Social Gospel - United States

United States

The Social Gospel affected much of Protestant America. The Presbyterians described its goals in 1910 by proclaiming:

The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world.

In the late 19th century, many Protestants were disgusted by the poverty level and the low quality of living in the slums. The social gospel movement provided a religious rationale for action to address those concerns. Activists in the Social Gospel movement hoped that by public health measures as well as enforced schooling so the poor could develop talents and skills, the quality of their moral lives would begin to improve. Important concerns of the Social Gospel movement were labor reforms, such as abolishing child labor and regulating the hours of work by mothers. By 1920 they were crusading against the 12-hour day for workers at U.S. Steel.

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Famous quotes related to united states:

    United States! the ages plead,—
    Present and Past in under-song,—
    Go put your creed into your deed,—
    Nor speak with double tongue.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    The recognition of Russia on November 16, 1933, started forces which were to have considerable influence in the attempt to collectivize the United States.
    Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)

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    Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)

    The parallel between antifeminism and race prejudice is striking. The same underlying motives appear to be at work, namely fear, jealousy, feelings of insecurity, fear of economic competition, guilt feelings, and the like. Many of the leaders of the feminist movement in the nineteenth-century United States clearly understood the similarity of the motives at work in antifeminism and race discrimination and associated themselves with the anti slavery movement.
    Ashley Montagu (b. 1905)

    The popular colleges of the United States are turning out more educated people with less originality and fewer geniuses than any other country.
    Caroline Nichols Churchill (1833–?)