The last week, I was devoted to writing my paper, and therefore, I haven't got enough time to write my blog. During the week, I had a lot of wonderful experience and I will definitely write about it after I come back home. I have, to some extend, a perfectionist complex. If I don't have enough time to finish a blog what, at least, will make me satisfied, I will choose not to do it and leave it to some other time. However, I have to exert myself to meet the deadline so I decide to paste my paper there as a part of my blog. In this case, I can finish the 15 blogs assigned. I will continue to finish my blog and write about my magnificent experience here after I come back.
The Comparison of American Protestantism and Chinese Confucianism
Outline:
I. The background information of Protestantism in America and Confucianism in China
II. The comparison of American Protestantism and Confucianism
1. the different influence on work ethics
2. different influence on political ideals the different cosmologies
3. different cosmologies
III. Summery and Conclusion of the whole paper
Text:
Nowadays, U.S and China are two major powers in the international community. More and more people are curious about the cultural background and national character of the two countries. Religion, out of doubt, has played a very important role in shaping the thinking pattern of the two diametrically opposed countries. If we want to probe deeper to dig out the underlying spirits that contribute to their economic rising, religion is a good point to start.
America is definitely a religious country. From the settlement of the first group of English puritans to the burgeoning of national spirit, religion has played a very important part. American religious institutions are large, powerful and influential in social and political life. Even Americans who are members of no established religion are likely to believe in God. According the Gallup poll survey in 2003, 82% of Americans think themselves as religious people. According to another statistics shown on the American Religion website, Americans tend to believe in life after death: 73% compared to 50% in Switzerland and only 38% in Great Britain. About 60% of Americans are members of a church, synagogue or other religious group, though many more identify with various religions because of their birth or upbringing. About 40% of Americans attend religious services regularly, compared to only 20% in Great Britain. Of the 85% of Americans with a Christian connection, Protestant groups make up about 49%, Roman Catholics 28%, Eastern Orthodox, Armenian and Polish National Catholics 4% http://www.lifeintheusa.com/religion/index.html
From the results of survey and the statistics, it is easy to come to the conclusion that America does have a strong social basis for the growth of religion and religion is a big business in American’s life.
From the early days of America, New comers arrived in this country with a complicated array of ethnic and religious heritages—Scottish Presbyterians, Norwegian Lutherans, Irish Catholics, etc. Protestant- Catholic-Jew represented something like a typology of super-denominations, and the vast majority of Americans accepted affiliation with one of these three groups. With faith in god, those immigrants were able to survive the harsh living environment and build up the legacy of a powerful empire gradually. The faith in religion has permeated into every corner of people’s daily life and exerted a great influence in the American way of life. Especially for protestant, they have taken up the largest number in the whole American population and have the most profound influence in American culture.
Unlike America, when speaking of China, most people would think of a non-religious country in which the only thing people believe in is Marxism. The truth is that Chinese people are highly religious to the faith of Confucianism, which is a combination of religion and philosophy. The Analects of Confucian, whose influence is comparable to Bible in the western community, has been a legacy that passed on from generation to generation. In China, we only consider Confucianism as a school of philosophy, yet in America, you can only find the books about Confucianism in the section of East Asian Religion. John Dewey once said, “There is no need for religion in the Chinese philosophy.” In my understanding, what he is trying to say is, the notion of Confucianism has covered the sector of religion and extended to a broader sense. The reason that some people consider Confucianism as a religion is that in the Analects of Confucians, the idea of “天” , which can be translated in to English as “ the sky”, is brought up thousands of times. Yet , to simply translate “天” into “the sky” or “god”, or a “superior being” is inaccurate. “天” is more of a spiritual content rather than a real existence. According to the translation of Professor Roger Ames from the University of Hawaii, “天” is translated into “tian” by its pronunciation. Thus, the original connotation of this word is preserved.. Another reason for people to consider Confucianism as a religion is that unlike Christianity which creates a heaven and afterlife to give people the driving force to live a moral live, Confucianism believes in the legacy of family. If you are living a life abided by the code of morality, you have contributed to the legacy of family, and thus, your off springs will remember you forever. Then, the immortality is achieved. I spared much space to talk about the concept of “tian”, which is the core spirit in Chinese religion and philosophy, to make the discussion later easier to understand. In the later part, I will proceed to give my opinion of the different influence of American religion and Chinese Confucianism.
to be continued