2. I Religion in America
• Religion has always played an important role in the
history of the United states.
• 宗教在美国的发展过程中,对美利坚民族的形成起
到了不可替代关键作用。对美国人的精神塑造功不
可没。虽然政教分离是美国的基本国策,但艾森豪
威尔总统的一句话道破天机:“我们的政府如果不是
建立在深厚的宗教信仰之上,就没有意义。”
• 美国人可以选择不同的宗教信仰,可以选择不相信
宗教,但无法在现实生活中拒绝基督教的道德规
范,特别是新教传统对美国人能的道德和文化风尚
起到了决定性的影响。
9. 美国宗教分布图,
• Ninety percent of Americans say that they believe in
God, although not all of them participate in
traditional religious organizations.
• About 80% of Americans are Christians (50%
Protestant, 24% Catholic, 10% other Christian faith
p.52),
• 2 % are Jews,
• another 4 % belong to other religious faith such as
Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism.
• There are now about as many Muslims living in the
United States as there are Jews. People of Hispanic
origin now make up about one-half of the Catholic
church.
10. • The Asian immigrants have brought with them
the traditional religions of East Asia –
Daoism, Confucianism, and Shintoism, as well
as Buddhism.
• (Confucianism, a
teaching, tradition, philosophy or religion? 儒
家,儒教,孔教,儒学? 韩国儒教,东南
亚儒教;五四前,儒教)
12. A 天主教在美国
• The Catholic faith was first brought to the North
American continent by the Spanish in the 1500s. For the
next 300 years, Catholic missionaries and settlers from
Spain and then Latin America came to what is now
California and the Southwest. Many of the cities were
named by these missionaries and settlers – San
Francisco, Santa fe, San Antonio, for example.
• French Canadian Catholic missionaries also came with
explorers and traders from Quebec, down the
Mississippi river to New Orleans.
• IN the 1600s, the European settlers began establishing
colonies along the east coast of North America.
17. B)天主教
• The largest single religious group is that of Roman
Catholics, 24%. The majority of the Catholics are
descendants of immigrants from Ireland, Italy and
Poland. Most of the early Catholics stayed near
the east coast. They were concentrated in New
York and Massachusetts and are still a very
important element of the population in those
two states. By the Civil War, over a million Irish
Catholics, many of them driven by hunger , had
come to the United States
18. • Anti-Catholic prejudice was so strong that, on a
few occasions, it broke out in mob violence.
More often prejudice took the form of
discrimination, particularly at the polls. It ends
at 1960, when John F. Kennedy, a Roman
Catholic won the presidential election.
20. • As Catholics grew more confident about their
place in American life, they began to seek some
way in which they could obtain public funds to
help meet such expenses as education. But other
American groups call for even less government
connection to religion. Non-believers, and some
religious people objected to prayer and Bible
reading in public schools. They thought that a
modern government in a free society should be
basically secular.
21. B 新教教派在美国
• Although there were some Catholics, the vast majority
of the European settlers were Protestant, most from
England. As the new nation formed, it was the
Protestant branch of the Christian faith that had the
strongest effect on the development of the religious
climate in the United States.
• It is well-known that the American mainstream culture
was developed from what is called “WASP” (White
Anglo-Saxon Protestant盎格鲁-萨克逊白人新教文
化,俗称大黄蜂文化)culture. According to Samovar
(Communication between cultures), it is still a
white, male , Christian culture.
22. • Samovar (Communication between cultures), it is
still a white, male , Christian culture.
• The Protestant branch of the Christian faith broke
away from the Roman Catholic church in Europe
in the 16th century because of important
differences in religious beliefs. At the time of the
Protestant Reformation, the Roman Catholic
church was the center of religious life in western
European countries; the Catholic pope and the
priests played the role of parent to the people in
spiritual matters. They told people what was right
and wrong, and they granted them forgiveness
for sins against God and the Christian faith.
23. • The Protestants , insisted that all individuals
must stand alone before God. If people
sinned, they should seek their forgiveness
directly from God rather than from a priest
speaking in God’s name. In place of the power
and authority of priests, Protestants
substituted what they called the “priesthood
of all believers.” This meant that every
individual was solely responsible for his or her
own relationship with God.
24. • Largest Denominations of Protestantism in the
United States:
• After the Protestants broke away from the
Catholic church, they found that they could not
agree among themselves about many beliefs.
Therefore, the Protestants began to form separate
churches, called denominations.
• There are more than 100 other Protestant
sects, many of them hardly known to anyone
except their own members.
