Unit4 Religion in the U.S.A(美国宗教)

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 its immigrants. 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 toAmerica. They make the American society rich and colorful and even impactfar-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。

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 its immigrants. 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 toAmerica. They make the American society rich and colorful and even impactfar-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。

The influence of religion on American Value IntroductionIn most countries, religious people had declined obviously with the society developing and science knowledge enlarging. America is a highly developed country in civilization, culture, science and technology. But the rate of religious people in America is far higher than other western countries. In this article, we try to outline some general American values influenced by religious tradition, religious history and today’s religion. To some extent, it is helpful to know of America and American society better.Relation between the Culture and ReligionIn any countries, the characteristics and values of people are related with their own society culture and tradition nearly and embody its own culture value concept. America, as a country, which was founded by the protestant immigrants from Europe and their descendants, from the view of culture origin, directly follows modern European civilization, which mainly contains the values of capitalist’s equality, freedom, and democracy from Enlightenment movement. They materialized strong concept of values and principles and moralities that influence not only the foundation of U.S.A and the form of the National Democratic Political System; meanwhile, but also American characteristics and values inevitably. Religion, as the only one among those factors which influence the development of American society that possesses invisible power (the religion value) and the visible power (religious denominations or groups) has its own more special even more everlasting influence.The Important Place of Religion Culture in American Society and American Life.The U.S.A is a highly developed country with modern science, yet it is also a religious country, in which people has strong religion fervency. Religion then, being theology or the everyday practices of a culture, gives us insight into the religious influence in American life. There is a strong religious influence in American life. Among 250 million people, there are over 3000 religious denominations and groups, and sixty out of a hundred have religious beliefs. Every Sunday morning, all over American, people pour into the churches, not only the catholic churches, but also the protestant ones too, are flourishing, and new church buildings, some with interesting architecture, keep pace with the ever-growing suburbs.ⅢSome American Characteristics and Values Affected by Religion1. American Creativity, Materialism and Hard Working from Its Religion Origin-----Puritanism[ˈpjʊərɪtənɪzəm](清教)In the eyes of other countries’ people, American s are often criticized for being so “materialistic” which means placing a high value on material possessions. Americans do not like to be called materialistic because they feel that this unfairly accuses them of loving only material things and of having no religious values. For them, though, this materialism is natural and proper. Material wealth is the mostwidely accepted measure of social status in the United States because Americans rejected the European system of hereditary aristocracy and titles of nobility; they had to find a substitute for judging social status.However, Americans pay a price for their material wealth, which is hard working. When puritans settlers arrival this new land, all the rich natural resources were undeveloped. They believed God gave those treasures to them and only by hard work could these natural resources be converted into material possessions and a conformable standard of living as the reward for the God. Hardworking has been both necessary and rewarding for most Americans throughout their history. Because of this, they have come to see material possessions as the natural reward for their hardworking. Most Americans believe if a person works hard, it is possible to have a good standard of living. Over 90% of young Americans think they will achieve what they want in life, and almost eight out of ten think they can get what they want through hard work. They have been thought that it is a good thing to work hard and acquire more material badges of their success, and that means a better future for them.3. 