RELIGIOUS PLURALISM IN THE UNITED STATES

By: Patrick Okafor Denise Lloyd Alvin Knight

DEFINITION OF RELIGION

Problems with definitions:

• Some exclude beliefs and practices that many people passionately defend as religious.

• Some definitions equate "religion" with "Christianity."

• Some define "religion" in terms of "the sacred" and/or "the spiritual."

DEFINITION OF RELIGION

Religion is any specific system of belief about deity, often involving rituals, a code of ethics, a philosophy of life, and a worldview.

COMPONENTS OF RELIGION

• CREED

• CODE

• CULTS

• COMMUNITY

RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD• Agnosticism• Atheism• Asatru• Baha’i Faith• Baptist• Buddhism• Christianity• Confucianism• Hinduism• Humanism• Islam

• Judaism• Lutheran• Native American

Spirituality• Protestants• Satanist• Scientology• Sikhism• Taoism• Unitarian Universalism• Wicca• Zoroastrianism

ETHICS OF RECIPROCITY

"Every religion emphasizes human improvement, love, respect for others, sharing other people's suffering. On these lines every religion had more or less the same viewpoint and the same goal."

The Dalai Lama

Top Ten ORGANIZED Religions in the United States, 2001

[Nonreligious, Atheist, Agnostic have been dropped from this list.]

Religion2001 Est.

Adult Pop.2004 Est.Total Pop.

% of U.S. Pop.,2001

Christianity 159,030,000 224,437,959 76.5%

Judaism 2,831,000 3,995,371 1.3%

Islam 1,104,000 1,558,068 0.5%

Buddhism 1,082,000 1,527,019 0.5%

Hinduism 766,000 1,081,051 0.4%

Unitarian Universalist 629,000 887,703 0.3%

Wiccan/Pagan/Druid 307,000 433,267 0.1%

Spiritualist 116,000 163,710 0.05%

Native American Religion 103,000 145,363 0.05%

Baha'i 84,000 118,549 0.04%

First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution

Guarantees:

• A Wall of separation between church and state

• Freedom of adults to follow their own religious path without oppression or discrimination

RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE

Religious tolerance means:

To extend religious freedom to people of all religious traditions, even though you may disagree with their beliefs and/or practices.

Religious tolerance does not require you:To accept all religions as equally true.

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

Religious freedom means that you can:

• Without oppression, believe, worship and witness (or practice freedom from belief, worship and witness), as you wish

• Change your beliefs or religion• Associate with others to express your

beliefs. 

RELIGIOUS AWARENESS

• Study of the world's religions will lead to an understanding of religious diversity.

• This understanding will lead to inter-religious dialogue.

• Dialogue will lead to peace among religions.• Peace among religions will lead to peace

among nations."

www.religioustolerance.org

RELIGION AND SexualityCommonalties among monotheistic religions

• Sexuality as a gift of God

• Condemnation of uncontrolled expression

• Sexuality in marriage

• Sex education

• Violence

• Fertility

RELIGION AND Sexualitydifferences among monotheistic religions

• Marriage

• Celibacy

RELIGION AND PUBLIC SCHOOL

• Religion and Prayer

• Censorship

• School Vouchers

References• "Major Religions of the World, Ranked by Number of

Adherents," at: http://www.adherents.com/ • http://altreligion.about.com/library/glossary/blsymbols.htm• http://library.thinkquest.org/28505/articles.html?tqskip1=1• Religious Diversity and American Religious History,

Conser, Walter H. Jr. and Twiss, Sumner B. University of Georgia Press, Athens 2001

• A Beginners Guide To Religion, Forward, Martin. One World Publications, Oxford, England 2001

• “Exploring Society – Social Institutions: Religion, Family and Economics” a film by Ken Harrison, Dallas Tele-Learning

• http://www.religioustolerance.org

References

• Multicultural Education in a Pluralistic Society, Gollnick, Donna M. and Chinn, Philip C. Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall, Columbus, Ohio.

• Film Clip - In God We Still Trust (3:34)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W-9tn2bLkU• Film Clip - Rejected By Religion (0:26)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmFDLdCO7iM• http://www.tolerance.org