Write a minimum 200-word paragraph exploring the connection between religious syncretism and ethnicity in the United States. Be sure to include a specific example from this weeks lecture to support your analysis.
The final topic for the course is a large one: RELIGION. For good or bad, religion is involved in every way in the founding of the United States. The issue of religious freedom has played a significant role in the history of the United States. Some of the first settlers came to America to escape religious oppression and forced beliefs by Christian churches in Europe. America was established with the belief of separation of church and state, and the freedom to practice ones faith without fear of persecution, was guaranteed. This belief was “so important” that it was enshrined in the First Amendment. Clearly this has not played out as expected, as now religion is involved in pretty much any decision or non-decision our government makes. For this week and your final, we will be focusing on the intersections of ethnicity and religion in the US.
Like culture, religion is living and evolving. It changes over time. This process is often referred to as (please either watch the video or click the link).
In the US, there are quite a few syncretized religions, including branches of Christianity, such as Quakerism and Mormonism.
Some of the religions that developed in the US were ways for indigenous people, slaves, former slaves or other marginalized people to practice their religions under the face of a more dominant religion such as Catholicism. Voodoo (Voudoun, Vodou, etc.) and Santeria are often misunderstood examples of this. The following video clips provides a good explanation of the origins of Voodoo as a Christian religion that combines Indigenous, African and Christian beliefs. The closed captioning is not yet up and running on the CNN clip, though, so if you need or would prefer a captioned video, please visit .
If you’re wondering whether Voodoo or Santeria are practiced outside of the Caribbean, try visiting your local botanica.
Other religions have emerged in response to colonialism. Indigenous nations, as we have discussed, are diverse. However, with colonialism, with many nations being pushed together on reservations or in big cities, indigenous peoples have unified and developed “pan-Indian” religious practices. The Peyote Church, which is an officially recognized church in the US, is one example of this.
Additional examples of Pan-Indian religious practices that have emerged are the Sundance and the Ghost Dance. One of the most famous practitioners and advocates of the Sundance is In his autobiography he discusses the Sundance. Prison Writings: My Life is my Sundance provides a good examples of this religious understanding and practices. His beliefs are also reflected in his poem:
Silence, they say, is the voice of complicity.
But silence is impossible.
Silence screams.
Silence is a message,
just as doing nothing is an act.
Let who you are ring out and resonate
in every word and every deed.
Yes, become who you are.
There’s no sidestepping your own being
or your own responsibility.
What you do is who you are.
You are your own comeuppance.
You become your own message.
You are the message.
Another example of an indigenous spiritual practice that emerged in response to racial and ethnic tensions in the US was the . (Please either click the link or watch the video).
In Asian American communities, religious syncretism is at work as well. Take as an example, or the fact that .
P.S. If you haven’t clicked on the hyperlinks (the blue text), be sure to do so. How much you read of the links is up to you, but please do use them because they are of interest and can help you understand terms and ideas that may be unfamiliar to you.
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