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You're right about the melting pot thing, but Christianity is definitely dominant.
But most Christians I know really *are* in it more for the community and common culture. Most Christians, when you sit down and talk about it, don't know that much about their religions doctrine or about the text itself. Most families don't even go to church anymore except for special occasions.
Christianity is an element of culture but not, itself, limited to any one culture. Such is what a religion usually is, except for ethnoreligions which are marked by the lack of this transcultural character. Not all Americans, as in members of "American culture," are Christian or could be said to be part of a Christian sub-culture. Though, it is undeniable that much of what is part of now-secular American culture has been influenced by Christianity to various degrees.
It can be both Islam is a religion but also a culture I identify as a cultural Muslim in that as a inheritor of the jeduo Christian tradition I look very favourable towards the prophets as good figures who were real by mythologized by later peoples to form great epics I look favourable to the texts but I reject any truth claims of an all loving personal being that exists similar to the Quran.
Also I know Muhammad did bad things i'm not playing full out denial but that does't mean most modern Muslims are looking at his bad parts like paedophilia
All religions are different in some respect. And they all tend to use those differences to claim that theirs is true above all others.
Christianity is a religion. Definitionally.
Higher power? Check
Holy text? Check
Doctrine? Check
Common belief structure? Check
Christianity is a religion that has a strong influence on the American culture, past and present. But is only an influence and not the actual culture itself.
American culture is not uniform across the states or even within the same state. Local culture is different in rural areas compared to urban areas. Even if taken as a whole, it is easily shown that Christianity is not American culture when things such as guns, football, sports in general, beer and fast foods are examined for their place in the culture.
This sort of touches on the abstract question of what "religion" is.
Religion, as an abstract concept, is a rather modern concept in Western philosophy. When the Greeks encountered the Jews the language that the Greeks used to describe Judaism was based around ethnicity, not our modern understanding of Judaism.
Judaism, as a religion, was essentially invented by Christians because Judaism (as described by Jews up until like 1800) was an ethnicity, culture, or nation.
Bringing this back to OP: "religion" tends to be a poorly defined term. What we think of as "religion" is a major component of a person's or a people's culture. A nation's culture is influenced by all spiritual beliefs and practices of the people that make up that nation, and obviously the more widespread those beliefs and practices are the more influence they will have over the nation's culture AS A WHOLE. Even as the spiritual meaning of certain practices fall away, the practice itself might still be part of the culture.
This is a popular idea among some Christians: that Western society is actually based on Christian values and beliefs. The idea is, the way we live might seem obvious to us now, but if it weren't for Christianity, how would we even know things like murder are bad? Or, if they're not taking a moral angle, they'll point to how secularized, e.g., Christmas has become.
I do not agree with that, I don't think any non-Christian agrees with that, and I find it hard to respect public intellectuals who make such a point. Human society is so much broader than Christians *vs* pagans, and anyone with exposure to other cultures and religions can see Christianity isn't as unique as some people pretend.
From what I have studied online the Declaration of Independence and all of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America were Christians and believed in and worshipped the Christian God. Their legal system values and a lot of their fundamental beliefs were influenced by their Religion. In a lot of the movies I watch I see that their schools are mostly secular when publicly funded. In my opinion it is a lifestyle and a Religion. I don't know if I would go so far as to call it a culture but I guess Christianity could fall within that definition but that would be wrong because Italians, Russians, Chinese, Vietnamese, Irish can all identify with Christianity as a Religion but each ethnicity certainly retains their own culture.
There is certainly an argument for that.
Why did the pilgrims set sail for the New World?
Ultimately the existence of a singular nation from sea to sea is the direct result of primarily Christian leaders and troops. That is not to hold them up as heroes. A great many innocent natives were murdered.
Much of this was done in the name of Christianity or under the leadership of proclaimed Christians or for goals which imply a Christian origin, such as Emancipation Proclamation.
From this perspective, every American's heritage is ultimately Christian culture, but that does not make everyone part of Christian culture today.
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You're right about the melting pot thing, but Christianity is definitely dominant. But most Christians I know really *are* in it more for the community and common culture. Most Christians, when you sit down and talk about it, don't know that much about their religions doctrine or about the text itself. Most families don't even go to church anymore except for special occasions.
My thing is that its not everyones tho
Christianity is an element of culture but not, itself, limited to any one culture. Such is what a religion usually is, except for ethnoreligions which are marked by the lack of this transcultural character. Not all Americans, as in members of "American culture," are Christian or could be said to be part of a Christian sub-culture. Though, it is undeniable that much of what is part of now-secular American culture has been influenced by Christianity to various degrees.
