America is a very religious country and a country of many religions. According to Butler, Wacker & Balmer (2009), 90 % of Americans believe in God or a supreme being. The fact of religious diversity finds its roots in the bright immigration history of this country and encouraged values of multiculturalism and diversity. Today, America diversity represents many religions from all over the world, such as Protestantism, Islam, Hindu, Buddhism and other. This paper aims to explore the impact of Islam, Hindu, and Buddhism on the diversity in America today and answer the question what role they are playing in the society.
According to the research by the Pew Research Center (2014), religions like Islam, Hindu, Buddhism and Judaism include only 6% of total American population. Thus, these religions cannot seriously influence the majority of Christians in the country. However, Islam has become a hot topic of debates in recent times. There are many reasons for that, such as the rise of ISIS, a European migration crisis, and series of brutal terrorists attacks by fundamental radical Islamists in recent twenty years. Despite the fact that there is a big gap between Islam as a religion and radical terrorism, many people today make an assumption of their equality. Likewise, the question of immigration and Muslim refugees today is a compulsory theme of US presidential rally. There are many views on that issue from Trump’s desire to ban Muslim immigrants to Obama’s wish of uniting against a common enemy. The same question is in all European news and among EU leaders who cannot find a consensus of how to manage this problem.
Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism take a small but growing share in the religious pattern of America. These religions have a serious impact on the development of American culture and society. For instance, Hinduism was one of the major inspirations of the New Age movement. Likewise, there are many followers of the Indian culture and Hindu practices who like yoga, meditation, and other mental practices. According to Ankerberg & Weldon (2011), Hinduism has a big influence on college campuses, schools of psychology, and transpersonal schools. Thus, Seager (2012) mentions that Buddhism “due to its size and complexity, is unlikely to have an immense impact over the long term” (p.158). However, both Hinduism and Buddhism have many followers, and the number of them continuously rises.
There are many misconceptions of recognizing these religions by Americans. First, many people believe that the majority of Islamic Muslims have Arab nationality. In many cases, it is not true. For instance, the biggest Muslim country in the world is Indonesia. Thus, both Buddhism and Hinduism religions today are represented in popular books and delivered in a simple form without deep concepts. Likewise, there are books in bookstores namely “How to achieve enlightenment in one minute”. In most cases, it seems that all these exotic religions are interpreted through the prism of popular culture and presented as a trendy way of life, rather than serious religion.
Finally, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism cause a big impact on different sides of American life and further expand the American religious diversity. Despite the small size of the religious community in comparison to Christianity, the number of followers constantly rises. Thus, all these old religions today are mainly interpreted by mass media and presented in simplistic forms in relation to current global events or lifestyle trends.
References
Ankerberg, J., & Weldon, J. (2011). The Facts on Hinduism in America. Palm Springs, CA: ATRI Publishing.
Butler, J., Wacker, G., & Balmer, R. (2008). Religion in american life: A short history. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Seager R. H. (2012). Buddhism in America. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.