In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (oasdi) program.

The original Social Security Act (1935) and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs. The larger and better known programs are:

Federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (a form of social insurance payments made by the U.S. Social Security Administration paid based upon the attainment old age (62 or older)

Unemployment benefits (are payments made by the state or other authorized bodies to unemployed people)

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (providing cash assistance to indigent American families with dependent children through the United States Department of Health and Human Services)

Health Insurance for Aged and Disabled (Medicare) (Medicare is a social insurance program administered by the United States government, providing health insurance coverage to people who are aged 65 and over, or who meet other special criteria)

Grants to States for Medical Assistance Programs (Medicaid) (program for eligible individuals and families with low incomes and resources)

State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) (provides matching funds to states for health insurance to families with children)

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) (provides stipends to low-income persons who are either aged (65 or older), blind, or disabled)

U.S. Social Security is a social insurance program that is funded through dedicated payroll taxes called Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA). The term, in everyday speech, is used to refer only to the benefits for retirement, disability, survivorship, and death, which are the four main benefits provided by traditional private-sector pension plans. In 2004 the U.S. Social Security system paid out almost $500 billion in benefits. By dollars paid, the U.S. Social Security program is the largest government program in the world and the single greatest expenditure in the federal budget.

№ 58 RELIGIOUS FREEDOM & RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY IN THE USA

Many early immigrants to the English North American colonies were dissenters from the official state religions of their home countries. Americans from the earliest colonists typically numbered religious freedom among their highly prized personal liberties, along with the right to self-government and economic opportunity.

By the time of the American Revolution, the 13 states were adopting constitutions that specified the limits of government power. Virginia's provided that "all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience." Not only were Virginians free to worship as they chose, their decision could not be used to limit their civil rights. The 1779 Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, drafted by Jefferson, guaranteed that "all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion.”

In 1791, when the U.S. Constitution was amended to limit more explicitly federal power, the First Amendment barred the federal government from establishing a religion or from adopting any law limiting religious freedom.

Disputes raising the "free exercise" of religion usually involve conduct that violates a law but is required by some denomination. The U.S. Supreme Court, for instance, has allowed Amish Mennonites acting in accordance with their religious beliefs to remove their children from school after the eighth grade (about age 14) even when a state law required attendance until age 16. On the other hand, the court also has upheld laws that criminalize the use of certain drugs even where some religions require their use. The justices usually weigh the government's "interest" in requiring or prohibiting certain behavior against how much those restrictions "burden" the practice of religion

The American traditions of individual freedom and tolerance have accommodated a remarkable variety of religious practices and beliefs. Although about four of five Americans identify themselves as Christian, even this majority encompasses many denominations, among them Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran and Methodist - some of which have further divided into subgroups even as movements. Other religions, including Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism thrive in the United States. About 8 percent of Americans describe themselves as nonreligious, secular or atheist.

In a nation where individual liberty encompasses the freedom to worship as one chooses, denominational differences pale in the face of common values. On January 16, Religious Freedom Day in the United States commemorates the values Americans of faith hold in common, and the distinctiveness that enriches them all.

№ 59 CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS IN THE USA, PROTESTANT & CATHOLIC

Over the centuries, Christianity has divided into numerous denominations. Each denomination has its own distinctive beliefs or practices, but they are commonly considered branches of the same religion because they agree on such fundamentals as the Bible, the Trinity, and the teachings of the Nicene Creed. The way in which members regard other denominations varies from mutual respect and acceptance to suspicion and denial that the other group is really "Christian." The three main branches of Christianity are Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant (some would add Anglican as a fourth). Most of the denominations that exist today developed in the 500 years since the Protestant Reformation and fall under the "Protestant" branch. This section provides information on some of the major denominations that exist today, along with a brief history of how there came to be so many and many comparisons of their similarities and differences. (Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Churches…)

"Protestantism" is less a denomination than a general branch of Christianity encompassing numerous denominations and a wide theological spectrum ranging from conservative to liberal. Protestant denominations differ in the degree to which they reject Catholic belief and practice. Some churches, such as Anglicans and Lutherans, tend to resemble Catholicism in their formal liturgy, while others, like Baptists and Presbyterians, retain very little of the liturgy and tradition associated with the Catholic church.

