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Civil religion is a concept to which dates its origin from the French political
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Civil religion is a concept to which dates its origin from the French political thoughts and eventually becoming a major topic for the American sociologists. The idea was first used by Robert Bellah in the 1960s. Civil religion means the inherent religious values of a nation as they are expressed via the public rituals and symbols such as the national flag and the ceremonies on the sacred days as well as at sacred places that include the battlefield, monuments and national cemeteries. Churches are excluded from the civil religion though at sometimes they are incorporated to be part of the civil religion in America. In the sociology of religion, the civil religion is regarded as the folk of the nation and as well as the political culture of the nation.
Sociologist Robert Bellah in his seminal 1967 essay, he argued that the United States had an elaborate and well and a well-instituted civil religion that existed alongside and was rather clearly differentiated from the religion conducted in the churches (Bellah & Tipton, 2006). Civil religion is also referred to as religious nationalism, public piety, shared faith and public religion, and that it provides a religious sanction for the political order as well as the divine justification for and the support for the civil society and the practices of the nations. Also, civil religion may be used to imply the state’s use of the consensus religious concepts, sentiments as well as symbols for its purposes. As a system for the established rituals, norms, values, allegiance and symbols, the civil religion is deemed to function as the social glue that binds the people of a nation together giving them an overarching sense of spiritual unity. Civil religion involves beliefs, events that reveal the purposes of God such as the American Revolution and the civil war, sacred places such as shrines to Washington, prophets such as Jefferson and Lincoln, sacred texts such as the constitution. Also, the civil religion further includes the ceremonies such as the Independence Day, hymns such as God bless America and my country as well as rituals that include the prayers at the public events such as the national day of prayers.
The Constitution in the American civil religion
Max Lerner in his classic article, the constitution and court as symbols, he pointed out to the role of the United States Constitution to what later the analysts termed as the American civil religion (Levinson, 1979). Lerner said that every tribe cling to something to which they believe to possess supernatural powers as an instrument for controlling the unknown forces in the hostile universe. The American tribe is no different from the others, and, the same and very habits of the mind derived from the authoritarian bible, as well as the religion of submission to a higher power, have also been carried over to the American authoritarian constitution. Also, philosophy to the submission to a higher law and a country like America in which its early traditions had prohibited a state church, ends by attaining a state church after all, although in a secular state. The United States Supreme Court plays a significant role in seeing to it that the constitution is followed to the letter and that the violators of the constitution do not go unpunished. The constitution being the supreme authority in the region helps to keep all the aspects in check including regulating the powers of the president and making sure that everyone is fairly treated even if not fully.
The hymn ‘God Bless America’ as a civil religion in America
The hymn God bless America is a popular song to which majority of the American population are conversant with and can be able to sing at any time if necessary. The song is taught in the American schools, and it is regularly performed at the sporting events. The hymn ‘God bless America’ sheds light on the cultural tensions that are within the US that are both past and present offering a historical chronicle that is full of surprises, and that will both edify and delight readers from all walks of life (Kaskowitz, 2013). The performance of the song at major sporting events qualifies the song to be incorporated into the components of the American civil religion as it binds all the people at the event making them be one. Furthermore, the song is taught in all schools, an indication that it is an important factor in the American population and that each person needs to know about it as well as the generations to come. The song has been passed to generations for quite a long period for now and has continued to be passed to the later generations to signify a common culture and embrace the symbolism of unity derived from the song. After the attacks of September 11th, the song God bless America was sung on the steps of the capital, at spontaneous memorial sites as well as during the seventh inning stretch at basketball games. The performance of the song at the majority of the events have made Americans become even more deeply embedded in the Americans collective consciousness. Civil religion has existed since the birth of the American republic and has continued to be present in all of the forms of the civil life, emerging with unusual strength in the times of a national crisis as evident from the hymn God Bless America. The hymn has some significant efforts to connect America with both divine blessings and guidance.
The president of America as a prophet and leader of the civil religion.
The president is a national figure and a symbol of unity, and that’s the main reason behind being led by a single president. Throughout the American history, the president has provided the leadership in the public faith. At sometimes, the president has primarily functioned as a political prophet just as the likes of Abraham Lincoln, at some occasions acting as the nation’s pastor like Dwight Eisenhower while at some times perform basically as the high priest of the civil religion like Ronald Reagan (Grinder & Shaw, 2016). In the prophetic civil religion, the president examines the nation’s actions about the transcendent values, calling upon the citizens to make sacrifices in times of crisis and also to repent of their corporate sins at the times when their behaviors fall short of the national ideals. As the national pastor, the president provides for spiritual inspirations to the people by affirming the American core values and urging them to appropriate those values and through the comfort of their afflictions. By assuming the role of the priest, the president makes America itself the ultimate reference point, leading the citizens in affirming and celebrating the nation and reminding the citizens of the country’s mission while at the same time praise and glorify his political people.
