Religious Dimensions of America

In Robert Bellah’s “Civil Religion of America,” he argues that there exists not only religion belonging to a church, but religion that belongs to America as a whole. This American civil religion is described as a public religious dimension that is expressed in a set of beliefs, symbols, and rituals.

You might be asking yourself that if civil religion and church religion are two separate things, then why do they seem to be similar? It seems that the commonplace act today is to see the word “God” as indicative of church religion; however, the word “God” has been being used in oaths, solemnity, and other varieties of speeches by the founders of America since the founding of the United States itself. This word is not necessarily indicative of a specific religion, Bellah explains, but instead holds either ceremonial significance or the significance of deferring to the wishes of a higher, guiding power whose will is ours to carry out.

Aside from not being indicative of a specific religion, in particular, one of the major world religions, Bellah also argues that the word “God” could be no more than an empty sign as it is freely used by Americans and means so many different things to different people. He even quoted Dwight Eisenhower stating that, “Our government makes no sense unless it is founded in a deeply felt religious faith and I don’t care what it is.” From this, we can decipher that “real religion” seems to hold no meaning in the arms of the government. Instead, it seems to be the American civil religion that is being spoken of.

Bellah touches on one more interesting point: separation of church and state. With separation of church and state, everyone should have freedom of religious belief and its associations; the political sphere should be separate from the sphere of privately practiced religion. However, because there are certain commonalities that Americans share regarding religious orientation, the political realm is not devoid of a religious dimension.

What is said in the name of “religion” may, at times, be no more than the civil religion shared amongst people of this country. We have followed certain beliefs and rituals from childhood on up through adulthood; we have pictures and words that are symbolic of who and what we are as both a people and a country. I believe that this is what civil religion is and does: it links us to those around us, even when there are such radical differences that it seems to be impossible to find anything in common.