Prayer in Religion and Spirituality Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion Editors Enzo Pace, Luigi Berzano and Giuseppe Giordan Editorial Board Peter Beyer (University of Ottawa) Anthony Blasi (Tennessee State University) Roberto Cipriani (Università di Roma Tre) Xavier Costa (Universidad de Valencia) Franco Garelli (Università di Torino) Gustavo Guizzardi (Università di Padova) Dick Houtman (Erasmus University, Rotterdam) Solange Lefebvre (Université de Montréal) Otto Maduro (Drew University) Patrick Michel (CNRS, Paris) Ari Pedro Oro (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul) Adam Possamai (University of Western Sydney) Ole Riis (Agder University) Susumu Shimazono (University of Tokyo) William H. Swatos, Jr. (Augustana College) Jean-Paul Willaime (EPHE, Sorbonne) Monika Wohlrab-Sahr (University of Leipzig) Linda Woodhead (Lancaster University) Fenggang Yang (Purdue University) Sinisa Zrinscak (University of Zagreb) VOLUME 4 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/arsr Prayer in Religion and Spirituality Edited by Giuseppe Giordan Linda Woodhead LEIDEN•BOSTON 2013 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface. ISSN 1877-5233 ISBN 978-90-04-26048-1 (hardback) ISBN 978-90-04-26049-8 (e-book) Copyright 2013 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers and Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper. CONTENTS Introduction: Prayer in Religion and Spirituality ..............................................1 Giuseppe Giordan and Linda Woodhead Making the Sacred Real ............................................................................................9 Michael C. Mason Praying in Groups: Suggestions for a Sociology of Prayer ............................ 27 Patricia Wittberg, SC Changing Attitudes towards Prayer: Comparison between European and Italian Trends .......................................................................... 53 Franco Garelli and Roberta Ricucci Canvassing the Faithful: Image, Agency and the Lived Religiosity of Devotion to the Divine Mercy ................................................................... 77 Jane Garnett and Alana Harris Public Prayer, Political Mobilization, and Civic Participation: The Case of Protestantism in Hong Kong .................................................103 Shun-hing Chan and Wing-leung Law Naraloka Prarthana: Prayer in the Language of Protest .............................123 Ashok Kumar M. and Rowena Robinson The Meaning of Prayer for Young Muslim Immigrants in Quebec (Canada) .............................................................................................141 Josiane Le Gall ‘Without Prayer you have Nothing’: Prayer in Uncertain Times in Trinidad .........................................................................................................157 Rebecca Lynch Street Prayer: A Case Study of the Use of Prayer by Street Pastors .........173 Sylvia Collins-Mayo vi contents Prayer as Transgression: Stories from Healthcare ........................................189 Sonya Sharma, Sheryl Reimer-Kirkham and Marie Cochrane Praying for the Dead in Soka Gakkai International – U.K. ........................205 Helen Waterhouse Pentecostal-Charismatic Prayer and Social Engagement ..........................221 Michael Wilkinson and Peter Althouse Crazy World, Crazy Faith! Prayer, Power and Transformation in a Nigerian Prayer City ................................................................................243 Annalisa Butticci Establishing a ‘Culture of Prayer’: Holistic Spirituality and the Social Transformation of Contemporary Evangelicalism .....................263 Sebastian Schüler Does it Matter Whether the Holy Spirit Spoke to Fatima? ........................281 Oleg Dik List of Contributors ..............................................................................................299 Index.........................................................................................................................305 INTRODUCTION: PRAYER IN RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY Giuseppe Giordan and Linda Woodhead No matter how you wish to define it, prayer is a valuable focus for understanding how people interpret themselves, others and the world – this world and higher worlds – in which they live. It is a phenomenon which seems to be characteristic not only of participants in every religion, but also men and women who do not identify with traditional religions. It can be practised even by those who do not believe either in a God or transcendent force. In this sense, therefore, we may assert that the prayer is a typically human activity that has accompanied the development of different civilizations over the course of the centuries (Meslin 2003). The constant presence of such activity in human history inevitably raises many questions: why do people feel the need to pray? What are the reasons that lead people to persist in praying? In what ways do people pray? And what about the efficacy of praying: is it possible to demonstrate that it achieves its goals? Is prayer really able to change reality? Following the famous approach of Marcel Mauss (1968[1909]), according to whom prayer joins ritual and belief together and always has a social as well as personal dimension, we can argue that one of the primary things prayer does is to put people in touch with the symbolic universe that sustains the believer in a life of faith. It depends upon and reinforces representations of God, and at the same time opens up a way for an individual to understand his or her own existential conditions, life style, needs and aspirations. Both the material issues of concrete daily life as well as more symbolic elements expressed through words, gestures, body positions, and community celebration are brought together in the act of praying. To understand prayer we also have to understand the horizon within which it must be placed. The peculiarity of such human activity is the relationship between those who pray and the being(s) to whom prayer is addressed. Prayer implies the existence of an “otherness”, that is powerful and meaningful. It may be personal or impersonal, but there is often a sense that it can receive and even understand and address the tasks and issues addressed to it. Such “higher power” is not necessarily a personal God: it may coincide with a universal, cosmic order, to which the 2 giuseppe giordan and linda woodhead believer turns. Praying makes the experience of the relationship with such superior power concrete. Beyond the words that may be uttered and beyond the rituals that may be celebrated, the prayer “performs”, establishes and implies an asymmetric power relationship between great power and a less powerful being in need of help. Within these frameworks we can better understand contents and methods of praying which the various religious traditions have developed over the centuries. The most common and perhaps the most widespread content is the request to meet one’s needs: often they are material needs and necessities, such as healing from physical illness, but even the “spiritual” needs should not be neglected, such as the plea for forgiveness for one’s sins or the need to be enlightened when making a choice. The petition prayer assumes that in the relation of power between the believer and the divinity there is a reasonable confidence in the possibility of being heard and even the hope of getting one’s demands satisfied. Where are such confidence and hope founded? And, above all, how can we prove the efficacy of praying in a way that addresses the claim that it is an empty and meaningless practice? The question of the efficacy of praying, we shall see shortly, is of strategic importance for understanding the meaning and the relevance of such practice today. But it is important to see that personal needs and necessities do not exhaust the potentiality of praying. It can, for example, take the form of adoration, praise and thanksgiving. If in petition prayer the needs of the one who prays – or of their loved ones – are foregrounded, in the prayer of praise the one who prays tries to forget self and become open to the primacy of the divine. In this case, prayer expresses and celebrates the gift of a relationship. Yet prayer is about more than its content. Prayer would not exist if it were not accompanied by bodily movements and gestures: one could say that in all religious traditions it is the body itself that prays, whatever the mind or emotions may be doing. Clasped hands, or arms raised towards the sky, as well as kneeling in silence, genuflection or prostration on the ground, and meditative postures are gestures shared by many people who pray within the different cultures. Various bodily forms of praying may express joy, worship, pleas for forgiveness, supplication, or silent meditation and contemplation. The eyes, the arms, the hands, the head, the voice, laughing, crying – the whole body can be involved in praying. A prayer can even be said with one’s feet by walking, as in pilgrimage: it does not matter if the goal is the temple of Delphi, the headwaters of the river Ganges, the Mecca, or the shrine of Lourdes. Each step on the introduction: prayer in religion and spirituality 3 pilgrimage may be an encounter between the creature in motion and transcendent power. As in ritual, the body can also allow the believer to become aware of and manifest, as well as modify, emotions and feelings (Riis and Woodhead 2011). And the prayer can take form not only in physical gestures, but in objects and symbols, which can help in the practice of praying or serve as gifts to the divinity. But is praying effective? For a scientific culture, this question is persistent. And even if the answer is affirmative, there are questions about the efficacy of praying. The issue is not new, and we know the studies of Francis Galton (1883) testing the possibility that certain events are more likely to be realized if they are prayed for. One of his examples concerns the longevity of sovereigns, whether Protestant or Catholic, for which subjects pray. Galton finds that sovereigns actually do not live longer than other wealthy people – indeed their lives are among the shortest within the privileged classes. His conclusion is that the prayer has no effect, and cannot change the course of events. So why do people continue to pray? Why are many believers convinced that indeed God answers their petitions, even if in fact it would seem that they cannot obtain what they ask for? Are they merely irrational? Vincent Brümmer (2008) analyzes the efficacy of praying, and his conclusion is that, even if the prayer cannot directly modify the events, it can profoundly change the attitude of the person who prays. It changes the manner of dealing with the events of daily life, and thus indirectly the prayer is able to modify reality itself. Because of this change of attitude, the believer can hone his or her ability to come to terms with the adversities of life, to interpret them in a different way, and to adapt more flexibly to the challenges of existence. Even from this inner-worldly perspective, prayer is an amazing resource, a source of strength and meaning that can transform the mere factuality of events. Ultimately the efficacy of praying is not to be measured in terms of a causal link between petition and response, as if there were an automatic link between request and fulfilment. Rather, it takes place within the relational dynamics between Higher Power and the subject who begs. It is within this relationship that the elements that make praying effective emerge, beyond the material realization of what is begged for. **** This volume contains a rich collection of studies of prayers in widely various social, cultural and religious contexts. Taken together and as 4 giuseppe giordan and linda woodhead whole, they richly illustrate how prayer can be an effective strategy for the construction of meaning at a personal as well as a social level. They also demonstrate how prayer changes, transforms and takes on particular characteristics in different times and places, both inside and outside the historical religious traditions (Giordan 2011). In the first chapter Michael Mason draws on aspects of the sociological theories of Max Weber, Marcel Mauss, Hjalmar Sundén, Robert N. Bellah, and especially Alfred Schutz, to develop an account of prayer. He shows that prayer is not merely petition but has additional content and motivation. At root, Mason argues, prayer is social, has non-conceptual dimensions, cultivates a relationship with an Other, and serves as a route into an alternative reality. Above all, he suggests, prayer confers the accent of reality on the sacred. Mason argues that an adequate account of prayer requires that the sociology of religion is freed from the limits and distortions imposed by implicitly or explicitly anti-religious perspectives. Patricia Wittberg advocates greater study of different forms of group prayer. After reviewing the range of studies which focus on personal prayer, she argues that studies of group prayer can focus on group-level parallels: types of group prayer (communal liturgies, finding God in secular events, communal examen or discernment), group cycles of loss or increase in fervor and ways of dealing with them, spiritual life cycles of groups (key ties, variations of kind of group, stages of group and group prayer development), prayer during group trauma (conflict, loss of leader, relocations, schism, dissolution), and abuses (cultural blindnesses, resistance to change, consequences of early errors). The resultant agenda is shown to be a large one. Franco Garelli and Roberta Ricucci show how public religious gestures of prayer appear among relatively unchurched people. Prayer can be viewed as an essential element of religion which does not require institutional embodiment. Data from the European Values Surveys show that the broader phenomena of belonging without believing, believing without belonging, both believing and belonging, and neither are uneven across European nations. Forms of prayer can be correlated with these contexts. However, the correlation of praying with believing and belonging is not perfect. Drawing on Italian data, they investigate the relationship between frequency of prayer and modalities of belief and involvement in Catholicism, and in other religions and no religion. Attention is also given to how Italians pray, whether by recitation, use of one’s own words, reflection, contemplation, or Bible reading. introduction: prayer in religion and spirituality 5 The chapter by Jane Garnett and Alana Harris presents the historical development of Catholic devotion to Divine Mercy, beginning with apparitions seen by a member of a Polish religious order in 1931. The apparition commanded that its likeness be painted, and a series of depictions emerged over the decades, amidst disputes over which depiction should be given priority. Differences opened up between clergy and lay theological sensibilities, gendered understandings of the Incarnation, and ecclesiastical and devotional priorities. The Divine Mercy images and prayers have achieved a striking global resonance through their scope for personal individuation and agency, whether clerical or lay. Shun-hing Chan and Wing-leung Law explore how prayer and politics may interact. The background is the major political issue in Hong Kong of whether local government is genuinely democratic or subservient to the national government. Different Protestant groups and coalitions have used their cultural resources to mobilize support for democracy on the one hand or the Chinese government on the other. The Jireh Fund, for example, publishes prayers supporting the government and has launched a prayer campaign through its international organization, mass media, cross-denominational ties, and transnational network. There are similarities evident in USa, where the religious right offers prayers which are progovernment, whilst liberal Protestants use prayer to call for institutional reform and universal uplift. Naraloka Prarthana is a prayer in poetic from which parallels the Lord’s Prayer in Christianity. Written in the Telugu language (of India), it criticizes the caste system and Christians’ relative passivity toward it. Ashok Kumar and Rowena Robinson discuss the significance of the prayer, and criticize a traditional anthropology of religion which sees the role of religion as establishing a local system of meaning that holds the local society together. Such an approach misses religion’s role in relation to larger social and political patterns, including the upheavals and resistances which form the context of Naraloka Prarthana. Here a form of Protestant Christianity has been adopted by many Dalits (“Untouchables”), providing them a religious idiom with which to counter Hindu fundamentalism. The poem/prayer represents a way in which prayer can be “vernacularized” to meet new socially significant ends. In contrast to the many studies that see changes in Muslim immigrant religious practices as protests at social exclusion, Josiane Le Gall examines the importance of Islamic prayer for the young immigrants themselves. Based on interviews, the study finds prayer to be a spiritual experience even among the ritually non-observant. During prayer, which varies from 6 giuseppe giordan and linda woodhead brief mental thoughts to formal prayers recited at home or in mosques, young people seek to establish a close relationship with God rather than pray by what they regard as mere rote. Prayer becomes a resource for cultivating virtue and furthering moral development, as well as a means of coping with everyday difficulties. Research in Toco, a poor rural village on Trinidad’s northeast coast, shows how prayers are an active part of everyday life in the village. According to Rebecca Lynch their content reveals key social issues and beliefs about how the world works. Prayers are about jobs, protection from crime, money to meet everyday needs, keeping the family from drugs and alcohol and close to God and church. Often protection from the Devil and evil spirits is sought. In prayer, individuals communicate their stresses and life problems not only to God, but – in shared prayer – to other members of the community. Reward and punishment, which the state cannot and does not provide, are sought from God. Sylvia Collins-Mayo offers a case study report, based on interviews and participant observation, of Street pastors ‘Knightsborough’. This form of Christian ministry in the UK involves volunteers who go out to meet and assist people on the streets late at night. The Christians offer to pray for people or, if they are in difficulty, to help them. The data show that unchurched people are open to the possibility that prayer may have a beneficial effect, and prayer provides the volunteers with a faith-based method of intervention in troublesome situations. As such, prayer can play a role in civic life in a somewhat secular society. Sonya Sharma, Sheryl Reimer-Kirkham, and Marie Cochrane show how prayer can be a transgressive act that accommodates and resists social and institutional norms and structures in healthcare settings. Based on interviews and participant observation in Ontario, Canada, the chapter focuses on the various and contested ways in which patients, volunteers, and staff approach prayer. These social actors both supported and challenged normative secularity and western Christianity by praying or avoiding prayer. Sometimes prayer also served to connect people from different traditions. Helen J. Waterhouse describes prayer for the dead in the daily practice of Soka Gakkai, a lay Buddhist movement. While praying for the dead is characteristic of Japanese Buddhism, Soka Gakkai members in the UK do not understand it as simply part of the movement’s Japanese heritage. The interview-based study finds that prayers for the dead are used for ‘griefwork’, which helps members of the religion negotiate their relationships introduction: prayer in religion and spirituality 7 with deceased family members, friends, and others, and thereby maintain bonds with them. Michael Wilkinson and Peter Althouse present “soaking prayer” in the Catch the Fire ministry (aka Toronto Blessing). Soaking is a metaphor used to describe receiving God’s love, which heals, empowers, and facilitates through hearing God’s voice, and also facilitates the opportunity to love others. Survey data from Catch the Fire participants shows high frequencies of praying, mostly in the form of talking to God in one’s own words and praying for others. People often engaging in soaking prayer at home. The experienced of receiving spiritual gifts is commonly reported, with many saying that prayer helps them feel compassion and forgiveness for others, and motivates them to help. This is related to the way in which prayer helps people identify with suffering throughout the world, which leads them to wish to improve the world, and to give time and money in order to do so. Annalisa Butticci describes crowd prayer in the “Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry”, founded in 1989 by Daniel Olukuya and his wife in Nigeria. The ministry features violent and aggressive prayer, thought to be necessary to overcome evil spirits, which are emphasized in African traditional religion and blended into Evangelical Christianity. The crowd form of such prayer occurs in a massive spiritual clinic outside Lagos, which accommodates thousands. The crowd prayers express Nigerian myth and rites, dogma and history, fears and dreams, and represent a response to the anomic setting of metropolitan Lagos. Sebastian Schüler conducted a multi-sited case study of the 24–7 Prayer movement, founded in England in 1999 and now a widespread global movement. Paralleling the New Age phenomenon, the New Evangelicalism, of which the 24–7 Prayer movement is an example, is ‘holistically spiritual’ – it uses prayer as a tool for negotiating religious identities in post-modernity, focusing simultaneously on one’s own subjective life and one’s role in society. The main focus of the 24–7 Prayer movement is to shift away from institutionalized forms of religious practices such as Sunday church services, and toward a daily rhythm of prayer with room for individual creativity. Oleg Dik reports on a study of Muslims in Beirut who have converted to Charismatic/Pentecostal Christianity. It discusses the ways in which the interviewees’ experiences of having heard and felt Jesus and the Holy Spirit can exist in relation to a scientific worldview. The paper maintains that the sociology of prayer must consider prayer in relation 8 giuseppe giordan and linda woodhead to various socio-cultural spheres, and take seriously the dialogical encounter of the divergent views in order to understand and interpret prayer in contemporary contexts. An ethic of respect is necessary for this to succeed. References Brümmer, Vincent. 2008. What are we doing when we pray? On Prayer and the Nature of Faith. Aldershot: Ashgate. Galton, Francis. 1883. Inquiries into the Human Faculty and its Development. London: Macmillan. Giordan, Giuseppe. 2011. “Toward a Sociology of Prayer.” Pp. 78–88 in Religion, Spirituality and Everyday Practice, edited by Giuseppe Giordan and William H. Swatos, Jr. LondonNew York: Springer. Mauss, Marcel. 1968 [1909]. “La prière et les rites oraux.” Pp. 355–548 in Œuvres I: Les fonctions sociales du sacré, edited by Victor Karady. Paris: De Minuit. Meslin, Michel. 2003. Quand les hommes parlent aux Dieux. Images et figures. Paris: Bayard. Riis, Ole and Linda Woodhead. 2011. A Sociology of Religious Emotion. Oxford: Oxford University Press. MAKING THE SACRED REAL Michael C. Mason Introduction Is there anything that remains sociologically interesting about prayer? On one view, nothing much: it has been extensively studied by sociologists from Weber onwards and is defined, in standard textbook theory in sociology of religion, as a practice found in nearly all religions, but declining in secular societies, in which believers attempt to communicate with spiritual beings in order to obtain benefits (Weber 1964:27). Some studies have claimed that prayer is largely accounted for by its relationship with economic disadvantage (e.g. Norris and Inglehart 2004). Besides, if William James’s popular definition of prayer (1973) as a solitary mental activity is accepted, there seems little for the sociologist to study. In contrast to these views, this chapter argues that prayer has been under-researched, under-theorized, and frequently misunderstood in the sociology of religion. Far from being just one religious practice among others, prayer is the believer’s spiritual ‘respiration’, the most vital activity, on which all others depend. It makes the sacred real. The author’s interest in a renewed sociological understanding of prayer was kindled by finding, in a recent research project on the spirituality of young people, that the respondents, from many nations, understood prayer primarily as conversing with God as part of a continuing relationship, rather than obtaining benefits for themselves. Further, it was their involvement in prayer, rather than their religious beliefs, denominational identity, or church attendance, that influenced these young people’s values, social concern, and behavior towards others (Mason forthcoming). Why should this be so? Does current theory explain how educated people can spend significant amounts of time directing their thoughts, words, and gestures towards intangible spiritual beings, apparently without experiencing cognitive dissonance between these activities and the body of widely-shared modern knowledge of how the world works? 