Religion And Ethnic Diversity Paper
Religion and Ethnic Diversity
By
Joseph Dillon
For the first part of my paper I have chosen Roman Catholic as the religion I want to discuss in my report. The Roman Catholic religion differs in several ways from other religions, but some have the same values as the Roman Catholic religion. The chief teachings of the Catholic Church are: God’s objective existence; God’s interest in individual human beings, who can into relations with God (through prayer); the Trinity; the divinity of Jesus; the immortality of the soul of each human being, each one being accountable at death for his or hers actions in life, with the award of heaven or hell; the resurrection of the dead; the historicity of the gospels; and the divine commission of …show more content…
the church. In addition the Roman Catholic Church stress that since the members, living and dead, share in each other’s merits, the Virgin Mary and other saints and the dead in purgatory are never forgotten. Unlike the Roman Catholic the Latter day Saints focuses its doctrine and teaching on Jesus Christ; that he was the Son of God, born to the Virgin Mary, lived a perfect life, performed miracles, bled from every pore in the garden of Gethsemane, died on the cross, rose on the third day, appeared again to his disciples, and now resides, authoritatively, on the right hand side of God. In brief, some beliefs are in common with Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestant tradition. However in the teachings of the Latter day Saints differ significantly in other ways. The gradual assimilation of Catholics into mainstream of American life was perhaps inevitable with passage of time and generations. By the end of the 1950’s, most Catholics saw little conflict between being Catholic and American at the same time. The widespread acceptance of Catholics into mainstream America was largely accomplished in the postwar era, but two major events of the 1960s brought the trend to its completion. In 1960 John F. Kennedy was elected president of the United States. Kennedy was an Immigrant success story, the grandson of an Irish Catholic immigrant who had worked his way up from pennilessness to riches. The other event was the Second Vatican Council. This was an international council of bishops called by Pope John CCIII to Rome between 1962 and 1965 for the purpose of updating the Church- making its traditional doctrines and rituals relevant for the modern world.
The early founders of the United States like early government were almost entirely of protestant background. The Catholic population met much resistance in the United States until sheer numbers forced its integration into American society. A deep anti-Catholic sentiment, inherited from Great Britain, existed in colonial America. Some colonies had laws restricting or banning Catholicism. The settling of the colony of Maryland by English Catholics was perhaps the only exception. While the First Amendment of the Constitution guaranteed freedom of religion, it did not compel Protestant Americans to accept Catholic newcomers. Protestants resented Catholicism on theological grounds, often making fun of and belittling Catholic religious rights and customs. As American Catholicism spread during the 19th century anti-Catholic violence saw churches burned, Catholics massacred, property destroyed, as well as victims of discrimination in employment and housing.
After reading several different articles about the Roman Catholic religion I have learned that the Catholic Church is the largest of the Christian Churches, and that about 60% of Christians are Catholic. Also it has helped me to understand that most religions have similar beliefs.
Unlike the white population of early America which was mainly wealthy land and crop owners and businessmen. Most of if not all of the Black population was a product of early America slavery. The Americans of African descent have had the greatest trouble with becoming assimilated into the larger culture. African Americans were brought here by force, not by will. They were also sold off as slaves. Except for the Native American Indian tribes who inhabited the US before the white settlers arrived, other ethnic groups came here voluntarily and the biggest reason is because they wanted better living conditions. Slavery is a historical event in our nation’s past. The enslavement of African-Americans was a contradiction of all of the basic American values and beliefs. The US was then divided into two different sections, the southern and the northern states.
The southern states were slavery primarily was a distinct thing, which became the basis of the economy. On the other hand, the northern states chose to make slavery against the law. The majority of the northerners believed that freedom and equality of opportunity needed to be protected for whites only, but they were afraid that black slavery would eventually take away their economic freedom. Lincoln’s argument was that if slavery continued to spread westward, white freedom and equality would be threatened. He also believed that basic ideals such as freedom of opportunity had to apply to all people, black and white, or they would not last as basic American values. When Lincoln became president in 1860, the southern states left the union and tried to form their own nation of their own based on slavery. In result, the Civil war broke out between the south and north. It turned out to be the bloodiest and most destructive of all the nation’s wars. When the north won, black slavery ended in the United States. Although slavery ended, African-Americans were not assimilated into the larger culture. Most African Americans remained in the south, where they weren’t allowed to vote and were legally segregated from whites. Black children weren’t allowed to go to school with whites and many received a poor education, which resulted in not being able to have an equal opportunity to compete …show more content…
in the white-dominated society.
From their earliest presence in North America, African Americans have contributed literature, art, agricultural skills, foods, clothing styles, music, and language, social and technological innovation to American culture.
The cultivation and use of many agricultural products in the United States, such as yams, peanuts, rice, okra, sorghum, grits, watermelon, indigo dyes, and cotton, can be traced to African and African-American influences. Notable examples include George Washington Carver, who created 300 products from peanuts, 118 products from sweet potatoes, and 75 from pecans; and George Crum, who invented the potato chip in 1853. Soul food is a variety of cuisine popular among African-Americans. It is closely related to the cuisine of the Southern United
States. In my opinion the prejudice and discrimination by both groups are similar in only a couple of ways. Both groups were discriminated against when it came employment and housing, and both groups had difficult times being accepted into the community. From understanding the readings they were different in ways like Catholics were more educated than the African Americans were years ago. The only conclusion I see about discrimination from these two groups is that it does not matter what skin color you are or what ethnic background you belong too you can be discriminated against. Discrimination has no boundaries.
References
1. http://www.diffen.com/difference/Catholicism_vs_Christianity 2. http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/twenty/tkeyinfo/tmainstr.
