Denominations in the United States
The time before the twentieth century, the religious leaders never liked to be associated with the political class or anything to do with politics. Now the religious leaders are all over getting involved with the politicians and even campaigning for them from all corners of the world so long as they support their ideology. The ideologies they wanted to be supported by the politicians are that of gay rights, lesbianism, abortion and the development of private schools. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the radical priests from the Catholic denomination spent time in the prison cells with the atheist political activist who had been jailed there[1]. The Roman Catholic bishops in 2004 requested the Catholics not to vote for the Roman Catholic Democrat but instead to vote for the already born again evangelical Republican since he was ready to say no to abortion laws. In the near future, it is most certain that the political class will now hold hands together with the religious leaders in order to get what both parties want. Mass media communication was and still is the trend for the religious leaders who want to make their policies and denominations known to the world. The internet has been the trend in the recent times and this has created the opportunity for the members of the society to even skip live church services and opt for the internet options.
Stories such as those in the western civilization are basically related to the occasion whereby they claim to be the descendants of Abraham through birth, obedience, or through adoption. The Western religion has always been in the fight with each party claiming to promote and also protect the understanding of Gods covenant. Some of the modern scholars have the ideology that monotheism is naturally violent mainly because of the drive for uniformity in regards to the beliefs and the practices. Judaism is one of the few and oldest type of religion worldwide[2]. Every western religion has some Judaism origin in nature. In the whole world, there are more than twelve million Jews in the world and half of that number has their origin in the United States. It is genuinely very difficult to identify a Jewish since what defines a Jew can be by birth, the cultures, or being so religiously inclined. When it comes to Christianity, what define a Christian are the doctrines and the beliefs[3]. Jews believe that the commandments were given to them by God and they follow every commandment accordingly as an obligation from God.
Jews with Christianity had a good relationship compared to those of the Islamic world. All through the middle ages, the Jews had a rough time by being harassed by the Christian mob. During the thirteenth and the fourteenth centuries, England and France expelled all the Jews. Some went into Germany, Hungary, Russia, and others went to Poland[4]. This move, however, did not solve the issue of the Jews since in the Europe; the Jews were now being slaughtered alive and persecuted all over Eastern Europe during the nineteenth century. In Germany there was no rescue either, during the tenure of Adolf Hitler, the Jews again are being persecuted and his supporters started an anti-Jewish war that saw the stripping of the Jewish civil rights.
During this time, the Nazis had begun the shipment of the Jewish individuals into a concentration camp which had at least six million people including the slaves and other groups of people who were hated by the Nazis. In this concentration camp, all the six million people were brutally killed and others tortured to death[5]. In this era, it is suspected that there was more than half of the Jews death. During the nineteenth century, Jews in Europe got the agitation to have their own country which will be a free nation. The Jewish nationalist held a movement to have their own nation and the move was headed by a man by the name Theodor Herzl who had tried to get the base at which the Jewish homeland would be agreed upon.
After the Jewish realized that there were more deaths in Germany as ordered by Hitler, the movement became a strong one and which now engaged publicists and other major Jewish leaders. Forming a Jewish state was the best solution which would allow for the survival of the Jewish. In the United States, the Jews arrived early in the sixteenth century and settled in some cities. During the colonial period, the churches were established in a city called New Amsterdam, Savannah, and Charleston but the first official priest never came until the nineteenth century[6]. The orthodox unions in the United States were formerly founded by Dr. Mendes who was a Sephardic leader from the New York City. He had the hopes that the unions established would bring the people together under the same voice particularly the Jews. At first, the union based the care for the children but with time the move became for all members.
Non-denominational religion
My type of denomination is a non-denominational church. A nondenominational church is typically a church which has no affiliations with a larger denomination. The main essence of having a non-denominational church is to escape the rules that come along with being a member of a bigger denomination. Denominations are believed to be having some rules and regulations which are set to govern the church services[7]. The main benefit of being independent is the fact that there will be less or no interference in what the non-denomination church has prepared in any services. Looking at the bible, it is very clear that every church will be self-governed and that it will be answerable to God himself and not through another. Reading from the Bible, there is an indication of the establishment of new denominations which have been seen now but the event of having an authority with certain levels is a new thing which is not known to many[8]. Some can argue based on the point of Jerusalem council which is in the Book of Acts about the pattern for denomination continuous but there is basically nothing which indicates that idea.
