We've recently started watching "God in America". The movie starts by exploring the conflict between science and religion that started to fully bloom after the theory of evolution began. Charles A.B was one of the firsts to do a thorough investigation of the Bible and state that there were inconsistencies throughout the book, this did not sit well with many as in he time who believed the bible was to be taken literally and not interpreted. The Bible was the truth to many and questioning anything in it was not taken well. Briggs argued the bible was to be interpreted and the meaning to evolve as time did. Briggs gave a speech to protestants about his new discoveries and feelings towards the Bible. He truly thought people would find the reason in his message as he was suggesting that both science and religion needed to coexists to make sense of each other. He was arguing that the Bible was divinely inspired and not meant to be taken literally as many of the events that occurred in the stories were just not possible according to science. To better understand the Bible and God's lessons science and the new realities had to be used to clearly understand the messages. This speech was not well-received and Briggs was taken out of the church, but he did start a new movement that would change how religion would exists in America. The strict Christians feared that these new messages would change the unique role religion had in American culture and feared the change that would come with accepting science over religion. However, many Christians also felt believed in the fact that they could accept both and did not have to leave reason behind the church doors. This balance was what many people wanted, but change would not be welcomed by all. How would you say religion fits in with American culture today? In the same way or has there been a significant shift?
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ReplyDeleteReligion is not as important in American culture anymore. The southern states are still very religious, but the northern ones are less religious. There are still lots of churches in this area, but unless you look closely, you could go through life without realizing how many religious people there are if you are atheist. Also, there are more religions being practiced in the United States due to immigration. Overall, it is still important, but some areas have become less religious and more diverse with the religions practiced there.
ReplyDeleteReligion actually plays a significant important part in politics today, especially with this year's election. I read a few articles (on FiveThirtyEight) about the election regarding religion. The most interesting thing about those articles was that people who voted for a certain major candidate were more about "church" and religion, while those who voted for the other were much more inclined towards "college" and education. Even today, religion accounts for a very significant factor in our lives and the future of this country.
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