Religious Diversity.ppt

The United States has always been a fertile ground for the growth of new religious movements. Frontier America provided plenty of room to set up a new church or found a new community . 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. But some prospered for a while and a few are still in existence .20th –century Americans who follow the impulse to withdraw from society and“join a commune”are following in an old American tradition. Often they regard the larger society as hopelessly corrupt. Prohibition of alcohol ,tobacoo and caffeine are common. 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 . Often the founder is a charismatic person, dynamic personality who claims some special revelation or relationship with God. Some groups never win a large following. Others grow smaller or disappear when the founder dies or his prophecies fail to come true. Still others prosper, win large followings and “graduate” into the ranks of the “respectable” denominations. A few prefer faith healing to modern medicine or object to certain medical practices Many Catholics evangelical Protestants and Orthodox Jew liberal Protestants and Clergymen disgree with many things Other world religious are increasing their numbers and influence in America.like Islamic religion Buddhism is a growing faith in America American pastors are as varied as the flocks they serve. Some of them are women. The United Methodist Church has appointed women as bishops. Women can also be ordained as rabbis among some Jewish congregations. Catholic nuns teach and manage large hospitals. Chaplains of all faiths visit the sick in hospitals and nursing homes. American pastors of churches are expected to be active in the civic affairs of their communities. Often the