We commence with a discussion of a definition of “the South,” which can be viewed geographically (starting just below Northern Virginia, running down to the top portion of Florida, and extending westward to Arkansas and encompassing the southern portions of Indiana and Illinois) and spiritually (those areas with a majority Southern Baptist population).  Jim explains how this decade-long process took him on a “r0ad trip” around the region to experience the lives and institutions of those living in what he calls the “Now South,” a region with deep roots to its “Old Time Religion” past, but which is also changing in surprising ways.  Looking at the historical roots first, we discuss how religion, food, and hospitality are intimately linked via kinship networks and a concern over scarcity being a daily lived experience.  Food and visitation are viewed as an expression of love for folks who are ill, imprisoned, or otherwise facing difficult times.  Jim also notes that food and hospitality also becomes a basis for various types of social activism as such community involvement is often viewed as a measure of piety.  Sometimes such activism can take on hard-nosed policies towards drug addicts who are allowed assistance only if they quickly accept Jesus, or in more open terms that seek to get mentally ill individuals the help they need.  We also chat about how Pentecostalism, technically a very small fraction of Southern Christians, has influenced the Christianity of the region, often leading to “Bapticostal” congregations that call their ministers bishops and have multiple offerings.  Religion also manifests itself along racial lines in the South, as one might expect, and Jim talks about religiously-infused racial histories can wound but also offer up possibilities for forgiveness.  He raises the horrific shooting at the Charleston Emmanuel AME Church in 2015 as an example of these racial divides and how the power of forgiveness is used not necessarily to “forgive and forget,” but to heal tragedies so it doesn’t wound the victims continuously.

The conversation then moves in the direction of the “Now South” and the new trends that have been reshaping the spiritual landscape over the past several decades.  We look at how megachurches are setting new standards of worship not only for congregants in the suburbs, but in smaller rural and urban churches as well.  Jim points out how the growth of homeschooling has responded to the integration of private religious schools (often called “segregation academies”).  The growth of Catholicism with the influx of immigrants from Mexico and Central America has also diversified the religious tapestry of the region.  And finally, we discuss the surprising increase in the number of congregations that have taken a welcoming position to the LGBT communities and how it has roiled the waters.  Jim explains that while it is easy to preach hate, the culture is changing via kinship ties and the “power of one” wherein one individual can help to change the views of those around them.  While still a very small minority of churches, the presence of LGBT-friendly congregations indicate progressive steps forward.

We finish off by asking Prof. Hudnut-Beumler what he would tell a younger version of Jim if he had the chance to travel back in time.  The elder Jim provides some interesting words of advice for his younger self recognizing that things you never thought would have made an impression early on often come back to you as new opportunities for exploration and learning.  Recorded: May 25, 2018.

RELATED LINKS

 Prof. Hudnut-Beumler’s bio at Vanderbilt University’s Divinity School.

Strangers and Friends at the Welcome Table, by James Hudnut-Beumler.

In Pursuit of the Almighty’s Dollar, by James Hudnut-Beumler.

The Future of Mainline Protestantism in America, edited by James Hudnut-Beumler and Mark Silk.

Looking for God in the Suburbs, by James Hudnut-Beumler.

RELATED PODCASTS

James Hudnut-Beumler on the History of Church Financing in the US.

Paul Harvey on Religion in the American South.

Lerone Martin on Preaching on Wax and Phonographic Religion.

David Dixon on Religious Rhetoric and the Civil Rights Movement.

Darin Mather on Evangelicals and Racial Attitudes.

Bradley Wright on Religion, Race, and Discrimination.

]]> http://www.researchonreligion.org/christianity/james-hudnut-beumler-on-religion-in-the-now-south/feed 0 http://www.researchonreligion.org/historical-topics/barry-hankins-on-jesus-gin-and-the-culture-wars-encore-presentation http://www.researchonreligion.org/historical-topics/barry-hankins-on-jesus-gin-and-the-culture-wars-encore-presentation#comments Sun, 22 Apr 2018 15:35:58 +0000 http://www.researchonreligion.org/?p=5498 While we are on a sabbatical, trying to get our format updated and finding more outlets on which you can enjoy this podcast, please enjoy this encore presentation from five years ago.

