ABSTRACT
In Robert Bellah's response to his commentators in The Religious Situation, he writes that "what I mean by civil religion is a set of religious beliefs, symbols, and rituals growing out of the American historical experience interpreted in the dimension of transcendence". To the degree that the beliefs vary from traditional theological doctrines of the Christian faith, the author determines the impact of the North American continent and the values and beliefs of its original inhabitants on the conglomerate of beliefs and values that made up the Christian intellectual universe prior to its encounter with the New World. As the institutions of the federal government have eroded in recent years, religious freedom has increased for Indians and to the degree that secular humanism has dominated the ideology of the federal government, in that degree Indians have been able to practice their tribal religions.
