American Religious History Massachusetts Bay Colony the Puritan colonies Puritans a movement inside Anglicanism wanted to purify the Church of England in o They came from England to form a Commonwealth in the Colonies Predestination God determines whether a person is saved or damned Good acts will not Catholicism help o Rigid behavior was practiced to show that God saves them Protestant Work Ethic Working hard is considered a virtue brings about the modern idea of the Protestant Work Ethic o Struggling in life will bring rewards New Canaan America the idea of a new Promised Land that the colonizers justified when invading the Native American tribes Virginia part of the cash colonies the European colonies established for business o Made up of Anglicans Presbyterians and Baptists o Although established as Anglican there are many non Anglicans who wanted to separate from England o Virginia legislature passed the Freedom of Religion law which becomes the first colony to become disestablished from a church Establishment custom of European countries to enforce national churches the church is attached to the state with the King as the Head of the Church Anglicans the established church of Virginia o As the state church Virginians must go to church at a certain time pay taxes to the church etc Presbyterians the Scots and Irish Baptists believe in anti monarchy Toleration the state s permission to be of a different religion o If not given permission he must go to jail The Baptists don t care for approval and would rather be punished than be forced to follow another religion James Madison political leader that showed pre revolutionary fervor of anti monarchy Thomas Jefferson one of the front runners during the American Revolution and the 3rd President of the US o The first President from the Democratic Republican party favors states rights o Values free inquiry people should have the opportunity to step away from authority so that they can find the truth rational Christianity in their own way Disestablishment separating the Church and State o Determining the definition of religion became an ongoing govt problem because it is nearly impossible to define o Protestant diversity and question in who is in charge of the colonies no king increase the desire for disestablishment o Passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man Enlightenment ideas about religion Focus on the individual Religion is a matter based on the private conscience idea found in books from many philosophers o John Locke s Letter on Toleration says people should not be allowed to believe in a national religion Wall of Separation Jefferson s letter to Danbury Baptist Association in 1802 This phrase later became part of the Establishment Clause in the Constitution There are two sides of the argument o Religion is pushed out of public space favored by French Secularism o Religion is protected from the state favored by Pluralism Pluralism a system for all people religions can be in public space Secularism the practice of removing all forms of religions in public places govt The Jefferson Bible Jefferson cut out certain parts of the Bible and added what he thought was truthful and rational He though Jesus was the best moral philosopher but didn t believe in the Resurrection institutions Main Ideas 1 The United States was and is regionalized The religious context was is different in different parts of the country 2 The separation of church and state was a long process from the Protestant Reformation to the early US Republic 3 The United States is always making decisions about religion Often they address the question Are we a secular nation or a pluralist nation Indigenous Religions Wakan Tanka the creator god who is similar to the Christian god He has many the Lakota a confederation of tribes located in the Plains Dakotas and northern Kansas manifestations dances Visions occur in sweat lodges where people meditate and speak mantras They also occur in Dances a form of problem solving especially the world s problems such as a bad crop Sun Dance the traditional Lakota practice o Was banned at one point by the US govt but then was removed once the ritual took Ghost Dance a ritual to bring the dead ancestors back to return the buffalo to their lands o It caused many of the Lakota s economic political and military problems ex Battle o The Ghost shirt that is worn in the ritual was said to be bulletproof which sadly was out the military aspect and to remove the White people of Wounded Knee not Dance Wovoka the Lakota religious leader who wanted to revive tribal traditions through the Ghost Wounded Knee Chief Bigfoot wanted to make peace with the US army and brought 200 women and kids and only 100 men o The US Army surrounds the Lakota Bickering occurs and a shot fires out accidentally This causes the US Army to start shooting and massacre everyone o The Ghost Dance shirt that the Lakota thought was bulletproof did not work The dead bodies were thrown in a pit with no respect o This event symbolizes the struggle between the two nations and the devastation caused by the US Syncretism the mixing of religions combining customs and traditions Main Ideas 1 What is problematic about the category of Indigenous Religions The word indigenous is meant for local communities but world religions come from local communites as well ex Hinduism Interchanged with words like tribal and primitive which began during the rise of social Darwinism It assumes that all religions are pure from other religions but all religions are technically syncretic Catholicism brought in Jewish customs Sources that gather information from these religions are biased missionaries explorers 2 Know some of the basics of Lakota religion 3 How were Lakota religious practices intertwined with the 19th century political context The US decided to destroy the Lakota culture instead of killing them They put their children in schools forced them to speak English and not their original language banned healing practices brought in Christianity and banned the Sun Dance 4 Native religion and Christianity are often combined The missionaries that introduces Christianity to the Native Americans helped syncretize their religion Today many Lakota believe in Jesus Mormons Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Joseph Smith born in New England and moved to Palmyra New York o Had his first revelation in a forest where God and Jesus appeared to him saying none of the religions of the time were not
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