Most astute social observers today agree that the United States is in the throes of a “culture war,” with issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage, and drug legalization taking center stage in many political debates.  But what if I told you that such “culture wars” are not uncommon in US history?  Indeed, Prof. Barry Hankins of Baylor University makes the argument that “cultural wars” are the default position in American history, and it was only during the 1930s – 1970s that we seemed to have been immune from such conflict.  He illustrates this point with a detailed discussion of The Roaring Twenties (and the decades leading up to that time), when issues such as Prohibition, evolution, obscenity, and a weakening of Christianity were the hot topics of the time.  We begin our discussion by noting the dramatic changes that the U.S. experienced around the turn of the 20th century, roughly from 1880 to 1920.  Rapid industrialization and urbanization, combined with new forms of immigration, set the stage for wide array of new cultural challenges facing the nation, in general, and Christianity in particular.  As the Roaring ’20s were known as the era of Prohibition (and the time of the “speak easy”), we start with that topic.  Prof. Hankins reviews the history of the temperance movement and reveals some surprising findings, such that alcohol consumption in the US during the 1820s was among the highest in the world and that temperance movements did help to sober the country up.  He notes this was true of Prohibition, as well, countering an often-used argument today regarding the legalization of drugs that such legal restrictions don’t really affect usage much.  Our conversation turns to some of the more charismatic characters of the era with a focus on Billy Sunday, a forerunner of today’s “megachurch” pastors.  Barry recounts Rev. Sunday’s life and how he harnessed his athletic fame in the name of evangelization.  Billy Sunday’s story is a nice reminder that “media star preachers” are not just a phenomenon of the late 20th century but emerged in an era when people were becoming increasingly concentrated in cities and mass media such as radio and theater was becoming more common.  We also cover some of the more scandal-plagued preachers of the time including Aimee Semple-McPherson, J. Frank Norris, Daddy Grace, and Father Divine, reminding us that there probably is nothing new under the sun.  We then take up the topic of the factionalization occurring within Christianity that is going on during this time — fundamentalists vs modernists.  We discover that the liberal modernists tended to win these battles, often forcing more fundamentalist groups to break away and form new denominations.  Again, this is reminiscent of our current time.  The conversation then moves to an interesting puzzle that Barry is still thinking about, which is why the culture wars subsided between the 1930s and (roughly) 1980.  We both offer us some speculation on this topic and finish off with additional thoughts about what the culture wars of the 1920s has to tell us about our culture wars today.  Recorded: May 2, 2013.

RELATED LINKS

Barry Hankins bio at Baylor University’s Department of History.

Jesus and Gin: Evangelicalism, the Roaring Twenties, and Today’s Culture Wars, by Barry Hankins.

American Evangelicals: A History of a Mainstream Religious Movement, by Barry Hankins.

The Second Great Awakening and the Transcendentalists, by Barry Hankins.

RELATED PODCASTS

Matthew Sutton on Aimee Semple McPherson.

Mark Driscoll on the Growth of Mars Hill Church.

Thomas Kidd on the Great Awakening.

RELATED LINKS

JeremiahCry Ministries (includes videos and audio of street preaching).

Jeff Rose preaching at Staten Island Ferry Station (YouTube video).

Paul Washer, Jeff Rose, and Jeff Gordon Discuss Public Preaching (YouTube video).

RELATED PODCASTS

Allison Pond on Being a Mormon Missionary.

Dough Johnston on Missionizing Romania.

Jeff Henig on Prison Ministry.

Daniel Stiles on Cowboy Churches.

Dave Travis on Megachurch Myths.

James Brettell on Trends in American Christianity.

Matt Boswell on Starting a New Church.

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).

RELATED PODCASTS

John Rees on International Development and Faith-Based Organizations.

Carrie Miles on Religion, Gender, and Missionaries.

Mari0n Larson on Bubbles, Bridges, and Multi-Faith Engagement.

Torrey Olsen on Faith-Based Humanitarianism and World Vision.

Jamie Aten on Religion and Disasters.

Robert Priest on Witchcraft Accusations in Africa.

