Religions in U.S.A.

                              

The Washington National Cathedral, located in the capital.

1. Religion and the U.S. Government Separation between church and state the Bill of Rights - no state religion, and

complete freedom of belief and religious practice or non-belief

The First Amendment : no national religion; no governmental assistance to religious groups; no interference with religious institutions or Practices.

Churches and states are separated from each other

Believers of God

The vast majority of Americans have always been believers in God

Many official American ceremonies and documents make reference to God

Sessions of Congress and state legislatures begin with prayers.

The national motto (printed on U.S. currency) is, "In God We Trust."

Witness swearing over the Bible

George W. Bush swearing in over the Bible

Most people are religious

Christianity is the major American faith; almost 80 % of Americans now are Christian

Data updated According to the CIA,the following is the order of religious preferences

in the United States: Christian: (78.5%)

Protestant (51.3%) Roman Catholic (23.9%) Mormon (1.7%) other Christian (1.6%)

unaffiliated (12.1%) （不属于特定教派的） none (4%) other or unspecified (2.5%) Jewish (1.7%) Buddhist (0.7%) Muslim (0.6%) （“ CIA Fact Book”. CIA World Fact Book (2002). Retrieved on 2007-

12-30. ）

2. Protestants in the U. S. A. 90% of all the churches in the U.S. are

Protestant. About two-thirds of the Protestants had

their origins wholly or mainly in Britain: Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians (mainly from Scotland), (smaller ones) Unitarians, Society of Friends, and the Salvation Army.

The Protestant Church

The Protestant Church is one of the three main divisions (the Catholic, the Eastern Orthodox, and the Protestant Churches) of Christianity

The Protestant Episcopal Church- derived from the Church of England

Baptists are one of the largest Protestant bodies

3. Catholics in the U. S. A.

The largest single religious group is that of Roman Catholics

More than one-quarter of all Americans are now of Roman Catholics faith.

A survey in the early 1990s, Roman Catholics represent 26.2% of the U. S population

Most of the early Catholics stayed near the East Coast, Anti-Catholic prejudice was strong before the 1960s

Catholics have their own institutions such as schools, hospitals and colleges to preserve their faith. But these institutions attract a large number non-Catholics by the discipline and education offered in these schools.

Not easy to run for the costs in education and began to seek help, but the government can’t help because of the Constitution

Catholics (2)

4. Judaism and Jewish in the U. S. A.

The third major religion in the United States is Judaism

Nearly 6 million Americans are Jewish During the Sabbath, observed from

sundown Friday until sundown Saturday, Orthodox Jews do not work, and they do not travel, except on foot.

Judaism

Jewish tradition imposes certain dietary restrictions, prohibiting pork and certain seafood, forbidding milk products at meals with meat or poultry. Reform Judaism does not impose these restrictions.

Jewish Giants: Karl Marx (founder of socialism and communism), Albert Einstein (one of the founders of the atomic age), and Sigmund Freud (founder of psychoanalysis)

Hsi Lai Temple (lit. Coming West Temple), a Buddhist monastery in Los Angeles, California.

5. American Character of Religion Religious freedom Value religions for different reasons The protestant work ethic

Tendency

Are Americans religious?" Recent surveys suggest that 95% of Americans believe in God, and only 2% never pray

Americans have never believed in waiting for God to do the job. In the American outlook, faith in God lives side by side with a strong belief in freewill and an admiration for self-reliance

“God helps those that help themselves”

Thank You so much Paper Presented at Interfaith Youth Forum

Palembang 2012 Gugun Gumilar @gumilargugun