Page 151 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol IV

1452 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

even relatively affluent and conservative people in U.S. sition to the regime. In the case of South Korea, Jung
society “sense that change has ‘robbed’ them of the asserts that Pentecostalism assumed an explicitly anti-
power to control the future, to effect their wills on their Communist orientation and “produced an ahistorical,
environment, to know what to expect and to act accord- apolitical and other-world-centered form of faith” (1999,
ingly” (McGuire 1982, 176). Csordas, in The Sacred Self, 151) that served to support the country’s capitalist class.
asserts that the perception of divine presence often Conversely, as Stoll observes, Pentecostal pastors and
instills in Catholic charismatics a sense of security that congregations “tend to retain considerable autonomy in
enables them to overcome memories of traumatic events. their dealings with state and society” (1990, 319).
Various scholars have examined the role that Pente-
costalism plays in Latin America and other Third World An Increasingly Diverse
countries. For the most part, Pentecostalism in Brazil and Movement
elsewhere in Latin America caters to the poor. Despite Pentecostalism, like other religious traditions, is not a
the fact that Christian-based communities inspired by lib- monolithic entity. As this essay has indicated, it exhibits
eration theology provided Catholicism with a new lease tremendous diversity within specific countries, such as
on life in Latin America, Pentecostalism has proven to be the United States or Brazil, and from country to country.
a fierce competitor because of its ability to tap into At any rate, in the course of a little more than one hun-
deeply felt emotional needs and to promise its adherents dred years, it has become a significant force politically,
upward social mobility. Based upon an ethnographic study economically, and culturally. Furthermore, particularly in
of Pentecostals in Belem, Brazil, Chesnut in Born Again its charismatic form, it no longer is simply the religion of
in Brazil reports that the great majority of his subjects the downtrodden and disinherited.As a consequence, an
converted to Pentecostalism during or shortly following increasing number of historians, theologians, sociolo-
a serious sickness. In a similar vein, Lancaster in Thanks gists, anthropologists, and other scholars, both Pente-
for God and the Revolution (1988) found that Pentecostal costal and non-Pentecostal, have deemed it a topic to
churches in Nicragua recruit most of their members from warrant serious consideration with the context of the
the lowest echelon of the poor, many of whom are alco- world-system.
holics or sick or elderly. Sociologist David Martin views Pentecostalism, on the
Despite their traditional political fatalism, Pentecostals one hand, as the Christian equivalent of Islamic funda-
have also become politically active in Latin America, al- mentalism in the sense that it constitutes a cultural revo-
though they have generally favored conservative candi- lution responding to changes in the large global economy,
dates such as Rios Montt in Guatemala, a former Pente- while, on the other hand, unlike the latter, not offering an
costal Sunday School teacher, and Alberto Fujimori in overarching political agenda. As a consequence, Pente-
Peru. Indeed, General Augusto Pinochet provided sup- costalism, perhaps like Christianity as a whole, may be
port to Chile’s largest Protestant sect, the Pentecostal utilized to support existing sociopolitical and socioeco-
Church, according to Stoll in Is Latin American Turning nomic arrangements or to challenge them.
Protestant? Some Brazilian Pentecostals have supported
Hans A. Baer
left-wing candidates and parties, such as Luiz Inacio Lula
da Silva and the Workers’ Party. Nevertheless, Chesnut See also Missionaries
argues that Brazilian Pentecostalism generally“reinforces
the political status quo by engaging in the clientelistic pol-
itics that predominate in the republic” (1997,146).South Further Reading
African Pentecostalism for the most part maintained its Anderson, A. H. (1999). Dangerous memories for South African Pente-
costal. In A. H. Anderson & W. J. Hollenweger (Eds.), Pentecostals
distance from the antiapartheid movement, although
after a century: Global perspectives on a movement in transition (pp.
some of the younger black Pentecostals expressed oppo- 89–107). Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Academic Press.