For centuries, Christianity has been based on the denominations. Some Christians have chosen to not be affiliated with the denominations and prefer to be of a non-denomination. In the 1990s, less than 200,000 individuals had chosen to join the non-denomination churches but come the year 2008, there were more than 8 million people who opted to belong to the non-denomination religion. The origin of nondenominational religious is not very new or uncommon to the world today. The times we are leaving in today are a time of acceptance and tolerance[9]. The nondenominational churches are mostly dedicated to offering acceptance for every willing member disregarding from which denomination he or she comes from. The freedom from the harsh church doctrines the adherence to the normally outdated way of life acts as an attraction for the younger generations which chose to follow the nondenominational churches[10]. The lack of being labeled in most cases attracts members from other denominations who might have been labeled names and other sorts of words in the denomination churches. The old conventional ways of the church often push away the younger generations who are tired of leaving in the long forgotten beliefs of the religions.
Arguments have been put forward that the Christian church is meant for the nondenominational religion[11]. There are basically no divisions indicated in the Bible and according to Paul’s letter, it is clear that the Bible offers the salvation to everyone who does believe in it without regarding the denomination[12]. Versions of the same kind of people argue that the church should be united by God alone and not through the religions[13]. There are various reasons as to why people would choose to join the nondenominational religions in the world today. One of the major reasons is the turn of the churches into votes hunting grounds by politicians and the leaders if the churches. With this occurrence, many people now started drifting away from the churches and joining any other religion which looked more serious with matters to do with God[14]. After the World War II, a culture of development joined the world and this brought in new ideas and now the olden days were left behind by some members opening the way for the nondenominational religions.
References
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Atwood, Craig D., Frank S. Mead, Samuel S. Hill, and Frank S. Mead. 2010. Handbook of denominations in the United States. Nashville: Abingdon Press.
Rhodes, Ron. 2015. The Complete Guide to Christian Denominations: understanding the History, Beliefs, and Differences. [15]
Thompson, Scott. 2015. The design of a non-denominational church in Diepsloot.
Bottom of Form
[1] Atwood, Craig D., Frank S. Mead, Samuel S. Hill, and Frank S. Mead. 2010. Handbook of denominations in the United States. Nashville: Abingdon Press.
[2] Atwood, Craig D., Frank S. Mead, Samuel S. Hill, and Frank S. Mead. 2010. Handbook of denominations in the United States. Nashville: Abingdon Press.
[3] Atwood, Craig D., Frank S. Mead, Samuel S. Hill, and Frank S. Mead. 2010. Handbook of denominations in the United States. Nashville: Abingdon Press.
[4] Atwood, Craig D., Frank S. Mead, Samuel S. Hill, and Frank S. Mead. 2010. Handbook of denominations in the United States. Nashville: Abingdon Press.
[5] Atwood, Craig D., Frank S. Mead, Samuel S. Hill, and Frank S. Mead. 2010. Handbook of denominations in the United States. Nashville: Abingdon Press.
[6] Atwood, Craig D., Frank S. Mead, Samuel S. Hill, and Frank S. Mead. 2010. Handbook of denominations in the United States. Nashville: Abingdon Press.
[7] Rhodes, Ron. 2015. The Complete Guide to Christian Denominations: understanding the History, Beliefs, and Differences.
[8] Rhodes, Ron. 2015. The Complete Guide to Christian Denominations: understanding the History, Beliefs, and Differences.
[9] Rhodes, Ron. 2015. The Complete Guide to Christian Denominations: understanding the History, Beliefs, and Differences.
[11] Thompson, Scott. 2015. The design of a non-denominational church in Diepsloot.
[12] Rhodes, Ron. 2015. The Complete Guide to Christian Denominations: understanding the History, Beliefs, and Differences.
[13] Rhodes, Ron. 2015. The Complete Guide to Christian Denominations: understanding the History, Beliefs, and Differences.
[14] Thompson, Scott. 2015. The design of a non-denominational church in Diepsloot.
