美国宗教英文版

课外空间文化长廊山东省梁山县杨营中学于孔春供稿Diversity1is the main feature of religion in the United States.Although Christianity has al-ways been the major American faith,the existence of more than250different religious sects2here has made Americans tolerant3of all forms of worship—Christian and non-Christian.美国宗教的主要特点就是多样化。

虽然基督教一直是美国人的主要信仰，但还存有250—不论它是基督教或是非基督教。

多种其他宗教派别，这使美国人包容各种各样的信仰——Maybe this tolerant attitude to different religions can be traced back to the early settlers ofthis country.Among the first immigrants4,quite a number of them were Puritans,whose purposeof coming to this New World was to pursue religious freedom,to practice their religion and wor-ship God as they wished.This is why the nation’s forefathers demanded legal guarantees of reli-gious freedom.So the First Amendment to the Constitution not only forbids the establishment of. All Rights Reserved.an offical national religion but also forbids state or federal interference5with religious institu-tions or practices.这种对宗教的宽容态度也许能够追溯到早期殖民地时期。

RELIGION in the UNITED STATESReligious Liberty∙“Among the rights which the new nation guaranteed, as apolitical necessity in a religiously diverse society, wasfreedom of religion” (p. 86)∙The Constitution forbade the government to give specialfavours to any religion, nor were they allowed to stop orinterfere with religion. The USA was determined it wouldhave no state-supported religion.∙When there is a disagreement between the government andany religion, the American courts must settle it. Protestants in the United States∙60% of Americans are Protestant believers. The Baptists are the largest Protestant group.* The largest concentration ofBaptists live in the Southern States of America and, although some Southern Baptists have liberal attitudes to blackAmericans, many believe and practice racial discrimination and prejudice towards them.∙Most black Americans are Baptists too, but they go todifferent churches than the white Americans. Church is amajor social and community centre for the black churchgoers. ∙There are over a 100 Protestant sects in America. Theyexpress variety on a theme, rather than major differences inbelief. In recent decades there has been an increase in thenumber of fundamentalist churches, which often use themedium of television to communicate with citizens. Thesefundamentalists are sometimes extreme in their views. Catholics∙The largest single religious group is the Roman Catholics.More than 25% of Americans identify themselves as Catholics.The increase in the number of Catholics is mainly due to laterimmigration waves of Irish, Polish and Italians. For instance, over a million Irish Catholics left Ireland, due to a famine there that saw many suffer starvation.∙There was significant prejudice against the Catholics by the Protestants. *∙In the 1950s, many Catholics began to question the idea of the separation of Church and State. The Catholic Church had developed many social institutions, including schools, to preserve their faith. The Church wanted the government to help fund the cost of these schools. The Supreme Court was asked to rule whether this would be unconstitutional. TheCourt ruled that it was unconstitutional, and that thegovernment could not help religious schools.Three Faiths∙By the 1950s, a kind of “three faiths” model of USA haddeveloped. All Americans were considered to come in one of three basic varieties: Protestant, Catholic and Jewish.∙The Jews were a small minority in the first years of theAmerican republic. Later, many Jews came to the USA and became successful. There are now many Jews in the various professions and in the academic world.Anti-Semitism appeared as the numbers of Jews grew. In response to prejudice and discrimination, Jews formed organisations to fight this. These organisations attempted to educate Americans about the injustice of prejudice.“People are complicated. They are the combinations of good and evil, beauty and ugliness, truth and falsehood, wisdom and stupidity.”He Manzi (1919- ), Chinese writer.Religious DiversityThe USA has seen the growth of many new religiousmovements. There were many experiments, both religious and otherwise, in alternative living. Sometimes communitiesdeveloped with people who wanted to …opt out‟ of mainstream society because they considered mainstream society, corrupt or lacking in moral virtue. One the most well-known is theAmish communities of Pennsylvania.∙Sometimes the beliefs and practices of these sects conflict with American law. Two instances are: the Jehovah‟s Witnesses who want to refuse to allow blood transfusions when they have medical treatment, and the Mormons who believe that a man can have more than one wife.∙The Supreme Court has been asked to make decisions about whether these practices can be allowed or not. In both cases the Supreme Court said no they are not allowable. Another decision that is very well-known was the 1973 decision whichmade abortion legal, even though many Catholics and Jewscampaigned strongly against it being legalised. There still exists a strong emotional reaction to the issue of abortion.*Other world religions have been increasing their numbers in America for example Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism due to immigration trends.American Character of ReligionThere are 3 unique aspects to American religion:∙All Americans of different religions live together under thesame law. There is no stat e interference with people‟sreligious beliefs. There is no state religion. The variousreligious groups have coexisted more harmoniously inAmerica than in the Old World.∙Religious beliefs of Americans have a strong social element to them. Half of all Protestants are active church-members, and even more Catholics attend church regularly. Many attendchurch not only for religious reasons but also to make friendsand to become a part of the community. In contrast, 80% ofEngland‟s Protestants go to church le ss than once a month and in Sweden most citizens do not go to church at all.∙Every church is a completely independent organisation. Apart from having responsibility for finance and the buildings, thepreacher preaches what he/she thinks is important rather than instilling doctrine (church teachings) into the churchgoers. Why do so many Americans attend church?∙In American history, religion has not been associated withoppression or domination by other powerful institutions.∙Generally speaking, Americans have experienced greaterreligious freedom than Europeans.∙Churchgoing in America is seen as an opportunity tobecome a part of the community and to develop friendships.Key Points∙The American government guarantees religious freedom.∙The American Protestants have a very diverse range ofchurches and sects even though they have the same basicbeliefs.∙The Catholic Church is the single largest church in the USA.When immigrants from predominately Catholic countries, like Poland, Italy and Ireland, brought their religion with them.∙There was prejudice and discrimination against the Catholics and the Jews.∙Many Americans go to church for social as well as religiousreasons.∙Attendance at church in the USA is relatively high compared with many European countries.RESULTS OF SURVEY (1995-1997)It polls a statistically valid sample of adults from a total of 60 nations. Some of their findings from their 1995-1997 survey: The United States has a higher level of church attendance than any other country which is "at a comparable level of development."53% of Americans consider religion to be very important in their lives. This compares with 16% in Britain, 14% in France and 13% in Germany.The importance of religion has been declining in developed countries.In those countries which are "experiencing economic stagnation and political uncertainty," the importance of religion is high.。