3. http://www.angelfire.com/zine2/corrienjustine/africanamerican.html
4. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/67474/African-Americans
By
Joseph Dillon
For the first part of my paper I have chosen Roman Catholic as the religion I want to discuss in my report. The Roman Catholic religion differs in several ways from other religions, but some have the same values as the Roman Catholic religion. The chief teachings of the Catholic Church are: God’s objective existence; God’s interest in individual human beings, who can into relations with God (through prayer); the Trinity; the divinity of Jesus; the immortality of the soul of each human being, each one being accountable at death for his or hers actions in life, with the award of heaven or hell; the resurrection of the dead; the historicity of the gospels; and the divine commission of …show more content…
the church. In addition the Roman Catholic Church stress that since the members, living and dead, share in each other’s merits, the Virgin Mary and other saints and the dead in purgatory are never forgotten. Unlike the Roman Catholic the Latter day Saints focuses its doctrine and teaching on Jesus Christ; that he was the Son of God, born to the Virgin Mary, lived a perfect life, performed miracles, bled from every pore in the garden of Gethsemane, died on the cross, rose on the third day, appeared again to his disciples, and now resides, authoritatively, on the right hand side of God. In brief, some beliefs are in common with Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestant tradition. However in the teachings of the Latter day Saints differ significantly in other ways. The gradual assimilation of Catholics into mainstream of American life was perhaps inevitable with passage of time and generations. By the end of the 1950’s, most Catholics saw little conflict between being Catholic and American at the same time. The widespread acceptance of Catholics into mainstream America was largely accomplished in the postwar era, but two major events of the 1960s brought the trend to its completion. In 1960 John F. Kennedy was elected president of the United States. Kennedy was an Immigrant success story, the grandson of an Irish Catholic immigrant who had worked his way up from pennilessness to riches. The other event was the Second Vatican Council. This was an international council of bishops called by Pope John CCIII to Rome between 1962 and 1965 for the purpose of updating the Church- making its traditional doctrines and rituals relevant for the modern world.
The early founders of the United States like early government were almost entirely of protestant background. The Catholic population met much resistance in the United States until sheer numbers forced its integration into American society. A deep anti-Catholic sentiment, inherited from Great Britain, existed in colonial America. Some colonies had laws restricting or banning Catholicism. The settling of the colony of Maryland by English Catholics was perhaps the only exception. While the First Amendment of the Constitution guaranteed freedom of religion, it did not compel Protestant Americans to accept Catholic newcomers. Protestants resented Catholicism on theological grounds, often making fun of and belittling Catholic religious rights and customs. As American Catholicism spread during the 19th century anti-Catholic violence saw churches burned, Catholics massacred, property destroyed, as well as victims of discrimination in employment and housing.
After reading several different articles about the Roman Catholic religion I have learned that the Catholic Church is the largest of the Christian Churches, and that about 60% of Christians are Catholic. Also it has helped me to understand that most religions have similar beliefs.
Unlike the white population of early America which was mainly wealthy land and crop owners and businessmen. Most of if not all of the Black population was a product of early America slavery. The Americans of African descent have had the greatest trouble with becoming assimilated into the larger culture. African Americans were brought here by force, not by will. They were also sold off as slaves. Except for the Native American Indian tribes who inhabited the US before the white settlers arrived, other ethnic groups came here voluntarily and the biggest reason is because they wanted better living conditions. Slavery is a historical event in our nation’s past. The enslavement of African-Americans was a contradiction of all of the basic American values and beliefs. The US was then divided into two different sections, the southern and the northern states.
The southern states were slavery primarily was a distinct thing, which became the basis of the economy. On the other hand, the northern states chose to make slavery against the law. The majority of the northerners believed that freedom and equality of opportunity needed to be protected for whites only, but they were afraid that black slavery would eventually take away their economic freedom. Lincoln’s argument was that if slavery continued to spread westward, white freedom and equality would be threatened. He also believed that basic ideals such as freedom of opportunity had to apply to all people, black and white, or they would not last as basic American values. When Lincoln became president in 1860, the southern states left the union and tried to form their own nation of their own based on slavery. In result, the Civil war broke out between the south and north. It turned out to be the bloodiest and most destructive of all the nation’s wars. When the north won, black slavery ended in the United States. Although slavery ended, African-Americans were not assimilated into the larger culture. Most African Americans remained in the south, where they weren’t allowed to vote and were legally segregated from whites. Black children weren’t allowed to go to school with whites and many received a poor education, which resulted in not being able to have an equal opportunity to compete …show more content…
in the white-dominated society.
From their earliest presence in North America, African Americans have contributed literature, art, agricultural skills, foods, clothing styles, music, and language, social and technological innovation to American culture.
The cultivation and use of many agricultural products in the United States, such as yams, peanuts, rice, okra, sorghum, grits, watermelon, indigo dyes, and cotton, can be traced to African and African-American influences. Notable examples include George Washington Carver, who created 300 products from peanuts, 118 products from sweet potatoes, and 75 from pecans; and George Crum, who invented the potato chip in 1853. Soul food is a variety of cuisine popular among African-Americans. It is closely related to the cuisine of the Southern United
States. In my opinion the prejudice and discrimination by both groups are similar in only a couple of ways. Both groups were discriminated against when it came employment and housing, and both groups had difficult times being accepted into the community. From understanding the readings they were different in ways like Catholics were more educated than the African Americans were years ago. The only conclusion I see about discrimination from these two groups is that it does not matter what skin color you are or what ethnic background you belong too you can be discriminated against. Discrimination has no boundaries.
References
1. http://www.diffen.com/difference/Catholicism_vs_Christianity 2. http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/twenty/tkeyinfo/tmainstr.
3. http://www.angelfire.com/zine2/corrienjustine/africanamerican.html
4. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/67474/African-Americans