Crime and punishment

The outlawing of alcohol in 1919-1933 (“Prohibition”) encouraged the growth of a huge network of corruption and blackmail and gang rivalry, and when Prohibition ended, the network of organized crime that it had fostered turned to other types of activity – drugs and robbery.

The proportion of people in prison in the USA is twice as many as in any European country.

The murder rate is approximately ten times the British rate in relation to population.

In some states in the 1960s the death penalty was abolished but when the number of murders tripled the public began to support the idea of returning the capital punishment.

In 1975 the Supreme Court made a new ruling allowing the death penalty to be used in certain circumstances. In the 1980s three-quarters of the states had laws allowing the death penalty.

Gun laws.

Opinion polls show that most American feel handguns are responsible for the high murder rate. 70 % of the public favor laws which would ban the private ownership of all handguns. At present, there are about 23,000 state and local gun laws and ordinances throughout the US. Some states only prohibit carrying concealed handguns; in others owners must register all handguns and have a license to carry them, either open or concealed.

The main opponent of the law banning handguns is the NRA (National Rifle Association) and its three million members. It is dedicated to the principle that “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed” (II Amendment to the Constitution).; They argue that about half of the same 12 million firearms in the US are owned by hunters, and their slogan claims that “Guns do not kill, people do”. Their opponents point out that the II Amendment begins as “A well-regulated means begin necessary to the security of a free state” which means that it refers to the history when men served as “citizen soldiers”. The Supreme Court supports the state laws and federal laws limiting the sales of hand guns.

Religion

There is no doubt that religion is an important element in shaping character and culture. An interesting phrase in the lore of the United States Supreme Court describes the view of religion implicit in American culture. The First Amendment to the Constitution interprets the American society as “wholesomely neutral”. This amendment was an attempt to keep the Congress from doing anything to establish religion by law or to prohibit its free exercise. Apart from Christmas, there are no religious public holidays, and controversial rulings of the Court have forbidden prayers in public schools. Yet Americans see the religion as somehow vital for civil and personal character and cultures.

Two sets of experience inspired the First Amendment in 1791. The most respected builders of the original colonies had been refugees from the established religions of the European countries from which they came, and also there was the history of 17-century Massachusetts, where Baptists, Quakers and other dissidents had been persecuted by authorities closely identified with Puritan ministers who would not tolerate forms of Puritanism different from their own.

Religion in the USA plays an important role because it is a country the Pilgrim Fathers came to be free to worship in their own way. At the same time, for most people, religion mainly is a means of getting together with the others. Most clergymen run their churches in a way which fits in with the ideas of their congregations. People go to church and it helps them to feel that they have a place in a community.

98% of all Americans believe in God, about 60% tend to believe in life after death.

Protestants

The people of the original thirteen states in 1787 were nearly all Protestants, as are nearly three-quarters of the people now. Most belong to denominations with roots in Great Britain, or to their purely American offshoots. The only significant exceptions are the Lutherans (though now more than half of the ethnical Germans belong to non-Lutheran denominations).

The English Anglicans in Virginia and the Puritans in New England settled and built colonies which have left the biggest stamp on American character and myth. The name “Puritan” elicits images of very staunch, determined character and intention. They believed in transforming the landscape – they were sure that the Lord had called then to “be fruitful and multiply” and especially to “have dominion over the earth.” They also inherited from the ancient Jews the idea of “the American Zion.”

The Church of England has its counterpart in the closely associated American Episcopal Church (sometimes called Anglican), which shares its theology and form of organization (with the exception that it already ordained women priests while the Church of England did not). Far more numerous than the Anglicans are the denominations based on post-reformation Puritanism, such as Baptists, Presbyterians and Congregationalists (this name is not now used), as well as Methodists, who follow a later breakaway from the Church of England.

The old doctrinal arguments are now forgotten, and the differences between denominations are scarcely noticeable. No matter what its basis, each church with its minister is a self-standing community, supported by its members, depending on the effectiveness of its leadership and above all, of its minister.

The biggest single Protestant denomination, that of the Baptists, which has complex Anglo-Dutch origins, is strongest in the Southern “Bible Belt” (from the Carolinas to Texas). Black and white Baptist congregations are still mainly separate.

Fundamentalists object to the theory of evolution, as put forward by Charles Darwin. In 1987 a judge in a federal court was persuaded that if religious teaching in the public schools is prohibited, “secular humanism” must not be taught either. A major aspect of such teaching concerns the origins of the planet Earth, and of species which have lived or still live on it. According the scientific research (a carbon dating method), dinosaurs became extinct about a million years ago. Creationalists have the answer: when Noah built the ark there was no room in it for a couple of dinosaurs, so all perished in the flood.

