Religions of the World

Religions of the World This encyclopedia series provides comprehensive coverage of “world religions.” Cohesive and objective in its treatment, the series covers a wide spectrum of academic disciplines and religious traditions. It lays bare similar- ities and differences that naturally emerge within and across disciplines and religions today. The series includes the academic field of multidisciplinary, secular study of religious beliefs, behaviors, and institutions. It offers descrip- tions, comparisons, interpretations, and explanations on religions in many different regions of the world. The series emphasizes systematic, historically based, and cross-cultural perspectives. Each volume offers a “state of play” perspective regarding the specific area of the world being considered, looking both at the current situation and at likely further developments within that area. More information about this series at https://www.springer.com/series/15065 Henri Gooren Editor Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions With 19 Figures and 17 Tables Editor Henri Gooren Sociology, Anthropology, Social Work and Criminal Justice Oakland University Rochester, MI, USA ISBN 978-3-319-27077-7 ISBN 978-3-319-27078-4 (eBook) ISBN 978-3-319-28571-9 (print and electronic bundle) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27078-4 Library of Congress Control Number: 2019933396 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Preface Springer’s Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions (ELAR) is the first of its kind. Its main aim is to provide the most comprehensive, cohesive, and objective coverage to date on the topic of Latin American religions. Obviously there are other general reference works on the religions of Latin America, but no encyclopedia exists that systematically and alphabetically lists (almost) all religious expressions that are currently present in Latin America. Hence, we had to start from scratch and faced some hard decisions that defined the aim and scope of the project. First, we decided to focus on the contemporary religious expressions of Latin America. Other reference works exist that cover the many Native American hunter-gatherers and especially the famous agricultural civilizations of old: Olmecs, Toltecs, Maya, Nazca, Inca, Aztecs, etc. Similarly, many reference works cover the Spanish and Portuguese conquest and colonization processes in Latin America, the rise of the republics after independence, the growing influence of Britain and the United States, the effects of the Cold War in Latin America, and the state of benign neglect that seems to characterize current US and EU policies toward the region. Second, there is the problem of geography. What constitutes Latin Amer- ica? Historically, the term “Amérique latine” was first used in the 1860s by Emperor Napoleon III (1808–1873) to express France’s growing geopolitical interest in a region historically dominated by first Spain and Portugal and later Britain and the United States. We include all the countries south of the Rio Grande and in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Geographically, historically, economically, politically, and religiously, it makes sense to include the Caribbean region with Latin America. Thus, the Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions covers a total of no less than 27 countries. These are Brazil, 16 Spanish-speaking countries on the continent, Belize, 3 Spanish- speaking island nations (Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic), 3 other important island nations (Haiti, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago), and the 3 Guyanas: (former British) Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. Third, there is the problem of defining religion. German sociologist Max Weber (1864–1920) famously managed to avoid this. His contemporary, the British anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor (1832–1917), defined religion through his animism concept as “the belief in spiritual beings” (Primitive Society 1871: Chap. xi ff.). This basic definition still works, provided one adds human manipulation of spiritual beings and the supernatural through ritual. v vi Preface Hence, our definition of religion is extremely broad. In chronological order, ELAR covers indigenous religions (but see my caveat below), Roman Cathol- icism, (historical) Protestantism, indigenous and imported Pentecostalisms, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Afro-Brazilian (Candomblé and Umbanda) and Afro-Caribbean (Vodou and Santería) religions, the world religions of immigrants, transnational new religious movements (such as Hare Krishna and the Unification Church), and some uniquely Latin American churches (such as Mexico’s Light of the World church and Brazil’s Universal Church of the Kingdom of God). ELAR even covers the recent increases in the numbers of Latin Americans who report having no religion. Fourth, since the Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions is an encyclopedia, long-term and recent historical trends are subsumed under about 500 alphabetically listed entry titles. The main religious trends in Latin America include the start and subsequent indigenization of Catholicism (later mirrored in Protestantism and Pentecostalism); the evolution of African-inspired religions; the arrival of world religions like Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism with various immigrant waves; the arrival and membership explosions of Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons; the importa- tion of transnational new religious movements like Hare Krishna and the Unification Church; the start and evolution of uniquely Latin American churches; and finally, the recent stark percent point increases in the “No Religion” population segment (the “religious nones”) across almost all countries in Latin America (also in the United States for that matter). A project such as the Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions is inevi- tably a group effort, hence the use of “we” in this preface. Yet, ELAR would not exist without one person: Springer editor Cristina Alves dos Santos. At the annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion in Boston, she asked if I would be interested in becoming editor in chief of the proposed new Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions. Had I realized all this entailed, I would have politely turned Cristina down, but ignorance (or vanity) is at the core of many a gargantuan task. We divided up the subject matter and, over the next years, recruited ten section editors from six different countries. I was happy to see the involvement of so many prominent researchers from Mexico and Brazil, as well as from the United States, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany. Brainstorming with the section editors, we made long lists of possible entry topics and went about recruiting possible authors. The main Springer editors who worked hard on ELAR were Sylvia Blago, Michael Hermann, and Johanna Klute. I am most grateful for their expert support, advice, emails, and phone conferences. So 5 years later, the print edition of the Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions finally comes out. Putting together two encyclopedia volumes with the size and weight of bricks takes resolve, rewards, and, above all, patience. It was difficult to recruit section editors and authors alike; many dropped out unexpectedly, sometimes at the last moment. When asked how it feels to be editor in chief of an encyclopedia of over 1, 500 printed pages, I said: “It’s like being in an artillery bombardment without knowing how many grenades are duds.” My advice: to proceed with extreme caution. The most efficient ways of Preface vii imposing deadlines on scholars cannot pass the Institutional Review Board (IRB) standards. Recruiting friends as editors and authors often proved risky; I recommend recruiting strangers. The primary audience of ELAR are scholars and students in a variety of disciplines (such as history, anthropology, sociology, psychology, education, economics, geography, theology, mission studies, religious studies, cultural studies), but we hope the Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions will also be useful for a much wider audience of journalists, librarians, analysts, gov- ernment officials, doctors, and many other professionals. In spite of gargantuan efforts,

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