Jumping off what Russ said, I think that in the age of political correctness that we live in, there is a sort of denial among many people to admit that this country was founded on religious values and that much of what our country did in the earlier years (and even today) was/is justified on religious grounds. It certainly highlights the contradiction between being a land that is supposedly welcoming to people of all faith and having the territory that we do because it was justified long ago as “God’s will” for us as a nation.
When looking for a statistic on how many Americans consider themselves religious, I found an amazingly pertinent article to this discussion published recently in the Washington Post (Here’s the link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/11/AR2006091100459.html) . The title is “Americans May Be More Religious Than They Realize: Many Without Denomination Have Congregation, Study Finds.” Here’s the part to which I will refer:
“ The Baylor University survey looked carefully at people who checked "none" when asked their religion in polls. Sociologists have watched this group closely since 1990, when their numbers doubled, from 7 percent of the population to 14 percent. Some sociologists said the jump reflects increasing secularization at the same time that American society is becoming more religious.
But the Baylor survey, considered one of the most detailed ever conducted about religion in the United States, found that one in 10 people who picked "no religion" out of 40 choices did something interesting when asked later where they worship: They named a place.
Considering that, Baylor researchers say, the percentage of people who are truly unaffiliated is more like 10.8 percent. The difference between 10.8 percent and 14 percent is about% Considering that, Baylor researchers say, the percentage of people who are truly unaffiliated is more like 10.8 percent. The difference between 10.8 percent and 14 percent is about 10 million Americans.”
I think this is incredibly interesting, because it highlights a couple of things I was thinking about as a result of our discussion last class. First: Has American society become increasingly secularized in recent years? It would seem from the reactions to our discussions about George Bush and religion in class that many in our academic environment seem to scoff at the idea a politician is a true believer in religion and uses it to guide his choices. I think that in a University environment, there is a tendency to be skeptical of religious arguments for actions because we are so engrossed in an environment where we must present evidence and sources for arguments—the more scientific/academic, the more accurate and well received. I think another reason it’s so hard to believe that a politician (especially Bush) is truly religious and does not just spout religion to appeal to voters is this: In a nation like ours, where 33% of people say they attend an evangelical church and half say they are “bible-believing” (according to the above study), a politician is dead in the water if he professes to be secular. Claiming to be guided by the “ultimate” authority is an instant way to endear you to followers who believe in that and makes it difficult for those who are not so fortunately endowed to argue with this claim in any way most people who believe the “guided by God” politician will accept.
In closing, another interesting, pertinent bit from the article: "What is most associated with 'no religion' from a political point of view is independence," said Barry Kosmin, principal investigator of a telephone survey that queried tens of thousands of respondents. His American Religious Identification Survey found that the number of "no religion" Americans jumped from 14.3 million in 1990 to 29.4 million in 2001. "If you don't belong religiously, you don't belong politically," he said.
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