• 1) Baptist, (基督教新教)浸礼会,(主张全身浸
水的)浸礼教徒; (=St. John the Baptist)圣徒约
翰,施洗约翰
25. • Baptists are a group of Christian
denominations, churches, and individuals who
subscribe to a theology of believer‘s baptism (as
opposed to infant baptism), salvation through
faith alone, Scripture alone as the rule of faith
and practice, and the autonomy of the local
church. They are generally characterized by the
practice of immersion 全身浸水以表示成熟负责
仸的皈依经历,相信这种用圣水浸礼的人就获
得了新生(as opposed to affusion 天主教的注水
礼,往额头上洒水)and a disavowal of
authoritative creeds.
27. • Baptist churches are regarded as falling within the family
of Protestantism, and some churches or individuals
further identify with evangelicalism or fundamentalism.
• Diverse from their beginning, those identifying as
Baptists today differ widely from one another in what
they believe, how they worship, their attitudes toward
other Christians, and their understanding of what is
important in Christian discipleship.
• the Baptist faith is said to have originated from within
the Separatist movement. Prior to the Reformation, the
Church of England (Anglicans) had broken away from
the Catholic Church. Then came the mainstream
Protestant Reformation.
28. • 黑人Baptist
• The great majority of the Baptists seems to
have no difficulty in reconciling their Christian
belief and practice with their racial prejudice.
浸礼会的大多数教徒很容易把他们虔诚的
宗教信仰同种族歧视一致起来。 他们从
《圣经》中找出依据,说白人高于有色人
种是上帝的意志。(白人对其他种族的歧
视,三K党)
• Meanwhile , most of the blacks are Baptists
too, but they go to different churches from
the white. (Philadelphia ,Atlanta )
29. • 2) Methodist卫理公会, adherents of the
group which grew up in 18th century England
following the lead of John Wesley, Wesley 大
学
• 3) Lutheran路德宗, Lutheran Church,,以马
丁·路德的宗教思想为依据的各教会。十六
世纪产生于德国。强调“因信称义”,强调圣
经的权威高于教会的权威。18世纪传入美
国,
30. • 4)Presbyterian, 长老会, from Scotland
Presbyterian denominations derive their name
from the Greek word presbýteros
(πρεςβύτεροσ), “elder.” The Presbyterian
Church (USA) numbers 2.3 million members in
all 50 states and Puerto Rico美属波多黎各.
32. • 5) Episcopalian主教派,美国新教圣公
会, Episcopal (capitalized) refers to
Anglicanism and churches belonging to the
Anglican Communion; Episcopalian, as a
noun, is an adherent of an Episcopal Church.
• 安立甘宗Anglicans; Anglican Church, Church
of England,英国国教,殖民时期为官方宗
教;
35. • 6) the United Church of Christ
• 7)Congregationist 公理会教友,由新英格兰地
区的清教演变而来。清教Puritanism,新教教
徒中的一派。16世纪中叶起源于英国。原为英
国国教会(圣公会)内以加尔文学说为旗帜的
改革派。要求清洗国教内保留的天主教旧制和
繁文缛节,提倡勤俭。16、17世纪移居荷兰,
后又移居美国。现在没有。
• 8) 胡格诺教派Huguenots from France,16、17
世纪出现的法国 加尔文教派.加尔文宗
Calvinism;起源于法国,后传入英国
37. • At first, some denominations hoped to force their views
and beliefs on others, but they failed. The idea of
separation of church and state became accepted when the
Constitution was adopted in 1789.
• New England established another American tradition—a
strain of often intolerant moralism. (photo) The Puritans
believed that governments should enforce God’s morality.
They strictly punished drunks (Arlington, a dry town for 40
years) , adulterers (《红字》) ,violators of the Sabbath
(New Jersey, stores closed on Sundays) and other religious
believers different from themselves (today Bush, the nation
under one God,
• 对其他国家,文化的无端指责,扮演世界警察与清教传
统中intolerant moralism 的关系 . 清教徒为了自己的信仰
自由来到美国,但不允许其他人有不同的信仰自由。
38. • Outgrowth of English Separatism
• There were Christians who were disappointed
that the Church of England had not made
corrections of what some considered to be
errors and abuses. Of those most critical of
the Church's direction, some chose to stay and
try to make constructive changes from within
the Anglican Church. They became known as
"Puritans". Others decided they must leave
the Church because of their dissatisfaction
and became known as the Separatists.
39. • Others decided they must leave the Church
because of their dissatisfaction and became
known as the Separatists.
• Roger Williams, one of the Puritans who
protested that the state should not interfere
with religion, was driven out of Massachusetts.
