Globalizing the Sacred: Religion Across the Americas

268 Pages·2003·1.36 MB·English

by  Manuel A. Vasquez

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS i
Globalizing the Sacred
ii GLOBALIZING THE SACRED
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii
GLOBALIZING
THE SACRED
Religion across the Americas
MANUEL A.
V Á S Q U E Z
MARIE FRIEDMANN
M A R Q U A R D T
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY PRESS
New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London
iv GLOBALIZING THE SACRED
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Vásquez, Manuel A.
Globalizing the sacred : religion across the Americas / Manuel A. Vásquez and Marie
F. Marquardt.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0–8135–3284–1 (alk. paper) — ISBN 0–8135–3285–X (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. America—Religion. 2. Religion and sociology—America. 3. Globalization—reli-
gious aspects. I. Marquardt, Marie F. 1972– II. Title.
BL2500 .V37 2003
306.6’097—dc21
2002152411
British Cataloging-in-Publication information is available from the British Library.
Copyright © 2003 by Manuel A. Vásquez and Marie Friedmann Marquardt
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
written permission from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 100
Joyce Kilmer Avenue, Piscataway, NJ 08854–8099. The only exception to this prohibi-
tion is “fair use” as defined by U.S. copyright law.
Manufactured in the United States of America
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii
INTRODUCTION 1
1 THE LIMITS OF DOMINANT AND EMERGING MODELS 12
2 THEORIZING GLOBALIZATION AND RELIGION 34
3 MIRACLES AT THE BORDER:
A Genealogy of Religious Globalization 65
4 CROSSING THE ELECTRONIC FRONTIER:
Religious Congregations and the Internet 92
5 SAVING SOULS TRANSNATIONALLY:
Pentecostalism and Youth Gangs in El Salvador and the United States
(with Ileana Gómez) 119
6 A CONTINUUM OF HYBRIDITY:
Latino Churches in the New South 145
7 PREMODERN, MODERN, OR POSTMODERN?:
John Paul II’s Civilization of Love 171
8 “BLITZING” CENTRAL AMERICA:
The Politics of Transnational Religious Broadcasting 197
CONCLUSION 223
NOTES 231
WORKS CITED 239
INDEX 253
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii
Acknowledgments
Completing this book would not have been possible without help from
family, friends, and colleagues. Foremost among them is Anna Peterson,
whose careful readings of multiple drafts proved invaluable. Manuel A.
Vásquez also expresses his deepest gratitude to Anna and Gabriel for their
patience and understanding throughout the lengthy process. Thanks
are also due to the members of the Rockefeller reading group on reli-
gion and globalization at the University of Florida, especially to Patricia
Fortuny, David Hackett, Lois Lorentzen, Milagros Peña, and Philip Wil-
liams. Participants in the UF graduate seminar “Globalizing the Sacred”
also allowed Manuel to try out some preliminary hypotheses.
Marie would like to thank Chris and Mary Elizabeth for providing
love, encouragement, and much-needed diversion. Her profound grati-
tude goes to Elizabeth Friedmann for the many sacrifices she offered
to make this project possible. Thanks also to those who have carefully
read and responded to chapter drafts and presentations, including
Nancy Eiesland, Elizabeth Bounds, Steven Tipton, Sarah Mahler, and
Carlos Garma Navarro, and to faculty and colleagues at Emory, espe-
cially Jon Gunnemann, Carla Freeman, Karey Harwood, Barbara
McClure, Melissa Snarr, and Bradley Schmelling. Marie would also like
to thank the Social Science Research Council, the Lilly Endowment, the
Louisville Institute, and the Graduate Division of Religion at Emory
University for funding portions of this project. Finally, we both thank
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the communities and individuals who so generously shared their ex-
periences with us, our anonymous reader for the insightful comments,
and David Myers at Rutgers University Press for his unwavering sup-
port throughout the production of the book.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
Globalizing the Sacred