Kirjahaku

Brian H. Smith's book surveys recent religious and political developments in Latin American Christianity, especially in the rapidly growing Pentecostal churches and in Catholicism. He finds that despite efforts by the Vatican to make the Latin American Church less involved in politics (in the wake of liberation theology) by the papal appointment of a whole new generation of conservative bishops since 1980, Catholicism is still very much a political force throughout the region. Catholic bishops, in spite of their conservative religious ideology, have felt obligated to preach the social doctrine of the Church and have vigorously denounced new economic models for enriching a minority of the population at the cost of the majority who are poor. Bishops also have denounced corruption in governments that has grown to epidemic proportions in recent years, and have strongly opposed legislative proposals that are anti-Catholic. Regardless of these efforts by Catholic prelates to maintain government support for the Church's institutions and its traditional moral concerns in law, Protestantism - especially in Pentecostal denominations among low-income sectors - has grown at a significant rate in the past twenty years. Although traditionally reluctant to involve themselves in politics, Pentecostals in recent years have become more active either by forming new Christian parties or by joining or supporting existing political movements. Their political agenda overlaps in some areas with that of Catholics. These shared concerns could lead to a coalition between Catholic and Pentecostal leaders that could have a real impact on public policy, given that over ninety percent of the population is now affiliated with one of these two denominations. However, Pentecostal religious and political leaders are also pushing publicly for full separation of church and state (which exists now only in Cuba and Mexico) and for all religions to have equal status in law. Both these similarities and the differences in the political agenda of Catholics and Pentecostals could complicate public policy debate in the years ahead and certainly short-circuit any attempts to remove religion as a significant, and sometimes divisive, influence in politics in newly constituted liberal democracies in Latin America.

As government officials and political activists are becoming increasingly aware, international nonprofit agencies have an important political dimension: although not self-serving, these private voluntary organizations (PVOs) and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) seek social changes of which many of their financial contributors are unaware. As PVOs and NGOs receive increasing subsidies from their home governments in the United States, Canada, and Europe, they are moving away from short-term relief commitments in developing countries and toward longer-term goals in health, education, training, and small-scale production. Showing that European and Canadian NGOs focus more on political change as part of new development efforts than do their U.S. counterparts, Brian Smith presents the first major comparative study of the political aspect of PVOs and NGOs. Smith emphasizes the paradoxes in the private-aid system, both in the societies that send aid and in those that receive it. Pointing out that international nonprofit agencies are in some instances openly critical of nation-state interests, he asks how these agencies can function in a foreign-aid network intended as a support for those same interests. He concludes that compromises throughout the private-aid networkand some secrecymake it possible for institutions with different agendas to work together. In the future, however, serious conflicts may develop with donors and nation states. Originally published in 1990. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Clarifying the growing role of the Latin American Catholic Church as an agent of social change, Brian H. Smith discusses the prophetic function of the Chilean Church during the country's metamorphosis from Conservative to Christian Democratic to Marxist to repressive military regime. Originally published in 1982. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

As government officials and political activists are becoming increasingly aware, international nonprofit agencies have an important political dimension: although not self-serving, these private voluntary organizations (PVOs) and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) seek social changes of which many of their financial contributors are unaware. As PVOs and NGOs receive increasing subsidies from their home governments in the United States, Canada, and Europe, they are moving away from short-term relief commitments in developing countries and toward longer-term goals in health, education, training, and small-scale production. Showing that European and Canadian NGOs focus more on political change as part of new development efforts than do their U.S. counterparts, Brian Smith presents the first major comparative study of the political aspect of PVOs and NGOs. Smith emphasizes the paradoxes in the private-aid system, both in the societies that send aid and in those that receive it. Pointing out that international nonprofit agencies are in some instances openly critical of nation-state interests, he asks how these agencies can function in a foreign-aid network intended as a support for those same interests. He concludes that compromises throughout the private-aid networkand some secrecymake it possible for institutions with different agendas to work together. In the future, however, serious conflicts may develop with donors and nation states. Originally published in 1990. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Clarifying the growing role of the Latin American Catholic Church as an agent of social change, Brian H. Smith discusses the prophetic function of the Chilean Church during the country's metamorphosis from Conservative to Christian Democratic to Marxist to repressive military regime. Originally published in 1982. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

The book addresses the growing number of Americans who no longer identify with any religious tradition, or the Nones. By 2022 Nones reached 27% of the population. They constitute 31 % of the millennials between 25 and 40, and 33% of the adults in Generation Z between 18 and 25. The author examines survey data on the growth of the Nones and the reasons they give for leaving, or never joining churches. Their exodus has caused concern by religious leaders since the future viability of organized Christianity is at stake given the large numbers of young Americans leaving religion. The author analyzes strategies to engage the Nones by recruiting efforts of Evangelical Christian megachurches, educational initiatives by the US Catholic Bishops, and methods of the Nuns & Nones movement which include dialogs, meals, meditations and shared living experiences between Catholic sisters and the religiously unaffiliated. This approach involves spiritually accompanying Nones rather than efforts to proselytize or educate them. The concluding chapter explores ways for churches to engage Nones based on spiritual accompaniment approaches of the Nuns & Nones movement.