Research On Religion » Africa

Sarah Dreier on Anglicans, Lutherans, and African Churches

tonygill — Sun, 14 May 2017 08:00:11 +0000

In recent years, movement towards progressive policies and values on gender and sexuality have caused cultural rifts within the Anglican (Episcopalian) Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA). Such tension is most apparent among their affiliated churches in the Global South, most notably Africa, with some African clergy becoming very outspoken against the policies adopted by Anglicans and Lutherans in Europe and the United States. Sarah K. Dreier, a Ph.D. candidate in political science at the University of Washington, engages research on transnational organizations to explore how these tensions arose and how they are being managed.

As often is the case, we begin our conversation exploring how our guest came to study her topic of interest. Ms. Dreier talks about the influence her parents had in her intellectual development and how certain mentors at Northwestern University also helped to shape her interests about the world. Sarah took these interests into a professional career working for religious non-governmental organizations, which further piqued her interests in the topic of how transnational groups in the developed North relate to their counterparts in the developing South. Sarah details some of the cultural changes that are manifesting themselves in policy changes within the Anglican Communion and the ELCA with a specific eye towards same-sex marriage, homosexuality, and women’s issues. Such changes have caused rifts within these denominations in Europe and the US, but have really risen concern within many parts of Africa such as Kenya and Tanzania, where Sarah did much of her dissertation fieldwork.

We then shift track a bit to discuss recent scholarship on transnational organizations, with Sarah pointing out that many researchers have not paid much attention, until recently, to how various development efforts by transnational groups headquartered in the OECD nations are received by the recipients of these efforts in the Global South. She regales us with a story wherein she was working with an African official of a Lutheran Church on a malaria initiative when the bishop told Sarah, at the outset of their interview, that he needs the ELCA to back down from their homosexual agenda, revealing that this cultural issue was of a huge importance to him and many others within his church. We explore this tension further and Sarah lays out her reason for why some African churches have been vocally opposed to these cultural issues whereas other ones have not. She explains that African churches that have a relatively stable source of funding outside the transnational network are more capable of raising critical voices as it doesn’t endanger their long-term viability as an organization as much as churches that are more reliant on international funding. Moreover, the presence of religious competition in the form of Pentecostals, evangelicals, and other charismatic religious movements that are growing rapidly in Africa, puts pressure on the African Anglican and Lutheran churches to signal their solidarity with the cultural norms of their home populations (which, by various polls, are overwhelmingly opposed to more progressive views on gender and sexual issues). When some Pentecostal ministers point to the policies of the Church of England and/or the ELCA and tag their local African affiliates as being part of the “gay church,” leaders of these mainline African congregations are compelled to signal their distance from their transnational partners. Many African Anglican and Lutheran members view the progressive doctrines as a “neo-colonial imposition,” an interesting conundrum in that both the Anglican Communion and the ELCA have been very critical of past colonialist practices. Tony then asks why some of these African churches don’t simply “go Pentecostal” and leave their denomination, prompting Sarah to provide an interesting response about the long-term benefits of a mainline denominational affiliation.

We further discuss how religious officials in Europe and the US are trying to do to respond to these concerns. While these officials have tried to note that such progressive policies are really only contained within Europe and the US, Sarah points out that “everything flows across borders,” making the situation rather difficult to manage. Sarah closes with some thoughts about what she has learned throughout her investigation of this topic and notes how culture is very dynamic and constantly shifting. Recorded: May 8, 2017.

Disclosure: Tony is serving as a member of Sarah’s dissertation committee at the UW.

RELATED LINKS

Sarah K. Dreier’s personal website and bio at the Dept. of Political Science, University of Washington.

Lutheran World Federation (mentioned in podcast).

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John Rees on International Development and Faith-Based Organizations.

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Robert Priest on Witchcraft Accusations in Africa.

Rodney Stark on The Triumph of Faith

tonygill — Sun, 17 Jan 2016 10:21:04 +0000

The decline of religion around the world may be greatly exaggerated. This is the assertion made by Dr. Rodney Stark — co-founder and director of Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion and frequent guest on our program. He backs his claim with extensive survey evidence from a number of polling organizations (namely the Gallup World Poll) and other bits of evidence from scholarly studies. We take a tour de force of religion around the world to see that faith is as strong as ever, even in the United States.

Surveys by Pew Forum and the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) have indicated religious practice is on the decline in the United States. Tony asks Rod whether he has seen a similar trend in his own research using the Baylor Religion Study. While there has been an increase in the number of individuals who claim “no religious affiliation” or the infamous “nones” discussed by Pew, Prof. Stark notes that this really affects religious affiliation and not necessarily belief. His own examination of “nones” indicates that a substantial number of them still believe in God, pray weekly, and occasionally attend worship services. He also notes that many individuals who proclaim no traditional religious affiliation believe in “non-conventional” forms of the supernatural such as various New Age ideas of spirituality or entities such as elves. Tony points out that even in Iceland where attendance at church services is near the lowest in the Christian world, there is still a strong belief in elves to the point where people will hire clerics to investigate whether such creatures are inhabiting land they plan to build upon. Our conversation at this point also covers some issues with survey methodology and Rod explains the reason he is relying upon the Gallup World Poll for much of his research data.

