Religion in the United States

Religion in the United States is as disparate and varied as the country itself, and has evolved extremely quickly from the time of the colonial landings on. It has been shifted by Jewish and Catholic immigration, and also by the development of fringe sects, prophets and cults, some developing into worldwide religions, others themselves subdividing into yet more splinters. Religion has had an important role in American life, but also in the development of American politics and law, with the protections given by the First Amendment's Establishment Clause being constantly tested throughout the last century by believers and secularists alike.

The eighteenth century prohibitionist fervor reached its apex in the early decades of the twentieth century. Prohibition of alcohol became nationwide as a result of the passage of the Volstead Act on January 29, 1920. The movement had the support of many Protestant denominations including Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Quakers and Congregationalists, although it was opposed by Roman Catholics and Episcopalians. Prohibition was repealed by Franklin Roosevelt in 1933, with no Temperance Movement to speak of opposing its repeal.

The twentieth century has seen the dramatic rise of a wide range of new religious movements and cults (the distinction is often merely pejorative) followed after the Second World War, pulling from both the rise in psychology and from Eastern spirituality. Some of these were world-denying: the Hare Krishna movement, Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church and the Divine Light Mission of Shri Hans Ji Maharaj (which became popular in the United States in the 1970s, and was replaced by the Elan Vital organizations in the 1980s). Others were life-affirming: the Church of Scientology was founded by science-fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, appealing to people's feelings for psychotherapy, promising them a way to control their reactive mind (Scientology's version of the unconscious mind) through 'auditing' (counselling) to reach the spiritual 'thetans' and release them to become Clear. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (originally Mahesh Prasad Varmas) and his Transcendental Meditation was introduced to the United States in 1970s, promising not only personal relief, but societal peace. These movements appealed to a new sense of self, valuing personal experience over tradition, scripture and reason, just as Pentecostalist sects were doing inside Christianity, only these groups were doing so with psychoanalytical shadows over them, and the soundtrack of the developing rock music.

One of the more controversial of these groups was the San Diego, California, based Heaven's Gate led by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles, thirty-eight of whose members committed mass suicide in 1997, after being convinced that doing so would allow them to board a spaceship that accompanied the arrival of the Comet Hale-Bopp. They were made infamous as much for their dramatic end as the fact that they had a website at the time of rising media interest in the Internet.

In 1993, the Branch Davidians sect, led by David Koresh, had their compound in Waco, Texas, raided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).

It is as early as the forties and fifties that we can see the role of mass media and commercialism increase in some Christian denominations, especially with the rise of televangelism in the 1980s, such that the development of the Christian Right comes to seem inevitable. The late Rev Jerry Falwell founded the Moral Majority to lobby against abortion, homosexuality, the Equal Rights Amendment, and media outlets which are not 'family-friendly'. Pat Robertson supplanted the Moral Majority with his Christian Coalition, and as time went on, thousands of these groups bloomed - the Traditional Values Coalition, the Family Research Council, Foundation for Thought and Ethics, Focus on the Family and the American Family Association. In reaction to what was percieved as 'liberal' professors, universities and teaching unions, many in the religious right started supporting homeschooling, with Michael Farris setting up the Home School Legal Defense Assocation, and many of the leaders of the movement also set up colleges, including Bob Jones University, Liberty University, Patrick Henry College and Regent University. The political action of these groups and individuals became important, with many in the Republican Party vying for their vote - with their opposition to judicial activism, their belief that the public sphere needs to be 'rechristianized' even despite the objections of civil libertarians who point to the Establishment Clause, and a strong "values vote": opposition to abortion and euthanasia, divorce, homosexuality and same sex marriage, preference for abstinence education. Some allege the religious right of believing in Dominionism or Christian Reconstructionism, that is wanting to radically rebuild the State into a Christian theocracy. Research by the Barna Group has shown that most people under forty have a negative view of the Christian Right, and are more tolerant on the moral issues that the supporters of the Christian Right are concerned about - the recent death of Jerry Falwell also signifies for many an end to the Christian Right's dominance in politics. There have also been some major, public scandals involving those in the Christian right: buying metamphetamines from a gay escot led to the dismissal of Colorado Springs megachurch leader Ted Haggard. Before that, televangelists have had numerous controversies, including Oral Roberts claiming that God wanted viewers to give him $8 million or God would "call him home" (who subsequently claimed that he could raise the dead), and the conviction of televangelist Jim Bakker.

Since the middle of the twentieth century, a large number of megachurches have been set up in the United States, providing a highly produced style of worship, often with rock-and-roll style lighting, Christian rock performances, large PA systems and theater seating rather than pews, and targetted, 'market research' style organization. Megachurches provide for many a complete community base, with a large variety of on-site basketball and fitness suites, restaurants, banking services, rock climbing walls and cafés.

One particular episode of interest in the recent history of the Religious Right has been the controversy over former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice, Roy Moore. Moore, sworn in after a campaign for his election headed by the Christian Family Association, moved in 5,280 lb granite statue, the base of which contained quotes from the Declaration of Independence, and the top consisted of a representation of the two tablets given to Moses containing the Ten Commandments. The whole process of moving this statue into the central rotunda in the dead of night was filmed by Coral Ridge Ministries of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who made a video available. The American Civil Liberties Union fought to have the statue removed as a clear violation of the Establishment Clause, and Moore vowed to keep it there. In November 2003, the Court of the Judiciary in Alabama voted to remove Moore from his position as the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. Moore has since written a book, and tours the nation with the statue in tow.

In 2004, religious fervor and excitement was built up around the release of The Passion of the Christ, a film directed by action movie star Mel Gibson. It stars James Caviezel as Jesus, who is arrested, put on trial, graphically crucified and resurrected. The film was controversial, but became enthusiastically watched by churchgoers to build their faith.

Since the defeat of creationism in the Edwards v. Aguillard trial in 1987, tactics used to promote the teaching of creationism changed to support of Intelligent Design instead. In 2005, Intelligent Design went to the courtroom in Pennsylvania with the case Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School Board, where the Bush-appointed judge, John E. Jones III, listened to arguments from Michael Behe, Scott Minnich and Steve Fuller who defended the Dover intelligent design policy, and Kenneth Miller, Robert Pennock, John Haught and Barbara Forrest argued against it, then came down against Intelligent Design, declaring it to be religious and not to be taught in science for the reasons given in Edwards v. Aguillard. This caused conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly to say that Jones "stuck the knife in the backs" of the evangelical Christians who elected him.