The air of revolution is upon us. The Occupy Wall Street Movement has organized in protest to the blatant economic and environmental injustices occurring as a direct result of corporate greed and corruption at the highest levels of government. This movement has mobilized to fight for a truer democracy. Societal ills such as the prison industrial complex, the military industrial complex, corporate greed, banking bail outs and austerity measures, poor healthcare, declining education, systemic racism, environmental unsustainability, and a long list of human rights violations are resulting from a system that does not operate in accordance to America’s highest ideals. In 1967 Robert Bellah published an essay entitled: Civil Religion in America. In this profoundly influential essay, Bellah argued that alongside the traditional religious institutions within the U.S. there exists a religiosity that permeates throughout the political and secular dimensions of this nation. His goal was not only to inform the American people of the existence of civil religion and how it functions, but also provide us an understanding of its importance and instill within us the desire to strive for the fulfillment of this nation’s highest ideals rather than complacently worship America for how it is. My undergraduate research project sets out to explore Robert Bellah’s methodology and approach in regards to civil religion and what he sought to achieve with his works. This will lay the foundation for an observation and civil religious discourse of the Occupy Wall Street Movement. I will look at what the Occupy movement’s philosophy and methodology is and draw possible connections to Bellah’s work to convey how the Occupy movement is not only a current manifestation of civil religion, but a necessary one.