We then expand our exploration to the rest of the world outside of the US and Europe. Whereas Europe has not seen any significant increase in religious practice or belief recently (outside of Muslim immigrants), the rest of the globe is experiencing a major explosion in religious affiliation, practice, and belief. Rod lists a couple statistics to bolster this point, including 81% of the world population claiming to belong to some organized religious faith, 71% saying that religion is important in their lives, and 51% having participated in some organized form of worship in the past week. Atheism rates remains relatively stagnant with only three countries registering more than 20% of the population as non-believers. Attendance and affiliation remains most flaccid in Europe. This continent registers low among individuals who attend religious services largely because Christianity was never deeply embedded in a number of these countries to begin with (particularly in Northern Europe) and monopolized state churches have little incentive to recruit and serve members, according to Prof. Stark.

Moving from the least religiously active part of the world, we then travel to Africa where religious practice has been growing exponentially. This is particularly true in sub-Saharan Africa where there was nary a Christian on the continent in the late 1800s, but a vast majority now proclaim Christianity and attendance rates are the highest in the world. Rod points out that this is not only due to missionary work by Europeans in the early 20th century who introduced the faith, but more importantly is the result of indigenous church growth — i.e., Africans developing and organizing their own Christian denominations. Catholicism also shows strong growth in the region, surprising even the Vatican itself with its strong indigenous roots. We talk briefly about Islam in Northern Africa, and how contact between Muslims and Christians has created unfortunate conflict in some parts of the continent.

Asia is our next region of focus. Having recently co-authored a book with Xiuhua Wang on Christianity in China (see below), Rod explains how this country poses a unique challenge to secularization theory. While China is modernizing rapidly, it is also Christianizing equally fast and despite attempts by the communist regime to suppress or control the growth. Interestingly, the growth in religious practice is coming amongst the most educated and prosperous in Chinese society. While the central regime in China is concerned about this religious growth, many local officials take a hands-off approach to the practice of house churches. Tony speculates that there may be many parallels between what is currently happening in China to what went on in the pre-Constantine Church in the first three centuries. Japan becomes the next topic of conversation. Here, religious practice remains rather low. Rod points out that even with high rates of unbelief, many people still rely upon Shinto priests to bless their autos, homes, and even military equipment (which Tony mentions from a previous podcast with Ron Hassner).

Our last two topics cover Latin America and Islam. In the former, religious practice has increased dramatically despite the notion that Latin Americans have always been (since colonization) firmly Catholic. Prof. Stark tips his hat to Tony’s own research on the region and how Protestant missionaries in the 20th century lit a competitive fire underneath the Catholic Church, which prompted this institution to better serve its parishioner base. We discuss how the Latin American Catholic Church, whereas it used to rely upon imported priests, now sees significant growth in native seminarians and Rod provides an interesting anecdote from his time in California about how competition from Pentecostals motivated a Catholic parish. We touch a bit on Islam noting that while religious practice has been relatively high in North Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia, this faith has become “more intensified” in recent decades. The display of religious symbols (e.g., hijab) has become more pronounced, and Rod discusses how Islam provides a great deal of internal religious competition that can give rise to this, particularly in an environment that is showing increased resentment of Western morals.

We finish off with some reflections on secularization theory and why this perspective is still so entrenched in the Academy. Prof. Stark shares some comments on political correctness and encourages more honest research amongst intellectuals. Recorded: December 30, 2015.

The Triumph of Faith: Why the World Is More Religious than Ever, by Rodney Stark.

America’s Blessings: How Religion Benefits Everyone, Including Atheists, by Rodney Stark.

The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World’s Largest Religion, by Rodney Stark.

America’s Blessings: How Religion Benefits Everyone… Including Atheists, by Rodney Stark (available November 2012).

Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion.

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Rodney Stark on How Religion Benefits Everyone, Including Atheists.

Rodney Stark on the Triumph of Christianity, Part I.

Rodney Stark on the Triumph of Christianity, Part II.

Rodney Stark on the Triumph of Christianity, Part III.

Rodney Stark on The Crusades.

Carrie Miles on Religion, Gender, and Missionaries

tonygill — Sun, 31 May 2015 08:00:50 +0000

What is the relationship between religion, economics, and gender? Dr. Carrie Miles — senior scholar in residence at Chapman University and non-resident scholar at Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion — discusses her path-breaking work on this topic, as well as her work as executive director of Empower International Ministries. Our conversation winds through Mormon theology, Genesis, the industrial revolution, and countries in Africa to explore how both economic production and theology can shape gender roles throughout history.

