The Great Awakening: contributions to the separation of Church and State

The Great Awakening was an extremely large religious movement in American history. At this time (the early eighteenth century), many of the American churches were sagging under the effects of liberal ideas, such as free will, rather than predestiny, determined a man's eternal fate. To counter this, Jonathan Edwards, a preacher from Northampton, MA, proclaimed and affirmed the need for complete dependence on God's grace rather than good works. This started off a domino effect that led to the Great Awakening. In the end, the Great Awakening even contributed to the separation of church and state.

The GA contributed to the separation through the work of one itinerant English parson, George Whitefield. Whitefield had the amazing gift of speech that enthralled every individual who listened to his sermons. Through his speech, people began to have personalized religious experiences unique to themselves. Because of this, people began to view religion as something to be protected by the meddling of bureaucracy. With the protection from politics, the separation was beginning to occur.

Thanks to Jonathan Edwards, the revitalization of religion began through the GA. Thanks to George Whitefield, parishioners began having individual experiences. And thanks to the uniqueness of experiences, religion began to be protected from politics, causing the separation of Church and State.

Song 15

This song is called We Didn't Start the Fire.

The song talks about the many things, good and bad times (JFK, Ho Chi Minh, etc.), that have occurred since the beginning of Billy Joel's life. The meaning of the song lies in the fact that many people like to blame hardships other people. Particularly, the younger generations have been blamed for the hard times faced by older generations. This song is in response to those claims saying that "We (being the young) didn't start the fire (meaning cause the hard times)".

Song 14

This song is called The Hands that Built America.

The song talks of how far we have come, from the rolling plains to the factories, from the mountains to the skyscrapers. However, it also teaches us an important lesson to always remember. It teaches us that we did not build this nation by ourselves. Rather, other peoples had their input on the nation. From the English to the Africans, from the French to the Germans, from the Muslims to the Hindus, from the Sioux to the Japanese, everyone helped build America to the nation that it is today. Many people have forgotten that fact in today's society, but it is important to remember that we are a nation of and built by many other nations.

Song 13

This song is called The Times The Are A-Changin'

This song explains to me that even though many don't attempt it, times are changing all around the world. Technology is getting better; products are getting cheaper; people are getting older;etc. The moral of the song is that if you are too old to do something, don't attempt to help or you will just block the path. In America's past, one used to look forward to their parents for assistance and advice, but now the young are becoming more capable and society is teaching them to be more self-sustaining than before. Times are changing, no ifs, ors, or buts.

Song 12

This song is called Youngstown.

The setting is the 1970s in a city called Youngstown, which provided factories to make cannonballs for the Union army. Youngstown, apparently, is still in production of weaponry to assist in the fighting in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. After a tour in Vietnam, the narrator came home to work in this place; however, Vietnam showed him enough death and destruction for the rest of his life. The history of America has been very bloody and the song makes the point that war is not the way to go to make peace. I happen to agree with this statement. America should focus on diplomatic efforts to make longstanding solutions rather than bomb the population into submission for a short-term cease-fire.

Song 11

This song is called A Change is Gonna Come

The song talks of a man who was born by a river in a tent. He has been moving from place to place. He has had a hard life getting to where he is right now. However, he is looking forward for a time when things will be different and life will be easier for him. Once again, many hard times have occurred in the history of America; particularly, the life that the Pilgrims had when they arrived in the New World and the time that the African slaves had on the plantations. However, they looked forward to a time when things would be different. The Pilgrims were looking forward to a time of economic success and religious freedom. The African slaves were looking forward to a time when they would be free and accepted in society.

Song 10

This song is called Strange Fruit.

The sound of the song has the feeling of the early to mid 1920s. The song mentions strange fruit hanging from the trees with "blood on the leaves" in the south. It also mentions "burning flesh". My guess is that this song is referring to the time of a killing of an African American in the south (strange fruit), most likely by hanging or lynching (hanging from the trees). Without going on much further, I will say that this song absolutely disgusts me in how they view African Americans at the time.