2 Individual Freedom and EqualityIn addition to viewing the Christianity as an expression of individual freedom and equality in their purest forms, Americans have also seen the Christens as a pure expression of the ideal of equality of opportunity. On the western Christianity there was more of a tendency for people to treat each other as social equals than in the more settled eastern region of the country. On the Christianity, the highest importance was placed on what a person could do. Because so little attention was paid to a person’s family background, the Christians offered the chance of a new beginning for many Americans who were seeking new opportunities to advance themselves. Americans moved west to the Christians to make a new beginning when they experienced disappointment or failure in business or in politics.The historic decisions made by those first settlers have had a profound effect on the shaping of the American character. By limiting the power of the government and the churches and eliminating a formal aristocracy, they created a climate of freedom where the emphasis was on the individual. The United States came to be associated in their minds with the concept of individual freedom. This is probably the most basic of all the American value. Scholars and outside observer often call this value “individualism,” but many Americans use the word“freedom.”Perhaps the word “freedom”is one of the most respected popular words in the United States today.By “freedom,”Americans mean the desire and the ability of all individuals to control their own destiny without outside interference from the government , a ruling noble class, the church or any other organized authority. The desire to be free of controls was a basic value of the new nation in 1776, and it has continued to attract immigrants to this country.Political rights once belonged only to Whiteman at least 21 years of age, and in some cases only of they were property owners. Now, political rights belong to all men and women 18 years of age or older who are citizens, whether black or white, rich orpoor. They believe in equality not only of political rights but also educational rights, working rights, rights in court, and many other rights. Consequently, when women or racial minorities, the situation is regarded as social values. Denial of equality in such cases involves conflict of interest; but the demand for equality is rooted in the consensus view that equality is a general American value.Freedom is so much a part of American life that it is often taken for granted. But this is not to say that it is not valued. Indeed, the belief in the freedom of the individual is probably the most basic and most strongly held of all American beliefs. The desire for freedom is what motivated the Russian man to risk his life to come to United States, and it is one of main reasons why immigrants have traditionally come to his country.3. 3 Confidence, Courage and Optimism3.3.1 ConfidenceThe protestant settlers believed that by coming to American they were carrying out God’s plan. This belief gave them confidence that they would succeed. Modern Americans still need to believe that their nation will continue to succeed. The national religion helps to answer this need by reminding them of their religious heritage. It is a means of maintaining their national self-confidence in a rapidly changing world. But, Americans have developed a number of informal practices that combine national patriotism with religion.Protestant Christianity often emphasizes the natural wickedness of human nature, but Protestantism rejected the idea that acts of wickedness can be forgiven by a priest acting in God’s name. Therefore, individuals are left alone before God for their wickedness. In this way, Protestantism encourages a strong and restless desire for self-improvement. The need of self-improvement, once established, reaches far beyond in the purely moral sense. In the United States the belief in self-improvement can be seen in countless books that explain how people can be happier and more successful in life by improving everything, even their whole personality. They are the natural products of a protestant culture in which people believe that “God helps those who help themselves”. The key to self-improvement and success is self-confidence and ensure personal success in life.3.3.2 Optimism and CourageousOptimism ------“doing good” orientation can be found in the life of Jesus Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples said that he went about “doing good”. The Bible is full of how Jesus traveled from place healing the sick and counseling misfits and ordinary people. This procedure was filled with troubles. But Jesus always was optimistic. In short, activity and Christianity are bound together. Americans like to believe that a difficult problem can be solved. They take pride in meeting challenges and overcoming difficult obstacles. This spirit has traditionally given Americans a sense of optimism about themselves and their country. The spirit is a real source of pride and inspiration.Another strong message in Christianity is courage. Jesus was courageous. The life of Jesus reveals a man who would not be intimidated by his opponents. Jesus’strong personality, strength and courage are traits that all Christians are reminded of repeatedly. These are the powerful values in the American culture.Because life was getting easier, people assumed that it was getting better. The prevailing American attitude was one invented by a French pharmacist who, in treating his patients by hypnosis, instructed them to say,“Every day in every way I am getting better and better.” According to this kind of belief, Americans shared another happy attitude – a naïve patriotism that said the United States was the best of all possible places; that American policy was determined by ethics, not expediency; that we had never fought an unjust war; that we war always on the side of right and ruled by noble motives.