CNA 11 Lecture Claussen (PDF)

Clausen,  C.  2007.  America’s  design  for  
tolerance.  The  Wilson  Quarterly  31  (1):  26-­‐32    

Cultura Norteamerica, Dr. Jason Kendall Moore, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Campus San Felipe, Primer Semestre 2015
Unit 1: America’s design for tolerance [1/16]

Cultura Norteamerica, Dr. Jason Kendall Moore, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Campus San Felipe, Primer Semestre 2015
Unit 1: America’s design for tolerance [2/16]

Cultura Norteamerica, Dr. Jason Kendall Moore, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Campus San Felipe, Primer Semestre 2015
Unit 1: America’s design for tolerance [3/16]

“Religious  conflicts  in  mulC-­‐faith  American  are  
mild  compared  with  those  in  countries  that  
have  only  one  faith  or  virtually  no  faith  at  all.”    

Cultura Norteamerica, Dr. Jason Kendall Moore, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Campus San Felipe, Primer Semestre 2015
Unit 1: America’s design for tolerance [4/16]

In  1790  Founding  Father  George  Washington  
wrote  to  the  Jewish  community  that  the  
United  States  would  tolerate  no  bigotry  toward  
“the  children  of  the  stock  of  Abraham.”  His  
open-­‐mindedness  has  been  quesConed  by  
many,  though  Clausen  believes  that  his  
aVtudes  were  genuinely  reflected  of  
“enlightened  American  opinion”  pertaining  to  
religious  freedom.  

Cultura Norteamerica, Dr. Jason Kendall Moore, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Campus San Felipe, Primer Semestre 2015
Unit 1: America’s design for tolerance [5/16]

Though  Americans  fought  over  many  issues  in  
the  colonial  issue,  religious  freedom  was  rarely  
among  them.  The  episodes  of  anC-­‐Catholicism  
and  anC-­‐SemiCsm  were  miniscule  compared  to  
those  in  Europe  or  the  Middle  East  today.  The  
most  notable  legal  issue  was  the  federal  
government’s  decision  in  the  late  nineteenth  
century  to  force  Mormons  to  abandon  
polygamy.    

Cultura Norteamerica, Dr. Jason Kendall Moore, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Campus San Felipe, Primer Semestre 2015
Unit 1: America’s design for tolerance [6/16]

Today  Washington’s  tolerant  aVtude  seems  
more  naïve  that  it  did  in  the  past.  He  and  other  
enlightened  Americans  underesCmated  the  
extent  to  which  “full-­‐strength  religion”  with  its  
dogma  and  fundamentalism  can  generate  
disagreement  in  a  pluralisCc  society.  
Contemporary  issues  include  the  celebraCon  of  
Christmas  in  public  venues,  the  reference  to  
God  in  the  pledge  of  allegiance,  the  display  of  
the  Ten  Commandments  in  courthouses,  and  
the  teaching  of  evoluCon.    

Cultura Norteamerica, Dr. Jason Kendall Moore, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Campus San Felipe, Primer Semestre 2015
Unit 1: America’s design for tolerance [7/16]

“The  Le]  fears  that  fundamentalists  have  
subverted  the  ConsCtuCon  to  establish  a  
theocracy  while  the  Right  complains  of  
galloping  secularism…  War  between  faiths,  as  
well  as  between  faith  and  government,  is  
raging  again  throughout  most  of  the  world,  
and  America  is  part  of  the  picture.”    

Cultura Norteamerica, Dr. Jason Kendall Moore, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Campus San Felipe, Primer Semestre 2015
Unit 1: America’s design for tolerance [8/16]