The Role of Protestant Missionaires in Mexico’s Indigenous Awakening

Abstract

Protestantism has grown rapidly among Latin America’s indigenous population since the 1980s. Despite Protestantism’s attractiveness to indigenous people, the literature has historically regarded it as incompatible with indigenous culture. Recent scholarship has moved beyond this assertion, focusing instead on the complexities of conversion and the paradoxes associated with it. Most scholars now argue that Protestantism can be compatible with indigenous culture. It is unclear, however, how Protestant institutions came to have a compatible relationship with indigenous culture. Indeed, Protestant churches/clergy continue to eschew many of the practices associated with indigenous culture. In this paper I address this question by examining the work of Protestant missionaries. I choose missionaries as my point of analysis because they were crucial in establishing Protestantism in the region, and thus the base point from which it is defined, practiced, and altered. As a case study I examine mission work in Oaxaca, Mexico. I argue that missionaries have changed both their conversion strategies and tactics for dealing with indigenous traditions. These changes make it easier for indigenous people to convert to Protestantism without rejecting key parts of their culture, and in a few cases by even embracing it. I examine two conversion strategies—group targeting and church planting. I also analyze three tactics missionaries use to negotiate indigenous customs considered ‘pagan.’ I choose tequio, village fiestas, and language politics because they have historically been sources of conflict between converts and their Catholic neighbours.

Views of the West: Transnationalism in contemporary Ukrainian Baptist churches

“…Indeed, a somewhat analogous situation exists in Latin America, where traditional local churches cope with missionary activity from wealthier countries. This situation has been examined by missiologists and social scientists alike (for example, Gallaher, 2007;Olson, 2006) and continues to merit research. Of most direct relevance to the Ukraine case would be to compare the reaction of the Latin American Roman Catholic Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to evangelical missionaries, but that is a project for another paper.…”

Changing Faith: The Social Costs of Protestant Conversion in Rural Oaxaca

“…Gros (1999:193) concludes that the spread of Protestantism among the indigenous population in Mexico does not necessarily erode ethnic and cultural frontiers, but can actually strengthen them, dressing itself in 'indigenous clothes' in ways similar to folk Catholicism. In a recent study focusing on Oaxaca in particular, Gallaher (2007) demonstrates how Protestant missionaries have changed both their conversion strategies and tactics for dealing with the indigenous population, leading to a more compatible relationship between Protestantism and indigenous customs. This has made it easier for people to convert to Protestantism without rejecting key aspects of their culture (including tequios and fiestas).…”

Incompatible Worlds? Protestantism and "costumbre" in the Zapotec villages of Northern Oaxaca

“…The spread of Protestantism fragments the communities as idealised hypothetical wholes into different and often antithetical religious lifeworlds. The discussions of Protestant growth and its impact in rural Oaxaca are by now multiple, ranging from the assessment of its influence on gender relations (Sault 2001) and economic development (Marroquín 1995b;Montes 1995;Sánchez 1995) to more general scrutiny of the links between Protestantism and modernisation (Gross 2003), or 'indigenous culture' (Gallaher 2007). My focus in the discussion that follows is more moderate -I will limit myself to critically scrutinising the local claims concerning the Protestants' impact on certain aspects of usos y costumbres.…”

“…Parker (2002) makes a similar argument when suggesting that Protestantism can contribute to the recovery of ethnic identities in Latin America. In a more recent study from Oaxaca, Gallaher (2007) argues that contemporary Protestant churches have managed to establish a more compatible relationship with indigenous customs, owing to the altered conversion strategies and styles of proselytising by Protestant missionaries. Conversion to Protestantism no longer means rejecting the key aspects of indigenous and rural culture, Gallaher concludes.…”