Martyrdom and the Politics of Religion

by Peterson, Anna Lisa

• ISBN13: 9780791431825
• ISBN10: 0791431827
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-02-01
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr

Summary

Martyrdom and the Politics of Religion explores the ways that Salvadoran Catholics sought to make sense of political violence in their country in the 1970s and 1980s by constructing a theological ethics that could both explain repression in religious terms and propose specific responses to violence. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, the book highlights the ways that progressive Catholicism offered a justification and tools for political resistance in the face of extraordinary destruction. Using the case of Catholicism in El Salvador, the book explores the nature of religious responses to social crisis and the ways that ordinary believers construct and strive to live by ethical systems. By highlighting the importance of theological belief, of narrative, and of religious rationality in political mobilization, it touches questions of general interest to readers concerned with the social role of religion and ethics.

Author Biography

Anna L. Peterson is Assistant Professor in the Religion Department of the University of Florida, Gainesville.

Table of Contents

Copyright Permissions	p. vi
Acknowledgements	p. x
Abbreviations	p. xii
Glossary of Spanish and Salvadoran Terms	p. xv
Methodology and Sources	p. xviii
Endnotes	p. xxiv
Introduction	p. 1
Endnotes	p. 19
El Salvador	p. 24
Endnotes	p. 40
Progressive Catholicism in El Salvador	p. 43
Endnotes	p. 68
Sacrifice, History, and Ritual	p. 72
Endnotes	p. 90
The Martyrs	p. 93
Endnotes	p. 115
Reasons for Martyrdom	p. 118
Endnotes	p. 134
The Fruits of Martyrdom	p. 137
Endnotes	p. 153
Conclusions: Religion and Political Protest	p. 157
Endnotes	p. 180
Bibliography	p. 183
Index	p. 207
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.