Research On Religion » violence

Andrew Chesnut on Santa Muerte

tonygill — Sun, 11 Jun 2017 08:00:06 +0000

Many people are familiar with the Virgin of Guadalupe and an object of faithful devotion within Mexico, but fewer folks know about Santa Muerte, the “skeleton saint,” which has witnessed a growing devotion within the past two decades. Prof. Andrew Chesnut, a professor of religious studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, is one of the very few scholars to write about this fascinating folk saint and he joins us to talk about his book Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint (being released in its second edition later this year). After a bit of reminiscing about UCLA, where both Tony and Andrew were contemporaries in the late 1980s/early 1990s, Prof. Chesnut discusses how he came upon this research topic. While initially wanting to write about the Virgin of Guadalupe, his passion took him in another unexpected direction. Andrew then explains how a folk saint differs from an official Catholic saint, and gives us a sense of how devotion to Santa Muerte has grow in recent years, reaching upwards of an estimated 10 – 12 million devotees worldwide. He also covers all the various nicknames of the saint (including Bony Lady, Bald Lady, and even “Bad Ass”), as well as how she came to grow in popularity in recent decades. The deeper history of Santa Muerte is rather murky, though, and Prof. Chesnut notes that some of the earliest mentions of the name date back to the late 18th century. There are parallels between some of the “grim reaper” imagery found in Spain at the time, and this may have transferred over to the Spanish colonies and became part of the syncretist form of religion that was practiced amongst a wide swathe of the population. We then talk about how individuals interact with Santa Muerte, focusing on the variegated purposes this folk saint has and the different colored candles used in devotions. Black candles are frequently used for supernatural protection and/or vengeance and have given Santa Muerte the reputation of being the “narco-saint” for its use by criminals and within the Mexican penal system. Despite this more malevolent reputation, Santa Muerte is also the focus of a number of other devotionals revolving around healing and consecration (white candle), love and marital problems (red candle), prosperity (gold votive), justice (green), and enlightenment (brown), to name just a few. Andrew also relates the story of David Romo who founds the first Santa Muerte temple in Mexico City in 2003 and how he eventually ends up being arrested for running a kidnapping ring. We finish off with some final reflections on what Andrew has learned over the decades he has been studying Latin American religiosity, noting how he was surprised to find how much faith healing matters to individuals, and we also review what his next research project will be focusing on, namely Catholic death culture. Recorded: May 19, 2017.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Andrew Chesnut’s bio at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint, by R. Andrew Chesnut (2nd edition coming soon with Oxford University Press).

Competitive Spirits: Latin America’s New Religious Economy, by R. Andrew Chestnut.

Born Again in Brazil: The Pentecostal Boom and the Pathogens of Poverty, by R. Andrew Chesnut.

Andrew Chesnut’s columns at the Huffington Post and his Twitter feed.

RELATED PODCASTS

Ruth Melkonian on Latin American Protestants.

Christopher Hale on Religion & Protest in Mexico.

Andrew Johnson on Pentecostals in Prison in Brazil.

Brian O’Neel on Saint Who? Some Holy Unknowns.

Brian O’Neel on the Saints of January.

Brian O’Neel on the Saints of February.

Tony Carnes on a Journey Through New York City Religions.

Tony Carnes on Jesus’s Auto Body (and Soul) Shop, Blessed Pizza, and NYC Religions.

William Reimer on Religion & Violence in Toronto

tonygill — Sun, 02 Oct 2016 08:00:05 +0000

Historians and sociologists have long been puzzled by the falling rates of interpersonal violence over the course of the past few centuries. Despite a few upticks at localized moments, murder rates have been falling in urban areas contrary what one might expect. William (Bill) Reimer, author of Revisiting “Toronto the Good”: Violence, Religion and Culture in a Late Victorian City, looks at this phenomenon at the micro-level via an exploration of a Canadian “city of churches” in the late 1800s. His theory builds upon the work of a number of scholars such as Ted Gurr, Norbert Elias, and Manuel Eisner to fill in some of the larger macro-sociological theories that have been floated to explain this phenomenon. Bill explains how the growing social and political influence of British Evangelical Protestantism, most notably Methodists and Baptists, altered the “rough and tumble” nature of an industrializing city by emphasizing themes of “true manliness,” the importance of marriage, temperance, and empathy for prisoners (particularly those on death row). We discuss how Bill came to study this topic, oddly enough involving a visit to a “slam poetry” contest, and how his own Canadian roots influenced his area of study. Bill covers some of the more colorful characters of the era, including William Howland – a pastor turned politician who implemented a strong reformist agenda as mayor of Toronto in the 1880s and who also “put his money where his mouth was” by promoting a number of civic organizations that helped to alleviate various social problems. We also chat about how the concern of evangelical Christians about the mistreatment of Jews in Europe helped shape the “roots of the peaceful Canadian.” Bill offers some of his thoughts as to how his historical study may influence our understanding of our contemporary period and ends on an optimistic note about a religious barista who helps with a local struggling family in Vancouver. Recorded: September 27, 2016.

RELATED LINKS

Regent College Bookstore (in Vancouver, Canada).

Revisiting “Toronto the Good”: Violence, Religion and Culture in a Late-Victorian City, by William D. Reimer.

Methodism: Empire of the Spirit, by David Hempton (mentioned in podcast).

Hillbilly Elegy, by J.D. Vance (mentioned in podcast).

RELATED PODCASTS

Byron Johnson on More God, Less Crime.

Byron Johnson on Religion and Delinquency.

Maureen Fitzgerald on Irish Nuns and Welfare.

Andrew Johnson on Pentecostals in Prison in Brazil.

Jeff Henig on Prison Ministry.

Owen Strachan on Chuck Colson.

Jay Hein on the Quiet Revolution of Social Work.

David Dixon on Religious Rhetoric and the Civil Rights Movement.

Andrew Johnson on Pentecostals in Prison in Brazil

tonygill — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 09:00:37 +0000

How does religion shape and affect the lives of prisoners and other marginalized people in Brazil? Dr. Andrew Johnson, a research associate with the Center for Religion and Civil Culture at the University of Southern California, visits with us and details his amazing study of Pentecostalism in Brazilian prisons, a study that actually had him living as an “inmate” in a Rio de Janeiro prison for several weeks. This study not only became the basis for his dissertation and subsequent publications, but is also part of a documentary film designed to take scholarship to a broader audience.

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.

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.

Jim McGuffey on Church Security (encore presentation)

tonygill — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 08:00:38 +0000

We then dive into a discussion about the biggest threats to churches. Jim explains that the number one problem is that churches do not think much about security, highlighting the figure that only about 15 – 20% of churches have security programs in place. Tony brings up the issue of how congregants might react to a visible security program by speculating that this might either ease the fears of parishioners or, paradoxically, make them more concerned about potential threats. After all, if there is an armed security guard patrolling the church grounds, it is only natural to assume that there must be some problem there. Jim agrees that this latter response is something that concerns pastors and elders. If they do create a highly visible security presence with cameras and guards, this may make the church appear less welcoming and scare away members. Overcoming this mentality is often one of Jim’s greatest challenges.

He also notes that church staff often only start thinking about security after a well-publicized shooting and they tend to overlook more common incidents such as burglary, theft, or vandalism. Indeed, given that physical violence is often rare yet what we focus on, churches typically find themselves more vulnerable to “mundane crimes” such as embezzlement because they don’t give much thought to these things.

Jim then walks us through a typical church security assessment that he would conduct for a house of worship. While not in any means comprehensive, this portion of the interview might be very valuable for clergy or congregants if for no other reason than simply to make them aware of some common sense things they can be alerted to. Although a regular security may sound like “overkill” for a church, Jim points out that one of the main impacts of crime on a church is to tarnish its reputation, especially with incidents that are committed by internal members of the church community. Tony asks if there are certain types of vulnerabilities that church face relative to private businesses or residences and Jim reviews a number of these. One of the more interesting things that churches often neglect is a process of background checks on volunteers; paid staff are often vetted, but volunteers — often the main source of help for many congregations — are often assumed to have pure motives and hence don’t need to have their backgrounds or intentions examined.

Please note that during our discussion of conducting background interviews for volunteers, Mr. McGuffey’s phone failed thus we have a brief interruption in the flow of the conversation. Despite these technical problems we finish strong by talking about how Jim generates interest in his services, noting that what he offers is not simply a service for Christians, but is available for congregants of all faith. Recorded: January 9, 2013.

RELATED LINKS

A.C.E. Security Consultants, LLC, Jim McGuffey’s company.

Security for Houses of Worship, an informational website for church security created and hosted by Jim McGuffey.

Carl Chin’s Church Security website, mentioned in the podcast (includes data about the incidence of crime in churches).

ASIS International.