10 michael c. mason Clearly, a broader theoretical understanding of prayer is required,1 yet one that remains scientific, without theological commitments. While the researcher should take seriously the experience of people who pray, empirical science neither affirms nor denies the existence of supernatural beings. Sociology deals with the human, social aspects of experience.2 Prayer at the Core of Religion Numerous writers from fields as diverse as the history of religions, theology, and social science have suggested that prayer lies at the core of religion. In his ground-breaking study of prayer, Friedrich Heiler quoted the philosopher Novalis:3 ‘Prayer is to religion what thinking is to philosophy’. And Heiler added, ‘… there can be no doubt at all that prayer is the heart and centre of all religion. Not in dogmas and institutions, not in rites and ethical ideals, but in prayer do we grasp the peculiar quality of the religious life’ (1997:xv). William James agreed: ‘Prayer … is the very soul and essence of religion. … Prayer is religion in act’ (James 1973). Psychologist of religion Donald Capps maintains, ‘It is commonly believed that the conversion experience is the key issue in psychology of religion. But I am persuaded that prayer is the crux … prayer is foundational’ (1982:308). Why is prayer more basic than other religious activities? To pray is to ‘take God seriously’. In prayer believers address their God, and in doing so, affirm God’s reality. This affirmation is the crucial act; in making it, the believer enters the sacred world. The words or sentiments directed towards the deity open a channel of communication; they actualise a relationship between the believer and God which is the foundation of all the other dimensions of religion. Without this relationship, religious faith is impossible, if faith is understood not as mere intellectual assent to a set of religious teachings, but as primarily belief in God, and consequently belief that what is revealed by God is true. 1 This essay deals with enhancing the theoretical understanding of prayer by bringing to bear upon it additional resources from sociological theory. Empirical research on prayer is discussed in more detail in Mason forthcoming. 2 Given clarity from the outset that the proposed theoretical approach does not endorse any particular religious belief, there seems to be no need, when the word ‘God’ is used here, for such fastidious circumlocutions as ‘the supernatural being whom believers claim to contact’. 3 Georg Freiherr von Hardenberg, an early German Romantic philosopher and poet. making the sacred real 11 In what follows, we will attempt to weave around prayer a web of sociological theory with strands spun by Weber, Mauss, Sundén, Bellah, and Schutz. Their contributions, especially when combined, considerably enhance our understanding of prayer. We will conclude by suggesting implications for the future development of theory and research. Prayer in the Light of Sociological Theory 1. Not Just Petition – the Content and Motive of Prayer What leads people to pray? The most common motive cited by theorists and researchers is that of seeking worldly benefits. In his comparative sociology of religion, Max Weber examined prayer in a variety of cultures, East and West, tracing its evolution from magic – the coercion of spiritual beings and powers to serve human ends. As people’s ideas of gods became more elevated, they were seen as overlords who could not be constrained by magical means, but had to be entreated and given gifts. The pervasive and central theme is: do ut des [lit. ‘I give so that you will give’ – I offer prayers so that the deity will bestow benefits]. This aspect clings to the routine and mass religious behaviour of all people at all times and in all religions. The normal situation is that the burden of all prayers, even in the most other-worldly religions, is the aversion of the external evils of this world and the inducement of the external advantages of this world (Weber 1964:27). Among motives for prayer, Weber mentions first the quest for protection from harm. In the words of contemporary theorist Rodney Stark, ‘Everyone is deprived and has a motive for being religious; since everyone faces death, doctrines of an afterlife appeal to all. We could call this the universal form of religious commitment’ (1997). Functional theory sees religion’s role as helping societies to cope with the limitations of contingency, powerlessness, and scarcity (O’Dea 1966). Anthropologist Clifford Geertz proposes that the most debilitating threats confronting humans are meaninglessness, suffering, and evil (1973). People pray especially in crises, when evil threatens, when they feel powerless, and believe that spiritual beings can influence their fate; when their lives or the lives of those they love are endangered by natural disasters, war, or sickness; when close relationships are disrupted, when they are threatened with the loss of status or possessions; or simply when they are confronted with their mortality. There is also abundant evidence in contemporary societies where almost any form of religion survives, of people praying for worldly benefits 12 michael c. mason such as health, wealth, and success. In Christian and post-Christian societies, the ‘prosperity gospel’ is preached even in some mainstream denominations, as well as by a multitude of freelance evangelists, and attracts legions of believers. Its basic tenet is that God bestows financial rewards and career success on those who have faith and who pray insistently for these things, confidently expecting them. Other religious groups decry this theology of earthly rewards, but even the most traditional give thanks to ‘divine providence’ for the ‘gifts of creation’. Sociological research most often defines prayer as materialistic (aimed at obtaining this-worldly advantages or avoiding earthly misfortunes), instrumental (not an end in itself but a means to other ends), and selfinterested. Many studies have sought to show that prayer arises as a response to economic or social disadvantage (see Norris and Inglehart 2004; Baker 2008, reviewed in Mason forthcoming). Even prayers for forgiveness or ‘about your spiritual life / relationship with God’ were interpreted by a recent author as self-interested attempts to ‘secure favour with the supernatural’ so as to obtain otherworldly benefits in compensation for this-worldly deprivation (Baker 2008:171). However Weber’s generalization appears not to hold universally. Some types of prayer do not match this profile; they are non-materialistic (seeking spiritual goals), non-petitionary (contemplative prayer, meditation); not motivated by self-interest (worship which seeks no material or spiritual quid pro quo); and not instrumental (prayer as communication within a relationship motivated by duty or love, seen as an end in itself). These forms are all well-known in the history of religions. Prayer of this relational type tends to be frequent and regular. The Muslim Salah, the obligatory recitation of ritual prayers five times each day, is an example now well-known everywhere. Prayer as a relationship was strongly evident among youth of many nations in the research mentioned earlier (Mason forthcoming). Seeking worldly benefits for oneself was found to be by far the least common theme of prayer among those young people. Classifying the motive and content of prayer depends on how prayer itself is defined. For some, even theological writers, prayer means ‘asking God for what we need’; they prefer to use such terms as ‘meditation’ or ‘contemplation’ for other interactions with the divine. But ‘prayer’ is used in common parlance, at least in English, to include all the forms mentioned above, and all of them do appear at least occasionally in sociological research on prayer. Nevertheless, the popular dominance of prayer as petition, and Weber’s authoritative example, appear to have influenced sociological researchers to focus primarily on prayer that seeks favors. making the sacred real 13 2. ‘No One Prays Alone’ – the Radically Social Character of Prayer A brilliantly insightful and persuasive writer, William James wielded great authority in the emerging field of psychology of religion at the beginning of the twentieth century and shaped the understanding of religion and prayer among English-speaking readers before the works of Durkheim, Mauss, and Weber became available in translation. Even among sociologists, he may have exercised more influence than Weber in shaping conceptions of prayer. James was drawn, by both personal taste and his chosen psychological frame of reference, towards individual manifestations and away from organized religion. Tasked with delivering the Gifford Lectures on Natural Religion, James left aside religion’s institutional and social dimensions and chose to define it, for the purpose at hand, as ‘the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider the divine’ [italics added]. In this context, he defined prayer as ‘every kind of inward communion or conversation with the power recognized as divine’ (James 1973). But James’s religious individualism in the Varieties was not merely pragmatic; he also argued that religious action at the individual level was more primordial, that religious rituals and religious organisations grew out of the personal encounter of individuals with the divine. His approach was consistent with the individualist and interiorised character of the dominant Protestant culture of early twentieth century America. Later researchers may have shared James’s distaste for the religion of churches and creeds and for stereotyped forms of collective worship; there is also a tendency, which grew steadily more pronounced in the ‘age of authenticity’, to see private, solitary prayer as more authentic than public worship, more unambiguously expressive of commitment, because more clearly voluntary. Where there is a strong norm prescribing public prayer / church attendance, there is pressure towards socially conforming behavior, and consequently, widespread suspicion of hypocrisy: of people ‘going through the motions’ with motives that are mixed or completely ‘extrinsic’, to avoid censure, to appear respectable or virtuous. For these or similar reasons, researchers have tended to focus more on private prayer. The principle of individualism enunciated by James, that the individual is ‘more primordial’ than the social, is challenged by sociology’s insistence on the radically social character of human consciousness and action; but in particular, the individualistic approach to prayer was decisively refuted by Marcel Mauss. Mauss was Durkheim’s nephew and collaborated with 14 michael c. mason him in formulating the classic statement of the social character of religion in the Elementary Forms (Durkheim 1976). In fact, the concept of collective effervescence appeared first in a study by Mauss and Beuchat (Ramp 2010). Mauss went on, in his incomplete and only recently published doctoral thesis on prayer, to develop a penetrating analysis of the social roots of all forms of prayer, even so-called private prayer. ‘Nobody prays alone’, he contended. Mauss defined prayer as a ritual which is social in its origin, content, form, and limits (2003:33, 57). The primary form of prayer is public cult or worship; prayer in solitude is merely a continuing resonance of the public celebration. The sources of prayer are social, Mauss contends: each religious tradition defines in its stories the conception of God, the ways in which humans can interact with God, the forms and content of prayer; it models communication with God in its worship and draws in the individual believer to take part (2003). So the relationship with God is initially experienced as between God and a community of which the individual is a part. In pride of place is the gathered local community at prayer, then the family or small group. The ‘private’ prayer of an individual is secondary; it derives from and depends on these occasions in which the individual is part of a larger or smaller community. Mauss convincingly refutes James’s contention, showing that the primordial subject of prayer is the community, not the individual; the primordial setting is public and ritualised, not private, subjective, and interior. 3. Beyond Words – Non-Conceptual Dimensions of Prayer Recent theoretical work in the sociology of religion has been making much more room for nonverbal or preverbal, nondiscursive forms of knowledge and communication, which would be considered irrational in the narrow epistemology of the Enlightenment but supremely rational in terms of Pascal’s paradoxical pensée: ‘The last proceeding of reason is to recognise that there is an infinity of things which are beyond it. There is nothing so conformable to reason as this disavowal of reason’ (Pascal 1966). In ground-breaking theoretical work forty years ago, Robert Bellah rejected reductionist analyses, maintaining that religion is a reality sui generis, not to be reduced to psychological or social phenomena (1970a). His alternative theory of ‘symbolic realism’ contended that the most important truths in human life, which religion conveys, can be expressed only in symbols, including ‘non-objective’ symbols, such as those that express the feelings, values, and hopes of subjects (1970a:253). making the sacred real 15 Physicist and religion scholar Ian Barbour argued that religious myths are comparable to high-level scientific models (e.g. those dealing with the structure of matter) in that both are attempts to state truths about vast and complex areas of reality in sweeping synthetic judgments that can be expressed only symbolically in metaphors. Neither form of statement can be rigorously ‘proved’ or ‘disproved’ in the scientific sense (Barbour 1974; 1990:41). The way forward for sociology is to reconceive religion as a rich source of knowledge, but only secondarily theoretical. Religion makes use of other well-recognised non-conceptual ways of knowing: e.g., art, performance skills which become embedded and disappear from consciousness (as in ritual), practical knowledge (in ethics), narrative (in religious myths), worldview, and, at the most abstract level, entire symbol systems based on analogical reasoning (Mason 2011). This identification of nondiscursive symbols as playing a central role in religion has important consequences for the sociological understanding of prayer. Ritual movement, rhythm, dance, music, vocalisation – all of these transcend the limits of language and of concepts, but serve both to express and communicate religious sentiments. Warner, describing the importance of singing in worship (2008), draws on Collins’s study of ‘interaction ritual chains’ (2004) and on recent work by Bellah (2006) and Rappaport (1999), to argue that music and dance are fundamental to religion as mechanisms of social solidarity which, like Durkheim’s ‘collective effervescence’, do not depend on (rationally intelligible) meaning, but on the one hand, reach into our sensuality, our physiology, and on the other, give social expression to our experience. Warner quotes Nancy Ammerman’s (2003) insistence that ‘the metaphor of narrative’ used to instil religious identities is not to be reduced to words or rational meaning, but also involves ‘the physical self … affect more than thought … embodied practices. … Gestures, postures, music and movements tell the story and signal our location in it’ (Warner 2008:185). In some traditions, prayer reaches its ultimate in complete silence and emptiness, within and without. In a paradigmatic story, an elderly man, asked how he prays, replies simply: ‘I look at Him and He looks at me’. 4. Relationship with the Other – Roles in Prayer Believers experience prayer as communication, dialogue, an ongoing relationship with the sacred Other. How is this possible if the Other is neither seen nor heard? 16 michael c. mason Hjalmar Sundén and his colleagues developed an understanding of prayer as a relationship, situating it in a social psychological perspective (1987).4 Sundén begins with the familiar notions of perception and frame of reference: in the act of perception ‘an object, event or situation is necessarily ‘sized up’ in relation to something else, and whatever this something is, constitutes the frame of reference for perceiving the object, event or situation.’5 In prayer, the human being enters into an interaction system in which there are culturally defined roles for humans, but also a role for God; and the role of the divine partner becomes their frame of reference. In every act of perception there is a search for a perceptual pattern to interpret the data of experience. Ordinarily, one’s life situation is understood in a down-to-earth or profane mode. But when the religious frame of reference is activated, the perceptual field takes on a new structure and meaning; aspects of the situation previously unnoticed may become highly significant; the experience becomes the occasion for an encounter with God, and one’s life-situation is interpreted in that light. Sundén calls this ‘turnaround’ in perception a ‘phase-shift’, analogous to the perceptual shift in the famous vase-face experiment in Gestalt psychology.6 The social character of prayer was emphasized by Sundén’s colleague Holm (1987), showing, as Mauss did, that prayer, whether individual or collective, draws heavily on cultural resources. The structures of prayer and other religious experiences are not dredged up from the numinous depths of the individual soul but provided in the cultural materials of the religious tradition: in the stories, songs and prayers that are socially transmitted and learned and provide the models of the roles of humans and God in relationships with each other. At times, a person is struck by the parallel between their own situation and a situation portrayed in the tradition. That story becomes reality for that person. They see themselves in terms of the role of the human in the story; and knowing also how the role of God is described in that model, they anticipate that God will relate to them as in the story. They enter into a relationship with God. They experience events in their life as actions of God. The ‘motivating factor’ that brings this about may be some internal or external pressure, something 4 The work of the group was reported in a symposium in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. Their theory strongly supports Mauss’s view of the radically social nature of prayer. 5 For ‘frame of reference’ phenomenology uses the term ‘horizon’; Gestalt psychology uses ‘ground’. 6 In the phase-shift, figure and ground change places. making the sacred real 17 that makes the person turn to an alternative interpretive scheme to make sense of their experience. For the devout, praying is not just an intermittent response to external pressures but is structured into a life of prayer (Van Der Lans 1987).7 Religious people maintain and reinforce the religious frame of reference by regular devotional practices such as prayer and spiritual reading, which create in them a readiness or disposition to experience God as present and acting anew as in the traditional stories. Meditation aims to change the cognitive and attitudinal structure. Such techniques as fasting or going without sleep are used to disrupt the sensory equilibrium of everyday life and bring about the phase-shift, suppressing the profane frame of reference and activating the religious one. Bodily relaxation and a motionless posture help to turn attention away from the sensory world and to block thoughts that reflect the profane interpretation of reality. The religious frame of reference can be further reinforced by prompts that carry religious cues, such as a particular location, clothing, posture, reading or recitation, a particular mental or visual object on which one concentrates.8 There is a striking similarity across religious traditions and over thousands of years in the techniques used to cultivate a life of prayer and meditation. Why do believers persevere in making requests of God in prayer, even when most do not experience physical changes in the environment in response to their requests? Capps (1982) applies Sundén’s theory to explain that believers already ‘know’ anticipatively what God will say and do on the basis of the tradition’s stories. So the intense expression of their problems, desires, and needs is ‘answered’ by being placed dramatically alongside what they have learned from the tradition about God. They may struggle to accept the answer, but the process is one of gradually becoming more unified with what they understand from the tradition as ‘God’s will’. 5. Entering the Sacred World – Prayer and Alternative Reality The final strand of sociological theory that we bring to the understanding of prayer is drawn from the sociology of knowledge of Alfred Schutz.9 7 This paragraph is a paraphrase of his explanation on pp. 404–05. 8 Often these prompts are combined: e.g., reciting a mantra in a temple while adopting a posture of prayer, dressed in religious garb, with one’s gaze fixed on a religious statue or icon. 9 Schutz grounded his social theory in the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl, but was interested primarily in the ‘structures of the lifeworld’, the social organisation of the forms of knowledge underlying our everyday lives. 18 michael c. mason Schutz himself made only passing references to religion,10 but his theory of ‘multiple realities’ (1967) provides a powerful framework for understanding prayer as entering an alternative world. a. The World of Everyday Life and Alternative Worlds Schutz’s essay ‘On Multiple Realities’ (1967) begins by taking up William James’s description of the subjective dimension of reality – the experience of reality. Something seems to us ‘real’, says James, if it attracts our attention, and it remains real for as long as we attend to it (James 1950). In other words, reality does not just impose itself on us from outside; we play an active part in determining what is ‘real’ for us. This insight was later formulated as the ‘Thomas theorem’: ‘If [people] define situations as real, they are real in their consequences’ (Thomas and Thomas 1928). At the same time, reality retains an objective dimension; it is not limited to what the individual acknowledges: I can back into a tree without having noticed it. Defining something as real does not bring it into being; but makes it real for me. Further, not all realities are the same, but we move between different ‘worlds’. James mentions the world of physical reality, of science, and of religion. Reality is multiple. Schutz undertakes to explore these ‘multiple realities’ and explain how we find our way among them. His method is not psychological, like that of James, but sociological. He shows that each ‘world’ is socially created; it existed before we were born, was experienced and interpreted by others, and passed on to us by our parents and teachers (Schutz 1967:208, 347–56). While we are engaged in other worlds, they are real to us: ‘While the play lasts, Hamlet is to us really Hamlet, and not Laurence Olivier acting the part of Hamlet’ (340).11 Each world has what we could call its own ‘feel’; Schutz uses the term ‘cognitive style’ to sum up the characteristically different way in which reality is experienced in each world, its style of presenting or framing its own kind of reality. (230). One of these worlds is paramount: the ‘world of everyday life’ or the ‘world of working’, ruled by common sense, in which we are ‘wide-awake’, 10 Others, however, have made extensive use of Schutz’s theories in sociological analyses of religion: Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann were his students at the New School for Social Research, and his influence is everywhere evident in their work. Geertz, in his famous essay on the definition of religion (1973), makes use of several Schutzian concepts. Bellah incorporates Schutzian theory into his monumental study Religion in Human Evolution (2011). 11 Page numbers in brackets in this section refer to Schutz 1967. making the sacred real 19 fully attentive to sensory inputs from our surroundings. Practical experience convinces us that this world is real. If we walk in the rain we get wet, and we can perform actions that ‘work’ in this world, and we continue to ‘confer upon it the accent of reality’, to treat it as real, so long as it fits our experiences. We suspend doubt about it. ‘We are not ready to abandon it unless we experience a shock which compels us to break through the limits of this finite province of meaning12 and to shift the accent of reality to another one’ (230). Schutz cites the following examples of a transition from the everyday lifeworld to a new province which now takes the accent of reality: ‘the inner transformation we undergo when we see the theatre curtain rise and enter the world of the drama; … falling asleep as a leap into the world of dreams; … religious experiences of all kinds’ (344). The world of everyday life is one in which we are in communication with others, a world of shared meanings. Language is rooted in this world. Communication about other provinces of meaning is only possible by means of symbols, which act like a bridge between worlds, with one footing (the symbol) in the world of everyday life and the other (that which is symbolised) in another finite province of meaning transcending the everyday (343, 348). Jacob dreams of a ladder ascending to Heaven, and awakening, consecrates his stone pillow as the foundation of a house of God (337–38). The everyday stone pillow-become-pillar symbolises, stands for, points to God: ‘Truly God was in this place, and I knew it not’ (Genesis 28:16ff). b. Prayer Confers the Accent of Reality on the Sacred World Prayer addresses a being who exists in another ‘world’. When people pray they cross the boundary between two vastly different realms: the profane and the sacred. The world of God or gods, angels, saints, Heaven, and life after death makes no sense in this-worldly terms. It contradicts the laws of the everyday world regarding materiality, space, time, and causality. Yet to anyone reared in a religious tradition, the sacred world is not unfamiliar. It has been socially defined in great detail in their tradition. They were first taken there by others: taught how to enter, what to look for, and how 12 Schutz uses the terms ‘cognitive’ and ‘meaning’ in a broad sense, by no means restricted to theoretic, conceptual, or discursively rational meaning. For instance, he discusses the meaning of a musical composition, explaining that it cannot be expressed in concepts (1964). 20 michael c. mason to act. To them it is not at all an untracked wilderness, but a city whose streets are paved and mapped. By praying, the believer transfers the accent of reality from the everyday lifeworld to the sacred world. While in this world, the actor defines its contents as real: speaks to God, however pictured in the imagination, expresses love or gratitude or contrition, asks for spiritual or material gifts. The reality of the sacred world differs from that of the novel or play: we may confer an accent of limited reality upon a stage Hamlet, but we know we are not in Denmark. The sacred world that a religious tradition makes available is presented as ultimate reality, challenging the ‘paramount’ status of the everyday lifeworld. At the same time, we know that this sacred world is socially constructed, handed down over generations, and to that extent a ‘fiction’ – not untrue, but a humanly-produced set of symbols which is our only way of expressing the larger and more complex truths of our existence.13 Why are believers prepared to bestow upon it the accent of reality? How do they come to regard it as credible, more to be trusted than the evidence of their senses? The intellectual warrant of religion is the central problem of the philosophy of religion, but is not our concern here. Most believers have grown up respecting and accepting their tradition’s vision of the sacred world, yet it still must stand the test of adult experience. This, rather than philosophical inquiry into the existence of God or the credibility of religious faith, is how believers approach the sacred world. We continue, according to Schutz, to place the accent of reality on the everyday world as long as it fits our experiences; but when there is discord between the two, when we experience, with a little ‘shock’, something that ‘makes no sense’ in the everyday life world, we look for another ‘world’, another frame of reference, within which we can interpret our experiences. Evidently, for many, it is the sacred world that provides that framework. The transition between these two worlds, the ‘phase-shift’ from one frame of reference to another, is marked by a kind of ‘gear change’, a little ‘shock’ or ‘leap’ of consciousness, because the worlds are discontinuous; they do not touch; there is a gap between them we must leap over (232). In dramatic religious experiences in which someone is ‘seized’, the transition is experienced as a sharp, even frightening jolt; a loss of control, a fall into an unfamiliar world. For those who pray regularly it becomes smooth. 13 Cf. Wallace Stevens: ‘The final belief is to believe in a fiction …’ cited in Bellah 1970a:203. making the sacred real 21 Schutz alerts us to five ways in which other worlds ‘feel’ different from everyday life and from each other.14 Forms of prayer vary widely in this respect; however we can illustrate the five dimensions of ‘cognitive style’ by taking a simple example: a group of believers – be they Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish or Muslim – reciting prayers of praise. First, Schutz notes how other ‘worlds’ relate to the world of everyday life. In prayer, there is a turning away of attention from the mundane world. The minds of our group of believers are focussed on the ritual, the words of prayer, and the sacred Other to whom their praise is directed. Although people and events from the everyday lifeworld are often brought into prayer, the mode of attention to the other is radically different from that of everyday life. In prayer loved ones are seen as they exist before God. Sounds from the environment, thoughts and feelings from everyday life, are distractions one tries to ignore. In more intense forms of meditation, the actor may lose all awareness of the surroundings and of the passing of clock time. The second feature of cognitive style is suspension of doubt. The ‘natural attitude’ suspends doubt about the reality of the world of everyday life. It is simply ‘taken for granted’. But when the accent of reality is transferred to the sacred world, it appears as the absolute, indubitable Reality, the ‘really real’, and the world of everyday life appears ‘merely real’, even partly ‘fictitious’ (233–34). Looking back from the sacred world, the circumstances of earthly life no longer appear as unchangeable ‘hard realities’. Things could be otherwise. People are freed to re-imagine themselves, their course of action, and their future along different lines. This capacity is crucial in enabling personal and behavioral change. Thirdly, each world has its own form of sociality, of relating to others. In some religions, ‘worldly’ roles and statuses have no valency in the sacred world; all are seen as equal in dignity before God. On the other hand there are some roles, such as cantor or leader of prayer, that are valid only within the activity of prayer. Anthropologist Victor Turner analysed prayer as a liminal activity, occurring in a space where participants have stripped off their everyday statuses and roles. This kind of ‘nakedness’ together often gives rise to an intense experience of solidarity for which Turner used the Latin term ‘communitas’ (1976). 14 The classic statement of the phenomenology of religious experience is Rudolf Otto’s The Idea of the Holy (1958). 22 michael c. mason Fourth, the experience of the self in prayer is different from that of everyday life. The effect of applying to the self the scheme of meaning and value derived from the sacred world varies greatly between religions, and even within a religion, depending on the spirituality of the group. While some varieties of spirituality commend self-forgetfulness, others teach that in prayer the ‘true self’ is revealed, the self as it is in the eyes of God. This self may be visualized at any point along the spectrum from an infinitely precious jewel created and eternally loved by God, to a sinful, revolting object that can appeal only to God’s infinite mercy. The fifth characteristic distinguishing other worlds from the everyday lifeworld is their conception of time. Much of everyday life is ‘scheduled’, organised according to the clock time governing the external world. Within the sacred world, clock time is irrelevant. Prayer, like other rituals, takes place in sacred time, often conceived as an ‘eternal now’, in which divine beings and actions are enduringly present. In prayer, events and relationships in everyday life, and the self with its fears, desires and ambitions, are subjected to reflection sub specie aeternitatis [in the light of eternity]. The time-bound world appears as merely a temporary arrangement. The joys and triumphs, fears and sorrows of earthly life are relativized, losing their capacity to provoke extremes of either terror or delight. Here is the root of religion as theodicy, its power to overcome the existential threats to human life. Habitually defining the sacred world as one’s reality leads to its values coming to permeate the lifeworld, transforming people’s ideas of the purpose of life, of what defines a good or successful life, and of appropriate forms of behaviour and relationships. The capacity of prayer to achieve these effects is a further demonstration of our primary contention: that prayer is the fundamental religious act, the most basic enactment of the believer’s faith. In the midst of everyday life, those who pray make the sacred world their reality, and speak to God. Implications for Further Development of Theory and Research This brief overview of prayer in the light of some particularly relevant strands of sociological theory makes it plain that the prerequisite for further research on prayer is a renewed sociology of religion, freed from the limits and distortions imposed by anti-religious prejudice. Fortunately making the sacred real 23 there are many initiatives in this direction, led by Bellah’s contributions over the past forty years (1970a; 2006; 2011).15 Christian Smith (2003) reported developments in philosophy of religion and epistemology that counter the facile rejection of religion as irrational by many scientists and philosophers (Stark 2000).16 It is to be hoped that both philosophers and sociologists will be emboldened to explore more deeply the different ways of knowing practiced in provinces of meaning other than the scientific. Such an open-minded approach will require change in the anti-religious culture dominant in many academic departments of sociology and philosophy. The perplexity some scholars profess at the fact that there are educated, highly intelligent people who hold religious beliefs and engage in prayer is a function of the incapacity of ‘Enlightenment fundamentalist’ science (Bellah 1970b; Coleman 1992) to accommodate ‘multiple realities’ and multiple paths to truth. Although prejudice still leads to the exclusion of religion from many empirical research projects (Dillon 2003), its predictive power makes it attractive to other researchers (Evans and Kelley 2004). As mentioned above, research on prayer among youth showed that it was a stronger predictor of important outcomes than other conventional measures of religiosity (Mason forthcoming). These and similar findings create an incentive for researchers to examine a wider range of forms of prayer than have been studied in the past. Research is needed especially on prayer in small and large groups, as opposed to private prayer, and on non-petitionary prayer. When the effects of prayer on people’s lives are studied, often it is only the frequency of prayer that is measured; future research should explore the impact of the different forms and contents and settings of prayer. For this finer-grained research, researchers will require a better understanding than many have shown in the past, of the religious context in which a particular form of prayer is practiced, and the theology and spirituality underlying it. Otherwise research efforts will appear to subjects as clumsy and ill-informed, and will bear little fruit. The study of a topic as complex and multi-dimensional as religion requires a multidisciplinary approach, drawing from anthropology, religion 15 One of Andrew Greeley’s last and greatest works, Religion as Poetry (1995), is an original and distinguished contribution to both theory and research, linking religious and artistic modes of knowing. 16 The historical and philosophical roots of sociology’s deeply flawed conception of religion are analysed in Mason 2011. 24 michael c. mason studies, philosophy, and even theology as well as sociology. Here too, a change in academic culture is required, lessening disciplinary defensiveness and rivalry, and dismantling barriers to interdisciplinary cooperation. Theoretical paradigms cannot be tested in crucial experiments. They are validated by their fit to the data of research and experience, by providing a more plausible interpretation of reality. We believe that the theoretical interpretations we have drawn together around the practice of prayer pass this test. References Ammerman, Nancy. 2003. ‘Religious Identities and Religious Institutions.’ Pp. 31–44 in Michelle Dillon (ed.) Handbook of the Sociology of Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Baker, Joseph O. 2008. ‘An Investigation of the Sociological Patterns of Prayer Frequency and Content.’ Sociology of Religion 69 (2):169–75. Barbour, Ian. 1974. Myths, Models, and Paradigms: A Comparative Study in Science and Religion. New York: Harper & Row. Bellah, Robert N. 1970a. Beyond Belief: Essays on Religion in a Post-Traditional World. San Francisco: Harper & Row. ——. 1970b. ‘Confessions of a Former Establishment Fundamentalist.’ Bulletin of the Council on the Study of Religion 1(3): 3–6. ——. 2006. ‘Durkheim and Ritual.’ Pp. 150–80 in Robert N. Bellah and Steven M. Tipton (eds.) The Robert Bellah Reader. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press. ——. 2011. Religion in Human Evolution: From the Paleolithic to the Axial Age. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Capps, Donald. 1982. ‘The Psychology of Petitionary Prayer.’ Theology Today 39:130–41. Coleman, John A. 1992. ‘Catholic Integralism as a Fundamentalism.’ In L. Kaplan (ed.) Fundamentalism in Comparative Perspective. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press. Collins, Randall. 2004. Interaction Ritual Chains. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Dillon, Michele. 2003. ‘The Sociology of Religion in Late Modernity.’ Pp. 3–15 in Michele Dillon (ed.) A Handbook of the Sociology of Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Durkheim, Emile. [1915] 1976. The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. London: George Allen & Unwin. Evans, M.D.R. and Jonathan Kelley. 2004. Australian Economy and Society, 2002 : Religion, Morality and Public Policy in International Perspective 1984–2002. Annandale, N.S.W.: Federation Press. Geertz, Clifford. 1973. ‘Religion as a Cultural System.’ Pp. 87–125 in Clifford Geertz (ed.) The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays. New York: Basic. Greeley, Andrew M. 1995. Religion as Poetry. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Press. Heiler, Friedrich. [1932] 1997. Prayer: A Study of the History and Psychology of Religion. New York: Oxford University Press. Holm, Nils. 1987. ‘Sundén’s Role Theory and Glossolalia.’ Journal for the Scientific Study Religion 26 (3):383–89. James, William. [1890] 1950. The Principles of Psychology. [New York]: Dover Publications. making the sacred real 25 ——. [1902] 1973. The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature. New York: Macmillan. Mason, Michael C. 2011. ‘Reconceptualising Religion in Response to Sociological Confusion and Denominational Decline.’ Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and Religious Research Association, Milwaukee, USA.’ http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/research/ccls/Otherpap/Reconceptualising_religion.pdf. ——. Forthcoming. ‘For Youth, Prayer Is Relationship.’ In Giuseppe Giordan and Linda Woodhead (eds.) The Sociology of Prayer. Farnham, UK: Ashgate. Mauss, Marcel. 2003. On Prayer, ed. W.S.F. Pickering. New York: Durkheim Press/Berghahn Books. Norris, Pippa, and Ronald Inglehart. 2004. Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. O’Dea, Thomas F. 1966. The Sociology of Religion. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. Otto, Rudolf. [1923] 1958. The Idea of the Holy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pascal, Blaise. [1670] 1966. Pensées. Harmondsworth, U.K.: Penguin Books. Ramp, William. 2010. ‘Durkheim and After.’ Pp. 52–75 in Bryan S. Turner (ed.) The New Blackwell Companion to The Sociology of Religion. Oxford: Wiley. Rappaport, Roy. 1999. Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Schutz, Alfred. 1964. ‘Making Music Together: A Study in Social Relationship.’ Pp. 159–78 in Arvid Brodersen (ed.) Alfred Schutz. Collected Papers II: Studies in Social Theory. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. ——. 1967. ‘On Multiple Realities.’ Pp. 207–59 in Maurice Natanson (ed.) Alfred Schutz. Collected Papers I: The Problem of Social Reality. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. Smith, Christian. 2003. The Secular Revolution: Power, Interests, and Conflict in the Secularization of American Public Life. Berkeley: University of California Press. Stark, Rodney. 1997. ‘Bringing Theory Back.’ In Lawrence Young (ed.) Rational Choice Theory and Religion: Summary and Assessment. New York: Routledge. ——. 2000. Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion. Berkeley: University of California Press. Sundén, Hjalmar. 1987. ‘Saint Augustine and the Psalter in the Light of Role-Psychology.’ Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 26 (3):375–82. Thomas, W.I. and D.S. Thomas. 1928. The Child in America: Behavior Problems and Programs. New York: Knopf. Turner, Victor. 1976. ‘Ritual: Tribal and Catholic.’ Worship 50(6): 504–26. Van Der Lans, Jan. 1987. ‘The Value of Sundén’s Role-theory Demonstrated with Respect to Religious Experiences in Meditation.’ Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 26(3):401–11. Warner, R. Stephen. 2008. ‘2007 Presidential Address: Singing and Solidarity.’ Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 47(2):182–85. Weber, Max. [1922] 1964. The Sociology of Religion. Boston: Beacon Press. PRAYING IN GROUPS: SUGGESTIONS FOR A SOCIOLOGY OF PRAYER Patricia Wittberg, SC This chapter will propose a focus for a sociology of prayer, which has been relatively little studied and whose further exploration could yield valuable theoretical and practical benefits. I propose that a sociology of prayer could study the prayer forms engaged in by groups, not by individuals. By a “group,” I mean the standard sociological definition of a collection of at least four or five persons1 who interact on a relatively regular basis and who see themselves as belonging together in some way. Such a group is not the same as a “category” (e.g. women, African Americans, the middle class) who share a common characteristic but do not all pray together. Examples of praying groups might include a church congregation, a Pentecostal prayer meeting, pilgrims traveling together to a specific holy place, or a spiritual self-help group. It might also include what sociologists call an “aggregation” – a temporary collection of hitherto unconnected individuals attending a large religious gathering such as a Promise Keepers rally or a World Youth Day – at least during the time that they are praying together at the event. I believe that one could construct a sociology of prayer that compares the varied prayer forms and activities engaged in by different types of group, and studies the effects that these variations have on the life and functioning of the group. Note that this is not the same as studying the effects which such prayer activities might have on the individual in a group, a topic which has already been addressed, to some extent, by psychologists and social psychologists. Nor am I interested in reviewing the multitude of studies for which frequency of personal prayer is merely one of several independent variables possibly impacting a given dependent variable. Finally, I will not discuss the large existing literature on whether different age, ethnic, or social class categories of individuals are more or less likely to engage in a given type of prayer. Instead, I hope to review systematically the relatively small body of research that describes and 1 Simmel (2009:53ff.) points out that there are special dynamics that apply to dyads and triads. Therefore, it would follow that a group should be larger than two or three persons. 28 patricia wittberg classifies types of group prayer and maps the different kinds of praying groups which engage in each type, in order to explore the results that a given form of group prayer may or may not have for those groups which engage in them. To structure and inform my review, I will use as a model the already existing, relatively large, body of psychological literature on individual prayer. A Conceptual Road Map: Studies on the Psychology of Prayer In 1991, Margaret Poloma and George H. Gallup Jr. published Varieties of Prayer: A Survey Report (Poloma and Gallup 1991). In their introduction, they noted that, prior to 1985, only sixteen researchers had ever attempted to analyze prayer. Most of these had conducted psychological and medical studies on the development of prayer concepts in children, on individual motivations for prayer, or on the mental and physical benefits which individuals experienced from their prayers. Although Poloma and Gallup were both sociologists, their own research, too, described almost exclusively the practices, motivations, and experienced results of individual, private prayer. In their chapter on “Prayer and Forgiveness,” for example, they cited only psychological writers on this topic.2 Their summary path diagram for the variables impacting forgiveness includes five different dimensions of individual spiritual practices, but only a single, unidimensional, “Public Religion” variable at the group level (Poloma and Gallup 1991:103). Research on Types of Individual Prayer In the years since Poloma’s and Gallup’s report, numerous psychological studies have appeared to remedy the lacuna they had observed.3 Most of these studies, however, continued to focus on individual prayer, exploring and expanding on the richness of that concept. Competing typologies were advanced for the types of individual prayer4 and how to measure them,5 and comparative research has since weighed the relative 2 All 56 references in this chapter are to psychological articles. 3 See, for example, Francis and Evans (1995) and Francis and Astley (1996) for review of this literature. 4 See, for example, Ladd and Spilka (2002, 2006), Neff (2006), Pepper, Jackson and Uzzell (2010), Seidlitz et al. (2002), Poloma and Pendleton (1989). 5 See, for example, Dein and Littlewood (2005). praying in groups: suggestions for a sociology of prayer 29 usefulness and accuracy of each typology.6 Other psychological studies have investigated single prayer types: contemplation, discernment/life review, or mysticism.7 Sociologists as well as psychologists have investigated whether different categories of individuals – racial, ethnic, gender, age, class – might employ one of these types of prayer more than another.8 A few have looked at how the types of prayer engaged in by individuals might be affected by their denominational affiliation and/or personality.9 Research on the Content of Individual Prayer Other psychological studies have examined the content of individual prayer. These include research on concepts of God,10 on emotional affect in prayer,11 and on prayer behaviors such as weeping, laughing, shouting, or various body movements.12 As with the literature on prayer types, some of these authors have noted that the content and behaviors involved in praying may vary by the setting of the prayer and by the individual. Research on the Results of Prayer for Individuals Finally, a body of literature examines the real and perceived results of individual, personal prayer.13 These include improvements in one’s overall physical14 and mental15 health, as well as more specific benefits such as 6 Breslin, Lewis, and Shevlin (2010). 7 See Ozawa-DeSilva and Ozawa-DeSilva (2010) for contemplation, Bade and Cook (2008) for discernment/life review, and Hood et al., (2001) for mysticism. 