Culture and the American Experience

The United States is a young nation. Since the founding of this country, we have become an ever-increasing mix of different races and religions. Contrary to other countries around the world whose people are united by a common race, history or religion, we are united by the principles of our founding; life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Our ancestors left the Old World for the New World in search of opportunity and freedom. These prized, sought after goals summoned people from around the world and resulted in a deep melting pot of cultures rarely seen in the history of the world. Citizens from nations that were hundreds, even thousands, of years old left behind their motherland for this virgin soil. The United States now harbors within her borders Chinese, Indians, French, Russians, Latin Americans, Italians, Africans, the list goes on and on. An important question needs to be considered; What is American culture? If culture is something that results from a people’s shared experience in history, resulting over centuries of societal evolution, what can be said of “American culture”? Could it be that we have an identity crisis within our borders?



American Life 

It would be helpful to consider the role of religion within the life of a culture. The ancient nations of the world have been forged by the influence of whatever faith is dominant in that particular society. As a result, religion becomes perhaps the dominant factor in a society’s culture. Elements that make up a particular culture (art, music, literature or just daily life) are strongly influenced by its particular religion. This perhaps can most clearly be seen within the life of European nations. In addition to having very distinct national cultures, (there is a “French way”, an “Italian way”, a “Spanish way”, etc., of doing things) there does exist a shared European culture among most of the nations, in particular the Catholic ones. It has been said for example, that in Spain the Catholic Church is not a Church, but the Church. It literally defines the culture of Spain. Christianity is undeniably the most formative force on the European continent. Attempts by European leaders to resist acknowledging its Christian heritage in the EU constitution is nothing short of a large scale state of denial. This kind of cultural formation can be found on other continents as well, regardless of the religion. Certainly the ancient cultures and nations of Asia have been molded over the millennia by common experience, including most especially, common religion. Enter the United States of America.

The United States is becoming more and more diverse. Recent statistics show that Asians and Latin Americans are immigrating to the United States at a massive level. What defines us as a nation? Do we have a “way” of doing things? Is a cultural identity possible with such a diversity of immigrants who possess a wide range of beliefs and values, rooted in vastly different historical contexts? In what are we “United”? Perhaps it is better to ask, What unites us? The United States of America is proud of its diversity of different religious beliefs. Whether Catholic, Jewish, Hindu or Muslim, we are all Americans and we coexist with any and all peace loving people. But if what defined a people for centuries was their culture, rooted in ancient religious tradition, what can be said of an American culture? What will the role of religion be in our culture? Are our founding principles (liberty in particular) enough to form an authentic culture, especially since our culture is composed of a wide mixture of other varying, and much older, cultures? At such events as the Olympics, we wave our flag as proudly as any nation. Our flag is lost in the sea of flags from the nations of the world. For each flag, there is a distinct culture, a way of life that corresponds to that flag. The question remains…what is our culture? I'm not suggesting that we don't have one, but it might be harder to pin down than others.