A MULTITUDE OF FAITHS

The people of the United States, or their ancestors, came from all parts of the world. Those who came brought their religious beliefs with them, while new religious movements took form on American soil. Americans, therefore, are not a people who, as in most of the world, have shared a common culture, including a common religion, for many centuries. As Americans are a mingling of many peoples, American religion is a mingling of many faiths.

One result of this is that no one religious group is predominant. There is no single majority religion, only a wide variety of minority religions. Another result is that Americans, while religious, tend to be tolerant of religious differences. This tolerance is not perfect, but it is widespread enough to make toleration, along with diversity, a major characteristic of American religion.

This essay will explore the nature and development of American religious diversity and tolerance. It will begin with a brief account of American religious origins, and how diversity and tolerance have grown over time. This discussion will include the ways that toleration has been limited and offset by bigotry at various times.

As a specific example of the place of one religious faith in American life, the role of Islam will be considered, as well as the Black Muslim movement, a sect that originated in the United States, having initially little relationship t

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ristian religion (Walker, 1997). This was in no way either a rejection of Christianity nor an outreach to Muslims as such. It did, however, assert that the United States was as bound by its word to a Muslim leader as to a Christian one, and that in return the promise of a Muslim was held to be as valid as the promise of a Christian. If this letter did not accept Muslims into the American community of faiths  Washington probably knew no Muslim Americans to whom this acceptance could be offered  it at least implied that such acceptance was possible. Episodes of Intolerance: The development of the American tradition of faith and tolerance was by no means a smooth and even process. It has always been incomplete, and has sometimes moved in reverse. Roman Catholics were among the groups who came to the early colonies to escape persecution in England. In the 19th century, however, the previously small Catholic population grew enormously, fed by immigrants from Ireland and Eastern and Southern Europe. The result of this association of Catholicism with immigrants seems to have led to an increase of antiCatholic intolerance above the level at the time of the Revolution. AntiCatholic sentiment among Protestants remai
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 3018
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)