The American Rituals of Thanksgiving
Although America is deemed to be a secular society, religion seems to play a prevalent role within it- in particular, civil religion. Civil religion is defined as a social mechanism to unite a nation, providing it with “the existence of God, the life to come, the reward of virtue and the punishment of vice, and the exclusion of religious intolerance,” according to Rousseau’s Social Contract. Civil religion is expressed through several acts of our nation, including gatherings such as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Thanksgiving is a day of sharing; a special occurrence known as Thanksgivingukkah, a sharing of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah, occurred in 2013. Civil religion, especially on this day, gives a nation the ability to unite spiritually, without social or religious conflict.
Russian Orthodox Home Practices
Russian Orthodox Christianity originated from Vladimir I, ruler of Kievan Rus (now known as Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus), who converted to Christianity in 988, and spread Christianity throughout his entire country. Today, the Russian Orthodox Church is recognized as one of the Eastern Orthodox churches with its approximately 150 million members throughout the entire world. Recently, there has been a new wave of immigration of Russians to Staten Island, New York. On Staten Island, however, there are no Russian Orthodox Churches, and the closest Russian Orthodox Churches are located in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Due to this problem, Russian Orthodox Christians must practice their religion at home on Staten Island by observing Orthodox holidays and by performing various rituals. Above is a photograph showing the decorated eggs and Easter bread that are prepared for Orthodox Easter.
Heart to Heart: Jewish Youth Outreach in New York City
New York is home to people of many different religious and ethnic backgrounds. The Jewish population has a long and complex history in this city. First Jewish immigrants in the New World settled in New Amsterdam, present day New York and established the first synagogue in the colony in 1680s. A large wave of Jewish immigrants came after 1881 when over 2 millions Jews came to America and over a million settled in New York City. During the early 1900s a large Jewish population settled in the Lower East Side where schools, stores, libraries and other Jewish-run establishments helped them assimilate into American culture. In 1950’s the Jewish population was at its peak with approximately 2 million Jews living in New York City. Today, the Jewish population in New York is the largest in the world, surpassed only by Israel. With the total of 1.54 million, there are more Jews living in New York City than in Tel Aviv. According to a comprehensive study of Jewish community published in 2012, the Orthodox Jewish population is the fastest growing group in New York City. There is a 9% increase in the Orthodox population over the part 10 years.
Wicca: One Staten Island Woman’s Experiences
Wicca is a fairly new religion, dating back to Europe less than a century ago. However, the beliefs associated with Wicca date back many centuries prior, with deep roots in pre-Christian. As Wicca is a more spiritual religion with no central authority or true structure, the beliefs of the religion can be often hard to define. Typically, the religion consists of the worshipping of two deities, a god and a goddess. This is often the horned god and the mother goddess, however it does not have to be so. Wicca is a religion organized around the celebration of eight Sabbats, or holy holidays. The most important is Samhain (pronounced Sawen) and is celebrated on Halloween and November 1st. The other Sabbats are Yuletide, Imbloc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasash, and Mabon. In addition to observing these Sabbats, many Wiccans also partake in other, more daily, ritualistic practices. This may include an altar at which the Wiccans can pray to their deities and possibly practice magic. One of the most important belief in Wicca is the Rule of Three which states that whatever energy you put out, be it positive or negative, will be returned onto you trice as strong. As such, Wiccans try to ensure that they do no harm to others, and actually try to be as kind and as helpful as possible.
