美国国家公共电台 NPR To Understand How Religion Shapes America, Look To Its Early Days

To Understand How Religion Shapes America, Look To Its Early Days

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Religion has always played a large role in the history and politics of this country. But in many ways, it has been an untold¹ story. Well, the Smithsonian Museum of American History wants to change that. For the first time, it has a full-time² religion curator. And a new "Religion In Early America" exhibit sheds light on what makes U.S. history special. Here's NPR's Tom Gjelten.

TOM GJELTEN, BYLINE³: Crossing the Atlantic was a dangerous proposition in the colonial period. There had to be a good reason to do it. Many colonists⁴ were seeking sanctuary⁵, members of some religious minority back home facing persecution⁶ for their beliefs. Puritans, Baptists, Quakers, Catholics - America to them was a place they'd be free to practice their faith.

PETER MANSEAU: This country, somewhat uniquely, is a nation of transplanted religions.

GJELTEN: It's the story Peter Manseau tells in his first exhibit as the Smithsonian's new religion curator.

MANSEAU: New traditions coming in, now learning and needing to negotiate, to compromise, and finding ways to live together.

GJELTEN: To live together, America's tradition of religious freedom arising from its great diversity of faith. Each item in this exhibit adds another dimension to the story. The oldest is the Bay Psalm⁷ Book published in 1640 by the Puritans in Massachusetts wanting to purify their worship. Rebellion is a theme of America's religion history. George Whitfield was so controversial as a preacher that he was not welcome in most churches. So he built his own pulpit and took it on the road, preaching outdoors to huge crowds.

MANSEAU: It's about 6 foot tall. The base is about 3 feet off the ground. It has several hinges so you could fold it up and actually strap⁸ it to the side of a horse or throw it into the back of a cart.

GJELTEN: Whitfield's thought to have used his portable pulpit about 2,000 times. He was America's first great evangelical preacher. While Americans have always been a religious people, some of their founding fathers weren't so devout⁹. Thomas Jefferson struggled with Christianity, trying to reconcile the teachings of Jesus with the ideals of the Enlightenment. His idea was to edit the New Testament¹¹ - literally¹².

MANSEAU: And with a pen knife he would remove those sections that he agreed with and found useful.

GJELTEN: Jefferson then pasted those sections together, making a new book. He called it "The Life And Morals Of Jesus Of Nazareth." The Smithsonian exhibit includes both a Bible that Jefferson cut apart and one he created from his pasted clippings. It gives his version of the New Testament story.

MANSEAU: Jefferson saw himself as a Christian¹⁰ in what he thought as the truest sense, as one who saw Jesus as a moral exemplar. He didn't have any use for miracles or the supernatural. And so perhaps most interestingly, Jefferson's Bible does not include the resurrection.

GJELTEN: America's religious history is not just about Christianity. Many enslaved Africans were Muslims, among them Bilali Muhammad, who, in a desire to keep his faith alive in America, wrote out a 13-page text in Arabic.

MANSEAU: It is a very simple document. It contains some basics of Islamic practice. These are the times at which we pray. This is why we wash our hands. This is why we wash our feet before we pray.

GJELTEN: Scholars think the text suggests Bilali was in the process of forgetting and trying to hold on to what he once knew.

MANSEAU: Very basic ideas of this is what I want to pass on to my children if they're going to learn to be Muslims, as well as just words of praise to Allah despite the circumstances.

GJELTEN: People motivated by their religious beliefs were among those who pushed most vigorously for the abolition¹³ of slavery. Smithsonian curator Peter Manseau tells that story through a pair of saddlebags. They belonged to a man named Freeborn Garrettson, himself a slave owner until one Sunday morning, when, while reading the Bible, he was stopped cold.

MANSEAU: He heard the voice of God command him to let his slaves go free.

GJELTEN: Inspired, Garrettson became an abolitionist minister, traveling from plantation¹⁴ to plantation, trying to convince other slave owners that they were violating Christian teaching.

MANSEAU: He carries with them these saddlebags, which become the iconic objects of itinerant¹⁵ preachers throughout early America.

GJELTEN: And what did he carry in those saddlebags?

MANSEAU: Bible tracts¹⁶, other reading material related to abolition and ultimately the conversion¹⁷ of those to whom he was preaching.

 

GJELTEN: The diversity and significance of the American faith experience explained through a songbook, a portable pulpit, a cut-and-pasted Bible, a slave's notebook and a pair of saddlebags at the Museum of American History beginning today. Tom Gjelten, NPR News.

1 untold   

adj.数不清的，无数的

参考例句：

• She has done untold damage to our chances.她给我们的机遇造成了不可估量的损害。
• They suffered untold terrors in the dark and huddled together for comfort.他们遭受着黑暗中的难以言传的种种恐怖，因而只好挤在一堆互相壮胆。

2 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 colonists   

n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

6 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

7 psalm   

n.赞美诗，圣诗

参考例句：

• The clergyman began droning the psalm.牧师开始以单调而低沈的语调吟诵赞美诗。
• The minister droned out the psalm.牧师喃喃地念赞美诗。

8 strap   

n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎

参考例句：

• She held onto a strap to steady herself.她抓住拉手吊带以便站稳。
• The nurse will strap up your wound.护士会绑扎你的伤口。

9 devout   

adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness)

参考例句：

• His devout Catholicism appeals to ordinary people.他对天主教的虔诚信仰感染了普通民众。
• The devout man prayed daily.那位虔诚的男士每天都祈祷。

10 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

11 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。

12 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

13 abolition   

n.废除，取消

参考例句：

• They declared for the abolition of slavery.他们声明赞成废除奴隶制度。
• The abolition of the monarchy was part of their price.废除君主制是他们的其中一部分条件。

14 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

15 itinerant   

adj.巡回的；流动的

参考例句：

• He is starting itinerant performance all over the world.他正在世界各地巡回演出。
• There is a general debate nowadays about the problem of itinerant workers.目前，针对流动工人的问题展开了普遍的争论。

16 tracts   

大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文

参考例句：

• vast tracts of forest 大片大片的森林
• There are tracts of desert in Australia. 澳大利亚有大片沙漠。

17 conversion   

n.转化，转换，转变

参考例句：

• He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
• Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。