8 See, for example, Baker (2008), Cerulo and Barra (2008), Fitchett et al. (2007), Neff (2006), Krause and Chatters (2005), Krause (2004), Baesler (2002), Noffke and McFadden (2001), Krejci (1998), Mercer and Durham (1999), McRae (2001), Lefever (1996), McCauley (1995). 9 See Gallagher (2005) and Noffke and McFadden (2001) for denomination; Michael and Norrissey (1984) for personality. 10 For example, Pepper, Jackson, and Uzzell (2010), Jensen (2009), Bradshaw, Ellison, and Flannelly (2008), Gall et al. (2007), De Roos, Iedema, and Miedema (2004), Noffke and McFadden (2001), Kunkel et al. (1999), Krejci (1998), Dickie et al. (1997), Hertel and Donahue (1995), Bassett et al (1990), Hammersla, Andrews-Qualls, and Frease (1986), Benson and Spilka (1973), Gorsuch (1967, 1978). 11 Kwilecki (2004), Hood et al (2001), Mercer and Durham (1999). 12 Poloma (2003); Poloma and Green (2010). 13 Bromley (2007:289–95), Krause (2004), Breslin and Lewis (2008b). See Krause (2011) for the results of a person’s knowing that others are praying for him/her. 14 Meisenhelder and Chandler (2001), Dossey (1993). 15 Ellison et al (2012), Schnall (2011), Ozawa-De Silva and Ozawa-De Silva (2010), Bradshaw, Ellison, and Flannelly (2009), Breslin and Lewis (2008a), Gall et al. (2007), Krause (2004), McRae (2001), Meisenhelder and Chandler (2001), Emavardhana and Tori (1997), Poloma (1993). 30 patricia wittberg coping with personal difficulties,16 reducing loneliness or depression,17 restraining aggression,18 and recovering from substance abuse.19 Private prayer has even been shown to increase individuals’ involvement in the larger civil society.20 Parents’ prayer and their concepts of God have been shown to affect the prayer practices of their children.21 Some researchers have also examined the effects of group prayer on individuals. While at least one study maintains that attending formal religious rites and rituals does not lead to significant improvements in an individual’s ethics or morality (Stark 2001), numerous other authors have found that participation in group prayer does help people “refuel” and cope with life’s difficulties,22 gives them feelings of freedom, empowerment, or emotional sustenance,23 and even heals their physical, spiritual, and mental complaints.24 In addition, some authors have explored how individuals’ expectations of these benefits affects their prayer.25 Table I attempts to map the various foci for academic research on individual prayer. Table I. Academic Studies of Individual-Level Prayer. Individual Characteristics Individual Prayer Results for the Individual Individual Prayer Variations by: Prayer Typologies: Evaluation of the typologies Physical health Age/ethnic group/ gender/class, etc. Mental Health Coping with personal difficulties Denomination 16 Jenkins (2010), Bade and Cook (2008), Banzinger, Van Uden, and Jacques (2008), Kwilecki (2004), Maynard, Gorsuch, and Bjorck (2001). See Gall et al. (2007) for coping specifically with the after-effects of childhood abuse. 17 Braam et al. (20007). 18 Leach, Berman, and Eubanks (2008). 19 Neff (2008), Shields et al. (2007). 20 Loveland et al. (2005). 21 De Roos, Iedema, and Miedema (2004), Lee, Rice and Gillespie (1997). 22 Jenkins (2010), McRae (2001:236, 242), and Wolff (1999:222). See also Pope (1942:134). 23 See Wolff (1999:230) for freedom/liminality; Bromley (2007:297) for personal feelings of empowerment; Williamson and Pollio (1999) for emotional sustenance. 24 Acevedo (2010), Smith (2006), Poloma and Hoelter (1998). 25 Krause (2004); Breslin and Lewis (2008b). praying in groups: suggestions for a sociology of prayer 31 Table I. (Continued) Individual Characteristics Individual Prayer Myers-Briggs personality types Results for the Individual Recovering from Substance Abuse Analyses of specific types of prayer Contemplation Discernment/ Life Mysticism Prayer Content: Concepts of God Emotion/ Behaviors Expectations Restraining Aggression Participation in Civil Society Parents’ prayer/God concepts affect their children Individual benefits from group prayer Coping Refueling Feeling moved, freed, empowered Healing Applied Literature on Individual Prayer From all of this academic research has come a wealth of applied, “how-to” articles on individual, personal prayer. For example, Table II lists the number of articles on the types, content, and results of individual prayer that have appeared between 2004 and 2009 in four major journals of Catholic spirituality. Similar works can be found in the publications of other denominations as well. Such articles make the findings of psychological research accessible to the general public and suggest techniques for putting these insights into practice in one’s own prayer life. The authors in these applied journals recognize that different individuals will need or desire different types of prayer as they pass through the various events and developmental stages of their lives, and they provide examples and techniques of prayer that might be useful for each event or stage. 32 patricia wittberg Table II. A Summary of Possible Topics on Spirituality and Prayer. Number of Articles Appearing in Various Religious Journals, 2004–2009. Types of Prayer 1) Individual Prayer Forms: centering prayer, lectio, rosary, mysticism, Eucharistic adoration, office, spiritual exercises, ascetical practices (51) 2) Finding God in Daily Events: in parenting, work, marriage, nature, humor (41) 3) Examen/Discernment: examining one’s faithfulness to prayer, beneficial or harmful habits, the impact of one’s work environment on one’s mental and spiritual health, making decisions (21) Dark Nights/Consolations of the Soul 1) Characteristics – how to recognize in one’s life (11) 2) Ways to deal with this (7) Spiritual Life Cycles 1) Spirituality for parents, the elderly, youth, widows/widowers, etc. (22) 2) Spiritual development of individuals (32) Prayer and Suffering, Physical and Psychic 1) Chronic illness, stress, depression (27) 2) Death and bereavement (12) Prayer and Abuses: 1) Addictions as a barrier to spiritual growth; forgiveness (17) 2) The impact of childhood traumas, post-traumatic stress, etc. on prayer; ways to deal with this (18) The numbers in parentheses refer to the number of articles on these topics appearing between 2004 and 2009 in the following journals: Review for Religious, Spiritual Life, Human Development, and The Way. The Sociology of Group Prayer What is missing from the literature, however, is a similarly complex and nuanced analysis of group prayer and the effects of communal prayer on the life and functioning of the religious group. As numerous authors have praying in groups: suggestions for a sociology of prayer 33 argued, modern Western culture in general, and North American culture specifically, is basically individualistic in its focus and lacks the basic concepts and practices we need to deal with the health and well-being of groups as groups, as communities. This lack of any discourse to express the distinctive rights and needs of communities, apart from the separate rights and needs of the individuals who comprise them, is what political scientists and sociologists call an “institutional blank.” Institutional blanks are social spaces where an institution, a process, a law, or a role should exist to meet a need, but does not. Consequently, we find it impossible even to notice what is missing, let alone to start thinking what we should do about it. Our culture’s institutional blank regarding community needs and functioning manifests itself in many different aspects of American intellectual life. For example, its legal systems are set up to deal either with the rights and duties of individuals or with the rights and duties of corporations and governments. The middle levels – the family, neighborhood, community – have no legal standing. This “institutional blank” regarding community also occurs in the American economic system: there have been concepts and recognized procedures to describe its economy as the result of individual actions (e.g. the writings of Adam Smith), as well as a school of economic thought describing the role of the state when individual economic activity fails (i.e. the Keynesian school of economics). But what one author calls “Deep Economy” – the integration of mid-level local community groups into an economic order – is much less developed.26 It is, perhaps, to be expected that a similar lacuna would occur in academic research on prayer. The specific subject matter of sociology is precisely the social group. Sociologists study the functioning of work groups, neighborhoods, schools, church congregations, and the like. They also study how various individual behaviors such as juvenile delinquency, racial discrimination, social mobility, and child-rearing are manifested in groups. So it should fall under the purview of sociology also to study how prayer is manifested in groups of people and with what results for the functioning, survival, and growth of these groups. Of course, sociologists have been theorizing about ritual, and about collective prayer as a subset or exemplar of ritual, since the days of Durkheim and Mauss. Drawing from Durkheim, recent scholars such as Collins 26 McKibben (2007:101) makes this point. 34 patricia wittberg define ritual as “a mechanism of mutually focused emotion and attention, producing a momentarily shared reality, which thereby generates solidarity and symbols of group membership” (Collins 2004:7). Interestingly, however, Collins does not discuss religious rituals in his magisterial work. Durkheim, of course, did do so, and noted that the collective effervescence produced by successful rituals was often considered by the participants to be a manifestation of the presence of the Divine. Thus, one member of an Orthodox congregation felt the presence of God from the moment she entered the church: “Your whole body, everything is immersed in prayer from the moment that you walk in … We’re praying together to God. I feel a unity with everyone and the power of that prayer, whatever we’re praying, the litanies, whatever, I feel that God really hears us and He’s touching each one of us” (Wuthnow 2003:176). The forms and impacts of religious rituals for the group involved in them, which was so key to the study of sociology for Durkheim and his students, are much less studied in our discipline today. Collective prayer rituals are almost infinite in their variety. So are the groups in which these rituals take place. The elements which comprise a “successful” prayer experience for one group may not do so for a different one, or even for other categories of individuals in the same group. The very definition of “success” may also vary: observers of a Pentecostal congregation, for example, may not count a religious service a success unless its collective effervescence leads to increased solidarity among the participants. On the other hand, participants in a Tridentine Mass may not need to feel – or care to feel – much solidarity at all for their prayer to be a “success.”27 There is also little consensus on how such key Durkheimian variables as solidarity, collective effervescence, and emotional entrainment could be measured at the group level. Comparable to the way psychology has been applied to the prayer and spirituality of individuals, therefore, we now need to apply the findings of sociology to the prayer and spirituality that is engaged in by groups. We need to map the various types of group prayer and investigate which types 27 Draper (2011:25) notes that Catholic congregations in general have lower levels of solidarity, measured as feelings of belonging and a common vision, than evangelical congregations, despite having high levels of collective effervescence. Draper interprets this as due to “the weight of recent changes and internal conflicts.” But Becker (1999:209) finds less internal conflict in Catholic parishes than in Protestant congregations, and the majority of Catholics were born after Vatican II and do not remember the pre-Vatican II Mass. It is more likely that Catholics have different expectations concerning what a collective ritual should be and do. praying in groups: suggestions for a sociology of prayer 35 are engaged in by which types of groups. We need to develop a list of the possible impacts which these group prayer types might have on the praying group itself (which is not the same as their impacts on the individuals praying in the group). This has rarely been done. For example, Robert Wuthnow’s (2003) study of church music and art examined the impact of these activities, even when engaged in by groups of church members, primarily on the prayer lives of individuals. The impact of choral singing, liturgical dance, or religious art on the choir, dancers, or artists as a group was largely ignored. Preliminaries: Dimensions of Group Variation A preliminary assumption of the psychological research on individual prayer is that, because individuals each have distinct personalities and social circumstances, a wide variety of prayer types will be needed to meet their varied needs. The same might be assumed to be true of praying groups. The academic literature describing some of the dimensions of group variation occurs primarily in social psychology, with an applied literature addressing groups in business settings. However, to the best of my knowledge, these dimensions have rarely, if ever, been applied to the analysis of group prayer.28 According to one representative textbook on the subject (Nijstad 2009), groups may vary along any or all of the following dimensions: • The characteristics of the individuals composing the group: their age, socio-economic status, ethnicity, gender, education, ideological stance, etc. • The heterogeneity/homogeneity of the group members along each of the above dimensions. Nijstad points out that such heterogeneity is more difficult to measure than might be expected. Two groups with the same span of ages, classes, or ideologies might still differ profoundly in: ◯ How much overlap there is between members on a given characteristic, ◯ Whether there are “fault lines” whereby two subgroups are internally homogeneous but differ from the other subgroup on every dimension 28 The only one of which I am aware was a paper read by Scott Draper at the 2011 meetings of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, entitled, “Effervescence and Solidarity in Religious Organizations.” 36 • • • • • • • • • patricia wittberg (e.g. a group composed of young, African-American, professional women and elderly, white, blue collar men), ◯ Whether or not the different characteristics of the members are complementary or in opposition to each other. The size of the group. How long the group has been in existence, and whether its birth was planned or not. How frequently the members interact (and for how long they do so each time); whether this interaction takes place online or in physical proximity – or both. How hard/easy it is to join the group. The degree to which the group has developed norms, roles, and status differences; and whether there are formal or informal levels of membership. The goal(s) of the group, and the extent to which these goals are congruent with the goals of the individual members. How the group makes its decisions: by majority vote? By consensus? By dictate of the leadership? How vulnerable does this way of making decisions render the group to groupthink or the risky shift? (Nijstad 2009:140–141). What kind of leadership, if any, the group has. The larger social and temporal contexts in which the group operates. This would include: ◯ The impression outsiders have of the group, ◯ Whether other groups are willing to collaborate or be associated with it, ◯ Whether group members view other groups as hostile or not, ◯ Long-running external events such as the Great Recession; acute crises such as a tornado or flood. In addition to this multitude of characteristics that can be expected to differentiate one group from another, various internal events will also affect its functioning: • Leadership transition – is this the first time such a transition has happened? What previous experience does the group have of leadership transition? Is there an established process governing the selection of leaders? • Member transition, which includes the departure of members as well as welcoming new ones: praying in groups: suggestions for a sociology of prayer 37 ◯ Is there a formal member socialization/integration process? ◯ Are the new members different in some key way from the established members? ◯ When whole groups of new members enter at once, due to (e.g.) a merger, which subgroup will become predominant in the newlymerged whole? • Group memories/traumas/conflict (Nordenbrock 2011). Groups, therefore, possess unique configurations of a multitude of characteristics. These characteristics also change over time. As with individual prayer, therefore, we might expect that certain types or styles of group prayer might be more or less useful, or more or less appealing, to various types of groups. But while, as has already been pointed out above, there is an extensive literature on how characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, age, class, and personality impact individual prayer, there is less written on how the various characteristics of a group might affect the choice and effectiveness of group prayer types. Types of Group Prayer While a plethora of competing psychological studies have attempted to construct typologies of individual prayer, no comparable literature exists to suggest a typology of group prayer. A tentative (and completely untested) one might look at the following dimensions: • Formalized/scripted vs. spontaneous, realizing that some seemingly spontaneous group prayer – such as charismatic prayer – does in fact have an unspoken script.29 • Apollonian/contemplative vs. Dionysian/ecstatic: Some prayer experiences such as Taize services are designed to lead the group into a state of quiet, contemplative unity with each other and with the Divine. Others, such as Pentecostal healing services or the serpent-handling rituals in some Appalachian churches, are designed to induce a contagious emotional high within the group.30 • Whether group prayer focuses on worldly concerns, or whether it attempts to create a “liminal” state removed from them.31 29 See Poloma and Pendleton (1989) and Csordas (1997). 30 See Kubicki (1997) for Taize prayer, Bromley (2007) for snake handlers and fire walkers, Sklar (2001) for ritual dancing. 31 See Ivakhiv (2001), Carroll (1999) for liminal group prayer, especially in pilgrimage as a liminal state. 38 patricia wittberg • The amount of interaction in the praying group: At one end, this dimension includes congregational singing/clapping/swaying in unison and recited group prayers. At the other end, one might place “praying alone together” in which members are silently reciting mental prayers at the same time, “performance music” in which a congregation passively listens to a soloist or musical performance,32 or even an online or televised prayer service where the worshippers are not physically present to each other at all.33 • Whether group prayer is the primary purpose of the group or an adjunct to some other activity – and, if the latter, the proportion of time spent in prayer as compared to other activities.34 To the best of my knowledge, such typologies have never been constructed, let alone tested to see if they would be useful in either research or practical applications. The Content of Group Prayer In addition to the types of prayer – contemplative OR. Dionysian, scripted or spontaneous, involving more or less interaction between group members, etc. – there is also the content of group prayer. More sociological research has been done on this aspect of group prayer, culminating in Chaves’ (2004:132) list of the repertoires of worship elements engaged in by congregations in the United States. Many of the elements in this list describe the various types of content of group prayer: • Stories/testimonials: Engaged in, according to Chaves, by 78% of congregations. Testimonials are also the predominant activity in small prayer groups. Testimonials are an even more important part of Charismatic/ Pentecostal worship services than is glossolalia.35 32 Warner (2008) faults megachurches for “performance music,” saying that these churches adopted this minimally participative prayer style in order to appeal to males who want to worship alone together. Wuthnow (2003:154) confirms that megachurches have little audience participation, but notes that sometimes the participants do in fact feel a connection when they pray “alone together:” “We’re praying together to God. I feel a unity with everyone.” (Wuthnow 1994:176). See also Cimino (2001:36) for a different perspective. 33 Collins (2004:60) explicitly denies that this last type is collective interaction at all. See also Wolff (1999). 34 Again, however, this is not as clear-cut as it might seem. Day (2005) notes that, in one group explicitly defined as having prayer as its primary purpose, the majority of the time was spent in “chatting.” Yet Day found that this ostensibly secular activity actually served a profound spiritual purpose in preparing the participants for prayer. 35 Wuthnow (1994:296–7), McGuire (1977). praying in groups: suggestions for a sociology of prayer 39 • Music, when engaged in by the praying group as active participants and not merely as passive listeners. As one writer put it, “Music, like the liturgy itself, is a sign or symbol that requires human presence for its expression.”36 According to Chaves, congregational singing is the most common worship element – more common even than the sermon. • Verbal symbols: This would include shouting, glossolalia, prophecy, affirmations (punctuating a sermon with “Amen” or similar expressions), etc. This type of group prayer behavior may be the most studied, especially in the Charismatic/Pentecostal context. Csordas describes four distinct genres of speech/prayer in Charismatic worship, and Poloma and Green note that glossolalia, too, occurs in two different types.37 • Embodied symbols: This would include standing, sitting, kneeling, clapping, raising hands upward or outward, shaking hands (the “kiss of peace”), “resting in the Spirit,” etc. The variations in these can be extremely subtle – whether one’s upraised hands are palm-upward or palm-outward, for example – but can mark profound differences in a group’s identity or development.38 • Sacramental symbols: This would refer to “a material element which allows us to be ‘gathered together’ into a reality which is far from us because it is abstract or immaterial or invisible.”39 Examples might be incense, bread, wine, candles, and special clothing. • The above elements can be combined into patterned rituals, which can range from ancient and elaborate to seemingly spontaneous. Most of the research describing these behaviors concentrates on their impact on the emotions and spirituality of the individuals who engage in them. Other, more sociological, research describes how groups with varying member characteristics (class, race, ethnicity) engage in different combinations of these worship elements.40 A common observation, dating as far back as Liston Pope, is that working class congregations are more likely to engage in Pentecostal or emotional worship, while upper class congregations prefer more liturgical worship.41 A similar body of research 36 Kubicki (1997:19). See also Pople (1942:90). 37 Csordas (1997:170–183), Poloma and Green (2010:113). 38 Csordas (1997:40, 111). See also Edwards (2009:50–51; Nelson (2005); Pike (2001); Pope (1942:86, 90–1, 130–3). 39 Kubicki (1997:40). See also Carle (2001:51); Cimino (2001:136;143). 40 Carle (2001:47); McRae (2001:235). See also Pope (1942:123–124, 134) and Hammond & Kinloch (2001) for prayer variations by socioeconomic status, Nelson (2005), Edwards (2009), and Pantoja (2001:169) for variations by race/ethnicity. 41 Pope (1942). See also Chaves (2004:134–143). 