]]> http://www.researchonreligion.org/christianity/sarah-dreier-on-anglicans-lutherans-and-african-churches/feed 0 http://www.researchonreligion.org/historical-topics/paul-harvey-on-religion-in-the-american-south http://www.researchonreligion.org/historical-topics/paul-harvey-on-religion-in-the-american-south#comments Sun, 01 Jan 2017 09:00:10 +0000 http://www.researchonreligion.org/?p=4855 “The South” is commonly referred to as the Bible Belt in the United States today, and despite New England having a more explicit Christian identity during colonial times, the region from Virginia down to Florida and out to Texas has been shaped by religious dynamics from its most early days.  Prof. Paul Harvey, professor of history at the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs, takes us on a grand tour of this region and the history of Christianity there.  After sorting through Prof. Harvey’s own intellectual trajectory to this topic, we define what is meant by “The South,” an identity-based term that really doesn’t become defined until roughly the Civil War era and shortly thereafter.  Histories of religion in The South often begin with the arrival of the British in Jamestown and the Anglican influence there, but Paul reminds us that Florida was a northern outpost for the Spanish Empire and Catholicism came to the region during the 16th century.  He discusses attempts by the Spaniards to missionize the indigenous populations and how the presence of the Spanish put pressure on the British to colonize up the coast.  We then walk through the colonial period, through the First Great Awakening, the Revolutionary era, and then into to the Second Great Awakening discussing how Christianity factored into the socio-demographic environment of those two centuries.  We focus on the role of Christianity with respect to slavery, touching upon the issues of whether to missionize slaves and how the Christian message was received, including mention of Charles Jones (“apostle to the slaves”) and the Stono Rebellion.  Paul points out that the Great Awakenings had an impact on these marginalized groups and there was even a religious “Awakening” amongst the Indian population.  Our discussion moves next to the Antebellum period, the Civil War, and Reconstruction, where religion plays a role in shaping the identify of the South, both amongst the White “evangelical” population and among former African-American slaves.  Paul plays out these themes noting a period of segregation that occurs in religion after the Civil War.  Journeying into the 20th century, we explore some of the themes we’ve visited in previous podcasts (e.g., Lerone Martin – see below) and how modern technology shaped the religious landscape, with an emphasis on phonograph religion and how that, in turn, influenced the musical trends of Americana, country music, and even Elvis Presley.  Paul points out an interesting paradox in Southern culture in this time that juxtaposes an immense amount of racial violence and poverty with an enormous outpouring of artistic creativity, not only in music, but in literature as reflected in the works of individuals such as William Faulkner.  We finish with a discussion of the role of religion in the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-20th century, the rise of the Religious Right, and how interesting it has been to see the growth of the “prosperity gospel” message in the past few decades.  Paul further notes the changing religious landscape as an influx of Latinos are adding to the pluralism of the region, not only in terms of Catholicism, but a new flavor of evangelical Protestantism as well.  Prof. Harvey ends with a few reflections on where he sees religious and social trends moving in the future, offering up both some pessimistic concerns and optimistic hopes for the future.  Recorded: December 23, 2016.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Paul Harvey’s personal website and bio at the Dept. of History at UC-Colorado Springs.

Christianity and Race in the American South, by Paul Harvey.

Bounds of their Habitation: Religion and Race in American History, by Paul Harvey.

Through the Storm, Through the Night: A History of African American Christianity, by Paul Harvey.

Redeeming the South: Religious Cultures and Racial Identities among Southern Baptists, 1865-1925, by Paul Harvey.

The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in American History, by Edward Blum and Paul Harvey.

Religion in American History (a fascinating blog on religious history with several historians).

Religion Dispatches.

RELATED PODCASTS

Lerone Martin on Preaching on Wax and Phonographic Religion.

David Dixon on Religious Rhetoric and the Civil Rights Movement.

Darin Mather on Evangelicals and Racial Attitudes.

Bradley Wright on Religion, Race, and Discrimination.

James Patterson on MLK, Fulton Sheen, & Jerry Falwell.

Merissa Davis on Bill Cosby, Religion, and African American Churches.

John Wilsey on American Exceptionalism & Civil Religion.

David Mislin on Embracing Religious Pluralism.

Joseph Castleberry on the New Pilgrims.

Hunter Baker on the Past and Future of the Religious Right.

Paul Sinitiere on the Osteens and Lakewood Church.

After a wee bit of banter about Super Bowl 50 and Andrew’s woes about the Minnesota Vikings, Prof. Johnson discusses how he came to study the role of religion in prisons.  He recounts his time as a basketball coach for inner city youth and how some of the kids he knew ended up in the penal system.  We then spend some time going over the religious landscape of Brazil, his primary country of study.  Although the largest Catholic nation on Earth, Brazil has witnessed a significant increase in Protestantism in recent decades with a majority of those Protestants being of the Pentecostal faith.  Andrew documents how Pentecostalism is a very appealing faith to individuals within the poor, marginalized neighborhoods of Brazilian cities known as favelas.  These are also areas where criminal gangs run the neighborhoods, but interestingly these gangs have a very symbiotic relationship with the Pentecostal churches.  It is this interesting relationship that then translates into prison, which is often a concentrated microcosm of life within the favelas.

