12 Domains Of Culture
BACKGROUND PAPER
ON
ORIGINS AND DEITIES
1. When you think about the origins of Religion and Spirituality in American culture, a lot of different ideas, stories or parables come to mind. But one question is hardly ever asked or even thought of. Does American culture have a religion? More to the point, is there a religion that can solely be sourced to origins on American soil? The answer is yes. Both Mormonism and Scientology have roots deeply planted in American culture. However, around 25,000 Americans practice Scientology and an estimated 6.1 Million Americans practice Mormonism. That makes up 1.8% of Americans, in addition to that most Americans don't recognize Scientology as a real religion and Mormonism falls under the Christianity branch of belief. So what ideas are truly native the country. I believe you must add Native American Spirituality to this argument as a source of religion truly sourced and founded in America as it is still practiced by a vast majority of living Native Americans. But in order to get to that we must first talk about the origins of Christianity as it stands with Americans today.
2. As it is true that Christianity is the most prevalent religion in America, It is also true that Christianity was brought to this soil with the first settlers. In England you had two choices for worship, The Roman Catholic Church and The Church of England. Both Christian churches, and theses settlers knew nothing but that so it comes to no surprise that those are the two major influences on American religion and spirituality. It should also be noted that those settlers wanted to distance themselves from England's brand of religion so badly that the First Amendment of the Constitution explicitly lays out the separation of Church and State1. Christianity then splintered off into the various denominations that we have today, yet all of those styles still have the same foundation that can be traced back to Rome or England. Native Americans on the other hand
ON
ORIGINS AND DEITIES
1. When you think about the origins of Religion and Spirituality in American culture, a lot of different ideas, stories or parables come to mind. But one question is hardly ever asked or even thought of. Does American culture have a religion? More to the point, is there a religion that can solely be sourced to origins on American soil? The answer is yes. Both Mormonism and Scientology have roots deeply planted in American culture. However, around 25,000 Americans practice Scientology and an estimated 6.1 Million Americans practice Mormonism. That makes up 1.8% of Americans, in addition to that most Americans don't recognize Scientology as a real religion and Mormonism falls under the Christianity branch of belief. So what ideas are truly native the country. I believe you must add Native American Spirituality to this argument as a source of religion truly sourced and founded in America as it is still practiced by a vast majority of living Native Americans. But in order to get to that we must first talk about the origins of Christianity as it stands with Americans today.
2. As it is true that Christianity is the most prevalent religion in America, It is also true that Christianity was brought to this soil with the first settlers. In England you had two choices for worship, The Roman Catholic Church and The Church of England. Both Christian churches, and theses settlers knew nothing but that so it comes to no surprise that those are the two major influences on American religion and spirituality. It should also be noted that those settlers wanted to distance themselves from England's brand of religion so badly that the First Amendment of the Constitution explicitly lays out the separation of Church and State1. Christianity then splintered off into the various denominations that we have today, yet all of those styles still have the same foundation that can be traced back to Rome or England. Native Americans on the other hand