Cameron Kuntz
Jennings
3rd hour
October 16, 2013
Legalistic Religion: the Downfall of America
One of the main aspects of America is its constant proclamation of freedom. This proclamation of liberty dictates how each man and woman that makes up its citizenship can live by their own ways, set up their own means of making money, and even how they present themselves.However, some of these aspects of freedom are in fact hurting it. These offenders cannot be dealt with by political action, because restraining them would require the violation of the Constitution, namely the First Amendment.They cannot be affected by the people, for the ARE the people. And they cannot often be dealt with by logic. These are the legalistic religious groups, made up of many different individuals, a variety of religious beliefs, who continually fight and therefore are constantly at odds with each other.These individualistic fanatics have caused a sense of constant disunity among Americans, and their emotional plights have installed senses of anger, distrust, and fear in their hearts. It is ironic how those with freedom often desire only their version of it. Legalistic religion in America has become a source for personal gain, public disunity, and the consistent rise of fear, and therefore is a hindrance to the American people and their way of life.
There is a massive group of people that would the exact opposite stand against me. Personal offenseis often taken to my claim, and these nay-sayers put me down as another “person bent on destroying American values”. Their stance would say that our Founding Fathers, such as George Washington lauded religion, and many of them being religious themselves, making it the basis of American laws and policy (Fagan 1).The affect on society is positive, such as keeping marriages together, limit the use of drugs and alcohol, and even inspire community (Fagan 1). America’s youth are apparently also receivers of this positive aspect in their lives. They state that only 9.5% of students who regularly attend some form of worship drop out of school (Flynn 1). Also, that it initializes some form of rules that cause achievement (Flynn 1). The idea that religion in America is positive is a fact that’s shared by nearly the majority of Americans.
However, the case is not merely majority belief, but the stone-hard facts evident in today’s society that reflect America’s negative relationship with the legalistic qualities of religion. For instance, religion is a tool used by many of its converts to progress or fund their own wants. Let us take a look at the numbers.American churches collectively make over $71,000,000,000 in tax exemptions (Mehta 1). $71,000,000,000 is the annual cost of having religion in America, which includes exempting churches from paying property taxes, employee tax inclusions. Remember that many religious institutions are mainlyfor-profit. Pastors get paid (often rather handsomely); there are sloughs of religious stores, selling holy books and other spiritual paraphernalia (Nisen1). And while many of these religious societies claim that much of their money goes toward charitable work, the only average of charity money utilized by such denominations as the Church of Latter-Day Saints adds up to only 0.7% of their annual income (Yeager 1). So overall, religious society often pockets both monetary and tangible gain, and becomes a burden to even those taxpayers who don’t affiliate with any variety of spiritual beliefs.
Religion socially hurts both American culture and American sense of unity, causing both unrest and poisoning of the American values it stems from. But first, we shall discuss the affect of belief on the individual and his or her surroundings. Many people discount scientific results and research, their only backing being “The Bible (or any other book) doesn’t say so” (Dawkins 1). This causes not only the dumbing down of critical and analytical thinking, but also the independence that has for years kept humankind moving forward, with invention, new ideas, discoveries, and the accountability to step up and develop a better life than what has previously existed. Karl Marx described it as a sort of social “opium” in which people accept and proceed to live in continual illusion (Patience 1). Religion has also caused a constant sort of close mindedness within the population as a result of this ignorance, such as the anti-Muslim stances taken by a majority of Americans after 9/11, as if they all had a part in what was the result of an extremist’s group’s beliefs (Patience 1). Another example would be the Klu Klux Klan. This hate-group stemmed from white southern Baptists, who targeted not only blacks, but also Catholics, Communists, Jews, and the Chinese (Patience 1). While this may be also labeled as an extremists group (in which they are), their steadfast close-mindedness and ignorance bred from their religious views caused a reign of hate and terror from the late 1800’s to even present day.Religion has caused ignorance among the American people that breeds a culmination of both hate and distrust.
Likely the most hindering result of legalistic religion is its constant and purposeful hindrance of American public unity. Rather than identify themselves as fellow American citizens, many people voice their distrust, and even hate of, each other because they are Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, etc. as a result, America has become a society full of squabbling individuals, who only identify themselves with certain groups or cliques, because they feel unsafe around other groups. If religion was to subside in the United States, its people would be given another sense of togetherness and comradery, possibly opening the gates for global peace.
Many may disregard me as simply another “bigot” or “an atheist hate-monger”. But this is simply not the case. I am not a violent person, desiring to destroy anyone who does not agreewith me. I do not desire needless unrest. I in fact do believe in a God, and I believe he created the universe (or at least set everything in motion), and think it is perfectly fine to pursue a personal relationship with Him, if one so chooses. I will not hold a sign proclaiming my adversaries are “fags”. I will not try to force my opinions on young impressionable children through overly-biased and cut-off schools. I will not make their life choices for them. Or even side myself with a candidate who proclaims that he believes what I do, because I will actually look into his personal views and voting history, like a good voter should. In fact, if anyone desires to and disproves what I am claiming, with actual logical evidence and examples, I will personally go up to him or her, shake his or her hand, and proclaim to them that they are in fact correct and proceed to adopt their ideals; rather than furiously hold onto my old ideas and threaten anyone who wants to show their illegitimacy. But, as of now, I state my view as this: Religion in America has always been, and will continue to be, a thorn in the side of pure American thought, freedom, unity, and hope for a more progressive future.
Citations
"Negative Effects Of Religion In Society | AboutReligion.org."About Religions. N.p., 28 Mar. 2013. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.
Dawkins, Richard . "Ask Richard Dawkins About Evolution, Religion, and Science Education - Slashdot."Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters. N.p., 7 Oct. 2013. Web. 17 Oct. 2013. <
Fagan, Patrick F., and Ph.D.. " Why Religion Matters Even More: The Impact of Religious Practice on Social Stability."Conservative Policy Research and Analysis. N.p., 18 Dec. 2006. Web. 17 Oct. 2013. <
Flynn, Father John, and LC. "The Positive Role of Religion | ZENIT - The World Seen From Rome."ZENIT - The World Seen From Rome. N.p., 19 Sept. 2010. Web. 17 Oct. 2013. <
Mehta, Hemant. "The Yearly Cost of Religious Tax Exemptions: $71,000,000,000."Patheos | Hosting the Conversation on Faith. N.p., 16 June 2012. Web. 17 Oct. 2013. <
Nisen, Max. "Big U.S. Companies You Might Not Know Are Religious - Yahoo Finance."Yahoo Finance - Business Finance, Stock Market, Quotes, News. N.p., 17 May 2013. Web. 17 Oct. 2013. <
Yeager, Stephanie, and Desmond Vega. "Council for Secular Humanism."Council for Secular Humanism. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2013. <