• In 1635, he set up Rhode Island colony, which
guaranteed religious freedom and the
separation of church and state.
43. • The contemporary fundamentalist movement has
its origins in the 18th century when the First Great
Awakening was deeply influencing American
religious life.
• In the same time period the Methodist 卫理公会
movement was beginning to renew parts of
British Christianity, although this was at first
resisted by the majority of the Anglican
established church.
• Much of this religious fervor was a reaction to
Enlightenment thinking and the deistic 自然神论
writings of many of the Western philosophical
elites.
46. II 政府与宗教的关系
• 1Church and State
• The first Amendment insured that American
government would not meddle in religious
affairs, or require any religious beliefs of its
citizens. But did it mean that the American
government would have nothing at all to do
with religion? Or did it mean that government
would be religiously neutral, treating all
religions alike?
47. • In some ways, the government supports all
religions. Religious groups do not pay taxes in
the United states. The armed forces and
hospitals as well pay chaplains of all
faith.(Harvard graduate student, over 50, a
chaplain in Harvard Hospital).
• Presidents and other political leaders often
call on God to bless the American nation and
people. Oaths are administered, but those
who, like Quakers, object to them, can make a
solemn affirmation, or declaration, instead. (
按着圣经发誓,面对国旗发誓,)
48. • When disputes about the relationship
between government and religion
arise, American courts must settle them.
• American courts have become more sensitive
in recent years to the rights of people who do
not believe in any God or religion. But in many
ways what supreme Court Justice William O.
Douglas wrote in 1952 is till true. “We are a
religious people, whose institutions
presuppose a Supreme Being.”我们的社会习
俗习惯都是以上帝存在为前提的。
54. 美国政要的演说中离不开上帝
• 罗斯福就职演说
• The Almighty God has blessed our land in many
ways. He has given our people stout hearts and
strong arms with which to strike mighty blows for
freedom and truth. He has given to our country a
faith which has become the hope of all peoples in
an anguished world.
• So we pray to Him now for the vision to see
our way clearly——to see the way that leads to a
better life for ourselves and for all our fellow
men——to the achievement of His will to peace
on earth.
55. • 奥巴马就职演讲
• We remain a young nation, but in the words of
Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish
things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring
spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward
that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from
generation to generation: the God-given promise that
all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to
pursue their full measure of happiness. 我们的国家仍
旧年轻,但借用圣经中的话,该是抛开那些孩子气
的时候了。现在,需要重新拿出我们的坚韧精神,
选择自己的历史。我们要延续代代相传的宝贵礼
物,延续神圣的理想,那就是上帝赐予我们的承诺
--人人平等,人人自由,人人都有机会去追求最
大程度的幸福。
56. • We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and
Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every
language and culture, drawn from every end of this
Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of
civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark
chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but
believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that
the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world
grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself;
and that America must play its role in ushering in a new
era of peace. 我们是一个由基督徒、穆斯林、犹太教
徒、印度教徒和无神论者共同组成的国家。我们吸
收了各种文化的精髓,从世界的每个角落学习。因
为我们经历过内战和种族隔离的痛苦洗礼,并在黑
暗中更加坚强和团结,我们无法保证,但是我们相
信憎恨终将消弭,分隔终将散去。
57. • “America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter
of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words.
With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy
currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said
by our children’s children that when we were tested we
refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back
nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and
God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of
freedom and delivered it safely to future generations. ”
• 美国,面对我们共同的危机,在这艰难的寒冬,让我们
牢记那些永恒的字句。怀着希望和美德,让我们再一次
勇敢地面对冰冷的现实,迎接任何可能的风浪。让我们
的子孙传唱,当我们面对挑战时,我们没有怯懦、没有
退缩,更没有踟蹰不前。我们在上帝的关爱下眺望远
方,我们在自由的道路上继续前进,我们的精神将永远
闪耀着光芒。
59. • Sunday-closing laws, often called "blue laws,"
prohibited certain activities such as alcohol and
retail sales on Sunday.
• In America, these laws date back to the colonial
period, starting with the first blue law in 1610
that required the citizens of Jamestown to keep
the Sabbath day holy.
• But it was not until the early twentieth century
that such statutes became common. The
prohibition movement prompted an increase in
legislation regulating public and private
conduct, such as restricting the sale of cigarettes
and forbidding amusements and all unnecessary
work on Sunday.
60. • Sunday closing laws were a real hardship to Jews
and Seventh Day Adventists and other religious
believers. 星期日关门不营业不娱乐法对犹太
教徒,周六安息日派和其它宗教信徒造成里极
大的困难。(在New Jersey 周日不能买东西,
麻州酒庄星期天关门很早)
• Church groups and some merchants' associations
supported these measures, arguing that society
would benefit if citizens were required to take a
day of rest.