The podcast begins with Carrie reminiscing on how she started in such an interesting, and underexplored, topic. She recounts her Mormon roots and curiosity about the reshaping of gender roles in the LDS Church during the 1970s when she was working on her dissertation in organizational psychology at the University of Chicago. This discussion takes us on a path of examining how agrarian production in the household defined gender roles and how the industrial revolution, which took more and more production away from the home, impacted these traditional roles. We talk about everything from the work of Gary Becker to the transformative effect of the plow.

We next turn to some theology of gender, focusing on the first three chapters of Genesis. Carrie describes how the development of economic scarcity that arises when humans leave the Garden of Eden had an impact on shaping our understanding of the economic positions of men and women. She contrasts this with more egalitarian gender roles noted in the first two chapters of Genesis. Emphasis is placed upon the notion of “The Curse” in Genesis 3, as this will become important in our later discussion of Christian missionaries and their impact in Africa. We then do move on to a discussion of missionaries and how their biblical translations affected the economic and cultural structure of various African nations. Given that agriculture in Africa was still largely viewed as women’s work during the 19th and 20th centuries, whereas the plow had made it more of man’s work in Europe, missionaries preaching the Book of Genesis had the unintended effect of reinforcing agrarian gender roles at a time when household production was changing. Dr. Miles recounts a number of stories from her own personal work in Africa as to how such interpretations were seen.

We finish with a discussion of the work Carrie does with Empower International Ministries, which places a focus on gender issues as part of its general missionary strategy, and also what she has learned via the course of her studies. Recorded: May 20, 2015.

The Redemption of Love: Rescuing Marriage and Sexuality from the Economics of a Fallen World, by Carrie Miles.

Empower International Ministries.

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Robert Priest on Witchcraft Accusations in Africa

tonygill — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 09:00:30 +0000

Accusations of witchcraft in Africa appear to be on the rise according to many anthropologists. Robert Priest, the G.W. Aldeen Professor of International Studies at Trinitiy Evangelical Divinity School discusses this phenomenom, covering the patterns, causes, and consequences of this trend.

Our discussion begins with what brought Prof. Priest, who has previously studied various aspects of missiology, to this topic. We then progress to the definition of witchcraft and how there are some commonalities and differences across cultures. Tony associates witchcraft trials with the past and asks Bob why this phenomenon has persisted in an era of increasing scientific knowledge.

Dr. Priest covers the different patterns of witchcraft accusations, discussing who is accused, what these accusations often consist of, and what the punishments are. We also discuss the methodological issues concerned with studying such a sensitive topic. We finish the discussion with the relationship between these accusations and Christianity in the region. Bob notes that Christians are not only the subject of such accusations, but often are complicit in bringing such claims on others. He discusses why this might be the case and then talks about how Christians are coming together to address how to manage all the issues we have discussed. Recorded: January 22, 2014.

This Side of Heaven: Race, Ethnicity, and Christian Faith, edited by Robert Priest and Alvaro Nieves.

The Witches of Gambaga by Yaba Badoe.

Witchcraft, Violence, and Democracy in South Africa, by Adam Ashforth (mentioned during interview).

American Society of Missiology.

Philip Jenkins on Global Christianity

tonygill — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 08:00:54 +0000

In a conversation that covers two millenia of Christian history and every region of the world, noted historian Philip Jenkins — the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of the Humanities at the Pennsylvania State University and Distinguished Senior Fellow at Baylor University’s Institute for Study of Religion — talks about the ever-changing nature of Christianity. Our discussion begins with a reminder that a strong understanding of history is essential for understanding the contemporary religious world. Contrary to the popular notion that Christianity is a European faith, Jenkins reveals that this religious tradition had an extensive geographic reach through its inception up until the 13th century. The podcast then turns attention to how Christianity has been growing and changing in the “global South,” which includes Africa, Asia and Latin America. We see how Pentecostal and charismatic forms of Christianity tend to predominate in these regions and discuss how Christians on these continents view The Bible. We end our discussion with some speculation on how religion in the “global South” may be influencing Christian beliefs and practices in Europe and North America. Prof. Jenkins also reveals his three favorite Western movies. Recorded: July 15, 2010.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Jenkin’s website at Baylor University.

Prof. Jenkin’s website at Penn State University.

The Jesus Wars: How Four Patriarchs, Three Queens, and Two Emperors Decided What Christians Would Believe for the Next 1500 Years by Philip Jenkins.

The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia — And How It Died by Philip Jenkins.

The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South by Philip Jenkins.

The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity by Philip Jenkins.

The Future Church: How Ten Trends Are Revolutionizing the Catholic Church by John Allen.

Wikipedia page on fastest growing religion referenced in podcast.