Escaping our Puritan Roots: Being a secular American

Religious fervor may just be another term for human intensity, but both are phenomena I see happen most often outside of the church — I’ve witnessed it at concerts, Supreme store drops, and in Kanye fans. I see communities born of a shared philosophy congregate at yoga studios and CrossFit gyms. In the age of social media, parasocial, cult-like dynamics have helped to create cancel culture, in which crucifixions occur weekly. My question is: how deeply do past religious dynamics and values continue to influence our culture today, and where are they most present? How much of our Puritan history is visible in American attitudes towards work ethic and intimacy? When looking closer at the many denominations spread across America, how do these values change according to locality? Quakerism has titled Philadelphia as the city of brotherly love. Scientology buildings are littered across social hubs in Los Angeles, a testament to the Wild West, flashy nature of our city — I don’t think there are many Scientology buildings in New England, an area with an established religious history dating back to the original Pilgrims.

I was drawn to this topic due to my own experiences of being accused of being an ‘uptight’ American by relaxed, liberal Europeans. Our Protestant work ethic has been parodied by France; we ‘live to work’, they ‘work to live’. And they aren’t wrong. Americans clutch our pearls at the sight of a topless woman on television while happily consuming all the graphic violence we could want. Netflix shows like ELITE, originating from Spain, have an incest storyline, a deeply touchy topic which would never clear an American Netflix boardroom. Though we are a country without an official religion, it can feel like there is one, amalgamated system of values that are deeply influenced by past (religious) traditions. Despite being raised as atheist, I too, by virtue of being American, have inherited these values of what human acts are deplorable and which are laudable.

Past research has been conducted on the American cultural identity and its link to Puritanism. A 2010 psychological study on moral cognition in Americans showed that participants were more likely to work harder when the task given was linked to ‘divine salvation’. These results remained consistent among not only devout American Protestants but also non-Protestant, nonreligious, and second generation Americans.

Human needs for community building and ideological formation have been traditionally provided by organized religion for centuries. But what happens when these systems begin to lose popularity? American secularism is on the rise, with almost a quarter of Americans choosing to remain unaffiliated with a certain religion. This trend is greater among youth, with a near third of Americans aged 18–29 being secular, versus just ten percent of Americans over 60. What systems are stepping up to provide the community that a local church once provided? Some have pointed towards increasingly tribal political identities, sports teams, the holy altar of fitness, or even internet communities. My opinion? You’ll have to find out next week. Stay tuned for more insights on religious yet secular attitudes in America…