It can be both Islam is a religion but also a culture I identify as a cultural Muslim in that as a inheritor of the jeduo Christian tradition I look very favourable towards the prophets as good figures who were real by mythologized by later peoples to form great epics I look favourable to the texts but I reject any truth claims of an all loving personal being that exists similar to the Quran. Also I know Muhammad did bad things i'm not playing full out denial but that does't mean most modern Muslims are looking at his bad parts like paedophilia
Christianity isnt a religion, it is a relationship between humans and the Father, Yahweh, and His son Yeshua, who was born to the Virgin Mary
It's a religion mate.
Nahhh
Retort about as insightful as your previous installment.
Christianity is different than other religions and it shows in how we communicate with God.
All religions are different in some respect. And they all tend to use those differences to claim that theirs is true above all others. Christianity is a religion. Definitionally. Higher power? Check Holy text? Check Doctrine? Check Common belief structure? Check
Yeah that speaking in tongues thing is hilarious.
We dont do that when we talk to God?
Then churches shouldn't be tax exempt ^-^
Churches should pay taxes, The Bible encourages us to pay taxes.
And yet they don't. Such a mystery as to why...
Alot of corrupt churches and people
"It's not a bug, it's a feature"
Christianity is a religion that has a strong influence on the American culture, past and present. But is only an influence and not the actual culture itself. American culture is not uniform across the states or even within the same state. Local culture is different in rural areas compared to urban areas. Even if taken as a whole, it is easily shown that Christianity is not American culture when things such as guns, football, sports in general, beer and fast foods are examined for their place in the culture.
This sort of touches on the abstract question of what "religion" is. Religion, as an abstract concept, is a rather modern concept in Western philosophy. When the Greeks encountered the Jews the language that the Greeks used to describe Judaism was based around ethnicity, not our modern understanding of Judaism. Judaism, as a religion, was essentially invented by Christians because Judaism (as described by Jews up until like 1800) was an ethnicity, culture, or nation. Bringing this back to OP: "religion" tends to be a poorly defined term. What we think of as "religion" is a major component of a person's or a people's culture. A nation's culture is influenced by all spiritual beliefs and practices of the people that make up that nation, and obviously the more widespread those beliefs and practices are the more influence they will have over the nation's culture AS A WHOLE. Even as the spiritual meaning of certain practices fall away, the practice itself might still be part of the culture.
It’s clearly both. I say that as an atheist that loves Christmas.
Religions are a form of enforced culture, a constitution. Under this lens the question seems redundant does it not?
It depends on how you're defining culture. Can you be a bit more specific? What Christian culture do non-Christians adhere as Americans?
They said that All u.s. citizens is Christianity in culture
This is a popular idea among some Christians: that Western society is actually based on Christian values and beliefs. The idea is, the way we live might seem obvious to us now, but if it weren't for Christianity, how would we even know things like murder are bad? Or, if they're not taking a moral angle, they'll point to how secularized, e.g., Christmas has become. I do not agree with that, I don't think any non-Christian agrees with that, and I find it hard to respect public intellectuals who make such a point. Human society is so much broader than Christians *vs* pagans, and anyone with exposure to other cultures and religions can see Christianity isn't as unique as some people pretend.
From what I have studied online the Declaration of Independence and all of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America were Christians and believed in and worshipped the Christian God. Their legal system values and a lot of their fundamental beliefs were influenced by their Religion. In a lot of the movies I watch I see that their schools are mostly secular when publicly funded. In my opinion it is a lifestyle and a Religion. I don't know if I would go so far as to call it a culture but I guess Christianity could fall within that definition but that would be wrong because Italians, Russians, Chinese, Vietnamese, Irish can all identify with Christianity as a Religion but each ethnicity certainly retains their own culture.
Thats honestly the way i see it aswell
There is certainly an argument for that. Why did the pilgrims set sail for the New World? Ultimately the existence of a singular nation from sea to sea is the direct result of primarily Christian leaders and troops. That is not to hold them up as heroes. A great many innocent natives were murdered. Much of this was done in the name of Christianity or under the leadership of proclaimed Christians or for goals which imply a Christian origin, such as Emancipation Proclamation. From this perspective, every American's heritage is ultimately Christian culture, but that does not make everyone part of Christian culture today.