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The
Markers of a Genealogy: Politics of Religion in the United States
In
their recent book Exporting the American Gospel: Global Christian Fundamentalism,
Brouwer et. al have observed that“A new kind of Christian fundamentalism,
once thought to be unique to the United States, is spreading across the globe.A
transnational religious culture is meeting a common need in the mega-cities
of the developing world, in the slums which surround them, and in the outlying
agricultural districts as well” (1996: 1).Similarly, as pointed out by Caplan,
by 1986 well over half the 38, 000 US personnel in Protestant missions overseas
were associated withfundamentalist organizations (Caplan 1995: 96-97).Together
these groups had access to an operating budget of over US$ 500 million (Caplan
1995: 97). Moreover, Ammerman has suggested that such fundamentalists also tended
to see “American military and economic might as guarantors of their ability
to evangelize the world” (quoted in Caplan 1995: 97).In the context of these
observations, I would suggest that the growth and expansion of evangelical Christian
groups in South Asia must at a certain level be located in the manner in which
such groups initially originated in the United States from where many such groups
still operate out of, or in the very least are affiliated to church groups in
that country. This however does not mean that all such groups are invariably
linked to mother organizations in the United States. But it is clear that in
the case of both Nepal and Sri Lanka, many of the new evangelical churches and
para-church organizations which have recently emerged, trace their origins to
churches and organizations in the United States or receive a substantial portion
of their funds through sources in the US. On the other hand, similar organizations
or funds for such organizations have also come to South Asia from countries
such as England, Australia, South Korea, Finland, Japan,Sweden, the Netherlands,
and so on.
Irrespective
of this linkage, Bayly has argued that “because the nation states of South Asia
are heterogeneous societies containing large numbers of interacting religious
communities, confessional groupings, and caste groups, it is a mistake to look
for “outsiders”as the prime organizers or inspiration for fundamentalist movements”
(Bayly 1994: 727).Surely, one can accept this argument in relation to the rise
of Hindu and Islamicmilitancy in India and Pakistan as well as the emergence
of similarlymilitant strains of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Such manifestations have,
and often will, lead to the establishment of fundamentalist groups. On the other
hand, the local roots of some of the better known “fundamentalist” manifestations
of Catholicism have also been documented by writers such as Bayly (1994: 726-763).In
explaining militant manifestations of religion or fundamentalisms in this sense,
one could agree with Bayly when she argues that “South Asia’s experience of
contemporary fundamentalist movements can only be understood as a product of
conflicts emanating from within its own complex regional societies” (Bayly 1994:
727).As we would see later, the popularization of evangelical Christianities
in other parts of Asia such as in South Korea and the Philippines also has to
be understood in such acontext.But the situation with regard to the expansion
of evangelical movements in Nepal and Sri Lanka suggess a different scenario,
where one has to often look for outsiders as initiators and inspirations for
such groups contrary to the advice offered by Bayly above. Nevertheless, such
exterior initiation in the form of extending financial and other support as
well as inspiration can only work in the long run if local conditions, including
leadership, are conducive for such movements to thrive. It is then in looking
for such exterior initiation and motivation in the expansion of new evangelical
movements in Nepal and Sri Lanka, that the role of American based groups come
into prominence.
Many
of the conservative evangelical groups that operate in South Asia todaytrace
their origins to a specific period in American history. Their predecessors emerged
in the United States around the turn of the 20th century, and attempted to lead
campaigns in defense of orthodox beliefs of the Bible along with what
they perceived as traditional virtues and ways of life (Ammerman 1994: 13-14).
While these beliefs were widely shared by many in the US throughout the 19th
century, it was only in the beginning of the present century that some religious
leaders and lay persons began to seriously entertain ideas that such virtues
and ways of life were in decline and under threat of extinction. It was in such
a context th |
