美國宗教

Diversity is the main feature of religion in the United States. Although Christi anity has always been the major American faith， the existence of more than 250 different religious sects here has made Americans tolerant of all forms of worship—Christian and non-Christian.

Maybe this tolerant attitude to different religions can be traced back to the early settlers of this country. Among the first immigrants， quite a number of them were Puritans， whose purpose of coming to this New World was to pursue religious freedom， to practice their religion and worship God as they wished. This is why the nations forefathers demanded legal guarantees of religious freedom. So the First Amendment to the Constitution not only forbids the establishment of an offical national religion but also forbids state or federal interference with religious institutions or practices.

Now， about 60 percent of Americans are attached to a particular church. Of these， about 95 percent are Christians and nearly 5 percent are Jews. Only a very small number of Americans belongs to other faiths. About 58 percent of church-attached Christians are Protestants. And American Protestantism is divided into more than 200 different sects. The major Protestant groups are the Methodists， Baptists， Lutherans， Presbyterians， and Episcopalians.

The combined Protestant sects form the largest religious faith in the United States， but Roman Catholicism is by far the largest unified religious body. About 48 million Americans are baptized members of Catholic congregations. As many Catholics send their children to religious schools， Catholic funds have built thousands of elementary and secondary schools， as well as many fine colleges and universities. Catholics have also played an important role in American politics.

The third biggest religion in the United States is Judaism. During the Sabbath， which is from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday， Orthodox Jews neither ride nor conduct business. Jewish tradition has certain dietary rules， forbidding pork and certain seafoods and forbidding the serving of milk products as meals. Nevertheless， reform Judaism does not follow these rules.

Although in the United States religion provides the customs and ceremonies that mark lifes most important events—birth， coming of age， marriage， and death， religion has declined in importance in terms of influencing behavior and mind. When Americans need personal advice， they usually turn to psychologists or to professional counselors rather than to religious leaders for help. The twentieth century has often been called a secular age， and certainly it is in the U.S.A. Belief in a personal God， concern for Gods judgement of ones behavior， and concern about the afterlife seem to be declining. They are more interested in improving their life on earth. And they have a strong faith in their ability to improve conditions through their own efforts， which probably originated from Benjamin Franklin who had said， “God helps them that help themselves.”

But， of course， religious view varies quite a bit depending upon ones age group， social class， degree of education， and region of the country. The rising rate of interfaith marriages suggests that religious differentces are less important to the younger generations than to their parents generation. Religion seems to have a greater emotional grip upon the poor and uneducated than upon the rich and educated. In the southern part of the country， believers attitudes towarding religion are more traditional than those in the rest of the nation.

Probably influenced by the non-traditional religious fervor of the young Americans， people in churches throughout the country are now adopting new kinds of religious services. Just like what is shown in the well-known film Sister Act， people are using popular media of expression—jazz， rock， and folk music， folk dancing and modern dancing， contemporary art and poetry， and even plays and movies. These new services have offended some traditionalists. But many people respond strongly to find that prayer need not be just mindless repeat of words and music from past centuries. The reality is that many of these progressive churches draw crowds to their weekly services， while more traditional ones are half-empty.

美國宗教的主要特點就是多樣化。雖然基督教一直是美國人的主要信仰，但還存有250多種其他宗教派別，這使美國人包容各種各樣的信仰——不論它是基督教或是非基督教。

這種對宗教的寬容態度也許能夠追溯到早期殖民地時期。在最早的移民中，清教徒占很大的比例，他們來到這個新世界就是為了追求宗教上的自由，以自己的方式來實行他們的宗教和敬仰上帝。這就是為什么這個國家的祖先們要求從法律的角度來保證宗教的自由。美國憲法的第一次修訂案中就規定，禁止成立任何正式的、全國性宗教，并禁止州或聯邦對宗教機構和宗教行為進行任何形式的干涉。

現在，大概有60﹪的美國人與某個教堂有聯系。而在他們當中，95﹪屬于基督教，近5﹪是猶太人，只有少數的美國人信仰其他宗教。在與教堂有聯系的人中，大約有58﹪的是新教。而美國的新教有分成200多個分支，最主要的新教派別為：循道宗教、浸禮會教派、路德教派、長老會教派和主教制信奉者教派。

雖然各派新教綜合起來形成了美國的主流宗教，但是羅馬天主教是美國最統一的宗教團體。美國有4800萬個是受洗禮的天主教徒。由于許多天主教徒把他們的孩子都送進了教會學校，所以，天主教基金會建起了幾千所小學、中學和很不錯的學院和大學。而且，天主教成員在美國政治舞臺上也起著突出的作用。

美國的第三大宗教是猶太教。在安息日期間（即從星期五的日落到星期六的日落），正統的猶太教信徒既不駕車，也不做生意。此外，猶太教的傳統中還有一些飲食上的禁律，比如禁食豬肉和某些海鮮，禁止把牛奶制品作為餐桌上的食品等等。不過，猶太教的改革派卻不受這些清規戒律的約束。

雖然，宗教仍存在于美國人一生中重大事件的習俗和慶典中——如出生、成年、結婚和死亡，但它對人們行為和思想上的影響已成為日落西山之勢。美國人想聽取個人忠告時找的不是神父，而是心理醫生和職業咨詢者。二十世紀是一個世俗的世紀，就美國而言，也當然是如此。信仰個人的上帝、關心上帝對自己行為的審判、關心來世——所有這些似乎都在消失。人們感興趣的是如何提高在現實中的生活，他們堅信有能力通過自己的努力來改善處境。這種信念也許來源于本杰明·富蘭克林，因為他曾說過：“上帝幫助那些幫助自己的人?！?/p>

當然，由于人們在年齡、社會階層、教育程度和地理區域的不同，他們的宗教觀念也不一樣。不同信仰的人之間的通婚率在增加，這反映了年輕一代人已不再像他們的父母那樣看重信仰上的不同。相比之下，貧窮而未受教育的人比富有而受過教育的人對宗教的感情更深一些;南方地區的教民對宗教的態度比其他地區的人要更加傳統一些。

也許受年輕人那種非傳統宗教熱情的影響，美國各地的教堂都在逐漸接受新的宗教形式。就像著名電影《修女也瘋狂》里所反映的那樣，人們在使用通俗的表達方式——爵士、搖滾和通俗音樂，民間舞蹈和現代舞蹈，現代藝術和詩歌，甚至戲劇、電影等各種形式。這些新形式冒犯了一些傳統人士，但許多人卻對此反應強烈，因為他們發現，祈禱的形式其實并非一定是幾個世紀來對同樣文字和音樂的盲目重復。事實上，這些進步的教堂吸引了成群的人們來參加他們每周組織的宗教活動，而在那些傳統保守的教堂里，半數的位子卻空著。