C. S. Lewis View Of Religion: Religiosity And Religion

History tells us that the Puritans were different than the Pilgrims because they wanted to continue to exist with the Church of England but make it better in the New World. (Settling 2014) The Puritans must have felt some type of loyalty to their native religion because they didn’t put their religion totally aside. It is noted that the Puritans did not want the rituals and other beliefs that involved being a member of their native Church of England.

While Kingsolver recognizes religion as a difference among America, her emphasis along with Dr. King is the issue regarding race in our nation. Kingsolver writes about how patriotism is love for his or her own country, and recognizes that not everyone has the same way of expressing their love. Kingsolver alludes to a white man screaming in the streets that he was an American and then “killed a Sikh man wearing a turban” because he was not a native born American (549). It is clear that this incident is a distortion of patriotism. This man interpreted the word patriotism as being the white race.

Transcendental ideals are relevant to transcendentalists, but no longer valued in modern American life; transcendentalists are against materialism and hierarchies in society, whereas modern American life is built on hierarchies and the unremitting desire to acquire more and live a garish lifestyle. Transcendentalists live minimally, while most modern Americans strive to be successful and gain as much as possible. There is nothing wrong with pursuing success and wealth, but many transcendentalists see that type of lifestyle as monotonous and insignificant. Due to the hunt for prosperity and materials in modern America, transcendentalism is no longer relevant.

Transcendentalist Era In the 1830’s, a group called the transcendentalist arose. It lasted from 1836 to just about 1861. Some people were upset about how the Unitarian church was running things so instead people turned to nature. Basically they believed that any individual was more powerful than any institution.

The rise of Transcendentalism in the 19th century is similar to the more extreme and vocal supports of popular modern movements in today’s modern world. Upon researching the topic, i found that Ralph Waldo Emerson, George Putnam, and Frederic Henry Hedge founded the Transcendental Club and began publishing journals and other papers on the topic. I related this to modern day individuals who make use of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to post their thoughts and philosophies on the topic of political correctness and individuality. Transcendentalists believed that people were naturally good and were corrupted by political and religious institutions.

Religion has been long intertwined within the roots of the nation since the conception of the United States. It began with the Puritans who fled religious persecution and settled in the New World, to the Founding Fathers who cited God in the Declaration of Independence. While the constitution legally separates church and state, God and religious symbols have always played a part in all major political events and institutions. Robert Bellah refers to this phenomenon in his work, “Civil Religion”, as civil religion, a term he borrows from Jean Jacques Rousseau. According to Bellah, civil religion is an attempt at defining the American experience through a set of religious beliefs, symbols and rituals.

Religion plays a vital role in imparting meaning and explanation on the existence and purpose of mankind. It has been an elemental aspect of many societies across different time periods. Religious beliefs and practices affect everything from an individual level such as personal ethics, to a larger scale such as national and international politics. However, what exactly does religion provide? What needs does it serve?

1. British citizens fleeing religious persecution founded America. The United States Constitution established freedom of religion as a fundamental right for all citizens. Webster’s dictionary defines a religion as an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods.1 This paper will cover the origins of some religious beliefs in American culture.

C.S. Lewis, a christian apologist writer wrote Mere Christianity in the nineteen-forties during world war two. Lewis wrote Mere Christianity in attempt to bring together a “common ground” of truths for the core of the Catholic Church’s beliefs. Mere Christianity shows readers logical ways of understanding the Catholic faith and he is presenting this central idea to help comprehend such ideas. The preface of Lewis’s Mere Christianity sets forth his ideas and arguments. Lewis is trying to convince readers his argument is credible and trustworthy, he is trying to get readers to understand his positioning and he is trying to give a sense of clarity.

In this world the presence of duality has been implemented since the beginning of time. Many religions around the world have taken the polar opposites of good and evil and have made them the foundation for what religion really is. There is a necessity for the presence of good and evil in which the existence of one would not be complete without the other. Repetitively there have been cases in history that exemplify the heroes and the villains. Being a human involves having the tendency to deviate from good to evil and in that transition the experience of evil is needed to realize what is evil and good.