• In Virginia, people were arrested and fined for
such activities as selling Coca-Cola or
peanuts, and for showing movies or operating
public swimming pools.
61. • 1961 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that
Sunday-closing laws were constitutional, since
such laws were civil and not religious in
nature. However, the police found that strict
enforcement was impractical, and the General
Assembly eventually enacted 21 exemptions
to the blue laws. This led to such
inconsistencies as prohibiting hardware stores
from opening on Sunday but allowing drug
stores to sell nuts and bolts on that day.
62. • In 1974 the legislature allowed each city and
county the right to suspend or retain Sunday-
closing laws. Finally, in 1988, a group of Virginia
Beach businessmen initiated the case that ended
blue laws in the state. The Virginia Supreme
Court struck down the closing laws because the
numerous exemptions had changed them from
general laws to special legislation, and special
legislation is prohibited by the state constitution.
The ruling was handed down宣布 on a
Saturday, and the next day many stores were
open for business.
63. • 3 美国宗教特点
• 1)三教与犹太基督教传统;
• By the 1950s, a kind of “ three faiths” (书名)
model of the United States had developed.
Americans were considered to come in three
basic varieties: Protestant, Catholic and
Jewish, the order reflecting the strength in
numbers of each group. 但不符合历史发展线
索
• Judeo-Christian tradition
67. • 2)宗教多样化
• The United States has always been a fertile
ground for the growth of new religious
movements. E.g. the ancestors of the Amish
in Pennsylvania, very strict Protestants who
live in rural areas and scorn modern life, came
from Germany in the 18th century to escape
persecution. 阿门教派是新教的一支,至今
保持德国中世纪的农业社会生活方式,拒
绝使用电、机器等现代设备。
68. • Many religious communities and secular utopias, or
experiments in new forms of social living, were
founded in 18th and 19th century America. Most did not
last long. 20th –century Americans who follow the
impulse to withdraw from security and “join a
commune” are following in an old American tradition.
(18、19世纪,许多宗教团体和世俗的乌托邦组织或
试验新的社会生活方式在美国成立。著名的有宣扬
独身主义的震教派Shakers; 应该空想社会主义者罗
伯特·欧文建立的模范工业城; 20世纪要求离开社
会,加入公社的那些美国人的冲动继承了美国的这
种历史传统。如60年代的反主流文化的嬉皮士,)
69. • Small sects and cults regard the larger society as
hopelessly corrupt. Prohibition of alcohol, tobacco
and caffeine are common. (Arlington , no selling
of alcohol, a dry town for 40 years.)
• Sometimes dramatic expectations about the
future- predictions of the end of the world or the
dawning of a new age – form the main tenets, or
doctrines, of the group. (末世论,这些小教派时
有发生。)
• A few prefer faith healing to modern medicine or
object to certain medical practices. E.g. Jehovah’s
Witness refuse a blood transfusion for oneself or
his/her child.
70. • Questions like these often come before the courts
in the United States. They are generally settled
according to a principle the Supreme court
established when it ruled that the Mormons, a
large and prosperous Christian sect , could not
marry more than one wife. Individuals may believe
anything they please in America, but they may not
do anything they want, even if the action is based
on a religious belief.
• Mormons are one of the fastest growing church
groups in the united States.(2008年加州同性恋立
法)
71. • But other questions reflect continuing
conflicts in American life. When a 1973
Supreme Court decision made abortion legal
in America, many Catholics were shocked.
Many Evangelical Protestants and Orthodox
Jews also objected. Yet more liberal Protestant
and Jewish clergymen joined non-believers in
maintaining that abortion is a basic right in a
pluralistic or religiously varied society.
72. • 3)American Character of Religion
• Firstly , Americans with different religions live
together under the same law. The freedom of
religion and the separation of state and
church guaranteed in the constitution is
believed to be the basic principles against
religious persecution. (But in reality, it was not
true in history.) because of this
tradition, various religious groups in America
have coexisted more harmoniously than the
Old world.
73. • Secondly, the religious beliefs of Americans
continue to be strong with social progress.
Every Sunday, all over America, people pour
into the churches. (去普利茅斯看五月花号
时,上午、下午均遇见去教堂的老人,)
• New church buildings, some with interesting
architecture, keep pace with the ever-
growing suburbs. (各地的教堂照片)
85. • In England, four-fifths of the people go to
church less than once a month, and in Sweden
the vast majority hardly ever go to church at
all. In America, through all the social and
economic changes religion has remained a
constant factor.
