Religious And Political Relations With The United States Comprehensive Theory

The United States of America is a multi-religion country with a strong religious color. The existence and changes of religions have been exerting important influence on the politics of the United States. Ever since the 1960s, the political inclination and participation of the religious groups in the United States have changed greatly in accordance with the radical domestic social and political changes, which have played an important role in the U.S. party politics and the making of the domestic policies. Now that the influence of domestic politics on foreign policies has been increasing since the end of the Cold War, the social changes will surely be reflected hi foreign relations. The United States, with its position and influence hi the world, will be China's strongest strategic competitor for a long time in the future. The study of the domestic social and political changes is of great significance for China to make correct judgment of the trend of the U.S. foreign policy, to make perspective and comprehensive policy towards the United States, to maintain her national security, to enlarge her foreign exchanges, and to reunite the whole country. Meanwhile, this study has also some theoretical value. The politicization of religions became popular in the world after the 1970s. The political conflicts caused by domestic religious issues draw the attention of some of the scholars in the United States. Some valuable research papers and books were published. Nevertheless, the researches seemed insufficient compared with the importance of the religious issues, what's more, there was no theoretical exposition in China. Therefore, theoretical research will contribute to the thorough grasp of the relation between religions and politics, and better understanding of the political changes in the United States.The main research method of this dissertation is a combination of theoretical research and positive analysis and a combination of historical study and analysis of current affairs. This dissertation, assimilating and using the related achievements in religious and political studies, expounds comprehensively the relationship between religion and politics from the viewpoint of politics, religion and group behavior.The main body of this dissertation consists of seven chapters.Chapter One sets up a clear frame for the research. First, it explains the social status of religion. With organization, practice and ideology in consideration, religions still play an important role in American society and can meet people's desire for cultural identity. The independence of religions from politics and the competition among multiple religions gave rise to the flourishing of religions. Secondly, it puts forward the factors that influenced the political participation of the religious groups. Guided by the religious value, the interests of the churches and religious groups served as the motive for the participation in politics.Chapter Two inquiries into the social and political position and role of the Puritans in North American colony and the relations between the Puritan's value and the theories of limited government, limited loyalty to the government, etc.. It also points out that religion is an important factor in the forming of American political culture. However, its influence is limited because other political thoughts and practical interests also played an important role in the forming of American political system and culture.Chapter Three analyzes the changes and its promoting effect and the constitutional debate on religious issues after the 1960s and its nature by analyzing the basic principles of the U.S. constitution concerning the relations between religion and the government and the ideological background against which these principles were formed. It also points out that the increase of the rise of religion did not lead to radical changes of the related principles of the U.S. constitution and the debate on the constitution did not go beyond the traditional scope.Chapter Four, by analyzing the political...