40 patricia wittberg charts the different repertoires of worship elements employed by different denominations.42 In addition to the variations in prayer content engaged in by groups with different member characteristics, these prayer types may change over time as the group itself changes.43 New members join and older ones die or depart; the social class, race, or age of the group changes; ecological and demographic transitions occur in the surrounding area. Pope (1942:123– 24) describes how the “niches” available for the churches in the mill town he studied changed over time, with corresponding changes in the congregations themselves. More recently, Poloma and Green (2010) observed that Pentecostal worship services are becoming more Evangelical over time, de-emphasizing distinctive practices like glossolalia and beginning to emulate Evangelicals by giving more prominence to the sermon. A formerly group-focused prayer may even lose its collective character altogether. Curry (2001:81) documented a shift from the group-centered divination practiced in Africa to individual fortune-telling common among African emigrants to the United States, and hypothesized that this was due to the individualism of American culture, which migrants had absorbed. Various types of group prayer, therefore, like individual prayer, seem to appeal to specific demographic “niches” and at specific points of a group’s life cycle. To the extent that sociology has looked at prayer at all, it has studied its prevalence, or absence, in these demographic niches. Or sociologists have emulated psychologists in looking at the effect of prayer on the individuals in these populations. Few have examined how various types of group prayer might affect various kinds of groups as groups. Results of Group Prayer – for the Group Table I lists numerous studies of how group prayer helps individuals cope, heal, refuel, or find freedom, but there has been little or no research on whether/how group prayer helps the praying group cope with collective stresses, heal from traumatic events, refuel its shared effervescence, or discern “godly” decisions to make about its functioning or future. 42 Chaves (2004: 147–149) notes that denominational polity also affects the kinds of worship elements that a congregation employs in its group as well as its individual prayer, and McGuire (1977) contrasts the variations between Protestant and Catholic Charismatic/ Pentecostal prayer. praying in groups: suggestions for a sociology of prayer 41 Paralleling the postulated results of individual and group prayer for individuals, one might outline the following research agenda for the postulated results of group prayer for the praying group itself: • The impact(s) of various group prayer types in creating the very identity of the group.44 According to Chaves (2004:127), worship is central to the very life and existence of a congregation. It is key for all forms of group identity. In their prayer, members of the group engage with and inhabit powerful symbols. “By means of this ‘symbolic exchange,’ subjects weave or re-weave alliances and recognize themselves as members of a social group in which they find their identity.”45 Related to this topic is the next one: • The impact(s) of various group prayer types on the creation/affirmation of group boundaries, whether these be of class, race/ethnicity, or theology.46 The use of complex ritual words, gestures, or symbols in group prayer may deter persons of other classes or ethnicities from participating; specific symbols such as the use of Latin in a Catholic Mass – or whether communicants receive the consecrated wafer on their tongues or in their hands – can become a theological statement dividing “true believers” from the “Others.” • The impact(s) of various group prayer types on group cohesion/participation/ energy/emotional effervescence.47 There are a few studies of this: ◯ Bromley (2007:295) describes how collective support and motivation for firewalking and serpent handling “are generated through a combination of singing, circling, hugging, and drumming. The momentum builds until the participants reach a point of being ‘in state’ or totally focused.” If either of these dangerous practices fails, the explanations given for the failure include both individual lack of faith and group lack of unity. ◯ Wuthnow (1994:265–6) describes how small prayer groups encourage expressions of love and caring among participants. ◯ Warner (2008) describes the effect of group singing on group cohesion. 43 Poloma & Green (2010), Edwards (2009:47–48), Carle (2001), Pope (1942:123–4). 44 Warner (200), Wolff (1991:22), Williams & Pollio (1999), Carroll (1999), Kubicki (1997:201–202), Csorda (1997:105), Edwards (2009:48). 45 Kubicki (1997:201). See also Spickard (2005) and Collins (2004:96) 46 See Pope (1942: 105–6), Roemer (2007), Curry (2001:93), and Nimbark (2001:97) for class boundaries; Edwards (2009:48), and Sklar (2001) for ethnic boundaries; Edwards (2009:47) for theological boundaries. 47 Wuthnow (2003:170), Kubicki (1997:21), Warner (2008); Nelson (2005); Bromley (2007:295), Cimino (2001:145). 42 patricia wittberg • The impact(s) of various group prayer types on group longevity. Many authors assume that groups with high emotional energy and collective solidarity will be longer lived, but the opposite could just as easily be true. Rituals may stratify a group, relegating some of the members to the fringes and giving a few central actors the power to define its identity (Collins 2004:112). The power of the collective solidarity engendered by its rituals can hide increasing discontent and prevent its being dealt with until no compromise short of dissolution is possible.48 • The impact(s) of various group prayer types on how/whether a group can adapt to external environmental changes and internal chaos. Successful prayer forms may help a group to: ◯ Reform outdated elements. One pastor wrote that “The most powerful tool for Church reform is music. Each previous reform has brought a new infusion of music into the church’s life, conveying the reforming ideals into the hearts of church folk, and drawing unchurched people in great numbers into the new movement.”49 ◯ Deal with theological challenges: Day (2005:351–2) describes how one women’s prayer group used their interaction in the group to devise a theodicy for explaining why some of their prayers did not receive an answer. ◯ Initiate identity change and/or radicalization: Csordas describes how charismatic prayer groups used ritual litanies to define and constitute themselves as a people in opposition to the secular world, and to bolster their confidence in their ultimate goal and purpose. In their rituals of prophecy, ideas that had originally been considered “off the wall” became accepted: “Ritualization and radicalization are really two dimension of the same process” (Csordas 1997:100). • The impact(s) of various group prayer types on affirming/creating the hierarchy of the group. The leaders’ charisma is itself conferred by the praying group, and the language and special clothing symbols used in prayer sessions ratify, embody, and validate the hierarchy of status within the group.50 Of course, this can also lead to uneven feelings of solidarity among those left out. 48 See Allain (1992) and Bohlken-Zumpe (1993) for first-hand accounts of such dissolutions. See Zablocki (1980:98–110) for a sociological analysis of this. 49 Inteviewed by Wuthnow (2003:170). See also Curry (2001:93), Csordas (1997:100), and Day (2005:351–352). 50 Csordas (1997:139). See also Wolff (1999:227), Csordas (1997:111–113, 139). praying in groups: suggestions for a sociology of prayer 43 • The impact(s) of various group prayer types on group growth. If in fact group prayer helps define and re-define a group’s identity, confirm and affirm the charisma of its leadership, this may enable the group to occupy a newly-vacant religious niche and thus achieve strong growth.51 The above list outlines the ways group prayer might impact various praying groups: church congregations, religious orders, prayer groups, and the like. Table III outlines a research agenda based on this list and parallel to the individual-oriented research of psychological studies in Table I, noting the limited number of works to date that have addressed these topics. Table III. Academic Studies of Group-Level Prayer. Group Characteristics Prayer Topics Group characteristics: Group Prayer Types: Member age, SES, Formalized/ ethnicity, gender scripted Group heterogeneity/ Apophatic/ contemplative vs homogeneity Dionysian/ Group size ecstatic Group age Amount of Type and frequency interaction of group “Worldly” vs Liminal interaction Exclusivity/Inclusivity Frequency of group prayer Group purpose/goals Pervasiveness of Group norms, roles, group prayer in processes group activities Group leadership type Group Prayer Content: Stories/testimonials Music Results for the Group Prayer results Common sense of group identity Affirmation/creation of group boundaries Class Race/Ethnicity Theology Group Cohesion → emotional effervescence → Sense of community Group longevity (Continued) 51 Edwards (2009:47). Bromley (2007: 299) reports that some snake-handling churches measured the success of their group prayer activities by the number of persons who came to scoff but were converted by the experience. 44 patricia wittberg Table III. (Cont.) Group Characteristics Group experiences: Leader transition Member transition Healing of group memories Welcoming new members Prayer variations by group: SES Ethnicity/Culture Denomination Changes over time Prayer Topics Symbols and Resources: Verbal Embodied Sacramental Results for the Group Group Adaptation Affirmation of hierarchy Niche occupation and group growth Applied Literature on Group Prayer As a result of the lack of academic literature, there is a similar dearth of applied, “how-to” literature on group prayer in popular spirituality journals. Table IV uses the same categories as Table II, this time referring to articles on group rather than individual prayer. It is immediately obvious that the topics in Table II have been far more extensively covered than those in Table IV. Without the theory and research in the academic articles, applied articles on prayer forms easily devolve back to a discussion of individuals’ personal needs and practice of prayer – which is not the same thing. As one perceptive Jesuit writer observed regarding one form of group prayer, the “examen” or discernment prayer: In initiating the communal examen in my community … my desire was that this exercise be truly communal. Early in our experience we realized that, although we called it communal it had a personal focus. As one member said, … we were reflecting more on how “I” live in community. The difference can be subtle, but our aim in our weekly examen is to move the primary focus from “oneself in the community” to “ourselves as the community.”52 52 Shano (2009:252). Italics in the original. praying in groups: suggestions for a sociology of prayer 45 Table IV. A Summary of Possible Topics on Prayer in Groups. Number of Articles Appearing in Various Religious Journals, 2004–2010. Types of Prayer 1) Communal Prayer Forms: Eucharistic liturgy, group retreats pilgrimages (5) 2) Finding God in Secular Group Events: in meetings, crowds, parties (1) 3) Communal Examen/Discernment: examining whether the group excludes anyone from membership or leadership, whether making decisions is hampered by cliques or past patterns (1) Techniques of communal discernment: circle of trust, communal examen (7) Dark Nights/Consolations 1) Group cycles of loss/increase in fervor or enthusiasm (1) 2) Ways to deal with this (1) Spiritual Life Cycles 1) Prayer in key times of a group’s existence; prayer for different kinds of groups (2) 2) Spiritual development of a group: stages, pros and cons, problems (4) Suffering, Physical and Psychic 1) Prayer during group trauma: conflict, lost of leader, moving to a new location, splits, group death (2) Abuses: 1) Group cultural blindnesses and resistance to change (4) 2) Inherited results of mistakes at the group’s beginning. The numbers in parentheses refer to the number of articles on these topics appearing between 2004 and 2010 in the following journals: Review for Religious, Spiritual Life, Human Development, and The Way. Yet few articles give directions for how such a “communal examen” might be carried out. Conclusions In his 1988 Presidential Address to the American Sociological Association, Herbert Gans noted that the insights of psychological research have been 46 patricia wittberg much more effectively presented to, and utilized by, practitioners in various applied fields, as well as by the general public.53 The main argument of this paper has been that Gans’ criticism applies to the sociology of prayer as well. The time, however, may now be ripe to remedy this deficiency. Recently, several authors54 have complained about the unfulfilled need for a literature presenting and evaluating the techniques/practices of group prayer. Church leaders and members, too, are concerned about the difficulties they are encountering in attracting and retaining the next generation. There is some preliminary evidence55 that encouraging group prayer, and training even small children in its use, may be the most effective way for church congregations to survive and grow in the future. This makes the dearth of literature on the subject all the more urgent. In this brief paper, I have outlined a huge research agenda – one well beyond any one individual researcher, or even any one generation of researchers. We need to adapt the current, heavily businessadministration-oriented research on group types and functioning to church congregations and praying groups. We need vastly to expand the limited research on what kinds of prayer are the most beneficial (and along which dimensions of usefulness) to different types of groups at different stages in their existence. We have only the barest beginnings of such a research field. 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Many athletes observed the British spirit whereby one should not openly show one’s feelings, but many others were not loth to involve their own God – either to assist their sporting performance or to give thanks for results obtained. In this way television cameras from all over the world captured a great number of religious gestures, from the sign of the cross to fingers raised on high, from figures in meditation to bodies kneeling before the Infinite, all in a sequence of images attesting to how this sentiment is common to all the peoples of the earth, however various are the forms in which it is expressed. The most striking example is that of the Jamaican Usain Bolt, the fastest man in the world, whose physical power and human exuberance did not prevent him from addressing a prayer to God before routing his rivals in the 100 and 200 metres sprints in Olympic Stadium. Among many others, we remember the Egyptian athlete Abouelkassem who, after having won the silver medal in individual foil fencing, threw himself prostrate on the footboard to thank Allah for an achievement never before accomplished by an Arab, and Gonser Franco, the Brazilian gymnast caught by the cameras praying with her eyes closed in front of the balance beam. It is not easy to decipher these moments of absorption and dialogue with the sacred, even though the examples given tell us not only that individual, spontaneous prayer perseveres over time and reveals itself in a variety of circumstances, but also that today it involves particular specialized groups who have no hesitation in expressing it publicly. 1. Prayer in Advanced Modernity Recourse to prayer by powerful athletes and famous personalities (considered by many people as not being particularly close to a religious horizon) reinforces the idea that the practice is not foreign to advanced modernity, expressed not only by those who cultivate popular religiosity or who live 54 franco garelli and roberta ricucci in culturally traditional or socially problematic environments. From this comes the conviction that we should study in depth a phenomenon which knows no limits of latitude or breadth, involving both specialized publics and ordinary people, both those who are well off and those who live on the periphery of society; and apart from being present among the most diverse faiths and religious traditions, may also interest subjects who do not identify with any religious denomination or live on autonomous and personalized paths of meaning. These are the considerations behind the recent interest which prayer is arousing among sociologists of religion, especially among those who are convinced that it is a powerful indicator of religious changes taking shape in advanced modernity (McGuire 2009; Woodhead 2009). Obviously in the past there was no lack of in-depth studies on spontaneous, individual prayer (Bertrand 1993; Vergote and Aubert 1972; Swatos 1982) which, however, where limited to analysing the role of this practice within the dynamics of church religions or institutionalized forms of religious expression, so that prayer was often considered a second-rate indicator of religiosity because of the importance assigned to other religious dimensions such as beliefs and participation in community rituals. The more recent studies tend to highlight individual prayer, which takes place outside community rites and indicates people’s habit of turning to the sacred with words or with thoughts in the ordinary circumstances of life (Paloma and Gallup 1991). Today we look with particular interest at this act which is not only religious but also cultural (Garelli 2011). On one hand there is recognition that personal prayer is more widespread than communal prayer, so that all over the world and in every religious faith there are more people who meditate or pray to their own God than participate in collective rites (McRoberts 2003). Thus the secularization process seems to have eroded participation in public religious rituals more than has people’s tendency to have a direct personal relationship with the sacred. On the other hand, observation of individual prayer also helps us to describe the cultural characteristics of various peoples, recognizing that religious styles reflect particular conceptions of reality and visions of the world. At this level there emerges a religious feeling which respects various expressive forms, has abandoned the idea of an exclusive faith holding the key to truth and salvation (Berger 1990), and attributes equal importance to the multiple paths of meaning to be found in the most variegated environments and cultures. Therefore these attitudes tend to “ennoble” individual, spontaneous prayer, considering it on one hand as the fundamental religious act and on attitudes towards prayer: european and italian trends 55 the other as a fruitful indicator of religious tendencies which cannot be detected from the study of such other dimensions of religiosity as beliefs and practices. 2. Is Prayer not Just One Religious Practice among Others? Adopting this point of view are those who assert that prayer is not a religious practice like the others but the basic act of religion, the foundation of faith, the activity from which all the others derive. These concepts were recently put forth by Michael Mason, who defined prayer as “the believer’s spiritual respiration”, like a secret formula allowing believers to slip away from the world of daily life and enter the world of the sacred (Mason 2011) and which recalls in this regard the thought of classical authors who always considered this act as the hinge of a person’s religious life. In this way Novalis, a leading light of Romanticism, held that “prayer is to religion what thinking is to philosophy”; while for Friedriche Heiler, the historian of religions, “there can be no doubt at all that prayer is the heart and centre of all religion. Not in dogmas and institutions, not in rites and ethical ideals, but in prayer do we grasp the peculiar quality of the religious life”; not to mention William James, who “regarded prayer as the very essence of religion” (1902). In order to support his arguments (which invite sociologists to study the act of prayer more in depth, not stopping at evaluating its effects on people’s physical and mental health or their wellbeing and success), Mason also appeals to the authority of Donald Eric Capps, an eminent psychologist of religion, for whom “the heart of the psychology of religion is the psychology of prayer” (Capps 1982:308). Identifying with these assumptions, some scholars have asked themselves about the particular conditions that make prayer a key variable for the understanding of religious dynamics even in advanced modernity. That is insofar as – as Marcel Mauss has already observed – prayer (like religion) has undergone in the course of time a double evolution. On one hand it has become progressively more spiritualized, so that in time prayers of supplications have diminished (they fed mostly on acquired formulas), leaving more space for personal meditation and reflection, to “untrammelled conversation with God”. On the other hand it has become gradually more individualized, both because prayer (like every religious practice) is perceived more as an act of will or preference than an act of observance, and because anybody who prays today tends to be more aware of the subjective aspect of one’s own human experience than of 56 franco garelli and roberta ricucci religious institutions’ directives (Giordan 2011). Prayer too, therefore, reflects the individualism of belief that directs many people towards an autonomous and subjective seeking after meaning, which is often revealed outside the spheres and canons of the main religious confessions. This gives rise to the idea that “spiritual” prayer (i.e. using spontaneous and not encoded language, responding to the need for meaning in life, attentive to the discovery of the inner self, generally liberated from material interests and concerns of a moral nature) is prevailing over “religious” prayer, which in its most expressive forms and composite contents seems principally to reflect religious feeling belonging to the past. What has been said hitherto shows the new interest being developed by sociologists of religion in the subject of prayer,1 even though awareness is widespread that empirical research into this religious dimension is in its infancy, that systematic study of this kind of practice is lacking, and that there are few analyses of the social structure of prayer (Dein and Littlewood 2005; Ladd and Spilka 2002). Of course the principal surveys on the religious situation in various countries and continents examine the theme of prayer, although they are limited to pointing out simply the percentage of those who pray and their socio-demographical characteristics, omitting to go into depth about important aspects of this religious feeling/attitude. Among these we can mention: the content of the prayer (material or spiritual requests, praise or thanksgiving, begging for forgiveness and so on); the modalities and forms in which one prays (use of the body, demonstrating feelings and emotions); the places where one prays; the functions of this religious practice and its repercussions on life conditions (Wittberg 2013). But above all, the empirical analyses available do not permit us to check the significance of the novelties which some scholars (reinterpreting the thinking of authoritative figures from the past) today attribute to the study of prayer. Among the many questions in the present discussion of prayer, we may mention the following: • I s prayer really the basic religious act upon which all others depend? Or, as other scholars maintain, is it a religious dimension not unlike the others, since the hypothesis of prayer’s religious primacy would seem to be mainly applicable to “religious virtuosi,” in contrast to many “faithful” who – even on this level – reflect the ambivalent and controversial nature of their religious ties? In other words, do these latter pray 1 For a literature review see Wittberg 2013. attitudes towards prayer: european and italian trends 57 (or practice and believe) more out of habit than conviction, moved more bytraditionthanbyspecificmotivations(Gallagher2005)? • Howwidespreadistheprocessofspiritualizingprayer?Towhatextent does prayer become an ever-more mental and interior act (Giordan 2011), disconnected from both material-type requests and the formulas learntfromreligiousenvironments(Woodhead2010;2011)? • Whatistheprevalenceinthisfieldtooofreligiousindividualism,indicating the affirmation of spontaneous prayer which, in giving precedence to autonomous quests and the culture of the self, increasingly avoids the influences of institutional religion (Cipriani 2011; Berzano 2011)? • Furthermore, what social groups most cultivate this sentiment? Is it deprived and oppressed levels of society (Stark, Bainbridge 1987; Norris, Inglehart 2004; Nelson 2005; Baker 2008; Edwards 2009) or is lack of existential security not the only reason urging people to pray (Mason 2011)? Yet again, how does prayer influence people’s lives and public presence? Are those who pray most often and most intensely more inclined towards civic involvement and volunteerism (Loveland, Sikkink,Mayers,andRadcliff2005;Patillo-McCoy1998)? The points dealt with here may be only partly subjected to empirical testing because of the scant attention – already mentioned – paid to the dimension of prayer in the most important surveys carried out recently on the theme of religiosity. Nevertheless there are some indicators that allow us to contextualize better the role of prayer in present cultural and religious dynamics and enrich a broadening debate. That is what this paper proposes to do. It aims, first of all, to look at how prayer is faring in some European countries as revealed by the latest EVS (European Value Survey) survey of 2008–09 which, as is known, dedicates only two variables to the subject: if and how often people devote some moments to prayer, to meditation, to contemplation or similar activities.2 For reasons of space and practicality, the comparative analysis concerned only some of the countries involved in the EVS project, chosen in such a way as to bring out the greatest differences: e.g. between what happens in Northern and Southern Europe, between countries of Catholic and Protestant cultures, between nations still characterized by broad religious affiliation and those in which “no religion” holds sway. On the basis of the above criteria, the following 2 For further information on the EVS analyses: Davidod 2008; Meulemann 2009; Müller, Pollack 2009; Siegers 2010. 