And people wonder why Westerners are considered arragant?
The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity
Philip Jenkins
There is a two-fold purpose to this book. First, that in 2050, Christianity will still be the world’s largest religion. The book cover gives this statistic “in Africa alone, the number of Christians increased from ten million in 1900 to 360 million in 2000”. And the growth rates in Latin America are parallel, with large rates of conversion in Asia. His second thrust is that these church’s in the Global south are “far more traditional, morally conservative, evangelical, and apocalyptic…Mysticism, Puritanism, belief in prophecy, faith-healing, exorcism, and dream-visions…are basic to the newer church’s in the South.”
Jenkins cautiously predicts what the future may have in store as well. He writes at the possible tensions between religions, the affect of immigration on the western world, and the affect on global politics. He repeatedly stresses that these things may transpire, but even if they do not occur, the value in them for understanding the facts today are significant. Saying this, I highly recommend this book. What it does present, in an easy read, is the narrow scope of the “Western” (another popular myth he disputes) religion: Christianity.
What this does provide for social workers is an introduction to future client’s religious, cultural, and philosophical backgrounds. Many times, states Jenkins, their assumptions about religion, naturalism (rather supernaturalism), and government are vastly different then our own. What this book does not do is provide a detailed analysis of every type of religious expression. For the Peruvian will have a different experience then the Nigerian, and the Chinese will have a different one from either. It is mostly a sociological book, with a fair amount of history of certain movements mentioned, like the rise of Pentecostalism (which has at the moment over 500 million members), and the Latin Liberation theology of the 60’s and 70’s.
Possible Issues Raised
Chapters 6-10 deal with the possible affects that this new Christendom may have on the world. The one will we as social workers will be dealing with most is that of immigration. As is well known, Canada has a near zero population growth. The issues of Canada’s aging population are multi-faceted. Canada needs immigration to survive as a country. And the plight of many immigrants, especially the one’s from third world countries, which Jenkins mainly deals with. Our goal should be to ease the culture shock, and to educate these peoples. To do that, we must have at least a minimal understanding of the basic beliefs of these people.
Jenkins muses of the affect of these immigrants on local religious practices and politics. He postulates that the near future may see African missionaries coming to Europe and America to convert the heathen populations there.
It is interesting to note the international nature of most church’s and denominations. Jenkins notes the influence of these third world believers’s already. He used the Anglican Church’s recent bishop conference on liberalization of homosexuality. Asian and African bishops surprised many Western bishops by outvoting the liberalization of church teachings on homosexuality. Bishop John Shelby Spong of Newark even made some condemning comments about these bishops, like “moved out of animism into a very superstitious kind of Christianity.” He continued on what he thought of the vote, “I never expected to see the Anglican Communion, which prides itself on the place of reason in faith, descend to this level of irrational Pentecostal hysteria.”pg. 121
Jenkins further explains why these attitudes by Christian liberals are decidedly unfair, ethnocentric, and overly simplified. Many Western Christians accuse them of paganism. The Southerner returns the sentiment by accusing Western Christians of neo-paganism. Obviously, this creates tension and does not promote unity in the religion. Therefore, the theological difference has the possibility to erupt into violence. How real the danger of burning heretics at the stake is unpredictable, but that does not preclude mass persecutions, one way or the other.
This conflict between “North” and “South” may be heightened in the immigrant populations. Many of them are patriarchal, and we must realize that is where they are, and we cannot enforce our own values or place cultural judgments on them.
Jenkins speaks of the demographics in particular countries today. His forecasts of population growths in African and Asian countries means that by 2050, only one European country will be in the twenty most populous nations in the world, while in 1950, there were six. These countries with huge population growths (Uganda, Yemen, Nigeria, along with others) will have a large impact on regional and global politics. Unfortunately, these countries are ripe for civil war. For they have fast growing populations of Christians and Muslims. Normally, these two faiths have been able to coincide in the same geographic area peacefully, but the rise of fundamentalism on both sides has worsened relations. It is when the enforcement of their religion by one side that violence erupts. The example of Sudan is used. Sudan has been in a civil war for twenty years, at the cost of over two million deaths, most of them Christians and Animists in the south against a Muslim majority north. We, as North Americans, need to help these people who suffer through this almost continual conflict. We are routinely called to be advocates for our clients, and this should be no exception.
Not only is Africa war-torn, but it is also experiencing epidemic levels of AIDS. Jenkins puts this startling fact about Africa, and how we cannot be complacent about it any longer. Besides the fact that those infected are fellow humans, there are millions that are of the same religion that most claim in North America. This may put urgency in our efforts to provide care for these millions. May we prevent more children from becoming orphans then the millions who already are.
In conclusion, there are a few things that social workers need to be reminded of. First, we may share the same religion as a vast majority of immigrants to our country. Second, that we may have some fundamentally different views on religion, government, and equality. Third, we need to understand the different cultures and recognize the validity of cultural experiences, even to the point that it seems superstitious or primitive. Fourth, that we identify the problems these people have faced in their home countries, those of poverty, excessive violence, disease and famine; and that we must respond with love and compassion in all circumstances.