We then spend a significant amount of time discussing Dr. Johnson’s dissertation project as it represents one of the more intense forms of immersive fieldwork that you would see scholars doing.  Andrew actually spent several weeks living within a prison in Rio de Janeiro to develop a greater sense of what the world of prisoners was like.  We cover the various difficulties in getting this type of study off the ground, as well as Andrew’s own reflections going into, living within, and then coming out of this very dangerous and difficult environment.  Brazilian prisons are very different from those found in the United States, and Dr. Johnson talks about the crowded conditions and how prison guards have little to do with the prisoners in the cell blocks, which means prisoners are creating their own societies within this environment.

Our conversation then turns to how religious faith and organization plays out in prison.  We start this conversation with a story about a pastor who was well known for helping to mediate prison riots.  Andrew notes that the police and SWAT teams in Brazil are frequently brutal in putting down such riots, often killing dozens or hundreds of prisoners, and how the inmates often see Pentecostal ministers as being a trusted source to bring about negotiated settlements.  The government also finds these religious pastors helpful for helping to calm situations down.  This leads us to a further discussion of how religion functions within the prison walls, with Andrew pointing out that it is not just visiting pastors and religious volunteers that bring religious services into the jail, but rather it is the prisoners themselves who often establish and run their own ministries.  We talk about different roles played out by the inmates, including the position of secretary of the prison church — a person who records the visitors, attendees, and controls the finances.  Many of these churches have distinct clothing made for them and purchase musical instruments for worship services.  Andrew stresses the role of “authenticity” with respect to these churches.  Whereas members of these Pentecostal churches are often a protected group with the prison environment, it must be shown that the members who join are really “living the life” or “walking the talk.”  Whereas Dr. Johnson is not in a position to evaluate the true depth of belief of any individual, he does note how this plays out in a broader social context.

We finish the conversation with some observations about Andrew’s use of documentary filmmaking to bring his research to a broader audience.  He talks about the process of doing the film and how it creates a different view of his work amongst different audiences.  He also shares with us a number of the surprises he found throughout the process of conducting this research.  He notes the importance of human dignity and the role that religion plays even amongst the most violent of individuals in society.  Recorded: February 7, 2016.

RELATED LINKS

Andrew Johnson’s bio at the Center for Religion & Civil Culture (USC).

If I Give My Soul, trailer for the documentary film by Andrew Johnson & Ryan Patch.

Religious Responses to Violence: Human Rights in Latin America Past and Present, edited by Alexander Wilde.

Storytellers, Inc., film company run by Ryan Patch (mentioned in podcast).

RELATED PODCASTS

Jeff Henig on Prison Ministry.

Byron Johnson on More God, Less Crime.

Byron Johnson on Religion and Delinquency.

Owen Strachan on Chuck Colson.

William Wubbenhorst on SERVE, West Dallas.

]]> http://www.researchonreligion.org/church-organization/andrew-johnson-on-pentecostals-in-prison-in-brazil/feed 8 http://www.researchonreligion.org/world-region/africa/robert-priest-on-witchcraft-accusations-in-africa http://www.researchonreligion.org/world-region/africa/robert-priest-on-witchcraft-accusations-in-africa#comments Sun, 26 Jan 2014 09:00:30 +0000 http://www.researchonreligion.org/?p=3088 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.

RELATED LINKS

Robert Priest’s bio at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

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.

Our conversation begins with a description of Northwest, including its history (starting as a Bible college in downtown Seattle 75 years ago) and current enrollment.  Joe talks about the recent transition from “college” to “university” and explains the rationale behind that decision.  He notes how NU is expanding into a number of branch campuses in Salem (OR) and Sacramento (CA), which are physical “brick and mortar” locations, and extensions in Nampa (ID).   Northwest is also developing online degree programs for continuing adult education, as well.  The purpose of these expansions is to go where the demand for higher education is, particularly with respect to ministerial training, which he says must be “close to the ground.” We also discuss how NU recruits students and while Dr. Castleberry reveals that most students come from Washington State, efforts to recruit abroad (both in the US and globally) often rely upon personal missionary networks, particulary via the Assemblies of God.

Our conversation then turns to Dr. Castleberry’s personal biography, taking him from Princeton Theological Seminary to a missionary and professor in El Salvador.  He reflects upon what he learned in that experience that has been helpful for him as a university administrator.  The key take-away from that time abroad was the importance of building networks and we chat about how this is helpful for recruiting students.

