Seeking the Christian Tutelage: Agency and Culture in Chinese Immigrants' Conversion to Christianity

Ng, Kwai Hang

doi:10.2307/3712565

Cited by 35 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Pastors of Taiwanese converts note that the majority of their congregants converted to Christianity in the U.S. [69]. Other studies of Chinese congregations also report high numbers of Christian converts among Chinese Americans [4,14,70,71]. The same holds for other Asian Americans.…”

Section: Evidence From Post-1965 Immigrationsupporting

confidence: 52%

Religion and Ethnicity: Theoretical Connections

Kim¹

2011

Religions

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Abstract:The religion literature in Sociology remains largely disconnected from the ethnicity and immigration literature despite enduring connections between religion and ethnicity. This review helps to close this gap. It shows how the dominant theories in each discipline follow a similar trajectory and examines how exploring the theoretical connections between religion and ethnicity can advance our understanding of each social phenomenon. In particular, it can illuminate why America remains so religious as well as why America"s religious congregations continue to be so divided along ethnic and racial lines.

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Section: Evidence From Post-1965 Immigrationsupporting

confidence: 52%

Religion and Ethnicity: Theoretical Connections

Kim¹

2011

Religions

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“…This is an important finding in light of the fact that both of these religious traditions have a strongly inherited component (Cadge & Davidman 2006). The work of some authors also reflects the theme that agency is an important part of creating religious identities (Ng 2002;Yang 1999a,b). For example, on the basis of evidence of the conversion process for members of a Chinese immigrant church, Ng (2002) argues that the process of converting to a mainstream religion in the United States involves Chinese immigrants' developing their own appropriations of cultural categories, symbols, and practices even though they are converting to Christianity, an institutionally accepted religion in the United States.…”

Section: Identity Formation: Ethnic Religious and Gender Identitiesmentioning

confidence: 92%

Immigration and Religion

2007

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This review synthesizes research about religion in the lives of post-1965 immigrants to the United States. Such research consists primarily of case studies, published since 1990, focused on individual religious organizations started and attended by immigrants. We analyze these case studies to demonstrate the different ways religion influences immigrants' adaptation in the United States. We then consider how religion informs immigrants' ethnic and gender-based identities, their experiences of civic and political life, and the lives of the second generation. We argue that current research is more descriptive than analytic overall, and we highlight a series of research questions and comparisons to enrich theoretical thinking. In particular, we advocate a comparative approach to examining immigrants' religious organizations and increased attention to a "lived religion" perspective, which takes seriously the ways religion is important for immigrants outside of religious organizations in social institutions, including civic organizations, families, workplaces, schools, and health-care organizations.

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“…Among Chinese immigrants in California, conversion to Protestantism increased levels of cohesiveness, while also exposing them to different aspects of mainstream culture. Congregants were more likely than nonconverts to listen to and speak English, were more exposed to U.S. cultural mores, and celebrated Christian and U.S. festivals (Ng 2002). Similar studies have found that conversion fosters both ethnic reproduction and assimilation for other ethnic groups, more so than for those who maintain their religion of origin (Min 1992;Yang and Ebaugh 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

The Case for Secular Assimilation? The Latino Experience in Richmond, Virginia

Cavalcanti

Schleef

2005

J Scientific Study of Religion

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Studies of 20th‐century ethnic immigrant groups to the United States profile religion as a key factor in their assimilation into U.S. culture. Religious institutions provided immigrants and families with a safe haven where they could hold on to their ethnic identity, even as they and their children were mainstreamed into the larger culture. Changes in immigration law since 1965 have complicated somewhat the relationship between religion and assimilation. The variety of religious forms now present in the United States and the diversity of immigrants create new options as they seek to adapt to U.S. life. We look at the absence of religion as one of those options. The nonreligious paths chosen by some Latinos in Richmond, Virginia have implications for the way they become part of the community, especially in comparison to those who remain members of their religion of origin or who convert to U.S. faiths.

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Seeking the Christian Tutelage: Agency and Culture in Chinese Immigrants' Conversion to Christianity

Cited by 35 publications

References 23 publications

Religion and Ethnicity: Theoretical Connections

Religion and Ethnicity: Theoretical Connections

Immigration and Religion

The Case for Secular Assimilation? The Latino Experience in Richmond, Virginia

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