Religion-based conflicts in america today

Religion in our modern American society today is filled with conflict from many different avenues. These avenues range from who is fit to be a religious leader, to who is fit to worship God. Society has also defiantly paralyzed certain individuals in almost every culture through its deviance, when it comes to religion. Every religion has its share of problems and have been held accountable for certain situations here in our America, but “ Jews, Christians and Muslims are blamed for social, economic and political conflicts and violence, oppression and war, in the Middle East and beyond”. It is amazing that Christian religious values can cause so much social conflict across not only America, but the world. What makes one believe that these can cause so much havoc is because the “ basic idea is that these religious institutions inculcate irrational beliefs and overzealous attitudes, thereby causing believes to be deeply offended by people who reject their beliefs, which in turn leads to armed conflict and violence”.

If this is justification to characterize what one regards as religious conflict in our societies, then it is in the hands of those that oppose God and his darling son Jesus to understand. It is already a tough obstacle to keep America’s societies as ethical as possible and we sometimes should rely on our religions to lead by carrying the torch. We must now find a way to “ engage in public discourse that will reflect the “ religious or spiritual principles that underlie our legal system and moral codes”. This action although it may seem minute, will aid in keeping the umbilical cord that runs from religion to society intact, so that as America is feeding, it can also be improved.

America is a country based mostly on its traditions of family, wealth, and religion. Religion must arise above all the conflict and serve as the leader in modern day America and remain active in erasing the scars that Christians before us may have left and endured. As progressive ideology becomes more forceful and persistent, it is tough for some individuals to make choices of their own. It is found that “ liberalism first emerged in late-eighteenth-century western Europe, as a response to the overbearing authority of the church or the state over individuals and civic life. A self-consciously modern and progressive ideology, liberalism challenged notions of inherited social and economic status and legitimized private interests and a private sphere”. The conflict that arises from this stance is between the choice of what one wants and expects, and what modern America says it will get. “ In the U. S. nineteenth-century liberal Protestants challenged traditional religious notions of an unknowable God, arguing for the importance of human agency, which led many to embrace social justice struggles to expand liberty and reach for perfectibility. By the late nineteenth century, such thinking produced the social gospel movement, which argued that scientific management could bring about desired moral improvements in society”.

America is not blind to conflict over Christian religious values or social liberalism and to lead one into believing that they cannot know God is blasphemy. This sort of conflict placed on Christian religious values has been in place for centuries, but now change is needed ad has to come in order for all of modern America to be on one accord. Social liberalism always has had its place in America too and not only due to religion, because at one time “ liberals in the interwar years were interested in the supporters of trade-union rights. In the last years of the twentieth century those who claim to be ‘ liberals’ as likely as not want to eliminate most welfare benefits and restrict trade unions”.

In this day and time sociologist look at this same progressive liberalism as more than just a call-to-arms for society’s financial benefits, but also for those who are opposing religion which causes conflict in our modern America. Our modern America has a partner in liberalism called “ neo-liberalism” which “ is probably the most adequate and critically sophisticated label for categorizing the range of trends, ideologies, and policy transformations that have changed the face and heart of what we call democracy in the last three decades”. As we look at our country today, we can see the lasting effects of these hidden forms of social stratification that have caused conflict in the America we call home, today. Mark Hudson, a scholar of media defined neo-liberalism as the “ belief that the unregulated free market is the essential precondition for the fair distribution of wealth and for political democracy”. The title itself gives way to an unannounced form of modern day inequality in our societies that politics uses to control and cause conflict not only America, but in our Christian religious values by focusing on economic values. In conclusion, the assumed reactions of the following sociologist are stated. David Riesman would want to see all of America come together to serve the one true God. Once after the “ election of a Catholic Democrat in 1960 only seemed to exacerbate liberal anxieties, Riesman, feared the “ possibility of an alliance between Protestant and Catholic fundamentalism.” He took a stand and stated that “ whatever sectarian or doctrinal differences divide the discontented from each other in theological terms, all can agree on the gospel of Americanism”. In this proclamation alone, Riesman tried to unite all involved and still today would want to avoid conflict.

Robert K. Merton “ believed in unanticipated consequences like “ out of Puritan religion, unexpectedly and without design came unanticipated and subtle constraints on democratic political ideology”. He too would react to my assessment of conflict in modern America on these two subjects, as one that can start off like one thing, but conclude as something better and worthwhile. Dietrich Bonhoeffer “ was an active member in the anti-Hitler resistance movement. He served as a double agent for the British, and wrote a rich legacy of writings calling for Christians to reject a comfortable, undisciplined life”. He would also push for the chastising of our spirits as Christians, while we try to resolve conflict and progressive ideology in modern day America, which is causing this great divide in our day and time.