美國(guó)社會(huì)與文化論文

1、American Separation of Church and StateThe separation of church and state means keeping politics distant from religion, which aims to prevent interfering in politics in the name of religion and make religion in its own area. The United States established this institution almost since the country was

2、 founded. But why and how Americans choose this institution?First, the original colonies united politics and religion together, which caused serious social problems. The first immigrates came to America in order to escape religious persecution and to seek religious freedom. However, what they did ju

3、st oppressed the freedom. In Massachusetts, the Puritans restricted the right to vote only to church members and made the government combined to the church. This provided the hotbed for persecution. Puritan leaders began to use religion as a cover to oppress pagans and dissidents for more social inf

4、luence. So many people were abandoned or even penalized. Roger Williams, protesting that the state should not interfere with religion and forced to leave Massachusetts in 1635, set up the neighboring Rhode Island colony, which guaranteed religious freedom and the separation of church and state(Zhu Y

5、ongtao, p.253).Second, the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening paved the way for the separation of church and state. The European Enlightenment impacted not only the Europe, but also the America. Inspired from Voltaire s theory, many progressive people like Benjamin Franklin had strong faith in ra

6、tionality and started to examine their own religion in a crucial attitude. They realized that religious persecution was rooted from the institution which government and church were combined together. So gradually the Great Awakening, a movement to reform and revive the Christian, swept over the colo

7、nies. It narrowed the gap between different religions, and broke down the barriers between people.Third, the fathers of the United States facilitated the separation of church and state. In 1776, the thirteen colonies announced Declaration of Independence. In the document, freedom of religion was con

8、firmed. After the Declaration, each state established a new government and constitution. However, the church was entrenched in politics and its power inthe state wasgrowing, blocking the progress of society. Thomas Jefferson was extremely opposed to this situation. He believed that the freedom to be

9、lieve in or not believe in religion was the firm guarantee that the European religious persecution would not happen in America. He insisted his view and struggled with some religious forces. As the time went, more and more people, even religious people began to support his points. In 1786, the Unite

10、d States Constitution was ratified and the Constitution defined that the religion shall not interfere in government affairs. And in 1891 the Bill of Rights wasratified, sothe separation of church and state was established.American separation of church and state keeps politics and religion away from each other, and contributes largely to the religious freedom. This institution is an imp