The next portion of the interview examines student life including how NU goes about finding students to attend their school and what they go through when they get to campus. Most of the traditional undergraduate live on campus and are required to attend a certain number of chapel services.  We also talk about whether these students are insulated from the more secular world and Joe points out that NU students actually have a very visible presence in the community around them, through missionary work and via “normal life.”  The faculty-student ratio also becomes a focus of our conversation, and Dr. Castleberry lays out the benefits of being at a smaller university and proudly recounts a number of significant achievements that NU students have earned over the years, including beating Harvard students in debate competitions.

We also discuss the role of the faculty at the university, including how to recruit faculty members who are willing to sign a statement of faith and what emphasis NU places on teaching relative to research.  Joe points out that their general philosophy is not “publish or perish,” but rather “publish to flourish.”  We conclude with a discussion of some changes taking place in higher education writ large, which includes the increasing prominence of online education and other forms of distance learning.  Dr. Castleberry lays out his university’s strategy to expand in this area.  Recorded: June 17, 2013.

RELATED LINKS

Dr. Joseph Castleberry’s bio at Northwest University.

Northwest University.

Dr. Castleberry’s blog in English and Spanish.

The Kingdom Net: Learning to Network Like Jesus, by Joseph Castleberry.

Your Deepest Dream, by Joseph Castleberry.

RELATED PODCASTS

Rick Walston on Distance Learning & Seminary Education.

Kimberly Conger on Being Christian in Secular Academia.

Our conversation starts with a discussion of the living conditions of the three neighborhoods she examined during her research trips.  The vivid portrayal of life in these poor communities sets the stage for how difficult it is for individuals trapped in poverty to escape.  We then cover the role of lending and the different types of loans that are available to the poor.  Borrowing funds to cover everything from short-term needs (e.g., paying rent, a doctor bill) to finding ways to finance a small business is a fact of life for individuals in these communites.  Becky details how borrowing can have a negative effect on the poor, particularly if loans are used by individuals who tend to significantly undervalue the future.  We then move to discuss the micro-finance (or micro-lending) movement that has become popular in recent decades and how women are organizing sangams (self-help groups) to create financial accountability amongst themselves.  The role of women is emphasized in this interview given that critical role that they play in organizing small businesses in these communities, as well as the critical spiritual role they play in the family (a topic we review later).  Becky relays a number of the social problems that beset women, including physical abuse from their husbands.

Our focus then turns to the role of religion.  We discover the interesting religious diversity of these poor neighborhoods, including the recent growth of Pentecostalism amongst the population which is majority Hindu, but also contains a significant number of Muslims, Catholics and a smattering of other faiths.  It is interesting to see how religious tensions are relatively minimal in the poor communities that Becky examines.  We place the most attention on how Pentecostals are shaping the financial fortunes of poor women.  Becky’s research has revealed that tithing to one’s religious community on a regular basis creates a degree of accountability and financial expectation that promotes a pattern of responsible saving.  This behavioral pattern, in addition to the accountability that sangams create amongst their members, facilitates an economic discipline that allows entrepreneurial women to achieve some economic success.  Other ritualistic behaviors such as fasting also sends signals to members in the community who may not share a particular individual’s religious faith, but nevertheless helps to build bonds of trust among different people.  Becky’s research also shows how a woman’s Pentecostal faith and the practice it entails can also mitigate problems such as domestic violence and alcohol abuse amongst the men in the household, a trend that has also been witnessed in Latin America.   Recorded: June 6, 2013.

RELATED LINKS

Rebecca Shah’s bio at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, & World Affairs.

The Holy Avarice Project.

The Reformation of Machismo: Evangelical Conversion and Gender in Columbia, by Elizabeth Brusco (mentioned in the podcast).

RELATED PODCASTS

Alessandra González on Islamic Feminism.

Carolyn Warner on Religion & Generosity.

Robert Woodberry on Missionaries and Democracy.

Lan Chu on Catholicism in Vietnam.

RELATED LINKS

Barry Hankins bio at Baylor University’s Department of History.

Jesus and Gin: Evangelicalism, the Roaring Twenties, and Today’s Culture Wars, by Barry Hankins.

American Evangelicals: A History of a Mainstream Religious Movement, by Barry Hankins.

The Second Great Awakening and the Transcendentalists, by Barry Hankins.

RELATED PODCASTS

Matthew Sutton on Aimee Semple McPherson.

Mark Driscoll on the Growth of Mars Hill Church.

Thomas Kidd on the Great Awakening.