RELATED PODCASTS

Byron Johnson on More God, Less Crime.

Jim Papandrea on Christianity’s Seven Revolutions

tonygill — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 08:00:43 +0000

What difference does a religious tradition make? If it is Christianity, Prof. Jim Papandrea of the Garrett-Evangelical Seminary at Northwestern University says it matters a great deal. Jim returns to our show for the third time (hat trick) and discusses his new book Seven Revolutions: How Christianity Changed the World and Can Change It Again, coauthored with Mike Aquilina. The general thrust of the book is that Christian theology introduced to the world (at least) seven new ways to envision human society, starting with the individual person and proceeding up through the state.

Jim starts us off by listing the seven great revolutions introduced by Christian thought, including how we look at: the person, the home (and gender roles), work (and the laborer), religion, community, death, and (finally) the state. He also notes how Christianity promoted a “God of love” that opened the door to an inclusionary religion that shaped all of these critical areas. We then look into the fourth revolution — religion — more closely and Jim notes that although based upon a Judaic foundation, Christianity opens the door to proselytizing and including all peoples into one single religion. This has a major impact on how individuals and neighbors are conceived, and will impact the how early Christians opened the door to new thinking on government. We cover the reaction to this new message amongst the Romans of the day, which wasn’t always welcoming. Persecutions were common, yet Christianity kept growing culminating in its final acceptance under the Edict of Milan (313 CE). Jim discusses the role that Constantine played in this process and notes that the Edict of Milan, contrary to the notion that it established Christianity as the official church, was really the world’s first document on religious liberty. This springboards us into another one of Jim’s seven revolutions regarding the role of the state. Here we spend some time talking about how Christianity changed the notion of sovereignty by not placing the “person at the top of the governing pyramid” as the ultimate authority, but rather noting that God is a separate authority. Jim discusses how this translates into the role of citizen sovereignty and how it relates to the foundation of the US government some 230 years ago. We also take time to cover the revolutions of community (“love thy neighbor”) as well as how Christianity developed the concept of human dignity for all and how this helped change views on labor and family roles, not to mention the topics of euthanasia, abortion, and infanticide (practices common in the Roman Empire).

Our conversation ends with some reflection on Christianity in the “post-Christian era.” Jim qualifies that term by noting that there have been moments in history that have looked dire for the demise of the Christian faith, but he raises concern about a secular ethos that may be returning our culture towards the mindset of the pre-Christian era. We ruminate about the role that violent sport and reality TV (a form of entertainment that relishes in humiliation) and what role Christianity can play in addressing the contemporary culture. Jim ends on an optimistic note by asserting that Christianity is always primed for a revival and that by joining together across denominational lines, Christianity can remain highly relevant in the world. Recorded: March 17, 2015.

Jim Papandrea’s personal website including a picture of him pointing at stuff in Rome and his YouTube channel (with music videos).

Seven Revolutions: How Christianity Changed the World and Can Change It Again, by Mike Aquilina and James Papandrea.

Reading the Early Church Fathers, by James Papandrea.

The Wedding of the Lamb, by James Papandrea.

Trinity 101: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, by James Papandrea.

Jim Papandrea’s Amazon.com page with more books and a video of Jim.

Still Quiet Voice, a music CD by James Papandrea.

RELATED PODCASTS

Jim Papandrea on the Church Fathers & Patristic Exegesis.

Jim Papandrea on the End of the World and Revelation.

Tim Kelleher on the Nicene Creed and Hollywood.

Rodney Stark on the Triumph of Christianity, Part I.

Sarah Bond on the Church and Funerals in Late Antiquity.

