5. Explain the changing nature
of international religions in the post –war era.
Introduction
Contrary to what many observers predicted within the 1960s
and early 1970s, religion has remained as vibrant and vital a neighborhood of
yank society as in generations past. New issues and interests have emerged, but
religion's role in many Americans' lives remains undiminished. Perhaps the one characteristic
that distinguishes late-twentieth-century religious life from the remainder of
America's history, however, is diversity. To trace this development, we must
reminisce to the 1960s. like many aspects of yank society, the 1960s proved a
turning point for religious life also .
The 1960s "revolution" has perhaps been exaggerated over
the years. Studies show, as an example , that while an outsized vocal minority
of mostly middle- and upper-middle-class college students challenged
traditional institutions and mores, many of their peers remained as committed
to old-time moral and non secular values as ever.
Ethnic-Religious Communities
Along with the new "seeker" spirituality, another
sign of the dismantling of a monolithic "Protestant America" is that
the increasing celebration of spiritual particularity through the championing
of ethnic identity, the politics of multiculturalism, and therefore the growing
communities of "new immigrants" from Latin America and Asia (those
who moved to the us since immigration restrictions were lifted within the
landmark Immigration Act of 1965).
In the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement provided a context
for celebrating non-Anglo ethnicity for the primary time. By the mid-1970s an
ethnic revival celebrating the roots of African Americans, Mexican Americans,
Native Americans, American Jews, and Asian Americans spawned. Suddenly
non-Anglo, non-Protestant Americans were valorizing their own ethnicity,
religions, and histories. within the 1980s, a politicized version of ethnic
celebration emerged within the ideals of "multiculturalism," a philosophy of
multiethnicity that sees America composed of a wonderfully diverse group of
communities ineradicable in their ethnic character. Replacing the already old
notion of America because the melting pot nation, or a citizenry bound together
by a group of universalistic values (e.g., democracy, equality, justice),
multiculturalism argues for the sweetness of diversity, the essentialist nature
of ethnic identity, and thus the need for cultural pluralism. we should always
encourage ethnic communities to celebrate their own histories, cultural
distinctives, and non secular traditions (Afrocentrism and bilingual education,
for instance, are two key policies of the multicultural agenda).
With the amount of immigrants from Latin America and Asia
only growing within the 1990s, the difficulty of spiritual diversity or
cultural pluralism looms larger than ever. Spanish speakers, for instance ,
will soon outnumber English speakers within the state of California. Southeast
Asians are making their home on both coasts and within the heartland also
(Laotians and therefore the Hmong have established thriving communities in
wintry Wisconsin and Minnesota).
A wholly new religious space is being carved call at the
American landscape—a space that has little to try to to with the normal ethnic
divide between black and white or the religious division of Protestant,
Catholic, and Jew. This religious site is different, too, from the New Age
seekers and spiritual shoppers of the boomer generation. Americans are getting
to be exposed to multiple ethnic and "Two-Thirds" world religions as
never before. While certain portions of the intellectual elite are fascinated
with the world's "great religions" (Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam) since
the mid-nineteenth century, these traditions haven't penetrated Main Street
America. By the top of this century, however, Americans will increasingly
encounter Buddhist neighbors, Muslim colleagues, and Hindu businessmen. These "foreign"
religions will not be simply descriptions in class textbooks or exotic movie
subjects. Indeed, advocates of cultural pluralism hope that the new religions
will become the maximum amount a neighborhood of the American Way as
historically Protestant orthodoxy.
Religion within the Public Square
Another area
during which the range of up to date American religion manifests itself is
within the escalating battles fought within the courts over religious practice
within the public square. Most legal battles over religion focus on
interpretations of the primary Amendment's religion clause: "Congress
shall make no law respecting an institution of faith , or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof." the problems commonly raised, thus, concern questions
on the "separation of church and state" (especially as violated by
traditionally privileged Protestantism) and therefore the free exercise of
faith (especially as sought by minority traditions). Litigation and disputes
over the primary Amendment have increased dramatically since the 1970s and
continue unabated today.
Historically,
the courts are loathe to rule on disputes within religious groups, questions
concerning what constitutes "religion," and therefore the legitimacy
of private religious practices. Concerning the free exercise of faith ,
however, the courts have intervened when traditional welfare questions or
"common good" policies are involved. Under "traditional
welfare," for instance , Jehovah's Witnesses are ordered to grant blood
transfusions for his or her children, Christian Science parents are convicted
for refusing medical aid for his or her children, and therefore the marriages
of kid brides are prohibited despite being customary practice among certain
Hindu sects. The courts, then, will rule against certain religious practices
once they believe a child's welfare is in serious jeopardy. "Common
good" policies have led the Supreme Court to rule against the sacramental
use of peyote by Oregon Indians. Protecting antidrug laws is taken into account
absolutely necessary (i.e., banning certain drugs regardless of what their
usage) for the larger "common good" of the state .
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