Religious Transformations and the Language of Rights in Latin America

Taiwan Journal of Democracy, Volume 2, No. 2: 117-142 Religious Transformations and the Language of Rights in Latin America Daniel H. Levine Abstract Three elements combine to shape the relation of religion and politics in Latin America now and in the future: the facts of religious plurality and pluralism; the emergence of real social and political pluralism in a context of democracy; and the creation and diffusion of a practical vocabulary of rights that includes the defense of human rights, but goes further to promote the creation of autonomous subjects able to claim voice and participation in public life. The creation of a vocabulary of rights, with roots in social, religious, and political norms and practices, provides a theoretical and empirical bridge between religion and politics. To understand the relation of religion and politics in the Latin America of the twenty-first century, it is essential that we recognize the profound changes that the continent has experienced in both “religion” and “politics” and in how the relation between them is understood, created, and sustained: that is to say, the new actors, organizational vehicles, and arenas in which the relation of faith to social and political action is worked out. This is a dialectical relationship: as both religion and politics change, they also exchange basic ideas and concepts, learning from and adapting to one another. Religion is neither the passive reflection of the social order (as Durkheim might have had it) nor is it a template, or worse, a cookbook, for political action, as much contemporary commentary on fundamentalism suggests. The path is two-way, and the influence is mutual. Three dimensions of change combine to give form and content to the relations of religion and politics in Latin America: (1) religious pluralism, (2) socio-political pluralism and democratic politics, and (3) the creation and diffusion of a language of rights, which includes the defense of human rights, but goes beyond this to promote the creation of autonomous subjects Daniel H. Levine is James Orin Murfin Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan. <[email protected]>. The author thanks Paul Freston, José Enrique Molina, and Timothy Steigenga for their comments and suggestions. December 2006 | 117 who themselves are capable of claiming voice and participation in social life. The emergence of a practical vocabulary of rights provides an empirical and theoretical bridge between religion and politics. The public face of religion in Latin America, the overall presence of churches, religious groups, and images in the public sphere, and the social and political life of the continent have changed beyond recognition over the last half century. In the not so distant past, thinking about the public face of religion evoked images and symbols of civic religious fusion at all levels. The repertoire included Te Deums, with the presence of political and ecclesiastical “authorities” at the highest level, along with the infallible presence of politicians, clergy, and military officers at the inauguration of public works, the opening of stores or factories, and a wide range of public events or programs. Together on a public stage, this joint presence perfectly reflected and reinforced the identification of “the church” (only one was recognized) with political and economic power and social hierarchy. Thinking about the public face of religion in this new century brings very different images to mind. Street preachers fill the scene, men (they are mostly men) carrying a Bible, a loudspeaker, and sometimes a portable platform, preaching and often singing with some small group in a public square, on a street corner, or near a bus or train station. In any city of the continent and in the smallest and most remote towns as well, it is now just about impossible to linger in a public square or get on or off a bus, metro, or train without running into one or more preachers. They no longer represent “the church”; they speak in the name of many. 1 The contrast with the traditional face of religion is strong and reflects a net of related changes. Where there was monopoly, there is now pluralism; where a limited number of spaces were once officially reserved for religious practice (with a limited number of authorized practitioners), there is now a rich profusion of churches, chapels, and mass media programming, not to mention campaigns and crusades that carry the message to hitherto “profane” spaces such as streets and squares to beaches, sports stadiums, jails, bars, and nightclubs. Instead of a limited number of voices “authorized” to speak in the name of religion, there is now a plurality of voices, not only between distinct denominations but within churches as well. The Argenine folklorist and singer, Atahualpa Yupanqui, has a song called Preguntitas Sobre Dios (Some Small Questions about God) that has much to say about the traditional image and public presence of religion in Latin America. The singer asks members of his family where God can be found. The family is poor—peasants, miners, and woodcutters—and no one knows. No one has seen God, no one responds. Of his brother, the singer says, “And nobody should ask him if he knows where God is / Such an important 1 Uruguay is the notable exception to the older pattern, while Cuba is a clear exception to the new. 118 | Taiwan Journal of Democracy, Volume 2, No. 2 person has never been to his house.” 2 Yupanqui concludes: There is business here on earth More important than God. [It's that] no one should spit blood So that others can live better. Does God watch over the poor? Maybe yes, maybe no. But one thing is sure He eats at the boss’ table.3 The God that Atahualpa Yupanqui sings of is remote: familiar friend of the rich, but invisible and at best indifferent to the poor. This God is no friend to those who fight for change. Anyway, the singer tells us that fighting for justice on earth is more urgent than searching for a God who is too important to care about (much less be present among) the poor. This image of God extends to religion, specifically to the Catholic Church, and has long echoes in the liberal and radical tradition of Spain and Latin America. From the civil wars of the nineteenth century to the Mexican and Cuban revolutions, over a wide range of issues and circumstances, progressives of all kinds consistently identified religion with superstition and churches with reactionary forces. Looking backward from the present, these images have a dated, almost antiquarian quality about them. Over the course of the last fifty years, new groups, insurgent voices, and social forces with religious inspiration and support have reshaped religion’s image and social connections in Latin America and profoundly altered the terms of its engagement in politics. Allies of the past (especially military and economic elites) no longer found religion trustworthy; progressive movements looked to religion for moral and material support. To summarize, in less than half a century, a securely established routine of mutual support and, indeed, mutual blessing among church, state, and power has been transformed in dramatic fashion. New and often confrontational voices emerged, ranging from Christian democratic reformism and liberation theology to Christian Marxist alliances. Protestantism, once a collection of small groups with a public stress on personal salvation, obedience to authority, and a ferocious anticommunism, has grown to the point that it constitutes a significant presence on the public stage. At the same time, Protestantism has diversified, and now incorporates a wide and growing 2 In Spanish, Y que nadie le pregunta si sabe donde está Dios /por su casa no ha pasado tan importante señor. 3 In Spanish, Hay un asunto en la tierra mas importante que Dios/y es que nadie escupa sangre, pa'que otro viva mejor/ Que Dios vela por los pobres, tal vez sí, tal vez no/ pero es seguro que almuerza, en la mesa del patrón. December 2006 | 119 range of views and positions. This is much change in very little time, change that repeatedly has caught scholars and observers by surprise. How can we grasp the dynamic of change in a way and look to the future with reasonable confidence of accuracy? The Transformation of Religion: Plurality and Pluralism Before getting into the particulars of analysis, a brief note is in order on how the concepts of plurality and pluralism are employed and how they are distinguished from one another. Above all, plurality is quantitative, and is used here to denote the growing number of groups, activists, spokespersons, churches, chapels, and the like. The concept of pluralism is social, and is used in this essay to denote the construction of rules of the game that incorporate multiple actors as legitimate parts of the process. For pluralism to gain acceptance in society and politics, plurality is clearly a necessary but not a sufficient condition. Together, the new facts of religious plurality and pluralism are reshaping the public face of religion in Latin America, as they intersect with the equally new facts of pluralism in politics and civil society. A plurality of churches, social movements identified with religion, and “voices” claim the moral authority to speak in the name of religion; a pluralism is increasingly evident in civil society and access to public spaces. Barriers to organization drop as the “rules of the game” for a plural religious arena are gradually worked out and put into practice. This is a two-way street —a dialectical relationship to be more precise. Just as religious plurality and pluralism transform social and political life, putting more actors, voices, and options into play, so too the consolidation and expansion of democratic politics, the reduction of barriers to organization and access, and the gradual elaboration of practical rules of the game for a plural civil society have dramatic impacts of their own on religious institutions.

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