Religious Pluralism In The United States

Religious Pluralism in the United States
Judy A. Schrader
SOC 101
Michael Kellam, Ed. D
September 8. 2008

          "Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants."
William Penn

Religious pluralism as defined by Wikipedia is, "a loosely defined expression concerning the acceptance of different religions, and is used in a number of related ways; As the name of the worldview according to which one's religion is not the sole and exclusive source of truth, and thus that at least some truths and values exist in other religions. As acceptance of the concept that two or more religions with mutually exclusive truth claims are equally valid." (Wikipedia)
The Christian faith of Christopher Columbus was the motivating factor, which prompted him to sail to the "New World". After he discovered this new land, he wrote a letter in which he said, "Therefore let the king and queen, the princes and their most fortunate kingdoms, and all other countries of Christendom give thanks to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who has bestowed upon us so great a victory and gift." In our nation's first self-governing document, the Mayflower Compact, the first words were, "In the name of God. Amen." The search for a new world where religion could be sought by individual's beliefs without the repercussions began here. "The Puritans created Bible-based commonwealths in order to practice a representative government that was modeled on their church covenants." Both the Pilgrims and the Puritans disagreed with many things about the Church of England in their day. But the Pilgrims felt that reforming the church was a hopeless endeavor. They were led to separate themselves from the official church and were often labeled "Separatists." The Puritans, on the other hand, wanted to reform the Church of England from within. They argued from within for purity of the church. Hence, the name Puritans". This nation was founded as a "sanctuary for religious dissidents". The...