Latino Religions And Civic Activism In The United States

by Espinosa, Gaston; Elizondo, Virgilio; Miranda, Jesse

• ISBN13: 9780195162271
• ISBN10: 0195162277
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-08-11
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The Latino community in the United States is commonly stereotyped as Roman Catholic and politically passive. Latino Religions and Civic Activism in the United States challenges and revises these stereotypes by demonstrating the critical influence of Latino Catholics, Evangelicals,Pentecostals, Mainline Protestants, and others on political, civic, and social engagement in the United States and Puerto Rico. It also revises the ostensibly secular narrative of Latino history and politics. The authors analyze the critical role that institutional, popular, and civil religionhave played in Latino activism. This timely book offers readers a new framework by which to understand and to interpret the central importance of religious symbols, rhetoric, ideology, world-views, and leaders to Latino religions and politics over the past 150 years.

Author Biography

Gaston Espinosa is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Claremont McKenna College and past project manager of the Hispanic Churches in American Public Life research project. Virgilio Elizondo is Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Notre Dame, co-principal investigator of the Hispanic Churches in American Public Life research project, and co-founder of the Mexican American Cultural Center in San Antonio, Texas. Jesse Miranda is Distinguished Professor and Director of the Center for Urban Studies and Ethnic Leadership at Vanguard University, co-principal investigator of the Hispanic Churches in American Public Life research project, and founder and president of the Alianza de Ministerios Evangelicos Nacionales (AMEN).

Table of Contents

Contributors,	xiii
Introduction: U.S. Latino Religions and Faith-Based Political, Civic, and Social Action,	3	(16)
Gastón Espinosa, Virgilio Elizondo, and Jesse Miranda
PART I Historical Struggles
1. Conquest, Faith, and Resistance in the Southwest,	19	(16)
Timothy Matovina
2. The Mysticism and Social Action of César Chávez,	35	(18)
Stephen R. Lloyd-Moffitt
3. César Chávez and Mexican American Civil Religion,	53	(12)
Luis D. León
4. "In the Outer Boundaries": Pentecostalism, Politics, and Reies López Tijerina's Civic Activism,	65	(12)
Rudiger V. Busto
5. PADRES: Latino Community Priests and Social Action,	77	(20)
Mario T. Garcia
6. The Challenges and Consequences of being Latina, Catholic, and Political,	97	(14)
Lara Medina
7. Spiritual Affirmation and Empowerment: The Mexican American Cultural Center,	111	(16)
Socorro Castañeda-Liles
8. ¡Ya Basta! Latino/a Protestant Activism in the Chicano/a and Farm Workers Movements,	127	(18)
Paul Barton
9. Fe y Acción Social: Hispanic Churches in Faith-Based Community Organizing,	145	(14)
Richard L. Wood
10. "Dangerous Times Call for Risky Responses": Latino Immigration and Sanctuary, 1981-2001,	159	(18)
Maria Cristina Garcia
PART II Contemporary Struggles
11. Public Lives in American Hispanic Churches: Expanding the Paradigm,	177	(20)
Daniel Ramirez
12. "The Ladies Are Warriors": Latina Pentecostalism and Faith-Based Activism in New York City,	197	(22)
Elizabeth D. Rios
13. Chains of Liberation: Poverty and Social Action in the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God,	219	(14)
Jill DeTemple
14. "The Lord Requires Justice": Lessons on Leadership from the African American Church for Mexican American Catholics,	233	(16)
Alberto López Pulido and Santos C. Vega
15. Pray for Elian: Religion and Politics in Miami,	249	(14)
Miguel A. De La Torre
16. Intifada: Church-State Conflict in Vieques, Puerto Rico,	263	(16)
Lester McGrath-Andino
17. Latino Clergy and Churches in Faith-Based Political and Social Action in the United States,	279	(28)
Gastón Espinosa
Conclusion: Assessing and Interpreting 150 Years of Latino Faith-Based Civic Activism,	307	(8)
Gastón Espinosa, Viriglio Elizondo, and Jesse Miranda
Chronology,	315	(8)
Bibliography,	323	(18)
Index,	341