CHAPTER 11: The Public, the Civil, & the Culture of the Center public Protestantism civil religion cultural religion
History of Public Protestantism Puritan foundations o New England textbooks o early American leaders o legal privileges o ethic of progress & efficiency
The Protestant Code religious liberty democratic equality denominationalism voluntaryism activism
The Protestant Code reductionism nonintellectualism ahistoricism moralism
Protestant Cultus revivalism o sacred space & time o hymns & sermons o prayers & testimonies o active search for conversion
Protestant Creed individualism higher law millennialism perfectionism
Models for Civil Religion Hebrew o nation bound by unity Roman o empire built on manyness
History of Civil Religion New England Puritanism Revolutionary War Constitution “manifest destiny”
Structure of Civil Religion creed of chosenness & millennialism code of civil action cultus of patriotic actions o visiting national sites o celebrating national holidays
Civil Religion to the Present decline of civil religion’s power scholarly interest o Robert Bellah’s “Civil Religion” o Sidney Mead’s “Religion of the Republic” o Will Herberg’s “American Way of Life”
Cultural Religion – American Ritual Calendar Halloween Thanksgiving Christmas New Years Day Valentine’s Day
Cultural Religion – American Sacred Stories television, film, literature common pattern: o good will defeat evil o evil will be punished millennial themes individualism
American Codes of Living sports o contesting forces o teamwork o hard work & sacrifice technology o machine as model o efficiency o standardization
More American Codes of Living popular psychology o human potential movement o happiness & creativity o self-help literature nature o symbol of purity o spontaneity & freedom
OVERVIEW of the “One Religion” Public Protestantism o equality, liberty, denominations & voluntaryism, activism, moralism, simplicity, millennialism Civil Religion o nationalism, patriotism Cultural Religion o sports, technology, psychology, nature