Introduction to the Cambridge History of Religions in Latin America

Abstract

The Cambridge History of Religions in Latin America Edited by Virginia Garrard-Burnett, Paul Freston and Stephen C. Dove Excerpt More information Garr ard-Burnett et al. 2 was the hegemony of the colonial Church, not only in terms of its institutions but also in its sway over hearts, minds, and fealty, that the reduction and marginalization of the Church became a chief preoccupation of nation-building statesmen in the nineteenth century. The colonial religious history of Latin America, marked by conquest, colonization, resistance, accommodation, and adaptation, closely parallels the region's secular history and shares many of the same themes. Although we fi nd it important to sketch out the institutional history of the Iberian Catholic Church in the New World-this being the "bones" that give structure to our historical understanding-this work also engages the more recent historiographical studies that examine the intersection of religion with race, ethnicity, gender, and secular culture. We also recognize that Christianity posed, and to some extent, continues to off er, important epistemological problems for non-Western peoples and their established belief systems. Thus, this volume explores the spiritual dimensions of what Hans Sieber called the "creolized religions" that emerge from the collision and conjunction of European, indigenous, and African cosmovisions. That said, there is no question that Catholicism was at the center of Spain and Portugal's conquests of the Americas. The stereotype of conquest in the name of "God, Gold, and Glory" is based in fact, but the role played by Catholicism and Catholic identity (as opposed to an individual Iberian's personal beliefs and pious practice) is much more complex than this basic equation suggests. Certainly, the Roman Catholic Church was as powerful a political player as existed anywhere in Europe in the fi fteenth and sixteenth centuries, and this accounts in part for why the rationale for conquest and the rules for its conduct were cast in terms that melded religious and imperial motives quite seamlessly. To cynical modern eyes, it is diffi cult to reconcile the zealous Christian rhetoric of the conquistadors with the more peaceable sensibilities that we now associate with an ideal ethic of "Christian behavior." But for many Iberians in the sixteenth century, Christianity and, specifi cally, Catholicism was a militant faith, and Catholicism was so fully interwoven with what we now consider to be secular issues such as identity and citizenship that it was impossible to untangle the diff erent strands. Columbus left Spain on his fi rst voyage in 1492 just fi ve months after the North African Moors abandoned their last Iberian outpost in the southern city of Granada. The Spanish liberation of Granada signaled the end of the 700-year occupation of the peninsula by Muslim North Africans. The struggle to evict the Moors, known as the Reconquista , lasted several centuries, during which time the Spaniards identifi ed themselves fi rst www.cambridge.org

An enchanted modernity: Making sense of Latin America’s religious landscape

“…Many authors argue that there are multiple modernities, not just one normative process. Latin American societies have different histories and therefore different manifestations of modernity and therefore, different religious responses to it (Casanova, 1994; Eisenstadt, 2000; Garrard-Burnett, Freston and Dove, 2016; Inglehart, 2009; Morello, 2015; Ravagli Cardona, 2013; Semán, 1997; Serrano, 2006).…”

“…However, although Catholics are members of a single confession, they are highly diversified in practice. One does not need to leave Catholicism altogether to "chose" a different religious experience; a believer may find the desired experience inside the Catholic world (Garrard-Burnett et al, 2016;Mallimaci, 1996;Morello, 2015;Romero, 2009;Sanchis, 1997). Additionally, emphasizing the rational aspects of religious choice might not be useful to understand Latin Americans' religious practices that also include material, corporeal, and emotional components (Ameigeiras, 2008;Blancarte, 2007;Mallimaci, 2013;Parker Gumucio, 2006;Romero, 2008Romero, , 2014b.…”

“…The “unaffiliated” category, that includes atheists, agnostics, and un-churched believers, is growing in Latin American societies—surprisingly among the lower classes, to become almost 10% of the population (Davie, 2002; Mallimaci, 2013; Mariano, 2013; Novaes, 2004; Parker Gumucio, 2008b). Finally, the pluralization within Catholicism opens a variety of possibilities that exceed the dogmatic parameters the institution established (Ameigeiras, 2008; Freston, 2008; Garrard-Burnett, 2008; Garrard-Burnett et al, 2016; Jenkins, 2013; Parker Gumucio, 1999; Romero, 2009; Valenzuela et al, 2013).…”

Why Study Religion from a Latin American Sociological Perspective? An Introduction to Religions Issue, “Religion in Latin America, and among Latinos Abroad”

“…My point here is that, in each situation, there are crystallized concrete values and different ways of being religious. Latin American societies have different histories and therefore different manifestations of modernity, and because of that, different religious responses to it (Casanova 1994;Garrard-Burnett et al 2016;Morello 2015;Ravagli Cardona 2013;Semán 1997;Serrano 2006).…”

“…The Catholic Church has never been able to effectively reach populations living in the countryside or the urban outskirts. This institutional weakness gave way to an a-clerical form of Catholicism, far from the regulations of the elites (Ameigeiras 2008;Da Costa 2003;De la Torre 2012;Garrard-Burnett et al 2016;Hughes 2009;Lynch 2012;Negrão 2008;Parker Gumucio 1993;Romero 2009).…”