58 franco garelli and roberta ricucci countries were examined: Sweden and Great Britain for Northern Europe; Holland, Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland for the Centre; Portugal, Spain and Italy for the South. Poland – an East European country with a substantial population which is a particular case study – was added. Subsequently the tendencies in this field of religiosity-spirituality will be studied in depth in a particular cultural context, that of contemporary Italy, thanks to data from a recent national survey (Apsor 2007) that devoted ample space precisely to the subject of prayer, drawing out interesting aspects, including the content, motives, forms and points of reference of prayer. 3. Religious Tendencies in Europe Before analysing how prayer is faring in the countries observed here, it might be useful to remind ourselves of the various religious scenarios to be seen at the European level, since they also form the backdrop to the data upon which our study rests. All the countries – according to the latest EVS survey – are undergoing similar religious dynamics (the secularization process, individualism of belief, a growing religious pluralism, for example), which, however, are revealed as having different rhythms and results according to context and specific national histories. a) The sense of belonging to the traditional religion seems to be still strong in Scandinavian countries, while in Great Britain the Anglican Church has had to deal with not only the growth of new religious movements and “religions of immigration” (Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Hinduism) but also with an ever-increasing proportion of the population (c. 45%) which declares “no religion”. The tendency to drift away from churches and not to identify with any “religious affiliation” is by now a quite common characteristic also in Central European nations, involving – according to the circumstances – between 45 and 50% of residents. This is the situation in Holland and Belgium, countries in which (leaving aside the many “no religion”) Catholic orientation prevails – although with different importance – among the proportion of the population which claims a religious affiliation. Germany and France stand out in Central Europe. In the former there is still a relative Catholic and Protestant grip, but in a scenario where the “non-affiliated” are now a relative majority group of the population. This is certainly a striking datum for a country with a long, deep religious tradition, for the explanation of which we need to look to both the country’s attitudes towards prayer: european and italian trends 59 unification process (integrating the regions of the East which had been dominated by a Socialist state and an atheistic education) and the more recent phenomenon of “abjuring Christianity”, whereby some citizens apply to have their denominational bond repealed, either because of spiritual detachment or for economic reasons (i.e. to avoid paying church tax as required by state law) (Froese and Pfaff 2005). As for France, despite its great religious past, it now joins Holland as the European country most polarized over the question of religious affiliation, with about half of the population identifying themselves with a denomination and the other half saying they have none. On the other hand, the sense of religious affiliation remains high in Switzerland, involving 72% of the population. It is the country with the most numerically solid religious pluralism, with Catholics and Protestants quantitatively equivalent (30% each), while about 10% of residents identify with other faiths and religious traditions. Moving on to Southern Europe we see countries where religious belonging – mostly Catholic – is more widespread, comparable with Poland. Yet in recent years interesting differences have emerged among Mediterranean countries, with the “no religion” phenomenon quite contained in Italy and Portugal while it is noticeably gaining ground in Spain. Over 80% of Italians and Portuguese declare religious belonging, compared with 75% of Spaniards. These are high numbers in the context of other European countries, although Poland holds the primacy of religious affiliation (88%). It goes without saying that the analysis of the European religiousbelonging scenario hitherto carried out has its limits, both because of the fact that for each country we mainly looked at the prevalent religious denominations, and because all empirical investigations tend to underestimate the presence of religious minorities while they are more reliable in revealing the importance of the most solid religious groups. Nevertheless, putting aside these inexactitudes, the EVS data supply us with interesting indications about the spread of religious pluralism in the countries examined. It seems more relevant in Switzerland, Holland, Spain and Great Britain, where at least 10% of the population say they adhere to a religious faith different from the traditional one (particularly Islam and Orthodox Christianity), while, on the other hand, the presence of religious minorities is weaker in other European countries, not only in contexts (Southern Europe and Poland) where Catholic belonging is more common, but also in some Northern and Central European countries (Sweden, Belgium, France, Germany). 60 franco garelli and roberta ricucci Table 1. Religious tendencies in some European countries. Percentage data for religious and denominational belonging, at-least-monthly attendance at religious rituals and the perception of being “a religious person”. Diffusion of prayer Poland Italy Switzerland Holland Spain Portugal Belgium Great Britain Sweden France Germany Belief in God Selfdefinition Attendance Religious belonging at rites Type of belonging / religious denomination How many How many How many At least say they believe in define once a pray God themselves month as religious persons Declares No Catholic Protestant/ Other belonging belonging Anglican 84.1 75.4 65.1 64.3 59.8 58.0 51.9 44.5 43.9 40.3 40.3 95.5 81.6 72.2 48.5 74.6 81.2 57.7 55.3 66.4 49.3 54.2 96.1 90.7 74.6 57.6 76.2 85.8 61.6 64.6 45.6 52.5 47.4 88.4 86.2 61.0 60.3 53.8 75.5 59.0 45.0 32.1 41.6 37.4 71.7 50.0 19.5 23.8 24.3 36.7 18.6 19.2 7.6 11.9 16.6 4.6 18.4 27.9 51.6 25.4 18.8 42.4 44.7 34.3 50.7 45.9 93.4 80.5 32.5 23.3 56.3 76.1 51.6 10.7 1.9 42.7 23.0 0.3 0.1 29.5 11.9 0.3 1.5 0.7 35.8 59.9 1.3 27.5 Source: Analyses on EVS 2008–2009. In short, analysis of the rate of religious belonging helps to bring into focus the many faces of Europe. The incidence of a sense of identification with a religious denomination is more a characteristic of Southern countries (and Poland) than of Central and Northern ones, where substantial proportions of the population (sometimes the majority) seem by now to lack any connection with a religious group or institution. Apart from appearances, we cannot say that religious affiliation is more common in countries with a Catholic cultural tradition than in those with a Protestant cultural tradition, since there are countries with Catholic roots (for example, Belgium, Holland and France) within which there is a significant proportion of “no religion”; while we find a high rate of religious belonging in countries with a prevailing Protestant (Sweden) or bi-denominational (Switzerland) culture. b) Continuing with the analysis, it is noticeable that in almost all the countries considered, there are more people who believe in God than declare religious belonging, even though the gap between these two sets does not generally seem very high, while varying with the context. In most 1.7 1.0 10.2 13.1 18.0 3.5 5.3 8.9 4.0 5.3 3.6 attitudes towards prayer: european and italian trends 61 countries (Poland, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, France) the gap is minimal, while in others (Italy, Holland, Great Britain) believers in God are (10–20% points) more numerous than those who declare a religious affiliation. In this connection there are, however, interesting exceptions, represented by the cases of Sweden and Germany, were “faith” in a superior being seems to be less common than the feeling of belonging to a church or a religious group. The various religious profiles which can be sensed simply by juxtaposing relative tendencies of belonging and belief emerge clearly when these two variables are intersected country by country (Figure 1). Great Britain Sweden Germany France Belgium Holland Switzerland Spain Portugal Italy 49.6% 7.8% 35.4% 15.2% 31.6% 43.0% 41.9% 8.8% 11.9% 51.4% 38.6% 6.4% 10.2% 44.7% 4.7% 12.9% 64.7% 23.4% 9.7% 10.6%4.4% 40.7% 27.4% 32.0% 37.7% 8.9% 9.7% 68.0% 8.1% 8.2% 78.4% 15.6% 4.0%7.5% 10.1% 1.4% 7.9% 8.0% 82.8% Poland 16.6% 95.4% 0.4% 3.3% 0.8% 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0% 80.0% 90.0% 100.0% Belonging and believing Belonging without believing Believing without belonging Neither belonging nor believing Figure 1. A Typology of Attitudes toward Believing and Belonging in Several European Countries. Source: Analyses on EVS 2008–2009 data. 62 franco garelli and roberta ricucci The profile which combines “believing and belonging” seems to be a religious trait typical of Southern European nations and Poland (all with deep Catholic roots), although it is also quite widespread in such a religiously pluralistic country as Switzerland; it seems to be a minority (or almost minority) phenomenon in Northern and Central countries, independently of whether the main body of people is Catholic (Belgium and France) or Protestant (Sweden and Great Britain). On the contrary, the kind of person who denies both religious belonging and believing is more likely to be found in Central and Northern rather than Southern countries, confirming the fact that the wind of secularization is not blowing with equal force over all areas of Europe. The EVS data also show that the “believing without belonging” profile (much discussed in the literature) is present in all countries, although not involving more than 10% of the European population, with high points in Great Britain (15%) and Holland (13%) but more contained in Mediterranean countries (about 8%). Of some significance, also because little debated, is the last category, “belonging without believing”, which is characterized by an unequal presence on the European scene, involving little more than 10% of residents in Germany, in Switzerland, in Great Britain and in Spain, and reaching a peak in Sweden (32% of the population). Recurrence and diversity alternate therefore in analysing the European religious situation. The two most consistent profiles from the religious point of view (believing and belonging; not believing and not belonging) are those which most occupy the stage in various countries, yet showing very different proportions according to the contexts. The other two religious types (believing without belonging; belonging without believing) are less numerous, as might be expected from particular groups of people engaged in seeking new, unconventional research paths. In this landscape, Sweden stands out, with one-third of the population “belonging without believing”. At this level there seems to be taking shape a religious connection (with the church or the dominant religious tradition) which satisfies rather the need for ethnic-cultural than spiritual belonging. The choice is however only apparently paradoxical in that the condition of those who call themselves “Protestant” or “Catholic” or another religion because of the tradition to which they belong or the way they have been brought up is not without meaning and is common – as we have seen – everywhere, involving numbers of people which are not neglible. c) Continuing with the analysis, it is useful to reflect on the number of people who consider themselves “religious people” compared with those who believe in God or belong to a religious persuasion. attitudes towards prayer: european and italian trends 63 On one hand, in all the countries examined (partially excepting Holland) a higher proportion of the people admit to believing in God than define themselves religious people. On the other hand, in most countries (still excepting Holland and also Italy) people’s greater tendency to identify with a church or religious persuasion than to identify themselves as religiously-oriented persons can be observed. This means that, practically everywhere, some “believers” or belongers to a church or religious group find it hard (or are ashamed) to attach the label “religious subjects” to themselves; perhaps because the expression signifies for them an institutional identity or bond (or a way of understanding religiosity) in which they do not see themselves. Viewing the whole European panorama, we see that the widest gaps in these forms of identification are in Spain, Germany and Sweden. As we have already said, in Sweden adherence to the church more for cultural rather than spiritual reasons is diffuse, which fact conditions people not to adopt a specific religious identity. In Spain, on the other hand, the resistance of many people to calling themselves “religious people” seems to be imputable to their negative view of the Catholic Church and the prevailing model of religiosity, in spite of the fact that some of them do not burn their bridges with the faith and religious culture. In other countries, however, we do not observe remarkable discontinuity between those who claim affiliation to a religion, belief in God and being a religious person; this is a sign that we are dealing with less problematical religious contexts in which most of the faithful have little difficulty in identifying with the prevailing religious models. Once again the particular situation of Holland shows up in this scenario. There – differently from what happens in other countries – more people define themselves as “religious persons” than declare denominational affiliation (respectively 60% and 48%). Although this datum is not easy to interpret, it is reasonable to believe that it is due to a cultural context where greater value is assigned to religious identification than to confessional belonging, the former being considered a free choice and the latter as an option conditioned by many factors. 4. Tendencies of Prayer in Europe How widespread is prayer in the countries under consideration? How many people say they dedicate some moments to prayer, to meditation, to contemplationintheordinarycircumstancesoflife? 64 franco garelli and roberta ricucci Obviously the situation varies from one country to another, some more than others being marked out by particular diffusion of this religious practice. Poland and Italy – where more than three-quarters of the population devote themselves to prayer during the course of their lives – belong to this category. At the opposite pole we find countries (such as Great Britain, Sweden, France and Germany) where prayer is now becoming a minority (or almost minority) practice, since the majority of the population does not seem to be involved in this religious attitude. Four countries (Switzerland, Holland, Spain and Portugal) are somewhere in between the two groups, 60–65% of the population saying they have recourse to prayer. The picture drawn here is enriched if we take a look at the frequency of prayer, with particular reference to how many pray (or meditate or carry out similar activities) at least once a week. In this case too the situation of the various countries mostly mirrors what we have already seen, with the proviso that in the contexts where prayer is a majority practice, more people pray frequently; while in the countries where it is a minority practice, many “prayers” pray with a more relaxed rhythm. Even the simple datum about the diffusion of prayer supplies us with various indications concerning the different scenarios to be met with in today’s religious Europe. In some countries prayer is by now practised by a – substantial – minority of the population, while in others it still involves the great majority of people. Moreover, this “elementary” and personal religious rite turns out be generally more common in Southern countries (Italy, Spain, Portugal) than in Central and Northern Europe, although there are some interesting exceptions (Switzerland and Holland). Again, we observe a greater incidence of this religious feeling in Catholic-culture than in Protestant-culture countries, but with some contexts (e.g. Belgium and France) which do not confirm the rule. The data and differences shown up hitherto come as no surprise to experts in the sector who know very well the variety of situations and the religious history of individual European countries. The basic aspect is that the diffusion of prayer is itself a variable of the context, depending on many factors, among which are the proportion of the population which attributes value to the religious dimension, the prevailing model of religiosity, people’s inclination to cultivate a direct relationship with the sacred and the presence of religious groups or confessions who give greater or lesser importance to this aspect of religiosity. In this framework, who are the people most inclined to pray and meditate? What is their religious profile? What is the relationship between attitudes towards prayer: european and italian trends 65 prayerandbeliefinGod?Isprayeraprerogativeonlyofthosewhobelong toareligiousconfessionordoesitalsoconcernthe“noreligion”category? Whatdifferencesaretherebetweenonecountryandanother? a) Of course the diffusion of prayer in European countries is strictly connected with the rate of religious affiliation, since it is clear that there is a greater inclination to turn towards God among those who feel part of a church or a religious persuasion than among the “no religion” class. Indeed, the countries in which a broad segment of the population say they pray are also those in which the vast majority of people identify with a religious belonging, while a medium-to-low level of prayer diffusion can be related to the progressive increase among the population of subjects who do not identify with any faith or religious tradition. Nevertheless, as we know, not all religious affiliates pray, for the most various reasons (not necessarily religious and spiritual) can motivate some people to maintain a bond of this kind. Thus we can see everywhere the interesting profile of “belonging without prayer” which is proportionately more common in countries with fewer “prayers” but which also exists in contexts where the majority of the population cultivate this religious practice. The religious affiliates who pray amount to over 80% of total affiliates in countries like Poland, Italy and Holland, while in other countries (Great Britain, Germany, France, and Sweden) familiarity with this religious practice is expressed by not more than 50–60% of subjects who nevertheless declare that they identify with a church or a religious group. On the other hand, in every context there can be seen the phenomenon of the “unaffiliated” who pray, indicative of the fact that today there exist different religious paths that do not necessarily pass through adherence to a church or a religious denomination. It is not an insignificant phenomenon, since in the countries examined it involves on average little less than 30% of the “no religion”, reaching a peak in countries (like Holland, Switzerland and Sweden, even Italy), each of which is nevertheless characterized by a different history and religious tradition. b) The category of “‘prayers’ without religious belonging” does not occasion great surprise among scholars of religious phenomena, in that it mirrors that individualism of belief that nourishes religious modernity. Yet more curious is the phenomenon of “‘prayers’ who do not believe in God”, nor are these marginal to the European religious panorama. On average in the countries considered, this is the condition of 20% of non-believers; people, therefore, who dedicate some moments to prayer, to meditation, or to contemplation although they are convinced of the non-existence of Diffusion and frequency of prayer Religious belonging and prayer Poland Italy Switzerland Holland Spain Portugal Belgium Great Britain Sweden France Germany 84.1 75.4 65.1 64.3 59.8 58.0 51.9 44.5 43.9 40.3 40.3 70.2 61.0 40.2 32.6 38.0 45.5 28.0 27.3 16.9 18.7 22.4 Source: Analyses on EVS 2008–2009 data. 87.5 85.0 73.7 83.7 71.6 66.5 68.1 63.3 48.8 58.6 61.4 17.7 34.7 43.4 46.0 25.5 21.1 29.7 21.8 34.7 22.5 12.0 Belief in God and prayer …among …among …among Believers in Nonthose who those who convinced God who believers define define atheists pray in God themselves themselves who pray as “religious as “nonpersons” religious persons” 91.0 84.9 85.1 81.2 84.4 71.8 71.0 75.0 77.7 66.2 81.8 48.4 27.1 35.1 37.1 36.7 20.1 26.1 19.4 31.6 26.2 14.5 20.0 21.5 30.8 47.6 14.4 10.8 21.0 15.9 16.6 12.1 4.4 87.7 82.6 81.3 81.7 76.3 68.6 69.9 64.0 77.0 62.5 75.2 16.7 27.1 28.8 42.8 15.4 9.6 23.5 15.2 20.0 16.0 7.6 franco garelli and roberta ricucci How many How many Affiliates Nonsay they pray at least who pray affiliates pray every week who pray Self-definition as religious and prayer: how many pray… 66 Table 2. Diffusion of prayer in some European countries. Percentages of the population who say they pray, subdivided by prayer frequency and religious affiliation and self-perception of being a religious person. attitudes towards prayer: european and italian trends 67 any God or superior being. Certainly the prayer we are talking about here will have less-conventional characteristics, resembling more reflection on things that matter and experience than dialogue with a sacred power. In these cases a term recurring in the collective imagination – like prayer – is used to indicate a quest for meaning that does not reflect the established paths offered by churches and religious persuasions and is not identified with tradition’s “Sacred Canopy” (Berger 1992). Opposite the “non-believers who pray” profile is the better known and studied “believers who don’t pray” category – an average of one-fifth of believers in the countries under consideration. This class is more common in countries like France and Great Britain and less in others like Poland, Italy, Switzerland, and Holland. From this portrait can be seen that – in all the countries – the great majority of believers in God claim some familiarity with prayer, even though the proportion of “believers in God who pray” varies from one context to another, for reasons which are not easy to interpret. c) The “non-believers who pray” phenomenon is confirmed by analysis of other variables, including the inclination to pray among the population subdivided according to the way in which one defines oneself from the religious point of view. As we have said, most people (58% in the countries examined) have no qualms in describing themselves as a “religious person”, while others reject or cannot recognize themselves in this label (an average of 32%), and still others (10% of the cases on average) consider themselves “convinced atheists”. Well, in this last group – which we can define “godless” or lacking a transcendent perspective – there is no shortage of people (one-sixth, on average) who demonstrate a certain inclination towards prayer and hence that there are no conditions hermetically sealed against human spiritual quests or closed to mystery enveloping existence. Looking at the other categories from this point of view, we find the confirmation of how controversially the expression “religious person” is perceived by some people (Taves 2009; Storm 2009). For many it indicates a certain religious tendency in a person, but for others it may suggest religious styles that are culturally obsolete or excessively formal or too much in line with religious institutions’ precepts. In any case, it does not represent a watershed between those who cultivate religious or spiritual values and those who are unconnected with them, seeing that the quest for sense may assume the most variegated forms. From this