Jim McGuffey on Church Security

tonygill — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 09:00:15 +0000

In the wake of several highly publicized shootings, we look at how safe churches are, and what they can do to improve their safety, with Jim McGuffey, and independent security consultant with A.C.E. Security Consultants LLC and an expert on church security. We start with Jim’s background, both religious and professional, to understand where his insights into this issue come from. Jim spent time in the military, civilian police, and the armored car business before setting out with his own consulting company. He has also been extensively trained in a vareity of security programs with the licensing to prove it. More importantly, Jim spent time in several denominations including a stint as a church elder. He credits the latter experience with his ability to understand the specific difficulties with trying to protect churches from falkling prey to a variety of illicit behavior, including both bodily and property crimes. He explains how he came to specialize in church security, a service he provides to various religious groups free of charge. We then dive into a discussion about the biggest threats to churches. Jim explains that the number one problem is that churches do not think much about security, highlighting the figure that only about 15 – 20% of churches have security programs in place. Tony brings up the issue of how congregants might react to a visible security program by speculating that this might either ease the fears of parishioners or, paradoxically, make them more concerned about potential threats. After all, if there is an armed security guard patrolling the church grounds, it is only natural to assume that there must be some problem there. Jim agrees that this latter response is something that concerns pastors and elders. If they do create a highly visible security presence with cameras and guards, this may make the church appear less welcoming and scare away members. Overcoming this mentality is often one of Jim’s greatest challenges. He also notes that church staff often only start thinking about security after a well-publicized shooting and they tend to overlook more common incidents such as burglary, theft, or vandalism. Indeed, given that physical violence is often rare yet what we focus on, churches typically find themselves more vulnerable to “mundane crimes” such as embezzlement because they don’t give much thought to these things. Jim then walks us throgh a typical church security assessment that he would conduct for a house of worship. While not in any means comprehensive, this portion of the interview might be very valuable for clergy or congregants if for no other reason than simply to make them aware of some common sense things they can be alerted to. Although a regular security may sound like “overkill” for a church, Jim points out that one of the main impacts of crime on a church is to tarnish its reputation, especially with incidents that are committed by internal members of the church community. Tony asks if there are certain types of vulnerabilities that church face relative to private businesses or residences and Jim reviews a number of these. One of the more interesting things that churches often neglect is a process of background checks on volunteers; paid staff are often vetted, but volunteers — often the main source of help for many congregations — are often assumed to have pure motives and hence don’t need to have their backgrounds or intentions examined. Please note that during our discussion of conducting background interviews for volunteers, Mr. McGuffey’s phone failed thus we have a brief interruption in the flow of the conversation. Despite these technical problems we finish strong by talking about how Jim generates interest in his services, noting that what he offers is not simply a service for Christians, but is available for congregants of all faith. Recorded: January 9, 2013.

RELATED LINKS

A.C.E. Security Consultants, LLC, Jim McGuffey’s company.

Security for Houses of Worship, an informational website for church security created and hosted by Jim McGuffey.

Carl Chin’s Church Security website, mentioned in the podcast (includes data about the incidence of crime in churches).

ASIS International.

RELATED PODCASTS

Byron Johnson on More God, Less Crime.

Monica Toft on Religion, Terrorism, and Civil War

tonygill — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 08:00:38 +0000

A week before the 10th anniversay of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Prof. Monica Duffy Toft of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government joins us to discuss what we have learned about religiously-motivated violence over the past decade. This podcast represents our second discussion on the book God’s Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics (co-authored with Daniel Philpott and Timothy Shah), the first being focused on the role of religion in promoting democracy. Our attention here turns to why religious groups and individuals would be prompted to violence. The discussion is far-ranging, looking not only at Islamic terrorism, but includes an examination of the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland, Hindu nationalism in India, and the influence of Buddhism on the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. Prof. Toft provides definition of terrorism and “informal violence,” the latter which encompasses such “spontaneous” events as ethn0-religious riots. She argues that looking at, and including, informal violence in the analysis of terrorism is crucial for understanding the phenomenon of religiously-motivated violence. Prof. Toft lays out her explanation for the increasing salience of religious violence, focusing both on institutional factors such as how states regulate religious organizations and the importance of political theologies. The confluence of these institutional and ideological factors helps explain why religious terrorism and civil war has increased since the 1970s. Our conversation also considers the recent rampage of Anders Behring Breivik in Norway. We also discuss the role of religion in civil wars such as Sudan, Yugoslavia and other parts of the world. Prof. Toft finishes the interview with her thoughts on whether religious violence is likely to subside in the future. Recorded: August 29, 2011.

RELATED LINKS

Monica Duffy Toft’s website at Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government.

Initiative on Religion in International Affairs at the Belfer Center (Harvard University).

God’s Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics, by Monica Duffy Toft, Daniel Philpott, and Timothy Samuel Shah.

Securing the Peace: The Durable Settlement of Civil Wars, by Monica Duffy Toft.

The Geography of Ethnic Conflict: Identity, Interests, and Territory, by Monica Duffy Toft.

RELATED PODCASTS

Dan Philpott on Religious Resurgence and Democratization.

Eli Berman on Religious Terrorism.

Ron Hassner on Sacred Spaces and Conflict.

Nathan Brown on the Muslim Brotherhood.