美國宗教

于孔春

Diversity1 is the main feature of religion in the United States. Although Christianity has always been the major American faith， the existence of more than 250 different religious sects2 here has made Americans tolerant3 of all forms of worship—Christian and non-Christian.

美國宗教的主要特點就是多樣化。雖然基督教一直是美國人的主要信仰，但還存有250多種其他宗教派別，這使美國人包容各種各樣的信仰——不論它是基督教或是非基督教。

Maybe this tolerant attitude to different religions can be traced back to the early settlers of this country. Among the first immigrants4， quite a number of them were Puritans， whose purpose of coming to this New World was to pursue religious freedom， to practice their religion and worship God as they wished. This is why the nations forefathers demanded legal guarantees of religious freedom. So the First Amendment to the Constitution not only forbids the establishment of an offical national religion but also forbids state or federal interference5 with religious institutions or practices.

這種對宗教的寬容態度也許能夠追溯到早期殖民地時期。在最早的移民中，清教徒占很大的比例，他們來到這個新世界就是為了追求宗教上的自由，以自己的方式來實行他們的宗教和敬仰上帝。這就是為什么這個國家的祖先們要求從法律的角度來保證宗教的自由。美國憲法的第一次修訂案中就規定，禁止成立任何正式的、全國性宗教，并禁止州或聯邦對宗教機構和宗教行為進行任何形式的干涉。

Now， about 60 percent of Americans are attached to a particular church. Of these， about 95 percent are Christians and nearly 5 percent are Jews. Only a very small number of Americans belongs to other faiths. About 58 percent of church-attached Christians are Protestants. And American Protestantism is divided into more than 200 different sects. The major Protestant groups are the Methodists， Baptists， Lutherans， Presbyterians，and Episcopalians.

現在，大概有60﹪的美國人與某個教堂有聯系。而在他們當中，95﹪屬于基督教，近5﹪是猶太人，只有少數的美國人信仰其他宗教。在與教堂有聯系的人中，大約有58﹪的是新教。而美國的新教有分成200多個分支，最主要的新教派別為：循道宗教、浸禮會教派、路德教派、長老會教派和主教制信奉者教派。

The combined Protestant sects form the largest religious faith in the United States， but Roman Catholicism is by far the largest unified religious body. About 48 million Americans are baptized6 members of Catholic congregations. As many Catholics send their children to religious schools， Catholic funds have built thousands of elementary and secondary schools， as well as many fine colleges and universities. Catholics have also played an important role in American politics.

雖然各派新教綜合起來形成了美國的主流宗教，但是羅馬天主教是美國最統一的宗教團體。美國有4800萬個是受洗禮的天主教徒。由于許多天主教徒把他們的孩子都送進了教會學校，所以，天主教基金會建起了幾千所小學、中學和很不錯的學院和大學。而且，天主教成員在美國政治舞臺上也起著突出的作用。

The third biggest religion in the United States is Judaism. During the Sabbath， which is from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday， Orthodox Jews neither ride nor conduct business. Jewish tradition has certain dietary rules， forbidding pork and certain seafoods and forbidding the serving of milk products as meals. Nevertheless， reform Judaism does not follow these rules.

美國的第三大宗教是猶太教。在安息日期間（即從星期五的日落到星期六的日落），正統的猶太教信徒既不駕車，也不做生意。……