My family and I had gone to the forest to have a cookout and every time we go, there's usually many people. We got there and we started setting everything up and my uncle got the radio out and started playing Mexican music really loud that we always listen to. At first I was so embarrassed because there were other people there and they started staring at us and I told my uncle to turn it down a bit because it was Spanish music. In my mind, I just wanted to leave, but then my mom came up to me and told me something similar as Amy’s mom. She said “You should never feel embarrassed to be Hispanic, you have to show other people who we are and feel proud of who you are because we are all the…
This abstract reading written by Robert N. Bellah, introduces the idea of a “Civil Religion” and argues that, apart from the normal religious traditions our nation follows, there is an unrecognized “Civil Religion” that becomes evident during national crisis or during high public ceremony. According to Bellah, “there actually exists alongside of and rather clearly differentiated from the churches an elaborate and well-institutionalized civil religion in America.” Bellah points out many different examples to prove his point of how “Civil Religion” has been expressed throughout history. First Bellah points out that every president since Washington has mentioned God in his inaugural speech. Next he points out that the presidents did not refer to any religion in particular. They did not refer to Jesus Christ, or to Moses, or to the Christian church. Last a significant point that Bellah makes refers to the Civil war and “Civil Religion”.…
I have recently read the article Americans Get an ‘F’ in Religion by Cathy Lynn Grossman and the message that it is trying to give out to the reader is quite simple. The article is basically saying that people in America are quite ignorant of world religions. According to the text, not knowing about religions is treacherous. “Americans' deep ignorance of world religions — their own, their neighbors' or the combatants in Iraq, Darfur or Kashmir — is dangerous” said by Stephen Prothero, chairman of the religion department at Boston University. Cathy Lynn Grossman wrote this article in order to get Americans to realize this. The goal is to encourage the people of America to at least learn some basics of religions and what separates each from others. "Religions aren't all saying the same thing. That's presumptuous and wrong. They start with different problems, solve the problems in different ways, and they have different goals." said by Prothero. The article may have been written in the year 2006 or 2007, when President Bush was in office because it reference that activities in Iraq were still happening. This correlates on why…
The conditions that slaves experienced on the plantations is very harsh. The slaves were overworked, with mild nutrition. Just enough to get them by so they can have enough strenght to work. Thy also had rags a clothes which I thought was very harsh, especially during the cold weather. Their owners practally looked at them as animals and not actual human beings. White men could kill a slave and not have a legal troubles, but not until 1774, the white men would go to jail for 12 months. Christanity shaped the lives of slaves because it gave them "hope" for freedom and it also gave them a break from all of their hard…
Many factors affected the people who lived in Europe and America, as well as their lifestyle. Religion put certain people in power and created conflict. These conflicts caused economic problems, so new systems were developed. The search for the northwest passage helped the spread of culture and helped explorers discover new land. These factors changed the way Europeans lived and also affected their colonies in America.…
Theoretical approaches in general help us understand the concepts of religion that both our society has created and societies before ours. Two theoretical approaches to “religion” that would help understand ancient cultures would be Archaeology and History. Archaeologist would look closely at artifacts and past civilizations to understand the way they practice or believed in religion. Where as Historians would examine the language that was spoke, which would then correlate to the stories being told and the texts that came from a specific culture, traditions and decrees. Many may say that the archaeological approach to understanding religion has more evidence since the way these individuals look at religion have tangible objects opposed to the…
Sixth grade was nearing the end - my cousin who attended St. Joseph Central Catholic in Fremont, Ohio was signed up to serve a dinner for a fund raiser they were holding. They were in need of extra help so my cousin asked me to help out. The attraction to get people to attend the dinner was the guest speaker, who at the time I had know idea who it was and didn't even ask. I needed service hours for Confirmation so I told my cousin I would help.…
There were a lot of religions in Colonial America. Some of the religions were Quakers, Catholics, Christians, Lutherans, Puritans, and Jews. Government and local towns tried to enforce strict religious observance. There were many religions so people could follow any religion they choose.…
G.K. Chesterton depicts the early republic as “a nation with the soul of a church”1 meaning that America was founded on religious principles. Many of those who came to the colonies did so for religious refuge from the Church of England. Although there were many independent religious groups in the new colonies, the commonality they shared was the desire to practice their separate beliefs. This religious foundation influenced the political and social structure of the colonies as they became an independent and separate nation from Great Britain.…
I never thought how interesting it would be to visit a different place of worship besides Christianity. Since the day I was born I’ve been a Christian and whatever anyone else believes in is wrong and that they are going to hell if they don’t believe in Christianity. About 3 years ago I visited the International Buddhist Progress Society a Buddhist temple in Naperville. Buddhism from what I learned looks more like a way of life or guidelines to it rather than a religion. Buddhism tells you how you could live life better but doesn’t scare you with the prospect of hell instead you live with ignorance. My own history with Christianity still made me doubt or fear the conquences of going to this temple. Part of me believed that I be punished by…
It can easily be debated whether or not religious motivation was the sole reason for the Europeans’ race to conquer the “unexplored” lands of North America. Regardless, faith and the guiding institution that housed it was without a doubt an essential factor in the Europeans’ deliberate migration westward. Not surprisingly, the theological motivation observable during this period of history did not fade – rather, it continued to validate the mostly problematic actions of new Americans from there on out. In countless ways, the United States has drawn on these theological roots in order to interpret its own history as upholding the nation’s founding ideals such as freedom, equality, and liberty.…
Lutherans were like no other American Christian denomination; their national origin did play an important role in their history. Members came from Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Norway. The Lutherans settled on the East Coast and American Midwest, and celebrated worship services in their native tongues.…
After drowning in my thoughts, I decided to sacrifice my pleasure to own my future. My Dad's imagination of America became distorted after my accidents and it would take a hiatus in Spain before I would finalize my decision to make the United States my home.…
Samuel, I really enjoyed your post as I like hearing about other people’s family history since mine is so diverse. With your skin tone, eyes, and hair I can see why someone may say you look Hispanic. At least you take it in stride. Today, too many people get offended when someone calls them the wrong race or ethnic origin. It is really good that you continue your family’s tradition of cooking Greek and Italian dishes and I hope your children continue that. My family has been in this country so long and has so many nationalities in the mix that we have Southern traditions instead of a specific country. I do enjoy researching my family’s history. I do not have anyone famous in my family so far, but my great-great grandfather, Private John Henry Gwathney, did manage to survive the Civil War while serving under General Nathan Bedford Forrest.…
“Brave hearts do not back down.” This quote is special to me because I know people I would consider as brave or a hero, but my top pick would be the soldiers. We can all agree that there is much more that our extraordinary veterans go through in order to make this nation the very best. I believe in an America that offers every child access to a world-class education, gives back to our current and fallen heroes, and that creates a common sense gun law in an effort to save our loved ones.…