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Christian Experiences and Imaginings of the Secular in New Zealand

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Christian Experiences and Imaginings of the Secular in New Zealand Christian experiences and imaginings of the Secular in New Zealand Jessica Carter A thesis submitted to Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Cultural Anthropology VICTORIA UNIVERSITY OF WELLINGTON February 2018 1 Abstract This thesis explores how the Secular comes to materialise in the lives of a small group of Pentecostal-Charismatic Christians in Wellington, New Zealand. It presents an ethnographic account of how Christians experience and imagine the intertwined relationship between the religious and the Secular as they navigate social spaces, construct their identity, and make sense of the world. I argue that the Secular is not simply a residual state following the demise of religion, but rather, it is a discursive sensibility that produces religious subjects, and shapes a particular way of thinking about religion and its place in society. The Christians in this study seek to reject, counter and shape secular sensibilities, but they are also embroiled in producing the Secular. Consequently, they problematise dominant understandings of the Secular and religion as intrinsically separate and opposed domains. Based on four months of fieldwork in a Pentecostal-Charismatic church, and interviews with nine church congregants, this thesis reveals that Christian lives involve complex and multifaceted ways of being both Christian and secular. Cover image: “Hands” by Matt W, church member1. For him, this image represents the hands of Jesus and serves as a visual representation of the church. I also see this image as illustrating the discussion presented in Chapter Five of Christian belief as a posture. 1 I have obtained written permission to use this image. ii Acknowledgements First and foremost, thank you to my participants and Trustpeak church2 for your generosity, time, and friendship. I am extremely grateful for, and humbled by, your hospitality and the ease with which you welcomed me into your family—thank you, and I hope I have done your stories justice. I wish to acknowledge my supervisors Dr Jeff Sissons and Dr Eli Elinoff whose guidance—while each was extremely busy with their own projects—was instrumental in completing this thesis. I am grateful not only for your practical and intellectual wisdom, but also for believing in this project and challenging me to reach my potential. Jeff, I also want to thank you for meeting with me before I had even committed to the idea of doing my Master’s and convincing me to go for it. Thank you also to the Victoria University Scholarships Committee for funding this research. I am indebted to Tonya, who proofread my thesis with enthusiasm and astonishing efficiency, and to Sarah, who provided feedback at short notice. Thank you both. I also want to acknowledge my office colleagues Sam, Rara and Bryony (plus honorary office colleague Ben) for your support, conversation and friendship—a special thanks to Bryony to whom I owe a great deal. Thank you to Dr Matthew S for taking the time out of your schedule to meet with me every few weeks—your guidance and insights are much appreciated. I am also grateful to Dr John D of the Victoria University Anglican Chaplaincy for taking the time to speak with me openly and warmly about my project. Special thanks also to Rebecca K for supporting me in pursuing this Master’s, you continue to be an inspiring figure to me in my goals and ambitions. I would like to thank my family and friends for their encouragement and support; of which there are too many to name here. However, thank yous must go to my parents, Craig and Angela, for always believing in me, to my grandparents, Wendy and Frank, for motivating me from an early age to do my best, and to my sister, Ange, for always having an ear to lend—good times and bad. Thanks also to Dave for your reassurance and advice. Finally, thank you to my partner Jon—to whom my gratitude is beyond words. Your unwavering support (emotional and practical), patience, and encouragement has been fundamental in enabling me to do this thesis. You have put your priorities and goals aside over this last year to allow me to pursue mine, a sacrifice I do not take for granted—thank you. 2 A pseudonym. iii Table of Contents Abstract. .ii Acknowledgements. .iii Table of Contents. .iv Chapter One Introduction. .1 Background. .3 Setting the scene. .4 Context. .5 Theoretical concepts. 10 Chapter outlines. .13 Chapter Two Methods and methodology. .15 The field: anthropology at home? . 15 My self: ontological and pragmatic challenges. .16 Access. 20 Participant observation. .20 Interviews. .22 Ethics and privacy. .26 Data and analysis. .27 Chapter Three Space and place: Christian and secular boundaries. 28 Navigating social space. 29 Reproducing and crossing symbolic boundaries—when is a space secular?. .32 Christian spaces: collapsing the dichotomy? . .38 The Prayer Room as resistance. .42 Conclusion. .44 Chapter Four Christian identity work: selves, others, and God. .45 The Looking Glass Self and significant others. 47 Flipping the looking glass: The non-Christian self. 52 iv The other Other. 56 A counter-cultural identity and cultural critique. .58 Conclusion. .61 Chapter Five Reality and knowledge: Reason, belief, doubt and absence. .62 [modern] Knowledge. .63 Christian science or scientific faith?. .65 Belief. 67 Doubt. .69 Absence and nonsense. .71 Conclusion. .75 Chapter Six The secular imaginary. .77 Imaging the Secular. 77 Critiquing the Secular/imagining the ideal. .80 A circular imaginary: constructing a repugnant Other? . .85 “Christianity can no longer be avoided”: the secular imaginary in academic practice . .89 Conclusion: “Because I’m a person and I believe in God, you know? I’m not just a Christian” . 93 Chapter Seven Conclusion. 95 Reference List. 99 v Chapter One Introduction What is the lived experience of Christianity in an increasingly secular society? With the generous benefit of hindsight, I now see that contained within this overarching research question is a raft of personal, cultural, ontological and disciplinary assumptions. As a non-Christian who until recently had given little thought to Christianity, I wondered what it meant to identify with a faith that was once inextricable from New Zealand’s national identity, but which is now declining in adherence, visibility and influence3. Of course, implied in this question is that Christianity and the Secular/secularism4 are naturally opposed. However, as I conducted fieldwork in a Christian church in Wellington, spoke to Christians in conversation and in interviews, I had this—and many other— assumptions repeatedly challenged. I realised that for the Christians I spoke to, the distinctions between Christianity and the Secular, faith and reason, belief and knowledge, and spiritual and material were blurred, intertwined, and at times indistinguishable. Rather than seeing Christianity as simply in opposition to the Secular, I began to see Christianity as an inherently emergent phenomenon that “is made and remade through moments of interaction and encounter, rather than a cultural object filled with a particular content" (Garriott and O'Neill 2008, 388). Of course, opposition may be one component of this interaction and encounter, but it does not convey the rich complexity of the relationship between Christianity and the Secular. This thesis therefore seeks to explore how Christianity, notions of the Secular, and discourses of secularism, come to materialise and interact in the lived experiences of Christians in New Zealand. 3 I discuss changes to religious adherence in New Zealand later in this chapter under Context. Of course, visibility and influence are more difficult to quantify; however, there is a wealth of evidence suggesting that Christian-established and/or influenced practices and laws in New Zealand have been subject to secular reform over the last fifty years (Ahdar 2006). 4 The Secular and its derivatives are theoretically, discursively and culturally charged concepts. As such, when referring to ‘the Secular’ as an ideological concept, the S is capitalised. When using ‘secular’ to describe an institution or practice (for example, ‘a secular school’), a lowercase s is used. I specify the theoretical underpinnings of the Secular and how I use the concept throughout this thesis later in this chapter under Theoretical Concepts. 1 My research is based on four months of ethnographic research in a Pentecostal-Charismatic church called Trustpeak5, four individual interviews, a group interview with five participants, as well as the numerous conversations.
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