ⅣThe Religious Outlook of AmericansMore than 80% Americans agree that even today, miracles are performed by the power of God, and 36%say they personally experienced or witnessed what they considered a miracle, according to a CBS news poll last year. Heaven isn’t just in your mind: it’s a real place, say 88% of a national sample of adults interviewed in 1997 by Opinion Dynamics for Fox News. Overall, the center’s survey confirms that America truly is one nation underGod or at least Americans say it is. In survey after survey, overwhelming majority of Americans firmly believe in God. They have no doubt about thatgod really exists. Women are far more likely to be true believers than men.An analysis of five separate GSS surveys between 1988 and 1998 found that believers were far more likely to be women (58%) than men (42%). [2] Though some evidence indicates a decline in recent decades of the influence of religion in American life, religion reaches large audiences via radio and TV. Weekly audiences of religious TV shows are about 24 million and radio audiences are probably even larger. Prior to 1960, the major religious groups handled most religious broadcasting and the broadcasting time was given to them as a public service. Today, many small religious groups buy broadcasting time and use it, not only to preach the word of God, but also to plead for contributions to support their church（and sometimes the preacher’s expensive lifestyle as well）. What’s more, belief in God may be getting stronger. In 1987, a Gallup poll found that 60% of those interv iewed completely agreed with the statement: “I never doubt the existence of God.”ConclusionAmerican religion is certainly one major factor to American development. Americans are strongly affected by those beliefs in their everyday lives although their ideals are only partly carried out in real life. The religion provided the space and conditions that helped to strengthen the American ideals were enlarged and made workable. Therefore, if we can understand what these basic traditional American values are and how they have influenced almost every facet of life in the U.S, it will be easier to understand what Americans are thinking and feeling.。

Religion in AmericaIn a Christian world, many countries in the West have experienced declines in religious observance and increases in secularization in the twentieth century. This is often attributed to the influences of industrialization, consumerism, materialism, hedonism, mass culture, and universal education. The United States, however, seems to be an exception. Despite its materialistic image and intense worship of “mighty dollars”, 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, life after death and the Virgin Mary birth; 6.5 percent believed in the devil; 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 andState? To answer these two questions is no less than looking into the dynamics of American culture and the complexity of American society. The fact of the matter is that each of these questions can be answered affirmatively. America is as secular as a culture can be where religion has played an important role in its origins and early growth, and has been interwoven 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.God and ManThe mixture of theocracy and secularism is actually one of the American religious heritages. One can find the strong religious base of American life and thought in the older Puritan communities of New England and in the new frontier states. The Calvinist doctrine of predestination, for example, played a dominant role in the early colonists. People moving to the frontiers in the West were mostly inspired by the vast stretch of land available for attainment. They dreamed of getting rich quick, and at the same time tried to comfort their souls by waging religious revivals there. At the time Americans embraced Enlightenment ideas and applied them in their political, social and economic life, they still constantly referred to the Holy Scripture for conviction and reassurance. Even in the contemporary Atomic Age where science and technology has developed to an unprecedented level, there has been an activerevival of religious feeling among the American people, old and young, in modern cities. To a certain degree, this mixture of 17th-century rationalism (Science and Technology), and mid-20th-century revival may help explain some of the contradictions in the relations between God and Man in America. America is regarded as a “Christian country”. The influence of Judaic-Christian doctrines upon American culture has been profound. For example, the religious doctrine of the soul is so crucial and pervasive in Western (including American) conceptions of man that no one would deny that Judaic-Christian doctrine is a major element in shaping American national character and culture. In the minds of American Christian believers, the idea that man has a soul and that all souls are “equal before God”has been basic to the ethical evaluation of individual personality. The idea of the worth, dignity, and inviolability of the individual unquestionably owes much to this belief, as do humanitarian ideas and various philosophies of human equality.Historically speaking, the whole idea of God and individual