice of different activities that were initially not allowed in the Orthodox Church. The different expectations that exist on an individual and the rate of exposure to various unorthodox ideas can be attributed to the recent transformation of Christianity into a somewhat reformed religion. The core concept of Christianity, however, remains the same with the central focus being the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The existence of different ambiguous scriptures in the Bible has also contributed to the different reforms that are witnessed in the Christian faith in the United States.
Particularly regarding the attire, Christians and Muslims alike have been the most transformed in the form of appearance. Some of the factors that have led to this change are cultural intermingling between Christians, Muslims, and pagans which have resulted in the negligence of certain sections of the scriptures. The Jews have witnessed somewhat negligent change in their attire because of the limited intermingling with other religions. Cultural interaction is the cause for the Reformation of the Christian faith in the United States. However, the emergence of numerous clerics who contributed in the fight for the rights of the oppressed also affected the direction that the Christian faith has taken. The presence of these scholars, for instance, Martin Luther has led to the introduction of a different dimension in the Christianity religion. Consequently, some of the Christians are following Calvinism, which is a branch of Christianity that abides by John Calvin’s religious views. In other words, they are referred to as Protestants and even though they are Christians, they are not recognized as Catholics for they branched so many years ago.
Apart from Christianity and Islam as being the major religions in the USA, some other religions is attributed to the fact that America is a community of people from varied origins. For example, the Asian communities live within the confines of the US borders and their religion contributes to the 3% of the total religion in the US (Truong 90). Some of the Asian religions in the US include Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Taoism. On the same note, this religion began with the first of the immigrants that arrived in the US in the early 19th century. Another group of non-Christians apart from the Muslims and the Asians are the Rastafarians whose religion was birthed at Jamaica in the 1930s. The Rastafarians’ ideas reached the US via Marcus Garvey, who is considered to be a prophet by many of the supporters of this religion.
The USA is not only made up of those who believe in a supreme being, God, but also who disregard religion and all the beliefs that come with it. They are referred to as atheists or agnostics. By 2008, the non-believers had increased to 15% which has risen to 20% by 2012 (Schaefer 77). This group of people is considered to be trusted less by the other Americans, even less than they level of confidence ascribed to the Muslims. For example, atheists have frequently been associated with deviant social behaviors like theft and cultural elitism. As opposed to the non-believers, the Unitarian Universalists are connected by their search for spiritual growth but not religion and creeds. They perceive that one’s theology can only be attained through spiritual growth and not obeying any of the religious authorities like Christianity and Islam.
The United States government was the first of many federal governments that did not have an official religion. The designers of the national constitution disregarded any test that was requested concerning religion for any public officer. Among the first amendments to the constitution, the government did not have any authority to interfere with the religion of the American citizens. It was an effort to institute freedom of worship for the people. As a result of this freedom, it is evident that there are many religions in the US with everyone possessing the freedom to choose which authority to pursue (Bradley 24).
Work Cited
BRADLEY, GERARD V. "Breaking The Stained-Glass Ceiling." National Review 68.6 (2016): 23-25.
Carter Hallward, Maia. "Muslim, Christian, Jew: The Oneness Of God And The Unity Of Our Faith: A Personal Journey In The Three Abrahamic Religions." Peace & Change 39.4 (2014): 550-553.
Dodds, Adam. "The Abrahamic Faiths? Continuity And Discontinuity In Christian And Islamic Doctrine." Evangelical Quarterly 81.3 (2009): 230-253.
Schaefer, Donovan. "Blessed, Precious Mistakes: Deconstruction, Evolution, And New Atheism In America." International Journal For Philosophy Of Religion 76.1 (2014): 75-94.
Truong, Michael H. "Religions In Asian America: Building Faith Communities (Book)." Journal Of American Ethnic History 22.4 (2003): 90-92.