The American civil religion has been in existence since the nation became a republic. The founding fathers of the nation were responsible for the initiation of the civil religion, especially the post of the president, the constitution, national flag as well as the national currency. The components of the American civil religion are the symbols that are used to show unity among the American citizens in the manner of conducting their daily activities. The constitution acts as a check of balance and a supreme authority ensuring that justice is enforced through the courts. The hymns such as God Bless America are passed from one generation to the other as part of the American culture.
References
Bellah, R. N., & Tipton, S. M. (Eds.). (2006). The Robert Bellah Reader. Duke University Press.
Grinder, D., & Shaw, S. (2016). The Presidents & Their Faith: From George Washington to Barack Obama. Elevate Publishing.
Kaskowitz, S. (2013). God Bless America: The Surprising History of an Iconic Song. Oxford University Press.
Levinson, S. (1979). ” The Constitution” in American Civil Religion. The Supreme Court Review, 1979, 123-151.
My opinion on Intelligence Assessment
Unit IV (4) Journal
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My opinion on Intelligence Assessment
After reading chapter 8, my opinion on intelligence assessment is that it implies the capability to comprehend complex ideas, take part in various forms of reasoning, learn from experience, adjust effectively to the environment, and overcome obstacles through psychological effort. Intelligence signifies a feature of life that scientists have for a long time attempted to assess, measure, and define ever since its origin. A number of models on intelligence originated in the early 1900s, momentarily after contemporary intelligence assessment appeared. With different models come different forms of intelligence assessment. Different intelligence is assessed to determine their validity. To begin with, the Pro-certified IQ test of the International High IQ Society is an example of the intelligence assessment. It was a timed assessment made up of eight pattern identification questions. Contemporary intelligence assessment usually focuses on abilities such as memory, spatial perception, language abilities, and mathematical skills. The capability to solve problems, see relationships, and remember information are significant intelligence elements, so they are usually the skills on which IQ assessments center. The assessment is recorded in terms of intelligence quotient, or IQ, an idea initially proposed by German psychologist William Stern and adopted by Lewis Terman in the Stanford-Binet Scale. The perception of intelligence draws back to the Latin verb intellegere, denoting the acquirement, processing, and storage of information. From this perspective, intelligence is limited to the intellectual, psychological capabilities of the individuals.
Whether We Have a Better Job of Making It Less Biased Than It Was In the Past or Room for Improvement
So far, we have done a better job making intelligence assessment less biased than in the past. However, there is still much room for improvement. Improved and better intelligence assessments are reliable, signifying that they are consistent over time. They also show concept validity, meaning that they, in reality, measure intelligence instead of something else. The intelligence assessments done in the modern time gave some information about their particular text and what made it good and had their own advantages and disadvantages. However, some assessments tend to be the best generally is actually measuring as a whole. Intelligence assessments are developed son how we comprehend intelligence- our theories. One of the theories that best explain intelligence is the multiple-factor model of intelligence. Some intelligence assessments cover an extensive range of diverse psychological abilities, permitting it to assess an individual’s numerous bits of intelligence more systematically. So far, we do a better job of making intelligence assessment less biased than it was in the past. There is only a small room for improvement. Most intelligence assessments are good, and the fact is that they are not culturally biased increases their validity. However, at other times, the intelligence assessment is too narrow in its questions and does not assess multiple intelligences the same way a good assessment is supposed to do.
Whether IQ is a relevant, culturally-competent concept
IQ is a relevant, culturally-competent concept. It is evident that culture impacts IQ scores. However, some researchers assert that intelligence is a concept specific to a certain culture. According to them, intelligence’s cultural specificity makes IQ assessment biased towards the settings in which they were developed. One actual thing is that intelligence cannot fully or meaningfully be understood outside its cultural context. The connection between different intelligence features can be different across cultures, with positive relationships in one setting demonstrating to be negative in another. IQ is a relevant culturally-competent concept signifying that culture impacts IQ scores. Something that we think of as intelligence in a particular state means a lot in some regions and somehow little in others. An individual cannot just disregard IQ scores he does like, as most people do at times, as invalid as a result of cultural differences. Intelligence cannot completely or even expressively be comprehended outside its cultural context. A certain thing that is well-thought-out as intelligent in a particular culture might be well-thought-out as unintelligent in another culture, and vice versa. Furthermore, individuals in diverse cultures have dissimilar implicit models of intelligence, so they might not even signify a similar thing by the word. The associations between diverse features of intelligence can differ across cultures, with optimistic connections in one environment demonstrating to be undesirable in another.
