The Study of English Speaking Countries.docVIP

Joyce 101002011015 The Study of English Speaking Countries -----The values of Australia and the U.S.A In Australia, individualism, respect other people, privacy, humble, equality and others are the values of Australian society, which are advocated by her government. Meanwhile, self-reliance, competition, material wealth and other concepts also represent the American society. So, why these values spread throughout the nation? I think the major reason is belief. As for Australia and America, belief is the rules of their behaviors with a long history. Date back to American history, those one who believed in Calvinism and dissatisfied with Anglicanism were called Puritans who wanted the right to worship God in their own way in the churches. They left their own countries to America because they were victims of religious persecution [Yangtao Wang Yongming, an Introduction to English Speaking Countries]. Puritan is more of a religion than an attitude, a belief. Due to this kind of belief, many values were brought up. John Wesley, a famous evangelist in 18 century of America, has said: “Gain all you can, save all you can, give all you can.” That is the considerably summarization of Puritan values. That is why the Americans’ entrepreneurs are rich and active in philanthropy. All these examples show how the belief affects America. As for Australia, throughout the 19th and most of the 20th centuries, Anglicanism was the dominant religion in Australia. But now, Protestantism is the most dominant form of religion in modern Australian society. It was the religion of governing colonial class in Australia and promotes values such as individualism, hard work, worldly success and asceticism [Religion in Australia Today]. In past 200 years, Catholicism, and the more fundamentalist and evangelical forms of Protestantism are growing. Christianity has played a major role in the construction of Australia society and culture. From these historical elements, we can find the similari