Fundamentalist belief, Baptist, Pentacostalist and others, have provided the main inspiration for the modern electronic evangelism. To the outside world, American Protestantism is best known through its star performers – Billy Graham, Jim Bakker, Jerry Falwell. Each of the dozens of successful television preachers has a purpose-built church, or hall, or theatre, for services, and an office-complex to receive the money from the followers.

Catholics

A quarter of all Americans are Catholics, almost all descended from Catholic countries, first from Europe, now also immigrants from the former lands of the Spanish Empire. They are far more numerous than any single Protestant group, but have always been conscious of the minority status both of their religion and of the ethnic group to which they belong.

American Catholicism builds upon elements of the religion that came with Columbus and his successors, notably the priests and brothers who were chaplains during the conquest of the sixteenth century.

The nation’s biggest church building is the Basilica in Washington (nearly as big as St Peter’s, Rome); it is surrounded by a Catholic university and other institutions.

But the recent survey shows that three-quarters of Catholic couples practice birth control, and almost half of all Catholic marriages collapse – the same proportion as among non-Catholics. Many American Catholics want priests to be free to marry, and want women to be ordained as priests.

Mormons

Mormons or Latter-day Saints is one of the very numerous American religious churches. It was founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith, the son of a Vermont farmer. He said that while praying for guidance he had been confronted by two heavenly messengers who forbade him to join any existing church but prepare to become the prophet of a new one. Soon, in a series of visions, he was told of a revelation written on golden plates concealed in a nearby hillside. These he unearthed in 1827 and with the help of “Urim and Thummin” translated the “reformed Egyptian” characters into English. Described as the Book of Mormon, this was published in 1830 and at the same time a little church of those few who accepted his testimony was founded in Fayette, N.Y.

The American Indians were identified as part of the ten Lost Tribes of Israel. Jesus Christ was believed to have appeared in America after His resurrection and prior to His ascension. Soon the second book appeared – Doctrine and Covenants. As Smith and his followers began to describe themselves as the Chosen People the sect was in trouble with the community and the police.

Mormons set off to find a dwelling-place and found it at Nauvoo, Illinois. In 1844 Smith was murdered by a mob, and was succeeded by Brigham Young, and extraordinary leader. He took his followers to the forbidding valley of the great Salt Lake (then outside the area of the United States) on 24 July 1847. By 1851 30,000 Mormons had reached the Promised Land. In 1850 their pioneer settlement was made Utah Territory, and in 1896 incorporated in the Union. The church was strictly ruled by its leader who also looked after affairs of state for thirty years until his death in 1877.

“Plural marriage” (or polygamy) is one of the things for which the church is best known. Though practiced in the early years if was discontinued in 1890.

Membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has reached over 10 million with members in 156 nations.

Quakers

The Friends Untied Meeting is a religious body too small for inclusion in a general survey of religion. But this group, often described as “Quakers”, has an immense importance in the history of America.

Quakers insist on the equality of people before God, and worship in meetings with no minister or order of service, often sitting in silence for long periods. They adjure all violence. With their austerity many have been successful in business.

In 1677 and 1680, the English king gave powers to groups of Quakers which enabled them to devise the first constitutions for the colonies of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, which had previously been irregularly governed. The aristocratic and rich English Quaker, William Penn, gave his name to Pennsylvania and was its first governor, having a strong personal responsibility for the exceptionally tolerant, democratic and liberal forms of the constitutions of theses two colonies. He and his group of Quakers founded the city of Philadelphia, which was named for the Friends’ principle of brotherly love, and which was the first capital of the United States.

As their ideals (including religious tolerance) became the core of the American Constitution, the Society of Friends is still greatly respected.

Amish

The Amish Faith originated in Switzerland and was founded by Jakob Ammon who was dissatisfied with the Mennonite Church. He and his supporters formed a group who rejected wars, materialism and frivolity. Early Mennonites came to America in 1632 in search of religious freedom. Some time later thy split into two groups – the “Church Amish” favored a central church building,, the “House Amish” favored holding services in a home.

Today the Amish live in farm communities in 23 states and in Ontario, Canada. They teach separation from the world, the members are forbidden to go to war, swear oath, or hold public offices. Men wear beards and wide-brimmed hats, and women wear plain long dresses and bonnets. Members meet in their homes every two weeks for worship.

Ironically, the Amish face problems because they would not take an oath of allegiance or join the military.

Moslems

The number of Moslems in the USA prevails 2 million people.

One very interesting fact about religion in America is the appearance of radio and TV programs in 1980s. These programs featured fundamentalist preachers whose preaching is a mixture of quotations from the Bible and requests for financial support from the viewers. The preachers are called the television evangelists.