Religion
Religiosity in the United States is characterized by
pluralism. Of Christian communities did in the
1600s Roman Catholic stronghold in the then French Maryland.
Other colonies on the East Coast were dominated by
Protestants: Anglicans in Virginia, Congregationalists in
Massachusetts, Calvinists in New Jersey, and Lutherans in
Delaware. Soon, Quakers, Mennonites (eg Amish) and
Presbyterians came. In the 18th century, the contour of the
American model became visible: a denominational system of
free churches in free competition. For a long time, however,
the religious image of the indifferent was dominated. Influx
to the churches began with the revival movement of the 18th
century with leaders like Jonathan Edwards. The revival
strengthened the Protestant character of American
Christianity.
 According
to
Countryaah, the Constitution of 1789 established the principle of
religious freedom. A lot of smaller communities emerged, but
at the beginning of the 19th century, another 90% of the
population was outside the churches. Immigration and revival
in the 19th century created the present complex structure.
The number of Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans and
Anglicans increased rapidly, and even Orthodox immigrated.
Indigenous communities such as The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Jehovah's Witnesses, and
Christian Science grew up. During the 20th century,
Pentecostalism and charismatic leaders (such as Baptist
Billy Graham) profiled American religiosity, as did
Protestant fundamentalism, mainly in the so-called Bible
Belt in the South. The religious image depicts just over a
thousand communities that are continuously formed, shared,
merged or dissolved. A majority of Christians in the United
States are Protestants, who are divided into a variety of
communities. However, of all Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran,
Anglican, Reformed, Baptist, and Methodist churches (2001,
more than 80% of Church-affiliated Americans), the Roman
Catholic Church is the single largest with more than 50
million members. The Lutherans make up just over 8 million;
Their largest church is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America, formed by a merger in 1987. Typical for the United
States is the disintegration of the boundary between
churches and the mass media. Some of the most famous
preachers appear mainly in television and radio. One of the
clearest trends in recent years is the explosive growth of
Baptist and Methodist churches (2001, just over 80% of
Church-affiliated Americans), however, the Roman Catholic
Church is the single largest with more than 50 million
members. The Lutherans make up just over 8 million; Their
largest church is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America, formed by a merger in 1987. Typical for the United
States is the disintegration of the boundary between
churches and the mass media. Some of the most famous
preachers appear mainly in television and radio. One of the
clearest trends in recent years is the explosive growth of
Baptist and Methodist churches (2001, just over 80% of
Church-affiliated Americans), however, the Roman Catholic
Church is the single largest with more than 50 million
members. The Lutherans make up just over 8 million; Their
largest church is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America, formed by a merger in 1987. Typical for the United
States is the disintegration of the boundary between
churches and the mass media. Some of the most famous
preachers appear mainly in television and radio. One of the
clearest trends in recent years is the explosive growth of
Typical of the United States is the disintegration of the
boundary between congregations and mass media. Some of the
most famous preachers appear mainly in television and radio.
One of the clearest trends in recent years is the explosive
growth of Typical of the United States is the disintegration
of the boundary between congregations and mass media. Some
of the most famous preachers appear mainly in television and
radio. One of the clearest trends in recent years is the
explosive growth ofmega churches, ie extremely large
Protestant churches with charismatic leaders who use
unconventional and modern methods of worship, often with
strong elements of entertainment.
The first Jews, Sephardic refugees from Brazil,
came to North America in 1654. In the 1880s, immigration of
Ashkenazi Jews from Europe increased sharply, first from
Central Europe, then especially from Russia. Through the
German-Jewish immigration and some prominent reform rabbi's
activities, the Reform Judaism gained many followers. Of the
Eastern European immigrants, some preferred to preserve
their traditional Judaism, others adopted a somewhat
modernized Orthodox Judaism. Still others joined the
conservative direction that emerged in Europe in the 19th
century as a compromise between orthodoxy and liberalism. A
fourth direction, reconstructionism, perceives Judaism as a
form of ethnic culture. All directions have created their
own roofing organizations and rabbinical seminars.
More recently, the traditional movements have lost
significance and the Jewish-religious map has become more
diverse. The main difference is between Orthodox and
non-Orthodox. Both Reform Jews and Conservative Jews have
accepted female rabbis. They also have a more liberal view
of mixed marriage and who should be counted as a Jew. This
has led to increased difficulties in the cooperation between
Orthodox and non-Orthodox.
There are (2004) about 6 million Jews in the United
States. Far from everyone is connected to some synagogue.
Mixed marriage is now at least as common as intermarried
marriage. Assimilation is therefore seen as a greater danger
to the future of Judaism in the United States than
anti-Semitism, which has never been particularly prominent
there.
Islam arrived in the New World already with the
Spanish conquistadors. However, the majority of North
American Muslims were not voluntary settlers but slaves
(10-15% of the black slave population is estimated to have
been Muslims). A Muslim immigration began in the 1860s from
the then Ottoman Empire. Since the 1960s, the proportion of
Muslim immigrants has increased significantly, to about 8
million (1993); Of the black population, 3 million profess
Islam, including supporters of the Black Muslim (Nation of
Islam) movement, headquartered in the black inner cities.
The first national Islamic co-organization was established
in 1954. (1995) there are more than 1,200 mosques in the
United States.
Buddhism was brought to the United States and
Hawaii in the late 1800s by East Asian immigrants from
especially China and Japan; early on, the Japanese Jodo
Shinshu came to dominate, and in 1944 the Buddhist Churches
of America was founded. After World War II, interest in
Buddhism increased, and there are (1995) some sixty
independent societies (a total of about half a million
members), most of non-Asian origin. Both theravada and
mahayana (preferably zen and Tibetan tantrism) are
represented.
During the 1960s and 1970s, interest in various forms of
Eastern cults and meditation techniques became widespread,
not least Zen Buddhism and yoga. Transcendental meditation
and the Krishna movement are both of Indian origin but have
been designed in the United States.
New religious movements, like Scientology (which also
wants to call themselves church), have spread widely.
Witchcraft, Satanism and novelty with Egyptian, Greek,
Celtic and Nordic backgrounds are found in the religious
borderlands.
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