Hull-House and Religion

Though the formation of the Hull house may have not been specifically influenced by religion, the house bonds cultures together (social cohesion), and in that way, serves a purpose similar to that of most religions. This was especially clear after looking at the website about the urban experience in Chicago. Looking at the photographs on the website, it is apparent that the Hull house was a refuge for many different cultures.





The picture above depicts “Wares from the various art and manual training classes were sold at the annual Hull-House fiesta." The Hull house provided immigrants with the skills they needed to succeed in American (such as manual training skills), but did not deprive them of their traditions. The best way for a culture to acclimate to a new environment is to mix new tradition with old, rather than convert wholly to new. The Hull-house provided an atmosphere where maintaining certain non-American traditions was possible.

If compared to religion in general, the Hull-house would not be “staunch” or “conservative.” In fact, it would be considered quite the contrary-- “tolerant” and “liberal.” Religion, in my opinion, should not provide guidelines so strict that there is no room for innovation or change. The Hull-house was an interesting example, and perhaps one of the first true examples, of an institution that accepted other cultural ideals. It was a place where cultures could mold their own identity by mixing old tradition with new. If the ideals of the Hull house were to be expanded into a spiritual scenario, they would provide a good baseline for a religion—the liberalness would not mold the religion around specific rules but rather a mix of different ideologies.