>They don't handle snakes and speak in tongues at the megachurches, do
>they? Aren't we talking about two different social sets and religious
>practices?
when we're talking evangelicals? I don't think so. You're referring to a particular subset, charismatic evangelicals, IIRC. I'm not sure what Marta was referring to. What are the numbers behind the _Left Behind_ series?
At any rate, this research (and others like it) was done in the late 70s/early 80s. I read it, oh geez feelin' old now, 89 or so? At any rate, Ammerman pointed out that her subjects weren't conventional "white trash" then, and it's changed since, with evangelical movement churches reaching out to upscale "yups" - cause that's where the money is. As Deb has noted before, as has Joe Noonan, it's just four ways from Sunday acceptable to blab on about religion at work, send religious e-mail to your co-workers, say something like "I don't believe the dollar is almight, only god is almighty" in the middle of some discussion. I mean, this sort of thing would _never_ fly where I grew up in upstate NY -- and we really _were_ hicks and my mother and father were raised by bible thumpers, big time.
What's changed, I believe, is the focus on testifying -- a rejection of works, in favor of the "talking cure" (heh) where the goal is to find places to testify to the power of jesus in your life. but that's another post.
This review is interesting for its focus on authoritarianism and, noddig at Woj, why it may be "good" for people attracted to these churches. (Mind you, there's a fundamentalists are better understood as a particular subset. _I_ talk a lot about people who _reject_ denominationalism in favorite of "living life the 1 century christian way" and they are _damn_ judgemental about it, too.
Bible Believers: Fundamentalists in the Modern World
By Nancy Tatom Ammerman
New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press, 1987. 247 Pp. $30.00, ($12.00 Pb).
Usually when we get to know people from a tradition different from our own, some of our stereotypes are destroyed. Those who have only negative images of fundamentalists might have such an experience from reading this volume.
Nancy Tatom Ammerman spent a year in 1979-1980 participating in, observing, and interviewing the members of a suburban Connecticut congregation, described on its church sign as "Independent, Fundamental, Premillennial, and Baptistic." Although she is not a fundamentalist, Ammerman's own background was similar enough for her to fit in easily and to be accepted and trusted.
Contrary to some conventional wisdom, Ammerman finds the authoritarian world of fundamentalists to be psychologically "good" for its adherents. She sees, according to the testimony of the church members themselves, the strict rules of the community as generally empowering, rather than the contrary. Nor can northern suburban fundamentalism be explained away as a fringe movement sociologically. Its adherents are much like their neighbors ethnically, economically, and educationally. They are reasonably educated, include strong representations of the so-called "new class," work in education and service occupations, and are mainstream middle-class in taste and style.
Ammerman's approach is valuable in clarifying the social character of such fundamentalists. Her conclusions are far more adequate than those that have tried to characterize fundamentalism, or even all of evangelicalism, on the basis of averages from nationwide surveys. Such surveys are usually skewed by a predominance of rural southerners. Ammerman's sociology, on the other hand, is the intensive kind; it deals with real people. In general, she handles the sociological dimensions of her work with a light touch, sprinkling in categories from Peter Berger, such as "world maintainance," but not being bound by sociological preconceptions. As with most sociology, Ammerman's systematic approach confirms what those who have participated in the movement or who have studied it would expect.
Separation from other churches and from the world is a chief emphasis. Fundamentalists define themselves over against other religious groups, especially liberals, Catholics, pentecostals, and charismatics. Members of the congregation live disciplined lives in which they give up some worldly pleasures. The church offers a host of alternative activities and entertainments. Members are also constantly seeking the Lord's will for their lives, a discipline that helps them maintain religious sensibilities in everyday affairs.
484 - Bible Believers: Fundamentalists in the Modern World
The pastor wields immense authority and is frequently the interpreter of the Lord's will. Men exercise authority over women and only men may speak from the podium. Women, however, have often been the first to convert and have brought their husbands into this authoritarian setting. For both men and women, the setting offers order, answers, and stability. Families often say that drinking was a problem for them in their pre-conversion days. Couples know that if they fight they must eventually make peace, since divorce is not normally an option. The one surprise is that, contrary to much fundamentalist teaching, over half the mothers were employed outside the home.
Ammerman's study deals relatively little with the congregation's political interests, which did not appear to be prominent in 1979-1980. It would be fascinating to have someone go back to see if these have intensified, as they appear to have in many such groups in the past decade.
Over half the congregation came from other religious traditions. About half of such were mainline Protestant and about half Catholic. Concerning the latter, who are largely the educated sons and daughters of immigrant laborers, Ammerman makes the helpful observation that they were caught between two worlds, neither belonging fully to the world of their parents nor fully to that of the postindustrial middle class. Fundamentalism provides an alternative community.
As she recognizes, Ammerman's rather positive account of fundamentalists' views of themselves would be more balanced if she had also talked to some of the defectors from the movement. Fundamentalist groups seem to have considerable turnover. This is particularly a problem for them across generations. Fundamentalists rear their children very strictly, fill their time with church education and activities, and send them to Christian academies under close supervision. Nonetheless, they have difficulty retaining loyalty of their children into adulthood, even though most of those reared fundamentalist at least end up in some religious group. Interviews with these and other defectors could have provided important nuances to a portrait that is nonetheless very valuable.
http://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/jan1989/v45-4-bookreview10.htm