The Aim of the Assignment: Make further use of one’s research skills, continued improvement of the student’s writing ability, to demonstrate knowledge of course material and its relevance and application to the world one inhabits, a world where the reality is increased interactions with other cultures and traditions as it “grows smaller.” To effect the relevance of acquiring a beginning knowledge of Christianity to the varied activities the student will undertake in the course of their life as they advance in time. To indicate the student’s ability to follow directions and requirements in detail and complete a task as assigned and on time, a skill needed to be successful in college and in one’s post-college career.
The Assignment: To compose an academic essay showing ways in which Christianity is having an impact on present-day politics in America: pro and con. Despite the “separation of church and state,” throughout the history of the United States, Christianity has had a significant impact on American culture, including politics. The two “Great Awakenings” in early America were of influence, and the abolition movement in antebellum U.S. largely arose from the moral concerns of a significant number of Christians here and in Britain. The short-lived “temperance movement” was also a product of Christian moral concern. Through the mid-twentieth century mainstream Protestant, often “liberal,” Christianity was of remarkable influence. Beginning with the rise of the “Moral Majority” in the middle of the twentieth century, fundamentalist and conservative evangelical Christianity has grown in its influence and has realized significant results in elections, changes in laws, and judgments rendered in the judicial system. The so-called “evangelical” Christians now constitute a major voting block and many, if not most, are aligned with the Republican party. Republican candidates for office need the votes of these evangelicals to get elected and they make strong appeals (if not pander) to those who are members of this particular and very conservative branch of Christianity.
The results of fundamentalists and conservative Christians moving out of isolation into mainstream cultural and political life has had good and bad effects both for the nation and for the evangelical Christian world. Often overlooked is the ongoing influence of other branches of American Christianity: Mainstream Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, the evangelicals who are not conservatives and not aligned with that political agenda, and the Christians who align with a distinctively liberal Christianity, etc. While the influence of these Christian traditions do not presently have the same influence as the fundamentalists and conservative evangelicals, going forward their influence may grow and they may regain some of their previous significant presence and influence. Some studies show that fundamentalist and conservative evangelical Christianity presence and influence is beginning to wane as this community of faith increasingly loses members, especially among their youth, an exodus largely related to the political activism and the community’s cultural policies (on issues like human sexuality, same sex marriage, and abortion, etal.).
What is the current state of Christianity in America when it comes to its relationship to the culture and to politics? Where is Christianity positioned in a society that has become markedly and increasingly secular and where a majority of Americans now do not identify themselves as Christians? Overall church membership across America is in decline in all versions of the religion. The churches are finding making headway in the current setting difficult and daunting. And a growing number of Americans, if religious, are other than adherents of Christianity. Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Shinto, and Taoists, etc., are growing in their numerical representation and presence, as is also true of those aligned with Native American religious traditions. Devout Roman Catholic politicians do not necessarily follow the official teaching of their church when it comes to enacting and enforcing laws. There is an ongoing debate in America as to whether Christianity (or any religion) has any place in the public square and in government. The debate concerns the meaning and application of the First Amendment and other passages of the federal Constitution and whether or not religion, if practiced, ought to be purely a private matter, left to the margins of society. These unsettled issues mean religion in America, and Christianity in particular, continues to be an ongoing discussion everywhere, including and especially in American political life.
The main focus of the paper is to be on Christianity and its presence and influence in American life: pro and con.
Fifteen Sample Topics to Research and Write About
- Evangelical Christianity and the MAGA movement and Donald J. Trump.
- Young Evangelicals leaving their churches and possibly Christianity because of issues like abortion,
same-sex relationships and marriage, hypocrisy when it comes to the place of politics in their churches, disagreeing with their elders.
- Evangelical Christianity and Abortion.
- Evangelical Christianity and Same-sex relationships and marriage.
- Fundamentalist Christianity and the Eschatological Teaching known as Dispensationalism.
- Conservative Christianity versus Progressive Christianity.
- The Authority of the Bible in American Christianity.
- The State of Commitment to Evangelism in American Christianity.
- The place, if any, of Christianity in the Public Sphere, the Public Square.
- The Rise of Christian Nationalism and the Future of Christianity.
- The Status of Roman Catholicism in America.
- The Status of Eastern Orthodoxy in America.
- Can one be a Christian and a Democrat (as opposed to being a Republican)?
- The Dwindling of Christianity in the United States.
- The Future of American Christianity in the face of Growing Secularism in our society.
These are suggested topics but you are not restricted to any of these. If you a topic other than these you would want to research and write about, share your topic with the instructor who will likely approve it.
One’s research properly begins in World Religions Today (Esposito, etal.), pp. 163 – 168 (seventh edition), the sections “Postmodern Trends (1962 – Present)” and “Conclusion: The Challenge of Religious Pluralism.” Moving on from the course textbook, the student is to undertake some further research into issues that have sparked their interest as a result of what they have initially read. Note: This essay is not a major research paper, therefore a large body of research is not necessary. Rather, a reasonable amount of research is required sufficient to having an accurate knowledge of the issues one has pursued, such knowledge needed to produce a more than adequate, average essay. The student ought to begin work on this assignment early.
Page Requirement and Basic Standards: Nine to eleven pages of text comprising the body of the paper. This requirement does not include additional pages necessary for endnotes (if footnotes are not used), a page for a list of resources consulted and made use of in one’s research, a cover page, and the blank sheet attached at the end for the instructor’s comments and the grade the essay will be given. (See below for further standards to be fulfilled for submission of essay.) Late papers will not be accepted except in the instance of an excused absence. Standards for submission not strictly adhered to could result in the return of a paper ungraded.
Additional Required Standards to be Met for Submission of the Essay:
- Typewritten, double-spaced, single-sided.
- Font no larger than 12, no smaller than 9.
- Cover page with a title, student’s name, course number and section, course name, date of submission (due date), and name of instructor. (The student should create an engaging title pertinent to their essay’s content.)
- One inch margins, top, bottom, and sides.
- Pages comprising the body of the paper are to be numbered.
- Citations to be given for material not one’s own by means of footnotes or endnotes.
- Avoidance of plagiarism, a serious academic offence subject to varied sanctions including potential dismissal from the college.
- Text and paper proof-read before submission.
- Avoidance of fallacious reasoning in drawing conclusions.
- Logical organization and presentation of material.
- Felicitous English composition.
- Paper stapled in upper left-hand corner (no paper clips, folded over corners, etc.)