soul goes back to the sixteenth century. As the child of the Reformation, Americans took over not only its dominantly Protestant heritage, but also its deep individualistic strain. Every European sect that had found itself constricted or in trouble emigrated to the New World, which thus became a repository of all the distillations of Reformation thought and feeling. Since the Reformation had broken with the authority of the Roman Catholic Church and left to the individual meaning of the Scripture, America became a congeries of judging individuals, each of themweighing the meaning and application of the Word. A Bible-reading people emerged, drenched in the tradition of the Old and New Testaments. This may help explain the stress on the idea of “covenant with God” in Ameri can thought. It also suggests why a people so concerned with the meaning of the Holy Writ have been the first to give a sacred character to a written Constitution but at the same time remain a nation of amateur interpreters of the Constitution.Two basic concepts of the Christian—the soul and sin—took on a new emphasis in individualist America. Each man was the judge of his own religious convictions, since his possession of an immortal soul gave such an inner worth regardless of color, rank, or station, political belief, wealth or poverty. Thus, the foundation was laid for religious freedom early on in the Untied States. On the other hand, if each man had an immortal soul to save, it was because it had been steeped in sin. As a Bible-reading people, Americans took over many of the preconceptions of the Hebraic society in which Judaism and early Christianity were rooted. Among them was the sense of individual sin—aside from original, or inevitable sin—without which there could be no individual salvation.There is a resulting ambiguity between the sin-and-salvation strain in Christian doctrine and the organic optimism of American economic and social attitudes. The Hebrew prophets, as they lamented the disintegration of Biblical society, called on each Jew to war d off God’s wrath from his people by cleansing himself of his own inner guilt; the Christian allegory added to the sombernessof this conception. But there have been few occasions on which Americans could believe with any conviction in an impending collapse of their social structure and their world. The sense of sin and the sense of doom were therefore importations from the Old and New Testaments that somehow flowered in the American soil in spite of worship of money and success, or, perhaps, exactly because of this worship, for in this case, it required a compensating doctrine to ease the conscience.The result has been an American religious tradition which is on the one hand deeply individualistic, anti-authoritarian, and concerned with sin and salvation, and yet, on the other hand, secular and rationalist in its life goals, and concerned with happiness in this world. Americans, growing up in this religious tradition, have been salvation-minded, each believer engrossed in his relation not to the church but to God, in Whom he was to find salvation. At the same time, they have also formed a secular rather than a sacred society, in which everybody pursued his earthly comforts according to his own conscience。

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.。

4-美国宗教练习题Chapter 4 Religion一、Tell whether each of the following statements is true or false.1、__________ Most American people are Christians.2、__________ Christianity, Islam and Jewish are the three major religions in the world.3、__________ The Protestant Church is the state church of the U.S.4、__________ There are more Protestants than Catholics in the U.S.5、__________ The U.S. was founded in 1790.6、__________ Easter is a Christian festival on which Christians celebrate Jesus’rising from the dead.7、__________ In the American Congress, the first thing to do is to pray.8、__________ Competition results in the original accumulation of capital in early America.9、__________ For d octors, “confidentiality”is a basic rule to protect patients’personal information.10、__________ If you do volunteer work, you don’t need to pay tax in the U.S.二、Fill in the blanks with the correct information.1、America is called a “________”, which mean s it is a multinational country.2、Because of ________ and ________ to all the faith, America isa country with religious diversity.3、________, the Eastern Orthodox Church and ________ make up the three major Christian groups of Christianity in the world.4、“WASP” refers to __________________.5、________ was the only President who was not a protestant.6、Christmas is a Christian festival, on which people celebrate ________.7、One of the most popular Christmas carols is ________.8、The worldwide famous painting ________ depicts the last meal before Jesus died.9、In ________, Americans limited the power of the government as to the rights of individual religion.10、________ is one of the most important values mainly held by Protestants.Scanning for Specific Information三、Choose the correct answer on the basis of what is stated in the text.1、Which of the following religions has the biggest number of believers in the U.S.?(a)Buddhism(b)Judaism(c)Christianity(d)Islam2、Which of the following is NOT regarded as one of the three basic religious beliefs?