Chap 7 HST

• Protestants/Catholics,
• Whites/Blacks

• Between Liberal and Conservative
• Christians

• Liberal-valued openness,
• pluralism, diversity, and mutual tolerance. Ethics emphasized love,
• relationships, peace, justice, inclusiveness, tolerance of minorities and
• acceptance of varieties of lifestyles and expressions of sexuality.

• Conservatives-continued
• to teach long-standing Christian and Jewish teachings concerning family,
• sexuality, discipline and the importance of moral law. Also more patriotic,
• firmly anticommunist, for strong military and law and order.

begins after assassination of kennedy

was the "hippie" time

• Joined the
• counterculture, followed liberal trends. Created “Jesus culture”.

See comic on page 255

• Declared
• religious freedom, rather than the universal establishment of Catholicism by
• law

• Recognized Protestants as “separated
• brethren” and encouraged dialogue with them.

• Instead of only viewing the Church
• as an institutional hierarchy that dispensed justice and grace, emphasized that
• the Church is the body of Christ at the service of humanity.

• Less services in Latin with priest
• facing the wall, but with active participation from congregation, mass and
• prayers in English, singing of hymns, more emphasis on sermons.

• Questions
• over whether family was based on temporary contract among equal individuals or
• a structure reflecting a divinely sanctioned order.

Questions over role in Churches.

• Liberal and moderate
• Protestants and Reform and Conservative Jews began accepting new roles for
• women.

• Women began running
• missionary and educational societies by the Church.

• Mainline Churches began
• ordaining women in the 1920s, though very few. By the end of the 1970s, all
• mainline protestant denominations were routinely ordaining women.

• First ordained woman:
• Barbara Harris-first bishop of Episcopal Church

Feminist Theology

• Built around themes of
• liberation for the oppressed & attacks on formulated theologies by male
• oppressors.

• 1970s, inclusive
• language in Bible and hymns begins

• Question of God the
• “Father”

Paralleled feminist movement

most liberal christians supported them

created bitter and protracted debates within mainline denominations

• New
• Religions blossomed in the 1960s.

• Subcommunities included: Buddhism,
• Shinto, Hinduism and Islam.

Blossomed Crazy Religions:

• Unification church:
• Korean with Chrisitan heritage. Founder Sun Myung Moon claimedd to be latest
• prophet of God, promised coming millennial kingdom.

• People's Temple
• Community-Rev. Jim Jones. Proclaimed himself a prophet of a new religion. Moved
• his community toSouth American. Led 900 people in a mass suicide.

• Branch Davidians-led by
• self proclaimed Prophet David Koresh. Millenial group, violent standoffs with
• the government.

Other Blossomed Religions:

American Zen Buddhism

Hare Krishna

• Community of Bhagwan
• Shree Rajneesh: took over town in Oregon

Scientology

• Book written
• by team in University of California. In depth look at the beliefs and values
• typical of dominant American middle class.

Results:

• Increase in compartmentalization
• of life. Private life separated sharply from work.

• Americans driven by
• utilitarian individualism. Split between managers and therapists.

• Individuals arrive at
• their religious beliefs independent of any church or synagogue.

Major growth among conservative churches and growth in pentacostal/charismatic

• Election of
• Jimmy Carter who claimed to be a “born-again” evagelical. Unhappy with him
• because he was also a liberal democratic.

• Nixon Watergate scandal convinced
• many Americans that morality and politcs should not be separate.

• Important in convincing:
• -Roe v. Wade & Legalizing
• Abortion.

• -Equal
• Rights Amendment, forbidding discrimination
• against women. (was not passed)

• Conservatives
• of all sorts of religious groups generated new political group. Focus on
• family, sexuality (sexual permissiveness: music, movies, porn and ads),
• militant patriotism and anticommunism.

• Founded by Jerry Falwell. Big in
• fundamentalism.

• Claimed credit in getting Reagan
• elected.

• Impact of
• religious right amplified by television ministries.

• Oral Roberts, Pat Robertson and 700
• Club. Jim and Tammy Fay Bakker and PTL (Praise the Lord). Robert Schuller and
• Crystal Cathedral.

• Scandals: Oral Roberts claimed that
• God told him He would kill Roberts if his supporters did not raise enough money
• by a certain date. Jim Bakker carried on illicit sexual relationships, sent to
• jail for financial fraud. Swaggart (who was critical of Bakker) was forced to
• step down because of sexual improperties.

• Ideological
• Left

Ideological Right

• Both: Remarkably
• Individualistic.Tended toward materialism. Comfortable with benefits and pleasures
• of technological society. In their own ways moralistic.

• Mostly to do
• with the differences with sexual relations and the different beliefs whether
• that be between liberal and conservative Christians and homosexuality or sexual
• behavior with public figures.

• Promise Keepers and Million Man
• March is protests by men to take responsibility for their families and sexual
• fidelity.

• Muslim
• prominant in America by end of 20th century. Islam became rival to Judaism as
• nation's second largest religious grouping.

• Buddhism and Hinduism in America,
• but Christianity is still dominant.

• Christianity
• spread after fall of Soviet Union.

• Remarkable world cultural
• development: spread of American-style Christianity

Pentecostal/Charistmatic.

• Large Perspective: American
• religious life moving towards “a new spirituality of seeking”

• Nonconfrontational spirituality
• increased. Move away from strong political and social engagement.