last modified 8/7/07
Since the 1980s, evangelical Christian denominations have made converts throughout much of Roman Catholic Latin America, causing clashes of faith that sometimes escalate to violence. Yet in one Mexican town, Tzintzuntzan, the appearance of new churches has provoked only harmony. Catholics and evangelicals alike profess that "all religions are good," a sentiment not far removed from "here we are all equal," which was commonly spoken in the community before evangelicals arrived.
In this paradigm-challenging
study, Peter
Cahn investigates why the coming of evangelical churches to
Tzintzuntzan
has produced neither the interfaith clashes nor the economic prosperity
that evangelical conversion has brought to other communities in Mexico
and Latin America. Drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, he
demonstrates
that the evangelicals’ energetic brand of faith has not erupted into
violence
because converts continue to participate in communal life, while
Catholics,
in turn, participate in evangelical practices. He also underscores how
Tzintzuntzan’s integration into global economic networks strongly
motivates
the preservation of community identity and encourages this mutual
borrowing.
At the same time, however, Cahn concludes that the suppression of
religious
difference obscures ongoing negotiations for power in the community and
undermines the revolutionary potential of religion.
Map of the Lake Pátzcuaro region (courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania Press)
To read an excerpt from the preface, please visit the University of Texas Press website.
For a review from the Journal of Latin American Anthropology, see volume 9, issue 2.
You may purchase a copy of the book in paperback or hardcover in many on-line retailers. For comparison shopping, visit Froogle.
The church of La Soledad in
Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán