The Role Of Civil Religion In The United States

Civil Religion is the deep values that the nation has all together. Although there are many other religious denominations, civil religion is a nonsectarian quasi-religious faith in the United States. The common principles within this come from historical passages where coexistence between everyone is key. The leading force behind civil religion is Robert Bellah, who believed this was a phenomenon among American sociology, because there wasn't a denomination you had to claim to have these views. Civil Religion is common among the general public in the United States, because it has more to do with social issues than following a belief system that categorizes people under denominations or who they believe the superior power above us really is.
Civil religion was derived from several historical documents such as the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights. Each of these documents instilled beliefs that every citizen of the United States theoretically follows everyday. Civil religion will stay as the basis for religious movements and systems, because everyone can have similar beliefs. These beliefs are really practiced on a social level, which allows everyone to have the same fundamental values and beliefs. The idea of civil religion causes conformity, due to the belief that everyone should and will have the same sociological ideas.
Robert Bellah is the common name that comes up when discussing who defined civil religion and defining what it really means. This idea of religion leads to the main view that this is the way American citizens should live by instead of following a specific religious denomination. People are critical of most religions because everyone has their opinion about who is right and who is wrong, especially regarding a superior person that might not be real. Bellah argues that civil religion is universal and can simply be seen by watching American people, because generally they all have the same views over certain social issues. Civil religion should be the most insightful information regarding a “religion”, because it has high value when addressing beliefs in the United States. These ideas are comprised by basic fundamental beliefs, values, certain holidays for citizens, and ritual practices that allow for people to be independent in their own mind. This will lead to more natural views of how people want to live. It also translates from being a good person, to those who have no idea what social impact people have when they are believed to be following one single idea and not listening to other people's ideas. That is where people get caught being critical of other religions and not having a basis to allow other information impact how you view issues rather than being close minded. Robert Bellah's explanations for these common ideas are why people should follow a basis, because coexisting with other American citizens should not taint our view of religion. However, people argue because they want to be right, and that is why people can not always be in conformity.
Civil religion can be seen as an idea that has transpired from the United States founding fathers such as: George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Thomas Paine. These leaders were the guys behind civil religion, because the ideas come from the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. The founding fathers were the main writers and contributors to these historical documents that everyone still follows on a day-to-day basis. Civil religion is still prominent in the United States to this day. The constitutional rights that were established hundreds of years ago are still followed by the government and U.S. citizens. These rights and laws that were given, offer a social system that people can live by. Civil religion and the ideas given by Robert Bellah are perceived to be ideas of the Constitution which allows everyone the right to be in unity when it comes to social issues. However, people challenge these ideas by following a different religious denomination, and it gets in the way of following some simple beliefs because they have a different God and values. These cultural issues are always going to be prominent, because some people will have a different “religious” view, even though this is based on social views. American culture is always going to hinge on whether people are in more agreeance with Bellah and what he brought up when he established civil religion within the United States. The religious and mythological foundation is not to identifiable with civil religion, because there is not a god that has more power than anyone else. These ideas are based off of historical documents that shaped the way our nation works, which has not been changed since it was established as the basis for the governing of the United States.
Civil religion can be seen everywhere, but a common place for it is in schools across the nation.
Some symbols that recognize civil religion is the American flag, the Pledge of Allegiance, and holiday observances. The American flag shows nationalism and represents patriotism for those who are culturally attached to the United States. The flag is a powerful image because when it is damaged, it's seen as being immoral and not socially accepted because that is destroying American pride. The Pledge of Allegiance symbolizes a way for students and U.S. citizens to have unity with the nation as a whole. It is a popular way to show love and have pride within the nation. People often argue that it is a symbol to pledge for unity with god. Some students from different religious denominations will not do the pledge as they believe it does not go along with their own beliefs and religious system. Finally, holiday observances are one of the least talked about civil religious symbols, because they don't really show certain things for pride. However, certain holidays show more pride towards social views than others, the fourth of July is the largest holiday that relates to this topic of civil religion. It shows the day of Independence from Great Britain which then comes back to the views of civil religion having a basis from the historical documents written by our founding fathers. Memorial Day also presents a holiday observance which came from the Civil War. It is celebrated to remember
the ones who died for the differences between the North and South. Many of these ideas show why civil religion can be easier defined by symbols that show pride for the nation and have a meaning for social values that most American citizens have.
The values of civil religion differ from person to person however, it generally stresses specific ideas like freedom, democracy, and honesty.
These are just a few of the values people understand from a “religious” view. Freedom shows that our country is by itself and not under rule by anybody else, it also shows that citizens of the nation aren't manipulated by anyone, which allows people to have their own belief systems. The democracy that was given to us by our founding fathers give the power to the people, who then promote people to represent parts of the nation for a say in certain ideas for the nation. Honesty is a value that not many people could say that they have. It provides a basis for people to have integrity to our social system that people often believe is fake and everyone is crooked. Values are often overlooked from societal issues because someone will have an argument no matter if they are right or wrong. The values of civil religion are instilled in everyone, it just depends if that person can bring them out. Civil religion still has strong ties to the nation, because it has a deep meaning that people often do not see regardless it always being
there.
Civil religion is not as perfect as it sounds, problems come up more often then not. People argue that “God” is at the center of the religion; that may be true, but there is multiple other things that make civil religion a bigger thing then just god. The definition of God is not as clear as it seems, the challenges that come up arise from a political problem where the societal issues come up because the value in civil religion wants everyone to have a view that aligns. People have differences in beliefs, so it will never all be the same as there is millions of denominations that believe different things. The basis of civil religion was trying to give every U.S. citizen a path to follow, instead it has caused a difference between people who do not have faith in the system that was implemented by the founding fathers. Other issues come up from citizens from different cultures that immigrate to the United States. People try to make universal goods their own sort of good that gets slanted to only benefit that single person instead of a whole group. Civil religion does not need to be as complicated to society as everyone is making it, instead the key values and symbols should be held at a higher standard than what others view who are not culturally satisfied.
Civil religion is the basis of deep values that is viewed by the United States as a whole community. Robert Bellah is the founder of the religion in the nation, and took sections from historical documents that helped build the United States from the ground up after independence from Great Britain was granted. The founding fathers who wrote the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights started the ideas of basic civil religion. Bellah used the existence of god, the common values among the religion, and how to make the issues similar among citizens. The idea of practicing civil religion is more common than one would think, because the main values are in people's daily lives. America is starting to practice less and less civil religion, because more people have different views. Justifying whether or not Robert Bellah and his civil religion ideas are good for the nation is tough; however, the foundation for practicing civil religion is solid considering the values that are incorporated within the structure of the system.