American civil religion, also referred to as American civic religion, is a concept developed by Dr. Robert Bellah.
What is civil religion? The theory goes something like this: America does, in fact, have a national religion, but it’s more akin to Confucianism, a civic religion of a sort, than it is Christianity. Shinto, or Judaism, are also good points of reference, blurring the line between “culture” and “religion.”
In short, even looking for a clear line between “religion” and “culture” is sort of a Western thing. For many non-Westerners, their religion is simply a thing their people do providing a spiritual aspect. Shinto doesn’t have a Pope or even a singular set of beliefs. It’s just what the Japanese do when they’re “doing religion.”
Read more here: https://spreadgreatideas.org/glossary/american-civil-religion/
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