My Opinion on Human Existence
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My Opinion on Human Existence
What gives your life meaning? As for me, I believed it was God but not anymore. Some people would hold a different opinion on that issue as some will say God, love, games, money, fiction, among other things. I always believed that God created me with a particular essence, and nobody would fault me for wanting my life to be meaningful. All people crave or even need to have a sense of meaning in their lives. However, how do people understand the purpose of their lives as being meaningful? The vast majority of people devote a tone of energy to find meaning for their lives through religion, community development, fighting for civil liberties, among others. No matter how one does it, my research on humans’ existence gives two options based on existentialists. Many philosophers argue that all of the above aspects can provide one the meaning of their lives, but at the same time, others say that none of them can. My opinion is none of them can.
Two ancient Greek philosophers, Plato and Aristotle, held everything in life that has an essence (Gordon, 1). By essence, they meant that existence of specific core properties vital for something to be given that particular meaning. The absence of such properties in that particular thing would lead to the meaninglessness of that thing. For example, it does not matter if a knife has a metal or wooden handle as long as it has a blade. However, it would be different if it lacked the blade since it will not be called a knife. The knife’s essential property is the blade since the blade predetermines the defining function of a knife. When it comes to life, Plato and Aristotle insisted that humans’ essences existed in them before they came to live, and God preloads humans with their respective identities.
Part of the essence is to be a good human who adheres to their essences. One may be somewhat confident in defining his/her identity, thus standing a great chance of living up to your essence. The most important thing in my previous beliefs is that I was born to become a particular thing. Philosophers term this kind of view as essentialism, and a significant number of people still hold on to it. After reading the literary works of Friedrich Nietzsche and Jean-Paul Sartre, my belief changed on the essentialist ideas of being imbued with any purpose. Friedrich believed in the ultimate meaningless of life that he called Nihilism. Sartre challenged essentialism by asking, what if humans exist first without any imbued essence (Sartre and Philip 1)? However, it is upon individual responsibility to figure out their identities. In other words, existentialism holds that existence precedes essence. Humans’ existence happens first; then, they later determine what they will become as they grow older through the way they choose to live. I now believe that human beings do not have any predetermined purpose and no set path to follow.
In my previous beliefs, it was difficult to explain how radical the ideals were back then since, for many decades, people did not have to follow absolute paths, but God did it for them. I am now critical of the notion that God made human beings or the world with a fundamental essence in his mind. I believe in God’s existence, but it is somewhat different when it comes to instilling me, my life, and the cosmos with meaning. It is not what God is all about. I believe humans are born in the universe, which they, their world, and their actions lack any real inherent significance. Human beings’ quest for the meaning of absurdity, but they are abandoned in a meaningless universe. Since there are no teleological facts, humans are not created or exist for any given purpose. If there is no reason for our existence or that of the universe, what is the justification for abiding by such things? Things like cosmic justice, fairness, order, and rules do not even exist, and even they do, its upon humans to put them by themselves.
I believe people are shockingly free, and if their actions lack guidelines, then its upon people to create their moral code and invent morality to live by. One might think to find answers from some authority, but they are fake. One may adhere to a religion, government, etc. but they are people just like you. Those authorities cannot give people their respective life meanings since they do not have any answer; instead, they figured out how by themselves how to live. As such, humans should live authentically. Humans should accept the full weight of their absurd and acknowledge that it’s only them who can determine any meaning regarding their lives. And if one follows a different path rather than that of his/herself, then I presume that person to be having a bad faith. In other words, one refuses to accept the absurd.
To affirm that human essence is predetermined by themselves, Jean-Paul Sartre gives an analogy of a student who was in a dilemma of choosing between to go for a war to help his country or being left behind to stay with her elderly mother. The student consulted his teacher for advice. Perhaps, if he had gone to war, it would have impacted millions of people, but still, he will make a small number of considerable army troops. Also, she risked never seeing her mother again. If the person had stayed with his mother, he would only make an impact on one person. Sartre said that nobody could answer, and his decision will be the only authentic choice (Sartre 1). Reading such arguments, I became an existentialist believer. I now believe that humans are not created with any particular essences, but it is upon them to give their life meaning.
Works Cited
Gordon, Jill. Plato’s erotic world: from cosmic origins to human death. Cambridge University Press, 2012.
Sartre, Jean-Paul, and Philip Mairet. Existentialism and humanism. London: Methuen, 1960.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. Existentialism is a Humanism. Yale University Press, 2007.