Relijion in The UnitedStates1.Protestant（新教）2.Catholic Church(天主教)3.Judaism(犹太教)4.Eastern OrthodoxChurch(东正教)5.Buddhusm(佛教) Religion in America is very diverseChristian:Protestant 51.3﹪Catholic 23.9﹪Other Christian 3.3﹪Jewish 1.7﹪Buddhist 0.7﹪Muslim 0.6﹪Hindu 0.4﹪Other 2.0﹪Unaffiliated 16.1﹪Christian Beliefs 一．The basic beliefs of the Christianlaitn,that Christians from all denominations can agree on,are that:1.Jesus is God’s son.2.Jesus came to earth as a baby,lived a perfect life,and died on a cross as a sacrifice for our sins.3.Jesus will come back again as a King.He will take his followers to live with Him in heaven.Many people in America are "deists".They believe that there is a God,but they don't think He is involved in our lives to a great extent.They don't seek God or follow Biblical teachings.Many others in America are "practicing Christians".They seek to follow God's will in their lives and often meet together with other Christians at Church meetings,42﹪American “go to church”at least once a week. American Character ofReligion1.American with different religions live together under the same law.The Bill of Right of US proved whereis no state religion and that Church and state must be separated.2.The religions beliefs of American continue to be with social progress.The majority of American pour into the Church every Sunday morning.3.Every Church in US is completely independent organization and concerned with it own finance and it’s own building.There has been little concentration on doctrine or religious argument.。

American Religious Culture美国是一个宗教色彩浓厚的发达国家,其宗教多元化与移民问题有密切关系,宗教信仰已成为美国文化和历史不可分割的组成部分,这种多元宗教文化的传统对美国的社会生活产生了深刻影响。

USA is a developed country with rich religious colors and its multi-religious features are closely connected with itsimmigrants. Religious beliefs are an inseparable part of American culture and history. This deep-rooted multi-religious culture has exerted great influenceon American lives.一、美国的宗教文化背America's religious and cultural background美国向以“民族熔炉”和“宗教联合国”著称。

America is famous as an "Ethnic melting pot" and "religious United Nations".美国人大部分是17和18世纪欧洲移民的后裔,另外,还从拉丁美洲、亚洲、澳洲、非洲甚至加拿大涌入了大量移民。

移民们持续稳定地涌入美国,带来了他们本国的文化和传统,从而使美国社会变得丰富多彩,也对美国多元文化的形成产生了深远的影响。

Americans are mostly descendants of European immigrants of17 and 18th Century. In addition to there are also a large number ofimmigrants from Latin America, Asia, Australia, Africa and Canada. Thesteady influx of immigrants brought their own culture and traditions to America. They make the American society rich and colorful and even impact far-reaching influence on the formation of America’s multicultural.多元文化的沃土滋养出了多元宗教文化。

Religion in AmericaIn a Christian ['kristjən; -tʃən] world, many countries in the West have experienced declines in religious observance[əb'zə:vəns]and increases in secularization in the twentieth century. The United States, however, seems to be an exception. the U. S. still remains the most religious country in the Western countries. In comparison with European countries, America not only has a greater number of religious believers, but also enjoys a much higher church survey, The Economist reported that about 95 percent of Americans believed in God; four out of five believed in miracles ['mirəkl], life after death and the Virgin Mary birth; 6.5 percent believed in the devil['devəl]; 75 percent believed in angels; and nine out of ten owned a bible. Similarly, surveys by the Gallup Organization in the early 1990s indicated that among Americans under 30 years old, about 36 percent attended church on regular basis, while close to 47 percent of the people at or over 50 went to church once in a week.Is America a religious culture, shaped by men who sought freedom of worship, with God constantly present in their minds even when the Church has become formalized? Or is it a secular culture with religion playing only a marginal role in men’s daily lives since the Untied States long time ago separated Church and State? To answer these two questions is no less than looking into the dynamics [dai'næmiks] of American culture and the complexity [kəm'pleksiti]of American society. The fact of the matter is that each of these questions can be answered affirmatively[ə'fə:mə'tivli]. America is as secular as a culture can be wherereligion has played an important role in its origins and early growth, and has been interwoven [,intə'wəuvən]with the founding and meaning of the society. America is also as religious as a culture can be whose life goals are worldly and whose daily strivings revolve not around God but around Man. SecularizationWhile it is true that the United States in the most religious nation in the world, it is also true that much of religion in American has become a matter of private ethical convictions. Indeed, it is variously noted that American are active in secular affairs, that religious observations have been losing their supernatural or otherworldly character, that religion in America tends to be religion at a very low temperature, and that younger generations, as a rule, have less and less training in, or attachment to, religious doctrine. But on the other hand, militant anticlericalism, as noted previously, is lacking in the United States, and church membership, on the whole, is quite large. Furthermore, religion in modern America is given continued public and political approval, and even the nonrecent domestic debates over such issues as family values, abortion, juvenile delinquency, divorce, and same-sex marriage have in many ways provided fertile soil for the revitalization of religious force in the United States. The enormous influence the Religious Right has enjoyed over the past three decades if a case in point.。