American Gospel Chapter Summary

Words: 471
Pages: 2

American Gospel emphasizes, that religion shapes our public life without controlling it. In a time period when the government and the people under said government seems divided by extremism, and the acceptance of a new perspective. Meacham re-tales history of America diminishing because of religion and politics. In the title of Meacham’s book two words stand out the most. Those two words are Faith and Freedom. Meacham believes that America should allow its citizens to worship as they please, without falling into a divide and becoming violent. It is this understanding that needs to be presented into today's political climate. America is a land of believers, with their own faiths and beliefs. One belief, is of free religion, as Meacham points out, “a substitute for private religion”; rather, it allows Americans “to be at once tolerant and reverent” of one another and each one’s particular beliefs and to focus on the “sacred origins of individual rights, the virtue of the populace...and the American sense of duty to defend freedom.” It is these principles and rights that make America great. Meacham examines the religious effects of our nation’s leaders philosophers and …show more content…
Meacham examines the development of this amendment and the principles behind it. Meacham states that those groups, today that push the separation of church and state were the people most responsible for this development. Meacham points out, various backgrounds are trying to convince the general public that the country has lost its way because it has abandoned its religious roots. This false claim of America's history is enabling individuals and groups to seek to impose on the moral stances of today, whether against gay rights or legalized abortion all because these laws are against the precepts of