In common with Catholic and Orthodox Christians, Protestants adhere to the authority of the Bible and the doctrines of he early creeds. Most Protestant churches recognize only two sacraments directly commanded by the Lord - baptism and communion - as opposed to the seven sacraments accepted by the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church in the United States is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, the Christian Church in full communion with the Pope. It is the largest single religious denomination in the United States with 22% of the population. With 68 million members, the United States has the fourth largest Catholic population in the world after Brazil, Mexico and the Philippines. Catholicism arrived in what is now the United States during the earliest days of the European colonization of the Americas. The first Catholic missionaries were Spanish, and came to what is now the United States following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the New World. The central leadership body of the Catholic Church in the United States is the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, made up of the hierarchy of bishops and archbishops of the United States and the U.S. Virgin Islands, although each bishop is independent in his own diocese, answerable only to the pope.

№ 60 NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN THE USA

American Jews, also known as Jewish Americans, are American citizens or resident aliens of the Jewish faith and/or Jewish ethnicity. The Jewish community in the United States is composed predominantly of Ashkenazi Jews who emigrated from Central and Eastern Europe, and their U.S.-born descendants. A minority from all Jewish ethnic divisions are also represented, including Sephardi Jews, Mizrahi Jews, and a number of converts. The American Jewish community manifests a wide range of Jewish cultural traditions, as well as encompassing the full spectrum of Jewish religious observance.

Depending on religious definitions and varying population data, the United States is home to the largest or second largest (after Israel) Jewish community in the world. The American Jewish population was estimated to be approximately 5,128,000 (1.7%) of the total population in 2007 (301,621,000) and was according to the US census bureau 6,489,000 (2.2%) as of 2008. As a contrast, Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics estimated the Israeli Jewish population was 5,664,000 in 2009 (75.4% of the total population).

The earliest documented cases of Muslims to come to the United States were two West African slaves: Ayuba Suleiman Diallo, who was brought to America in 1731 and returned to Africa in 1734, and Omar Ibn Said in the mid 19th century. The oldest Muslim community to establish in the country was the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, in 1921.Once very small, the Muslim population of the US increased greatly in the twentieth century. In 2005, more people from Islamic countries became legal permanent United States residents than in any year in the previous two decades. The new position has been created under white house executive office as a United States special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference to promote relation between Islamic world and United States government.

Recent immigrant Muslims make up the majority of the total Muslim population. South Asians Muslims from India and Pakistan and Arabs make up the biggest group of Muslims in America at 60-65% of the population. Native-born American Muslims are mainly African Americans who make up a quarter of the total Muslim population.

Buddhism is one of the largest religions in the United States behind Christianity, Judaism and Nonreligious, about the same as Islam. Many American Buddhists are Asian Americans as well as a large number of converts. The U.S. presents a new environment for Buddhists, as Buddhism and America become increasingly compatible.

Native American Church, a religious denomination which practices Peyotism or the Peyote religion, originated in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and is the most widespread indigenous religion among Native Americans in the United States. Peyotism involves the use of the entheogen Peyote, a spineless cactus. Peyote was used in the territory of modern Mexico in pre-Columbian times to commune with the spirit world and also as a medicine. From the mid-15th century, the use of peyote spread to the Great Plains area of the United States primarily through the efforts of the Apache people. Peyotism is now practiced in more than 50 Indian tribes and has probably around 250,000 adherents. Peyotist beliefs vary considerably from tribe to tribe, belief in Peyote personified as a god called Mescalito by some practitioners, but often include belief in Jesus as a Native American culture hero, an intercessor for man or a spiritual guardian; belief in the Bible; and association of Jesus with Peyote. Peyotists believe in a supreme God.