huge family, no matter what gender, color, or background. We stick together. We fight together, we laugh together, and we grieve together as Americans.
Terms like democracy, individuality, and self-reliance are all words we relate to as Americans. We teach our kids that we should be grateful everyday to be Americans. In this country we can choose our own destination. We can be whatever we want. I think that being a secular country brings us together and makes us stronger. We don't have questions we can't
answer. We don't hear stories of people or things we can't prove exist. We know what we have
overcome to be where we are today, and we know what we want to plan for our future. As quoted in Herbergs essay, "The things that make us proud to be Americans are of the soul and of the spirit." That quote said by Mr. Eisenhower exemplifies an American religion, or standard by which we look for leadership and encouragement. And it is not something we should be ashamed of. Our country has survived more that other countries can only dream of ranging from human rights to the freedom of religion. The first amendment under the Constitution guarantees religious freedom for all, yet the practice of religious freedom is limited throughout the world. In France, Muslim school girls are forbidden to wear head scarves (France to Ban Faith Symbols in Schools, The Christian Century). So many have suffered for the well being of our country. It is what makes us America.
To me it would seem that religion has become a thing of the past. It seems as though in the past more people saw their religion as being very important to them, it consumed their daily life. Now days it seems that the religious way of life is left behind when mass let’s out. So why are parents still insisting on that one hour mass every week? I think it’s because people are
confusing religion with tradition. You aren't religious because you are born with Catholic
parents. You can't be forced into religion. It takes a certain amount of faith to be religious. And then in turn your faith is the devotion that brings you to church each week or to saying grace before each meal. I don't believe that whether or not you're religious is a qualification to being a
good person. Which raises a good question; do kids need religion? In Anthony Brandt’s essay, “Do Kids Need Religion?” he states, "religious education raised the issue of honesty" (215). How does religion relate to honesty? Perhaps honesty could be related to ourselves on whether or not we truly believe. I think that honesty relates more to the secularity of our society. Being American would raise an issue of honesty because our ancestors were honest to themselves when
they helped to create America. Later Brandt goes on to say “too it is impossible to predict with
any confidence what affect religious education will have on children" (218). Why are we teaching them things that we aren't sure will help them later on in life? We should be teaching them history so they will grow up knowing who they are, who their ancestors were and what we learned from them. Perhaps teaching our kids about the religion their ancestors practiced would do more good than teaching them to believe in one specific person or to believe with out any questions. In Brandt’s essay a mother says, "I think you can transmit values to your kids but belief is different" (219). I think that religion is very much an individual thing while; secularity is a bond that helps our society strive for achievement.
Brandt has a statement that anyone can relate to, he says, "the longing for meaning is something we all share parent and child alike” (219). I think that being a secular country gives us a sense of meaning. Instead of being separated into categories of who believes what and why, we
stick together because we all share one thing in common we are all American. And I think that the pride we have in common is all we need.
To find the individual functions of religion you have to ask the question, "what is the meaning and importance of religion for religious believers?" To most religion provides human beings with an idealized version of human behavior. It sometimes seems that we need the idealized hero of great virtue and immeasurable faith as a model or dream to hope for. Although religion gives people hope and ideas on how to live a good live it is quite evident that living a fulsome life has become more important than practicing a certain religion.