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| Random couple in front of a church |
Values, a notion that is assimilated to
the idea of culture and moral standards, nowadays…do to my research in to
ethics, which will be an integral part of my bachelor’s thesis, I came to the
conclusion that the term “value” is quite misunderstood by many of us and that
it’s the subject of relativity. Even more interesting is the way in which whole
communities form a unitary set of values, and especially those communities that
centered their values around religious believes.
An interesting place that could be the
subject of a study that wants to point out the connection between moral-ethical
standards and community values can be USA’s Bible Belt, known as the last
bastion of American Christianity. A short analysis would be even more
interesting from the perspective of me never stepping in the US, so all my
information would be mainly extracted from books, articles, the media and
friends that live in that area. I came across a number of interesting
characteristics which may help us in drawing the outline of the link between
faith and community:
1. Even thou an integral part of one’s
moral and ethical profile, evangelism isn’t associated with nationalism or made
it to a mandatory element of the American identity
2. Religious values are regarded as beneficial
for holding together the portrait of the “traditional American family”.
3.
Faith and Christian morals are regarded as the key to success in life.
4. The “Bible Belt” is rather a product
of “nonbelievers” then of the evangelicals.
5.
Faith is regarded as a conditioning
factor of social acceptance and validation of one’s worth within a community.
6. Those who don’t live up to those moral
standards are often the subject of ridicule and social exclusion.
Conservative evangelicals came to
represent one of the trait marks of the Southern United States…and not only,
fabulous church divas are to be seen on each Sunday, but what they dressed up
for and what they’re doin’ is obviously not a Nashville party.
Hysterical televangelists are to be seen
on the local TV channels, preaching “healthy Christian morals” that are meant
to protect believers from the harmful radiations of liberal heresy.
Ethics is an interesting subject, even
so, many seem to find it as something purely theoretical, with no possibility
of ever being applied in real life. If we analyze the Bible Belt from the perspective
of morality and ethics, we will come across some interesting aspects that are
quite a paradox, even so, they are not applicable only to the Bible Belt:
1. A rift between thought and action.
2. Issues in regards to one’s image of
the self derived from the impossibility of reaching absurd and quite rigid
moral standards.
3. The presence of a well defined underground/alternative
scene.
4. Religious rebellion latter in life, in
the case of those raised in very conservative Christian homes.
Well guys, this was my post on this topic of Christian conservatism, to topic is quite big, I tried to shrink it and to include some of the main ideas without making it too long and boring. If you want to read a more extensive article on the subject, please let me know!
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