Religion, State and Society in Modern Britain

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    Religious Research Association Inc.

    Religion, State and Society in Modern Britain by Paul BadhamReview by: Grace DavieReview of Religious Research, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Dec., 1990), pp. 180-181Published by: Religious Research Association, Inc.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3511766.

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    180home s a dominantoal fFundamentalistelievers.hedisciplinaryuthorityffathersovermothersnd hildrens believedobe the ure-all or varietyf ocial lls. Recruit-ment f newconvertsnd thenurturingfthe hildrenf fundamentalistelieversredescribed. mmermanatalogueshe methods fevangelismncouragedt SouthsideChurch:nvitinghe lost o hurch,roadcastinghemessage,eachinghe oung,usingpotential embersn seen s one ofthe ongregation'sailures),isitingrospects,ndencouraginghe otentialonvertso walk he islefor esus uringhe nvitationymntthe loseofthe undayervice.Important,lso, s theway hildrenreraised n thenurturendadmirationftheLord thome,nchurch,nd nthe undamentalistchoolifpossible). hechildrenndadolescentsf outhsideive partromheirnchurchedeers.Athomeheyre aughthetraditionalonceptf arentaluthorityverhildren.heylso earn he deal tandardsorChristianamilies:riestlyathers,ull-timeothers,nddaily amilyevotionsp.173).Inthe inalhapter,mmermaniscusseshe ensionetweenhe undamentalistnd hemodern orld. heirworld ontainsrder hile he utside orlds chaotic. ccordingothe uthor,hese eople elievehat odhas plan or llof ife's etails nd hatheyanfindmeaningor heirives fonly hey ryofollowhis lan p. 188).Nancy atom mmermanasgiven s a thoroughocialportraitf a fundamentalistProtestanthurchromhe erspectivef participantbservernone ongregation.hileregionalnd other ifferencesay xist venwithinundamentalism,mmermanascaptured,hrougholid ociologicalesearch,he ssence fthese ate-twentiethenturypilgrimsravelingnan alienworld.

    Review fReligious esearch, ol.l32,No. 2 (December,990)

    PaulBadham, d., Religion, tate ndSocietynModern ritain. ewiston/Lampeter/Queenston:dwinMellenPress,1989. 416 pp. $79.95.GraceDavie

    UniversityfExeter, nglandThis collectionof essay on Religion,State and Society n Modem Britainhas beenforthcominglmost s long s I havebeen ompilingibliographiesnthe ociologyfBritisheligion.ts ppearance-atast-ismore hanwelcomenthattofferswide-rangingcritiquef he ubject. he wentyhaptersover hemajor hristianenominationsntheUnited ingdomScotland,Wales, ndNorthernreland reallocatedeparatehapters),the olk eligionf he nglisheople, numberf eligious inoritiesthe lack hurches,sects ndnewreligious ovements)ndtheprincipalther-faithommunities.hefinalfour haptersave ratherifferenttartingoint: hey rethematicn approachndconsider ttitudesowomenwithinhe hurches,eligionndpoliticstwo ssays) ndchurchnd tateEstablishment)ssues.Therangef xpertises mpressive.t ncludes numberf cknowledgedxpertsn hetopicnquestion,or xample ichaelHornsby-SmithntheRoman atholicommunity,BryanWilsonnsects, ileenBarkernnew eligious ovements,ndNinianmart nchurchnd tate. he ist ouldwellbecontinued.Ten f hesehapterseganife ta conference,eld n1986, n the ole freligionncontemporaryritishociety,conferenceponsoredy heUKBranch f he rofessorsWorld eaceAcademy.en furtherhapters ere dded oproviden admirably idecoveragefthe ubjectnquestion.nintroducinghe ollections a whole aulBadham

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    181articulateshe ual im f he olume: odiscoverhe onditionfreligionncontemporaryBritainndtoaskquestionsbout hepart hat eligion laysnmodernociety.Inmy pinion,he olumeucceedsn ts irstim atheretterhantdoes n ts econd.With especto the onditionfreligionncontemporaryritain,achessay ontributessomethingn its ownright. ut n addition, distinctmpressionmergesverall,nimpressionhich eeds nderlining.ot nly owe ive n societyhat lays ost o widevarietyfreligiousommunities,heresalsomountingvidencef n ntra-pluralityhatsofvarietyithins well s betweenhe eligiousommunitiesfmodernritain. corol-lary ollowsromhiswhich eeds urtherxploration:here o themost alient istinctionsordivisionsallwithinhis ariety? yguess s thatheyie across atherhan etweenhedenominations.Inhesitatingbout he uccess f he olumen chievingts econdim, donotwant ogive hempressionhat he ourhematicssaysre ess handequate.hat snot he aseandtheyooprovidealuablensights. hat oes seem obelackings somethingatherdifferent.heresnoattemptopoint pthe articularitiesfBritainn he 980s nd heirimplicationsor he eligiousife f his ountry.heThatcherecades,afterll,a uniqueperiodnBritishistory:e have Conservativeovernmenthichonservesothing,ndthechurches avefoundhemselveseactingotonly orapidlyhangingvents ut ounfamiliarolicies ndunprecedentedoliticallliances.fthechurcheseem tohaveacquired higherrofilenthe1980s hanwas houghtossible decade r soearlier hismaywellbe because he ontextas altered atherhan ublic ttitudesoreligion.Myfinal omments a sad one. The standardfsub-editings lamentable.ages remisplaced,n author's ame s misspeltnthe able fcontentsndthe ext s full finaccuracies.heauthorsnd heirubject eserve etter.

    ReviewfReligious esearch, ol.32,No. 2 (December, 990)

    DeborahJ.Baldwin. rotestantsnd TheMexicanRevolution: issionaries,Ministers,nd SocialChange.Urbana:Universityf llinois ress,1990. 203pp.,hardcover,26.95.

    PhilipE. LampeIncarnateWordollege

    Tobe Protestantn19thenturyexicowas oexhibithe piritf rebel.AlthoughheCatholic hurch asgreatlyeakened,raditionalatholicismontinuedobe dominantnsociety,speciallymonghosetbothnds f he ocial tructure.owever,he mergingmiddlelass,which idnot itnto he xistingtructure,as readyargetorAmericanprotestantismith tsemphasisnchange, emocracynd education. uchgoalswereequallyttractiveodisaffectedriests howantedo ontinueo erve he eople utsidefthehierarchicalonstraintsf heChurch,nd o ntellectualiberals howere pposedothe onservativeictatorialovernment.Protestantismasspread yAmerican issionariesithhehelp fMexicanministerswhomheymployed.issionariesettlednurban reas articularlyn he orthernart fMexico. his llowed hem omaintainetterines f ommunicationith heir eadquar-ters ntheUnitedtateswhich rovidedecessaryinancial,oliticalndmoral upport.Their rimaryctivitynMexico enteredn education hich otonly ttracted anypotentialonverts,utalso provedo be an attractiveervice o a governmenthichrecognizedheneed o educatets lliterate assesna time fnascentndustrialization.

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