• In Europe, scientific and economic advance
and rising material prosperity have
accompanied by a decline in religious
observance, but in the United States this has
not happened.()
86. • In the United States every church is a
completely independent organization, and
concerned with its own finance and its own
building.
• (Ray Solomon, Rutgers 大学法学院院长,
犹太教会堂的委员会委员,自筹资金)
90. • There has been little concentration on
doctrine or religious arguments such as in
European history. (欧洲过去,牧师不许教民
去另一个教堂)
• If one goes to a Protestant church, he or she
will hear morality preached, but not a word of
doctrine. (Andrew, a Catholic belonging to
one church, but he often goes to another
church, because he likes to find more friends
there.)
91. • Churches and religious sects are expressions of
group solidarity rather than of rigid adherence to
doctrine. Baptist ministers are invited to preach
in Methodist churches, a rabbi of Reform
Judaism is invited to a conservative Judaism
synagogue, a Black priest to a Jewish synagogue.
(Feb. 2009, in Philadelphia)
• A Protestant family(Jewish family) moving to a
new place will probably try out several of the
nearby churches/ synagogues before deciding on
the one that suits them best, not for doctrinal
reasons, but that is where they find their friends.
95. • “ Several explanations may be offered. In
American history, religion has not been
identified with an oppressive or dominant
social class or set of political institutions. “
• <美国文化背景> (“美国的宗教从来没有和社会上的
统治阶级在一起,和政治机构也没有关系。”不确切。早
期美国社会、政府都是清教徒,大学培养的是宗教人士。
哈佛肯尼迪学院教授的研究成果,正统派教徒对美国外交
政策的影响就说明了这一点。)
96. • The Pilgrim fathers (Mayflower photos), and
many of those who followed them, left
Europe to be free to worship in their own
way, not as the established authorities told
them to. Although some religious groups
were also persecuted in early America and
Catholics were prejudiced against, generally
speaking, Americans have enjoyed greater
religious freedom than Europeans.
98. • Paradoxically, the original basis of freedom creates a social
pressure in favor of religion.矛盾的是,宗教自由的历史
基础反而造成了一种使人信仰宗教的社会压力。
(photo, atheist lecture in Harvard, Evangelical people, like
my classmate, visiting scholars invited to Prof. qiu
chengtong’s home(photos) , pushing you to convert, the
Chinese American Christians in a university, help new
comers, then persuade. Many Chinese feel hard to say
no, others seek friendship in a unfamiliar world. )
• Most people want to identify themselves with dominant
values, and going freely to the church of one’s church is a
way of doing so, and of gaining acceptance in the face of a
subtle demand for conformity. 大多数人希望自己和社会
的主流价值观保持一致,自觉自愿的选择去一个教堂就
是达到这一目的的方式之一,也是面对社会上无形压力
要求大家保持一致而得到别人承认的方法。
99. • And the church is a place where people can
meet others with whom they would like to
make friends. Religion, for most people, is
important mainly as a means of getting
together with others in a context which is so
little defined that its values, expressing merely
generally good will, can be easily share.
100. • The national religion
• After 9/11, there was an outpouring of
love, charity, and patriotism around the
country. Eighty percent of them displayed the
American flag- in the windows of their
houses, on their cars, even on their clothing.
And over and over, crowds spontaneously sang
“God Bless America,” a patriotic song that is
more popular than the national anthem.
• (照片,文件夹爱国主义)
103. • Bush,this is a nation under one God. The
war against Iraq is the war against Muslim
terrorists.
• This mixture of religion and patriotism is
what some scholars have called the national
religion of the United states.
111. • The roots of the national religion go back to
colonial times. In the countries from which the
American colonists emigrated, the dominant
values of the nation were often supported by an
organized national church. Although Americans
made certain that no organized national church
would exist in their country, they have over the
years developed a number of informal practices
which combine national patriotism with religion.
The main function of it is to provide support for
the dominant values of the nation. Thus, it does
in an informal and less organized way what
nationally organized churches did for European
nations in earlier times.
112. • Some scholars believe that this can have harmful
effects on the society. Sometimes these practices
can help to create a climate in which
disagreement with current national practices is
discouraged or not tolerated. When citizens have
disagreed with their government’s decision to
wage war, other citizens accused them of being
unpatriotic. For example, the Vietnam
war, protesters were told “ America, love it or
leave it”. Also the US decision to invade Iraq in
2003. Wang Jian 的儿子,不愿意打伊拉克,以
后不能在政府部分工作。