When people modify religions to make it better suited for themselves, they are individualizing their beliefs. In doing so, they created religious denominations, which are basically subgroups of a religion. An example of individualization and religious freedom in culture and religion is the case of Unsynagogued Jews. Unsynagogued Jews are people who do not affiliate themselves with synagogues nor practice the religion instead they apply cultural aspects of Judaism into their daily lives. (1) Achieved identities (identities a person takes on by choice) and ascribed identities (identities that people are born with) are sociological concepts that Lynn Davidman analyzes while making a connection to religion. (2) Unsynagogued Jews having the choice to “not to practice their religion in a traditional way” is a great feat for American religion. They still identify as Jewish people, because that is how they grew up.
We also see personalization of religion in the New Age movement. People of this movement turned to Asian and Native American teachers, because they believed that they held special wisdom and holiness. Asian Americans are even referred to as a “model minority” according to Joshi. (3) After the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, more people of Asian descent were able to come to the United States. Some people assimilated into Protestant denominations, while others joined others in their same religion. They had an influence on both. Prior to the 1965 Immigration act, some Asian Americans faced discrimination by the American population as well as the government. Japanese American Internment camps were established to segregate people of Japanese heritage. They lived their lives within the camps like any ordinary American. They practiced their culture and religion normally in the face of racialization.
Although they were racialized, Asian American religion was popularized in the sixties in part because of Andy Griffith’s film “Broken Blossom.”(4) In this movie, an Asian man tried saving a Caucasian girl from her abusive father. Although he was unsuccessful, the movie represented how the White man could not save himself and needed the wisdom of a foreigner to truly save themselves. We can also see this type of relationship in yoga. Yoga was originally a strictly physical practice in India. When it was brought to the US, people were eager to add meaning to it and added religious elements to the mix which is why there is now debate on whether or not yoga is a religious practice or not. Cathy, a woman practicing Reiki to find her religious identity, found Jesus instead when participating in a Japanese Buddhist practice. Here we see Protestantism and Buddhism interact. (5)
Immigration has had a significant influence on American religion. Of course Protestant religions are the basis of religion in America. When people emigrated to the States, they usually brought their own traditions with them and incorporated them into the religions available to them. Because of the religious freedom they had in America, they were able to believe in anything they wanted and practice it however they wanted or. Today, there are a countless number of religious denominations. Denominationalism is an important aspect of religious freedom. Without it, people would have been forced to worship in secrecy, or give up religion all together.
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1. Davidman, Lynn. "The New Voluntarism and the Case of Unsynagogued Jews."
2. Davidman (p. 52)
3. Joshi, Khyati Y. "The Racialization of Hinduism, Islam, and Sikhism in the United States."
4. Iwamura, Jane. "The Oriental Monk in American Popular Culture"
5. Bender, Courtney J. "Touching the Transcendent: Rethinking Religious Experience in the Sociological Study of Religion.
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