(a) Protestant(b) Catholic(c) Judaism(d) Islam3、What is considered as “the national religion” of America?(a)The combination of religion and patriotism(b)Protestant(c)Catholic(d)Christianity4、Why are the candles lit on Christmas Eve?(a)To make the church look brighter.(b)To memorialize the dead relatives.(c)To remember Jesus Christ as the light of the world.(d)To present Jesus’ life and its significance.5、According to the text, what is a key concept in American government and culture?(a)Self-improvement and material success(b)Separation of church and state(c)Individual freedom(d)Volunteer work and charity6、How do Protestant ideas about personal religion affect how they live?(a)They work hard.(b)They improve themselves.(c)They help others.(d)They are self-reliant.7、Which of the following is NOT the reason that Tiger Woods, Michel Jordan and Helen Keller are considered as heroes?(a)They have done something first.(b)They have done something best.(c)They have overcome some difficulties.(d)They have donated the most money to charity.8、How do Protestants think of hard work?(a)It is a way to have a better life.(b)It is a way to help more people.(c)It is a way to glorify God.(d)It is a way to prove their ability.9、How can Americans keep their freedom?(a)By self-improvement(b)By self-reliance(c)Do more volunteer work(d)Help more people in need10、What is one of the marks of missions?(a)To offer service to meet human needs(b)To be self-reliant(c)To win in competitions(d)To keep c onfidential others’ information一、Tell whether each of the following statements is true or false.1、__________ Most American people are Christians.答案：T2、__________ Christianity, Islam and Jewish are the three major religions in the world.答案：F3、__________ The Protestant Church is the state church of the U.S.答案：F4、__________ There are more Protestants than Catholics in the U.S.答案：T5、__________ The U.S. was founded in 1790.答案：F6、__________ Easter is a Christian festival on which Christians celebrate Jesus’rising from the dead.答案：T7、__________ In the American Congress, the first thing to do is to pray.答案：T8、__________ Competition results in the original accumulation of capital in early America.答案：F9、__________ For doctors, “confidentiality”is a basic rule to protect patients’personal information.答案：T10、__________ If you do volunteer work, you don’t need to pay tax in the U.S.答案：F二、Fill in the blanks with the correct information.1、America is called a “________”, which means it is a multinational country.答案: melting pot2、Because of ________ and ________ to all the faith, America isa country with religious diversity.答案: tolerance; acceptance3、________, the Eastern Orthodox Church and ________ make up the three major Christian groups of Christianity in the world.答案: The Roman Catholic Church; the Protestant Church4、“WASP” refers to __________________.答案: White Anglo-Saxon Protestants5、________ was the only President who was not a protestant.答案: John F. Kennedy6、Christmas is a Christian festival, on which people celebrate ________.答案: Jes us’ birthday7、One of the most popular Christmas carols is ________.答案: Silent Night8、The worldwide famous painting ________ depicts the lastmeal before Jesus died.答案: The Last Supper9、In ________, Americans limited the power of the government as to the rights of individual religion.答案: the Bill of Rights10、________ is one of the most important values mainly held by Protestants.Scanning for Specific Information答案: Self-improvement三、Choose the correct answer on the basis of what is stated in the text.1、Which of the following religions has the biggest number of believers in the U.S.?(e)Buddhism(f)Judaism(g)Christianity(h)Islam答案: (c)2、Which of the following is NOT regarded as one of the three basic religious beliefs?(a) Protestant(b) Catholic(c) Judaism(d) Islam答案: (d)3、What is considered as “the national religion” of America?(e)The combination of religion and patriotism(f)Protestant(g)Catholic(h)Christianity答案: (a)4、Why are the candles lit on Christmas Eve?(e)T o make the church look brighter.(f)To memorialize the dead relatives.(g)To remember Jesus Christ as the light of the world.(h)To present Jesus’ life and its signi ficance.答案: (c)5、According to the text, what is a key concept in American government and culture?(e)Self-improvement and material success(f)Separation of church and state(g)Individual freedom(h)Volunteer work and charity答案: (b)6、How do Protestant ideas about personal religion affect how they live?(e)They work hard.(f)They improve themselves.(g)They help others.(h)They are self-reliant.答案: (b)7、Which of the following is NOT the reason that Tiger Woods, Michel Jordan and Helen Keller are considered as heroes?(e)They have done something first.(f)They have done something best.(g)They have overcome some difficulties.(h)They have donated the most money to charity.答案: (d)8、How do Protestants think of hard work?(e)It is a way to have a better life.(f)It is a way to help more people.(g)It is a way to glorify God.(h)It is a way to prove their ability.答案: (c)9、How can Americans keep their freedom?(e)By self-improvement(f)By self-reliance(g)Do more volunteer work(h)Help more people in need答案: (b)10、What is one of the marks of missions?(e)T o offer service to meet human needs(f)To be self-reliant(g)To win in competitions(h)To keep c onfidential others’ information 答案: (a)。