Religious Studies 301
Religion in America: A Historical perspective
Redefining
the American Culture Core: The 4th Awakening Resolved!
Redefining the American Culture Core: Review
The biblical culture core of
America:
• A people chosen by God
• Possessing a special destiny
• To build God’s kingdom and live freely under moral law
(prosperity/morality link)
• In a “land of milk and honey” where the people will
grow and prosper = reward
• Breaking the covenant = punishment!
How the culture core is Redefined: Review
n
Time of cultural
challenge: social, economic, political, or act of war!
n
REVIVAL = the biblical
ideals of the culture core are revisited
n
AWAKENINGS = 30-40
year periods of cultural transformation
n
REFORM = the process
of redefining the culture core so that the nation is, once again, UNITED
in purpose and direction
September 11, 2001: Tragedy as a Rite of Passage
•
Religion defines identity
and guides relationships
•
Identity =
self-esteem
•
Relationship =
empowerment
• Rites of passage (birth, death, marriage, love,
tragedy, etc.) challenge assumptions regarding identity & relationship
• Individuals and nations endure this fundamental
process of transformation
The 4th Awakening Resolved? Key Questions:
n
Have the tragic
events of September 11, 2001, ironically, contributed to the resolution of a
seemingly irresolvable 40+ year Awakening?
n
If so, how has the culture
core been redefined in ways that raise the self-esteem of all Americans as
it empowers the nation?
n
What is the vision of a new
America?
America’s Civil Religion
n
Civil Religion = a
potent combination of myth, symbol, and ritual that unites biblical ideals and
political realities, engenders social cohesion, and continuously reinforces the
“truth” and “power” of the American culture core
n
“Civil Religion”
occupies the space created by the “separation of church and state.”
America’s Civil Religion
Myth, Ritual, Symbol:
• Myth = the paradigm-laden story of America;
reverberates with the biblical saga in the Old Testament; the culture
core story
• Ritual = the reenactment of the “sacred story” in
holidays and celebrations, both solemn and exuberant
• Symbols = evoke strong emotions; myth & ritual are
symbolic modes of communication
United We Stand: Recovery of America’s Biblical Base
The “message on the money” = Civil
religion on the common dollar bill:
• “novus ordo seclorum” = “a new order of things…”
building the millennial kingdom
•
“In God We Trust” =
how American’s, historically, have gone about the building process
• Trust =
unwavering assurance of success!
Redefining the Culture Core
A “chosen people”:
• Hostility over differences in ethnicity, gender,
lifestyle are discarded for a new inclusiveness
• “united” means a new awareness of the
interconnectedness of our shared national experience
• The “rebirth” of the WTC becomes the symbol for the
new inclusiveness
Redefining the Culture Core
A Special (manifest) destiny:
• the emergence of an inclusive and truly global
plan for international relations
• an end to corporate social irresponsibility and
environmental destructiveness
• realization that political policy has far-reaching
consequences in a globally-interconnected world
Redefining the Culture Core
The biblical Prosperity/Morality link:
•
New Testament mythos:
an end to selfishness and materialism brings transformation: “a new order of
things”
• Old Testament mythos: covenant-thinking = a
morality based on a sense of interconnectedness with God, other human beings,
and nature guarantees prosperity; the good life, lived!
Redefining the Culture Core
Religion in Post-4th Awakening
America:
• cherishing the integrity of one’s faith while
appreciating religious diversity
•
understanding the
important relationship between religion and spiritualtiy
• developing cosmic confidence
• balancing assertive and integrative impulses
on the personal and social level
The Post-Protestant Era
n
Protestant religious institutions no longer dominate
the larger culture.
n
However, beliefs and attitudes rooted
in Protestant tradition interact more freely than ever with beliefs and attitudes
from other traditions
n
So, we get “Very-Protestant Witches” in 21st
century American culture!
The 4th Awakening:
Porterfield’s 2 Themes
l
The Protestant-based
fusion of spiritual idealism and pragmatic concern have been part
of American religious thought since colonial times (16th century).
l
These two ideals have
been appropriated by a religiously diversified group of thinkers and
infused with new symbolism and vitality.
The 4th Awakening
Key transforming events or worldviews:
n
American Catholicism
n
The Vietnam War
n
The influx of Buddhism
n
The Feminist movement
n
The discipline of Religious Studies
n
September 11, 2001?
The Velcro Theory of Ego Consciousness
n
At birth, the ego is
like a light, luminescent ball of
Velcro, clear and uncluttered.
n
Human development
finds the “ball” rolling through various cultural, psycho-social, environmental
and emotional “fields”.
n
The “rolling ball”
naturally “collects” material that gives the ego a density, a sense of
apartness or separation from Being.
n
Religion, ideally, is
about “cleaning the ball” and
regaining a sense of being “united.”
Awakenings and the Culture Core Ego in the United States
n
Culture-core ego:
n
Chosen People = “I, me, mine”
n
Manifest destiny = consumerism & materialism
n
morality/prosperity
link = ethical malaise; morals by biblical platitude
n
Work ethic = “You’re poor? Too bad; I guess you didn’t work hard enough.”
Transcending the Culture Core Ego through Awakenings
“Religion” demands transcendence!
n
A living relationship with the Divine (in
many religious forms)
n
A sense of interconnectedness (love?) with and for
all living beings
n
Compassion and caring, selflessly
n
Reverence and gratitude for life
n
A fearless humility
Interpreting Awakenings
Is an Awakening a fundamental, transformative, religious event?
THAT:
• uncovers,
reveals, cleanses the encrusted “ball” of ego consciousness.
•
transforms the culture core ego
• makes
that which is separate, UNITED!
Porterfield’s 5 Events “cleanse” the “ego-ball”
n
Catholicism <-> religious ego
n
Vietnam <-> social/cultural ego
n
Buddhism <-> existential ego
n
Feminism <-> patriarchal ego
n
Religious studies <-> Christocentric ego
n
…. Leading towards transcendence…
American Catholicism
n
Redemption of American spirituality lost in Capitalism and
materialism
n
Re-interprets the sacramental
presence of the Holy Spirit in pragmatic terms
n
Recognizes the
oneness of humanity and the incarnational presence of Christ & his Spirit
in all human activity
n
Absorbs Asian
mysticism; opens the door for Protestant spiritual experimentation
Vietnam: “Saying No to Father”
n
The Counterculture
= the disruption of the culture core ego
n
The Civil Rights
movement revealed that “Father” was a hypocrite
n
The Vietnam conflict
gave “the children” an opportunity to say, “No!” and be justified in defiance
n
Opens the door to
cultural experimentation: “free love, drugs, communal living, love, music,
“Woodstock,” new spiritualities, etc.”
Buddhism: The Deconstruction of the Ego
n
The Buddha “realized”
that the ego and desires that accompany ego consciousness are the
source of all suffering.
n
Buddhism is “about”
getting rid of what you haven’t got = separate, lonely, vulnerable, suffering existence
n
Buddhism relieves the
pressure of “chosen-ness” and eases the pressure of ontological dualism found
in Protestant Christianity
Gender Consciousness
n
The Feminist movement
realizes the connection between religion and the oppression of women =
patriarchy
n
The gender
consciousness movement is about redeeming the balance between masculine and
feminine qualities in all human beings
n
The “recovery” of
Mother Earth; deep ecology; healing the split between heaven and earth
Religious Studies
n
Religious Studies reveals an authentic commonality
in all religious/spiritual expressions among all peoples on the planet and
throughout time.
n
Religion is about the shared human quest to
understand existence and lead meaningful, fulfilling lives.
n
All human beings “are chosen!”