Connecting Americans

America was founded by a collection of people seeking independence. The spiritual beliefs of these individuals differed from group to group, and person to person. Through civil religion, masses are able to come together with a commonality. Even though the word God has been mentioned throughout American history, it is not in reference to a particular religious God.

Civil Religion in America, according to Bellah, is a variety of universal beliefs, symbols, and rituals that the citizens of this country experience as a whole. Many of the holidays that this country celebrates as a majority, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Veterans Day, and the birthdays of important Americans of the past like Lincoln and Washington, are civil religious rituals. Other rituals that are commonly seen include students saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag, groups singing our National Anthem, and the inauguration speeches heard by our presidents (Benne). Many of these rituals are taught to Americans in public schools.

The term, God, is imbedded in our countries history. Through manifest destiny, God gave our founding fathers the right to expand our country. In the Declaration of Independence, God is mentioned four times. Presidents, such as Kennedy, Johnson, and Washington, mention God in their inauguration speeches. During the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln, refers to God as a way to fight slavery. As seen through time, fundamental Americans refer to a non-explicit God.

When discussing God in regards to civil religion, Bellah is not referring to the God of one religion, Christian, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, or Buddhism. Rather, this God being discussed is a broad-spectrum God, a higher power that watches over all Americans, regardless of religious preference. This is not a God that should be worshiped in replacement of a religious God or deity.

With so much religious freedom in America, civil religion connects Americans together, even when they do not have the same beliefs. This is done through common rituals, beliefs, and symbols that are taught to American children while they are in public schools.

Bellah, Robert N. "Civil religion in America." Daedalus 134.4 (Fall2005 2005): 40-55.

Benne, Robert. "The Persistence of Civil Religion." Dialog: A Journal of Theology 2002: 178