Conflict Between Christianity and American Culture

galore(postnominal) of the elements of religion in America derived from the nature of Protestantism in general and from the kind of Protestantism that create in the American nation. One important element was the situation that unlike in Europe, Protestantism in America was not in protest over against a present or past universality but was instead involved in building a new culture of its own (Miller 84-85).

Recently, though, there have been reassessments of conventional American culture, a culture much more in keeping with Protestant thought, and changes made as a leave of these reassessments have contributed to conflicts with Christian believers. This century has been marked by ample acts and social changes brought about by economic, social, and political tensions. One sectionalisation of Christian doctrine that influenced the country for much of its history was that of self-denial. This doctrine can be seen as complementary to the doctrine of triumph:

The point is that in a success-oriented culture, where the judgementl is denied virtually to all, compensative set will be necessary, and in the self-denial value orientation of the linked States respectability was the dominant value for offsetting the sense of self-loss and failure genius experienced when caught between achievement myths and social realities (Sample 13).

This concept prevailed for those internal in the first half of the century, those who faced two dry land Wars and the Great Depression, while in the second half o

In the first place this ethic maintains that living is intrinsically valuable, which means that it is not to be denied for the rice beer of something else, and self-denial is one instance of such. Life is not to be denied for the sake of family, career, country, or anything else; rather, these are to fit, if they can, into a self-fulfilling lifestyle (Sample 15).

Ellwood, Robert S. "east Asian Religions in Today's America." In World Religions in America, Jacob Neusner (Ed.), 219-242. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster/ hind end Knox Press, 1994.

f the century a different concept developed, that of self-fulfillment.

This is seen as an outgrowth of the post-war period when people experienced a rapture for success unlike anything that had gone before, and they committed themselves to providing for their children all the things that they never had. This has been named the ethic of self-fulfillment:

Buddhism tends to be nonmoralistic, which serves well in a world characterized by a great diversity of peoples, cultures, and lifestyles, again in keeping with American values: "Buddhism is defined by practice rather than a rigid set of beliefs" (Hochswender 169). Thus, the rituals await the same even if used in different societies. Many of the ideas of Buddhism are accepted even among people who have no formal knowledge of Buddhism. For instance, some see the ecological movement as sharing the Buddhist idea that all life is interdependent. Bioethics also comes from Buddhist philosophy. The Christian and Jewish worldview tends to be touch on man, with man seen as at the top of the natural order. Buddhists see human life as interdependent with nature. Buddhist belief in medicine agrees with the modern view that learning ability and body are one, and more and more physicians accept the idea that a healing mind can be a powerful force in overcoming disease.

Hochswender, Woody. "Buddha Comes of Age." Harper's Bazaar (November 1993), 164-169.

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