derives the fact that a considerable proportion of self-defined “no religion” people admit that they practise prayer or meditation or contemplation or something similar 68 franco garelli and roberta ricucci during the course of their lives; on average, more than 25% of the “no religion” group. Obviously the tendency towards prayer is everywhere much more pronounced among the self-defined “religious persons”, involving in all countries – with few exceptions – such a high proportion of “religiously-oriented” people that the idea comes to mind – at least from this point of view – that we are dealing with a substantially homogeneous group. Today, for various reasons, one may turn up one’s nose at a group of people who define themselves as “religious persons”; but seen from within this kind of belonging it seems to have its own logic, representing a badge of distinction in the open society (Bauman 2000; 2005). d) To sum up, the experience of prayer seems quite widespread in all countries under consideration, not so much in relation to the total population (which often includes many “no religion”) as to more specialized groups who assign value to the religious dimension, believe in the existence of God or a superior being, or disclose a connection with a church, a denomination or a religious group. Nevertheless the attitude of prayer (understood here in a broad sense as reflection on last ends, as meditation on the meaning of existence, as relationship with the sacred) is not only a prerogative of the majority of believers who are religious affiliates or those who declare themselves to be “religious persons”. Also significant numbers of people who follow autonomous quests, who do not belong to churches or religious confessions, who call themselves “non-believers” or “convinced atheists” seem to cultivate – at some moments in their daily lives – a feeling of prayer that fulfils otherwise unsatisfied personal needs. Nevertheless, on this last point some countries have particular situations. The phenomenon of “non-believers” or “convinced atheists” who pray is much rarer in Germany than elsewhere, indicating the existence in that country of an atheistic-agnostic background which is tendentially more closed and entrenched. Holland, on the other hand, is the country where the border between contrasting religious positions (believers and non-believers, affiliated and non-affiliated, “religious” persons and convinced atheists) is least rigid and established, as is seen from the high number of “non-believers”, “atheist-agnostic” and “non-affiliated” interested in the prayer experience (Sengers 2010). Finally, curiosity about these themes involves also countries with a long and pronounced Catholic tradition, such as Italy and Poland, where the unbelieving or atheistic phenomenon often takes on an anticlerical rather than anti-religious nature. attitudes towards prayer: european and italian trends 69 In these contexts too prayer interests large groups of people who at first sight would seem to be strangers to a religious outlook, either because they reject religious belonging (in the Italian case) or because they reject the “religious person” label (the Polish case). e) Finally, what are the dominant socio-demographical and cultural traits of people who pray in these countries? Some constants are seen from the age and gender points of view: women are more involved in this activity (on average 64.3%) than men (48.1%); nor does it surprise us that older people (68.1%) pray more than the young. Subdividing according to educational levels, however, we find a situation where the two extremes (those with low academic qualifications and university graduates) are those who are most inclined towards prayer. These tendencies only partly confirm the theory (often cited in the literature) that this religious practice is more common among more deprived social strata with fewer cultural resources and bound by a traditional view of reality; that is to say, insofar as there happen to be people in privileged social and cultural conditions who are familiar with prayer, indicating that the quest for meaning and personal relations with the sacred are not excluded from subjects who are tendentially more reflective and socially more fulfilled. Analogous considerations may be made looking at the degree of diffusion of this practice in various social classes, even if – in this connection – not insignificant differences between nations emerge. We still need to ask what influence prayer has on people’s social presence and public life. Do people who pray tend – as some scholars claim (Lam 2002; Regnerus et al. 2007; Mason 2011) – to be more active and participativeinsociety?Dotheyrevealahigherlevelofpublicinvolvement? Various researchers (Wilson and Janoski 1995; Janos-Correa and Leal 2001) have highlighted the connection between religion and civic commitment, paying particular attention to subjects’ degree of involvement in solidarity initiatives. On average, in the Old Continent, they find two subjects out of ten engaging in volunteerism. In all of the countries considered this proportion is greater among people who pray. The primacy (volunteers among those who pray) belongs to Holland (52.1%), while Poland (9.8%) is at the other extreme. Furthermore, among people who pray there is a much higher than average rate of associationism, demonstrating multiple interests and involvement which are not limited to the religious sphere or volunteerism. Among Protestants in particular there is a vigorous tradition of civic engagement, even outside religious contexts (Wuthnow 1999). 70 franco garelli and roberta ricucci 5. The Italian Scenario, between Continuity and Change After this comparative analysis of the state of prayer in some European countries, it is possible, as noted above, to go more deeply into the subject for the Italian situation, thanks to a recent survey (Apsor 2007)3 carried out on a national sample representing the population between 16 and 74 years, which dedicated adequate space to the topic. As has emerged hitherto, Italy continues to maintain its age-old principal bond with Catholicism, although more experienced in an ever-changing and differentiated way than in the past and faced with an increase in pluralism of faiths (Garelli2010).Howdoesarelationshipwithprayerfitintothiscontext? In Italy too, “personal” prayer, taking place outside religious rites, involves considerable numbers of people. Even in the country of Virgil and Dante, more people pray than attend Sunday Mass, so that individual religious practices have the edge over the communal. From the research data it turns out that almost one-third of Italians say they pray daily, of whom 10% more than once a day. If we add to these people who pray so diligently the 15.8% who say they pray “a few times a week”, we discover that almost half the population engage in this practice with at least weekly frequency, and this is almost double the proportion of Italians who attend church ceremonies every week. On the other hand, the inclination towards prayer appears more discontinuous among 28% of the population (who turn towards the sacred by word or in thought a few times a month or a year), while it is totally absent among 23.7% of Italians, who seem therefore is no way involved in this kind of religious relationship. Obviously, the intensity of prayer varies according to the subject’s type of religiosity. Daily practice is a typical characteristic of the majority (71.5%) of “convinced and active” Catholics, while more varied positions are revealed both among “convinced but not always active” and “selective” believers, who share only some ideas of their religion of belonging. On the other hand, those who adhere to religion for reasons of tradition and culture are less involved in prayer; indeed 61% of this group say they never pray. Furthermore, there is a solid “negative” consistency among the “no religion” group, that is to say those who do not identify with any church or 3 It refers to an empirical survey carried out in Italy in 2007, involving a random sample of 3,160 people. It focuses not only on affiliation, prayer, attendance to rites, etc., but also on new topics which have hitherto never been seriously dealt with in Italian national surveys (e.g. the themes of laity and the role of religions in the public sphere, attitudes towards Muslims). Principal findings are detailed in F. Garelli (2011). attitudes towards prayer: european and italian trends 71 religious persuasion: 94.4% never pray and the remainder do so only “now and again” throughout the year. For the most part, therefore, the practice of prayer seems to be limited to those who identify with a religious confession. If the “no religion” group is not familiar with prayer, the same cannot be said about the segment of the population which denies the existence of God, not forgetting the variety of forms this denial may assume – atheistic-agnostic, indifference, belief in a superior power of some kind. Here we find confirmation of what was observed in the data from the EVS surveys: some of the “non-believers” in God (and in the Christian God) are not alien to attitudes of prayer, in some cases quite assiduous. Prayer is totally absent from the lives of those who say they are indifferent to the subject of God, but “only” for 76.8% of the atheist-agnostics and 61.3% of those who, although denying the existence of God, believe in a superior force. Specifically, 15% of the subjects in the last two groups admit that they pray intensely a few times a week or more often. These data confirm the idea that today, on religious questions, there is no clear distinction between Table 3. Frequency of Prayer by Religious Affiliation (Percentages). Religious Affiliation Frequency of prayer Total Never A few times a year A few times a month A few times a week About once a day or more Total No. of cases Catholics Convinced Convinced but By tradition Agree with some Total and active not always and of Catholicism’s Catholics active upbringing ideas Other No Religions Religion 23.7 16.8 1.5 2.8 7.0 19.4 33.9 27.1 24.3 20.1 17.0 18.5 9.3 11.3 94.4 3.5 11.2 6.6 17.9 11 12.5 12.4 8.6 1.7 15.8 17.7 24.3 11.9 14.9 17.5 14.6 - 32.5 71.5 31.4 16 28.1 34.6 56.3 0.3 100 3,159 100 606 100 872 100 954 100 288 100 2,720 100 151 100 288 Source: Analyses on Apsor 2007 data. 72 franco garelli and roberta ricucci those who declare faith in God and those who deny His existence. Even among some non-believers there are traces of prayer or relations with the sacred, which may be revealed in the most different ways and indicate a human and spiritual modernity. Among those who believe in God, however, recourse to prayer is much more widespread, even though it varies according to the intensity of the belief itself. Assiduous prayer (at least a few times a week) involves almost three-quarters of those who firmly believe in God, 40% of those of uncertain faith, and not more than 20% of those with intermittent faith (believe in God at certain moments and deny His existence at others). However, 30% of this last group are never involved in an experience of prayer. Looking at the population’s social-demographic and environmental characteristics, we notice that prayer is not only most widespread in the most traditional contexts and in the least active sections of society, but also that it seems destined to fade from generation to generation and as a result of the modernization process: even if the intense involvement in prayer of people with high cultural capital tells us that today the conditions are not lacking for a re-evaluation of this kind of religious attitude. 5.1. To Whom does One Pray, How and Why? Who are the main receivers of prayer?To what sacred figures are most prayers directed? The answers do not vary whether we are considering those who pray often and diligently or those who pray with more relaxed rhythms. Among all the Italians who say they pray at least a few times a year (76.3%), 63.3% generally address their prayers to God, 42.3% to the Mother of Jesus and 38.6% to Christ Himself. But prayer is much less directed to other religious figures although they occupy a prominent position in the Catholic “Sacred Canopy”, such as the saints, the Holy Ghost, and the angels. A small but not negligible percentage (13.1%) say they often pray to the dead, perpetuating popular culture which assigns to the dear departed an important role of religious intercession. In this framework, it is clear that God, the Madonna and Jesus Christ are the three religious figures which most attract Italians’ prayers, that in this area people tend to place more trust in Mary of Nazareth than in her son, that devotion to the saints, while very diffuse in the country, does not seem to be perceived as a substitute for a relationship with God, since He is the main addressee of many people’s prayers. attitudes towards prayer: european and italian trends 73 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Reciting known Using my own prayers words Reflecting on my life Remaning silent, in contemplation Reading the Bible Figure 2. People’s Ways of Praying (multiple answers possible). Source: Elaboration Apsor 2007 data. It would be useful to examine average tendency shifts of specific categories of the population (for instance, women compared to men, young versus old people, fervent believers as against the lukewarm) indicating the different appeal sacred figures exercise on various social groups. In this respect there are no great variations when prayers are directed towards God, while significant differences appear regarding religious figures such as the Madonna and the saints, to whom Catholic tradition attributes a role of mediation and intercession with the divinity. Women, older people and Southern Italians are more inclined to pray to these figures of popular piety: many in these groups have a low educational level and are among the least active sections of the population, all characteristics that – as might be expected – reflect greatly a traditional conception of religiosity persisting in time, even if it seems destined to fade from generation to generation. No analysis of the practice of prayer can disregard the question of the meaningpeopleattributetoit.Whatspurspeopletopray?Whatarethe mostcommon“intentions”ormotivations?Whatdesire–associalpsychologists would put it – is at work or is satisfied by this religious practice (VergoteandAubert1972)?Researchdataconfirmtheideathatpeopleare driven to prayer by multiple motivations, even if two clearly predominate: on one hand the need for direct contact with God, a spiritual moment when man “talks” to the sacred and shows his devotion; on the other the request for help, comfort, and support in general or in moments of necessity. About half of those who say they pray make their intentions clear with this act either “to feel closer to God” or to ask for divine intervention 74 franco garelli and roberta ricucci in particular circumstances. The most common forms, “spiritual” prayer and that of “petition”, are confirmed by the fact that 27.2% of cases declare that they pray “to praise and give thanks to God” and 10.5% “to request material and spiritual favours”. On the other hand, recourse to prayer seems less motivated by traditional religious reasons (which still however involve a substantial proportion of the population) or by those “reflexive” or existential intentions which reflect emergent cultural aspirations. In a classification of intentions, 25.4% of people say they pray “because that’s what I was taught to do” and 15.7% consider prayer “the duty of believers”, while for 23.6% prayer represents an occasion “to clarify things inside myself, to reflect upon myself”. To sum up, although a religious action may be dictated by multiple motivations, some fairly established trends emerge. Spiritual intentions (typical of prayers of praise and thanksgiving) are mostly blended with prayers of supplication to gain grace and earthly favours. People pray less to follow a church’s precepts or a pre-established religious script, even if the use of prayer as an occasion for reflection and personal clarification seems limited, perhaps restricted to particular sections of the population. Ancient and modern forms meet and match in modalities of prayer too, among which two predominate: recitation of known formulas and using personal words and expressions, a recourse of respectively 65.1% and 57.5% of the people who say they pray. Many Italians, therefore, combine different styles of prayer, both putting their trust in formulas learnt in basic religious instruction and the years of catechism, and utilizing direct, spontaneous language that implies a more familiar and personal relationship with the sacred. Alongside these two principal ways of praying, and almost always associated with it, there are others that involve smaller sections of the population and are characterized as moments of particular reflection and meditation. Here we step outside the classical repertoire of “oration” and into the territory of those who say they pray “reflecting on one’s own existence” or, to a lesser extent, “remaining in silence, listening, contemplating” or “reading and meditating on the Bible and other religious texts”. These are unconventional modes that seem to demand from the faithful not only a more participative attitude but also a greater propensity to contemplate the sacred and reflect on the mystery of life. 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New York: New York University Press. CANVASSING THE FAITHFUL: IMAGE, AGENCY AND THE LIVED RELIGIOSITY OF DEVOTION TO THE DIVINE MERCY Jane Garnett and Alana Harris A Madeiran woman in east London kisses the image of the Divine Mercy by her front door every time she leaves the house, and says ‘Jesus go out with me, and be on my right, on my left, before me and after me’. She believes the positioning of the image to be a powerful manifestation both of her personal faith and of the Christian identity of the family: as soon as people ‘put the foot inside that door, they can see that picture’.1 Other members of the same extended Catholic community, from a wide variety of generational, ecclesiological and cultural backgrounds – Caribbean, Nigerian, Irish – have the image in their homes, and use it as a focus for regular personal prayer. Alongside the rosary, it is one devotional element of her Catholic past retained by Amelia, a Ghanaian Anglican convert, now a local curate in the Church of England.2 At mass in a Franciscan church in Oxford on the first Sunday after Easter 2012, the culmination of the novena of the Divine Mercy, a copy of the image was held up before the altar, and kissed by members of the congregation; a (male) student present was moved to go to confession for the first time in seven years.3 Appealing to a broad-based religious sensibility, the devotion is followed by an estimated 100,000 million Catholics worldwide (Groeschel 2010). In 1931 a Polish nun, Sister Maria Faustina Kowalska had a vision of Christ. Appearing as the Divine Mercy, with two rays radiating from His heart, the vision instructed Faustina to have a devotional image painted and to inaugurate a variety of devotional practices centred on commemoration of Christ’s Passion and His remission of sins. Along the lines of the institution of devotion to the Miraculous Medal of the Virgin communicated through a vision to the French nun, Saint Cathérine Labouré in 1830, Faustina believed herself to be instructed by Christ to materialise and 1 Interview with Petra, 4 October 2009 (#99). All interviews transcribed and anonymized. 2 Interview with Amelia, 29 October 2009 (#117). 3 Personal communication, 7 June 2012. 78 jane garnett and alana harris popularise the Christ that appeared to her: ‘By means of this image I shall be granting many graces to souls’ (Diary II, 40).4 This article explores the controversial history and contemporary practice of this immensely popular devotion, sketching the charismatic role of its originator, Saint Faustina (canonised by Pope John Paul II in 2000), and the various artistic representations of the Divine Mercy that have been created and circulated. Analysis of the ways in which the transcendent is envisaged casts light on a spectrum of beliefs and prayerful engagement with Christ’s divinity and masculinity, and on issues raised by lay agency and autonomy in constructing and adapting these images. The contested nature of the representation offers to the historian and sociologist of religion a means of engaging with the beliefs, devotional practices and lived religious experiences of clergy and laity. Through exploring the visual and material practices surrounding this form of prayer and the gendered and embodied forms of solace that it offers, this article interrogates a highly influential contemporary form of Catholic spirituality as a socio-cultural as well as subjective, material and experiential form of belief and practice (Giordan 2011). The Making of a Saint: From Helena Kowalska to Saint Faustina Helena Kowalska was born on 25th August 1905 in Głogowiec, Poland, within the Russian Empire. Hagiographical biographies describe the poverty of her rural background, her devout parents and, ‘from her earliest childhood, her deep and unaffected piety and love of God in the Blessed Sacrament’ (Hargest-Gorzelak 2000, 7). Conforming to the prototype of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Marian visionaries, often from peasant stock and poorly-educated (e.g. Lourdes, Fatima, Medjugorje) (see Zimdars-Swartz 1991), recent biographers stress the truncated nature of Faustina’s education (a mere three years of elementary education), her child-like trust in Christ, and the opposition of her parents (for monetary reasons, i.e. their inability to provide a dowry) to her desire to enter religious life from a young age. From the age of 16 she went into service but was prompted to seek entrance to a convent by a vision of the suffering Christ who communicated His frustration at her procrastination 4 All quotations from St Maria Faustina Kowalska, Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul. Stockbridge: Congregations of Marians of the Immaculate Conception. See http://www .saint-faustina.com/Diary/DMIMS1.shtml (1 June, 2012). canvassing the faithful: devotion to the divine mercy 79 and commanded her to go to Warsaw (Witko 2000, 10; Bujak and Sąsiadek 2007, 41–6). Refused by a number of orders for want of financial resources, the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy agreed to take her if she amassed some monies before entry, and she worked for various families before entering the convent in 1925 and taking the name in religion of Maria Faustina. Throughout her short lifetime as a female religious, she worked as a cook and baker, cleaner and gardener within convents in Warsaw, Kraków, Płock and Vilnius, and experienced frequent visions and mystical encounters with Christ. In marked parallel to another twentiethcentury female religious saint, Thérèse Martin (better known as St Thérèse of Lisieux), Faustina recorded the intricacies of her spiritual life in a diary, and died of a protracted battle with tuberculosis at the young age of thirtythree, on 5th October, 1938, in Kraków, where she was buried. The diary, published (first in an approved version in 1987) as Divine Mercy in My Soul, presents an intimate insight into Faustina’s interior life and her life’s vocation as ‘secretary of God’s mercy’ – a title she has Jesus repeatedly apply to her in one of the many visions she relates. Advised in 1933 by her first spiritual confessor, Father Michael Sopocko (Professor of Pastoral Theology at Stefan Batory University), to keep a record of her conversations and messages from Jesus, the six surviving notebooks range across chronologies, encompassing her early life and first vision, a reconstruction of her writings between 1933–4 (as she was persuaded to burn this first notebook by an ‘imaginary angel’) (Witko 2000, 24) and contemporaneous experiences. Fraught with interpretative challenges, especially in relation to the role of her confessors (and posthumous promoters) in framing her narratives (much like Saint Marguerite Marie Alacoque’s relationship to Saint Claude de la Colombière in the promotion of the Sacred Heart, or the redaction of Thérèse of Lisieux’s Story of a Soul by her sister and religious superior), the text nonetheless stands as a key referencepoint for the construction of the devotion. Foremost amongst the accounts within this book of her extraordinary visions and communications is that on 22nd February, 1931 when she was praying in her cell at the convent at Płock. She recorded that she saw: the Lord Jesus clothed in a white garment. One hand [was] raised in the gesture of blessing, the other was touching a garment at the breast. From beneath the garment, slightly drawn aside at the breast, there were emanating two large rays, one red the other pale. In silence I kept my gaze fixed on the Lord … (Diary I, 47). She then noted: 80 jane garnett and alana harris Jesus said to me ‘Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: ‘Jesus, I trust in You’. I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and [then] throughout the world. I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish. (Diary I, 47–8) From this time onwards, all Faustina’s subsequent visions reinforced and refined this representation of Jesus as the Divine Mercy, developing the devotion beyond the image to include, from a vision on 13th September 1935, a form of set prayers – a Divine Mercy chaplet and Novena to be prayed on rosary beads to ‘appease his wrath’ – which was commended by Jesus with the words ‘whoever will recite it, will receive great mercy at the hour of death… Even if there were a sinner most hardened, if he were to recite this chaplet only once, he would receive grace from My infinite mercy’ (Diary II, 687). The institution of the Divine Mercy Hour (observed at 3 o’clock to commemorate the time of Christ’s death) was instructed in two subsequent visions in October 1937 and January 1938, in which Faustina heard Jesus say: ‘as often as you hear the clock strike the third hour, immerse yourself complete in My mercy … for at that moment mercy was opened wide for every soul. In this hour you can obtain everything for yourself and for others for the asking; it was the hour of grace for the whole work – mercy triumphed over justice.’ (Diary V, 1572; Breathnach 2004, 58). During her time at the Vilnius convent between 1933 and 1936 and under the spiritual direction of Father Sopocko, Faustina predicted that the promotion of the Divine Mercy would be suppressed. Writing in her diary on 8th February 1935, she informed her confessor: There will come a time when this work, which God is demanding so very much, will be as though utterly undone. And then God will act with great power, which will give evidence of its authenticity. It will be a new splendour for the Church, although it has been dormant in it from long ago (Diary I, 378). This proved to be correct, although there was immediate growth in the devotion after the ‘terrible war’ which Faustina foretold (Odell 1998, 153– 60), through public access to the Divine Mercy image sanctioned by Archbishop Jałbrzykowski of Kraków and the foundation of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Divine Mercy established by Father Sopocko.5 Nevertheless, in 1959 Cardinal Ottaviani moved to have Faustina’s diary placed on the Index of Forbidden Books and there it 5 See http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/2008/ns_lit_doc_20080928 _sopocko_en.html (24 May, 2012). canvassing the faithful: devotion to the divine mercy 81 remained until Pope Paul VI abolished the Index itself in 1966. The Divine Mercy devotion was officially banned from 1959 to 1979. Concerns were expressed about inaccurate versions of the diary circulating and being translated into French and Italian, and there was clearly a more general anxiety in the Vatican about how to maintain control over its interpretation. A rehabilitation process was opened in 1965 by the then Archbishop of Kraków, Karol Józef Wojtyła, later Pope John Paul II, who compiled a dossier on Faustina and requested the instigation of the beatification process in 1968 (concluded in 1993). Popular devotion to the Divine Mercy, flourishing in Poland under war conditions and post-World War II communism, spread with Polish migration to France, the United States, Australia (Michalenko 1987, 251) and indeed Britain (Hargest-Gorzelak 2000, 242). Fr Józef Jarzebowski, a Marian of the Immaculate Conception, had an image of the Divine Mercy installed in the Polish church and cultural centre established at Fawley Court, Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire.6 Following the closure and sale of this property, it is now located in West Ealing in London.7 The miracles connected to Faustina’s beatification and canonization (Maureen Digan, 1981 and Fr Ron Pytel, 1995) both occurred in the United States (Boston and Baltimore respectively), and the largest centre for the promulgation of the Devotion is the National Shrine on Eden Hill in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, run by the Marians of the Immaculate Conception, the ‘authentic promoters of the message of The Divine Mercy’ (alongside a range of Marian devotions), where for more than thirty years pilgrimages have been organised around Divine Mercy Sunday, and are televised live on Eternal World Television Network.8 The self-styled ‘world centre of veneration of the image of the Divine Mercy’ is, however, the Łagiewniki sanctuary in Kraków, a massive basilica built in the grounds of the monastery of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy and consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 2002. At the end of the inaugural mass, he recounted that: many of my personal memories are tied to this place. During the Nazi occupation, when I was working in the Solvay factory near here, I used to come here. Even now I recall the street that goes from Borek Fałęcki to Dębniki that I took every day going to work on the different turns with the wooden shoes on my feet. They’re the shoes that we used to wear then. How was it 6 The image remained there until quite recently, as did the body of Fr Józef, see http:// clericalwhispers.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/divine-mercy-priests-body-to-be-moved.html (2 June, 2012). 7 http://www.divinemercyapostolate.co.uk/about-us (24 May, 2012). 8 http://thedivinemercy.org/shrine.about.php (24 May, 2012). 82 jane garnett and alana harris possible to imagine that one day the man with the wooden shoes would consecrate the Basilica of the Divine Mercy at Łagiewniki of Kraków.9 This sanctuary now receives so many intercessory letters (around 250,000 in 2011) that the decision has been taken not to preserve them. Notebooks are displayed by the entrance to the underground chapels, about fifty of which are filled each year mostly with thanks for graces received. Organized pilgrimage-groups also bring with them intercessory requests written in notebooks (one or two of which are in English).10 Since 2005, around 2 million pilgrims have visited annually. About half are Polish devotees, but the remainder come from over 80 different countries and are supported by more than 14,000 chaplains (in 2011).11 ‘Paint an Image According to the Pattern you See’: Envisioning the Divine Mercy In seeking to enact Christ’s injunction in 1931 to ‘paint an image’, Faustina experienced considerable personal and institutional difficulties. Taking this improbable command to the confessional, a priest informed her that this was a metaphorical injunction to hold Jesus in her heart – but on leaving the penitential box, she recorded having heard the following words: My image is already in your soul. I desire that there [should] be a Feast of Mercy. I want this image, which you will paint with a brush, to be solemnly blessed on the first Sunday after Easter; that Sunday is to be the Feast of Mercy (Diary I, 49). Taking this divine request to her Mother Superior, Roza Klobukowska reportedly said ‘all right, paint’, and Faustina attempted her own sketch of the vision on the walls of her cell in crayon, with reports of local children seeing rays coming out of the convent windows (Witko 2000, 18). Unhappy with these efforts, Faustina attempted to enlist her fellow Sisters in the convent, with little success and continuing reminders of the necessity of this enterprise: Once, when there was adoration … the presence of God filled my soul. I prayed as I do at certain times, without saying a word. Suddenly, I saw the Lord, who said to me ‘Know that if you neglect the matter of the painting of 9 http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/homilies/2002/documents/hf_jp-ii _hom_20020817_shrine-divine-mercy_en.html (16 September, 2013); cf. A. Bujak, Łageiwniki. An Opportunity for the World (Kraków: Biały Kruk, 2012), 23. 10 Personal communication (via email), 20 January and 30 May 2012 with Sister Elzbieta Siepak, ZMBM, Łagiewniki Sanctuary, Krakow, Poland. 11 Personal communication (via email), 29 June 2012 with Sister Gregoria ZMBM, Łagiewniki Sanctuary, Kraków, Poland. canvassing the faithful: devotion to the divine mercy 83 the image and the whole work of mercy, you will have to answer for a multitude of souls on the day of judgment’ (Diary I, 154). Following her movement from the Płock convent to Vilnius, and Father Sopocko’s initial hesitations (which included the commissioning of a full psychiatric assessment), Faustina’s spiritual director was enlisted to the cause and introduced his charge to Eugeniusz Kazimierowski, a co-resident in his Presbytery and another professor at the University. Over six months in 1934, Kazimierowski painted the image (figure 1), during which process the meaning of the two rays were clarified by ‘words within her’: Figure 1: Painted by Eugeniusz Kazimierowski, Divine Mercy Shrine, Vilnius, Lithuania. Source: DMAMF 2011 (with permission). 84 jane garnett and alana harris The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls… These two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross. These rays shield souls from the wrath of My Father (Diary I, 299). The production process was not unproblematic, however, for Faustina reported in her diary that she had wept in the chapel on seeing the progress of the image and confided her doubts to the Lord: ‘Who will paint You as beautiful as You are?’ Then I heard the words: ‘Not in the beauty of the color, nor the brush lies the greatness of this image, but in My grace’ (Diary I, 313). Here the diary articulated a long-established trope for expressing the impossibility of representing the divine, and hence the need for divine intervention to achieve it (Garnett and Rosser, 2013). This has been reinforced in recent official literature in the observation that Kazimierowski was only ‘an average painter’ (Witko 2000, 22). Following the painting’s completion (with the words ‘Jezu, Ufam Tobie’, ‘Jesus, I trust in You’, inscribed in its frame), it was hung in a corridor of the Bernardine Sisters’ Convent next to St Michael’s church in Vilnius (where Father Sopocko was the Rector) and first publicly displayed in April 1935 when Father Sopocko was preaching at the important Marian shrine of Ostra Brama (linked to Polish-Lithuanian independence). Throughout her Diary, Faustina recorded the divine commendation of this image, to be accompanied by the interpretative formula: I am offering people a vessel with which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That vessel is this image with the signature: ‘Jesus, I trust in You’ (Diary I, 327). In another vision in December 1935, Faustina recorded Christ’s intervention to make Kazimierowski’s image more accessible: Tell the confessor that the Image is to be on view in the church and not within the enclosure in the convent. By means of this Image I shall be granting many graces to souls; so let every soul have access to it (Diary II, 570). In 1937 prayer cards with the image were printed for the first time. Once the devotion began to attain a measure of acceptance within Faustina’s religious order, and with the need for spiritual succour during the Second World War, a reproduction based on Kazimierowski’s image was painted by Stanislaw Kaczor Batowski in 1943 for the chapels in Warsaw and Łagiewniki (Witko 2000, 52). In this same year, another of Faustina’s canvassing the faithful: devotion to the divine mercy 85 spiritual confessors, Father Andrasz SJ, ‘blessed a large picture of the Merciful Jesus painted by the artist Adolf Hyla as a votive offering for the safety of himself and his family during the war’ (Tanawsja 1993, 380) (figure 2). Other images followed, including that by Professor Sleńdziński in 1954, now held in Manchester, Great Britain (figure 3), and by the American artist Robert Skemp in 1982 commissioned by the Marian Fathers in the United States and given to Pope John Paul II, who then Figure 2: Version painted by Adolf Hyla, Divine Mercy Shrine, Łagiewniki, Poland, here with inscription in English. Source: DMAMF 2011 (with permission). 86 jane garnett and alana harris Figure 3: Painted by Ludomir Sleńdziński, Manchester. Source: DMAMF 2011 (with permission). donated it to Tanzania (Tarnawska 1993, 386) (figure 4). This last image is particularly popular in the Philippines. Despite its later provenance, it is the Hyla image, housed in the convent in Poland (Łagiewniki, Kraków) which has become the most ubiquitous image of the Divine Mercy and the preeminent ‘vessel’ for its promotion around the world. In the immediate wake of Faustina’s death, the canvassing the faithful: devotion to the divine mercy 87 Figure 4: Painted by Robert Skemp. Source: DMAMF 2011 (with permission). widespread circulation of this image was contested by Father Sopocko, who maintained in 1956 to a correspondent that the Kazimierowski prototype was the ‘ideal and most correct’: one needs very much to retain Sister Faustina’s mind … the walking position, the right hand not going above the shoulder, the eyes looking downwards, the rays in the direction of the viewer, and not towards the ground as in the Łagiewniki image. Faustina actually speaks of a pale (colourless) 88 jane garnett and alana harris ray although sometimes she expresses herself that it’s white (Stackpole 2008, 83). Father Sopocko’s objections extended beyond what he saw as variations to Faustina’s instructions, and the precise physical gestures which he himself modelled for Kazimierowski, to aesthetic judgments that the Hyla version was ‘overly feminine’, and had an inappropriate, illogical background (Witko 2000, 54). This background, removed from the image in 1954 at his suggestion through its darkening and the painting in of a floor, originally depicted a meadow and shrubs (figure 5).12 The language of the image as the ‘vessel’ for the granting of grace contains within it critical ambiguities. The phrase ‘by means of this Image I shall be granting many graces to souls’ underlined the degree to which devotion focused on the image had the potential to be direct and unmediated by priestly authority, as is the case with all images understood to work miracles, to whatever extent they are ratified by ecclesiastical authority (Garnett and Rosser 2013). It is in this context that the authentication through Faustina’s testimony proved alarming to Cardinal Ottaviani, who was in general conservative in relation to reports of visionary experience. Father Sopocko’s concern during his lifetime to verify a particular iconography and to incorporate, iconographically, authenticating scriptural references – such as a background in the Hyla image evoking Christ’s post-resurrection appearance at the Cenacle, rather than the dreamy, flower-filled landscape – embodied a similar caution. An official Catholic Truth Society publication of 2000, which claimed authority from being rooted in the documentation endorsed by the canonisation process, reflected on-going concern to reinforce the orthodoxy and spiritual modesty of the devotion. At the same time as delimiting the interpretative scope, it aimed to assert the universality of the image. Against any suggestion that the red and white/pale of the beams embodied the Polish national colours, Witko reiterated that they stood for the Eucharist and Baptism, and that ‘pale’ also signalled penance, red for confirmation, anointing of the sick, holy orders and matrimony (Witko 2000, 51). Trying to counteract any impression that the devotion might offer independent remission of sins only attainable, from the Church’s perspective, through the sacraments, its author underlined that ‘the promise subjects the acquisition of graces to the condition of sacramental 12 http://www.faustina-message.com/images-merciful-jesus-cracow.htm (24 May, 2012). canvassing the faithful: devotion to the divine mercy 89 Figure 5: Copy of original Hyla version with meadow background, Marian Fathers, Ealing, London. Source: authors’ photograph. life, thus being an effective stimulus to receive the Holy Sacraments’ (Witko 2000, 61). The image – ‘a visual summary and depiction of the whole devotion’ – must not be worshipped ‘without performing acts of mercy at the same time’, for fear of idolatry (Witko 2000, 46). It is significant that Witko regarded the Chaplet as the precise words dictated by Jesus to Faustina, whilst stressing (against the prescriptive visual 90 jane garnett and alana harris interpretations of both Sopocko and Andrasz) that it was impossible to tell from the Diary exactly what form the veneration of the image should take. Specifically evading Sopocko’s instructions about the angle of the gaze, Witko clearly wanted to give validation to a variety of images, including that of Andrasz (Witko 2000, 49–65), subsuming them all under the stronger authority of the accompanying phrase (‘Jesus, I Trust in You’) and the overall incorporation of devotion within church sacramental life. An analogously incorporative strategy has been adopted by Robert Stackpole (Director of the John Paul II Institute of the Divine Mercy) on the website of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception in the United States, who, whilst still wanting to affirm the ‘originality’ of the Kasimierowski image (incidentally also lending authority to a claim that this image is an almost exact match of the head, face and shoulders of the figure on the Turin Shroud), underscores the point that by definition no image of the perfect Saviour can be perfect, and thus devotion to the Hyla and Skemp images should also be respected (Stackpole 2011). Meanwhile the Divine Mercy Apostolate, based in Maryville, Co Dublin, stresses the originality of the Sopocko image, and highlights both Sopocko’s own centrality to the development of the devotion and that of Vilnius – now the capital of Lithuania.13 The keepers of the Kraców shrine in turn present a clear vindication of the Hyla version venerated in their chapel, a derivative copy of which hangs in the Basilica.14 Attempting forcefully to police the iconography, they list a number of ‘incorrect’ forms of the image: those without an inscription; those showing Jesus’s heart or depicting him with a crown; those showing just the face; and three-dimensional images.15 Such positionings arise in the context of the extraordinary and essentially uncontrollable worldwide proliferation of Divine Mercy imagery, in innumerable forms and media (including monumental outdoor statues in El Salvador and Rwanda). At stake within these debates, beyond issues of authority and status, are contested beliefs about the expression of Christ’s humanity and divinity and the visual evolution of Catholic Christological devotions in the twentieth and twenty-first century in dialogue with older traditions (such as the Sacred Heart, see Morgan 2008) and wider Christian imagery. 13 http://www.divinemercy.org (24 May, 2012). 14 Painted by Mr Przemysław Bednarz – personal communication (via email), 30 May 2012, with Sister S. Salwatricze, ZMBM, President of the Łagiewniki Sanctuary in Krakow, Poland. 15 www.faustyna.pl/en/index (24 May, 2012). canvassing the faithful: devotion to the divine mercy 91 The Image in Use: Visual Prayer and Embodied Piety Beyond these contrasts and the contested prioritization of various images, in everyday religious experience differences also open up between clerical and lay theological sensibilities, gendered understandings of the incarnation and ecclesiastical and devotional priorities. Study of this devotion builds on a growing literature taking seriously lived religious experience (Ammerman 2006; McGuire 2008; Orsi 2012) and the discursive subjectivities expressed through embodied, visual and material prayer and piety (McDannell 1995, 2004; Vasquez 2011). A priest in London, speaking recently about the popularity of Divine Mercy devotions amongst his congregation,16 commented: For many years I had a problem with the image. It seemed to be too ‘sweet’. If it were a Salvador Dali or Picasso painting, it would be much easier! But when I realised that it is connected with the mystery of the incarnation… Central to this highly-educated Polish priest’s initial reflections are judgments about aesthetics, notions of authenticity, but also reflexive musings on accessibility and lay autonomy. As he continued: We priests, we very often reject … But the question is, how to show this image? Because it’s not, for instance, what you like, we don’t like the same thing. Sometimes I am astonished that people like these images! Mapping his own theological negotiation and resolution of the relationship between the (flawed) image and (divine) actuality, between transcendence and immanence, against the internalized life-narrative of Faustina, Father Thomas continued: I asked Jesus, ‘Why did you accept it? Why did you accept not being painted in the best way?’ And the reaction of St. Faustina was exactly this – when she saw the [Kazimierowski] image she started crying … [but] He said ‘it’s not in the paint or the brush…’ Ultimately, Father Thomas’ acceptance of what he sees as a rather kitsch, saccharine and effeminate representation of Christ is vested in both pastoral pragmatism and an implicit trust in providence, confirmed by papal sanction: 16 Personal communication with Father Thomas, 8 June 2012 (written notes). 92 jane garnett and alana harris In my experience as a priest, it works, it works. But with poor and humble people, when I was working with prisoners, with simple people, poor people. They need a simple sign. There’s something in this image – it’s connected with our natural religiosity, but it’s, the image is not like a magic image. It’s just a sign, a vessel. The recognition of the force of the image (including the implicit acknowledgement that for many it does have ‘magic’ or miraculous potential) is both justified and slightly distanced for this priest by reference to its appeal to the simple or poor as an ‘unsophisticated devotion’. In fact, however, commitment to it spans a much wider social and intellectual spectrum. Simplicity can be articulated by quite sophisticated lay devotees in rather different idioms of immediacy and humanity. As a Lancastrian women of Irish extraction in her mid-forties articulated it, there is something about the Kraków image which she finds ‘intriguing’ and accessible, linked to the image of the rays ‘coming out from Christ’ which ‘draw us in’. Marie speaks about the ‘humanity’ of this image of Christ, and conjectures that its appeal might also lie in the fact that is not ‘traditional’, which ‘could put people off’. While more regular in her praying of the rosary, it is the image of the Merciful Jesus which animates Marie’s periodic practice of the Divine Mercy. She described the ways in which a Divine Mercy holy card falling out of her bible, or the unexpected discovery of a Chaplet pamphlet in her handbag might prompt a return to the Divine Mercy novena or short-lived observance of the Holy Hour.17 This personification of the Incarnation, and the representation of a very human, compassionate, receptive Jesus resonated with Frédéric (a French Olympic sportsman) who wrote a testimony about the role of Saint Faustina in prompting his religious conversion in 2001 and the ways in which her Diary fascinated him and left him ‘spellbound’. As he related: We venerate the face of Jesus in the image. The Lord said ‘I am meek and humble in heart’. Christ, my dear God, I can see that you are telling the truth, I have never seen such a face (Buttiger 2012). For Frédéric, it is the face of the Merciful Jesus, linked to ‘meekness’ and ‘humility’, for which ‘simplicity’ might be another synonym, which prompts a facial recognition, or a personal appreciation, of Christ’s humanity and his divinity. 17 Personal communication with Marie, 28 May 2012 (written notes). canvassing the faithful: devotion to the divine mercy 93 In the most popular renderings of Jesus as Divine Mercy, the physiognomy of Christ evokes both the mass-produced ‘Head of Christ’ painted by Warner Sallman and distributed from the 1930s onwards by the Salvation Army and the YMCA (Morgan 1998; Morgan 2012, 206) and familiar representations of Jesus of the Sacred Heart (figure 6). The concern of the Kraków Sisters to defend the distinctiveness of their image by Figure 6: Devotional card combining the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Divine Mercy inscription, and evoking Warner Sallman’s ‘Head of Christ’. Source: authors’ photograph. 94 jane garnett and alana harris emphasising the inauthenticity of images of the Divine Mercy portraying just Christ’s head, or with the heart, is comprehensible in this context. Robert Stackpole’s explicit juxtaposition of the Kasimierowski image to a popular Sacred Heart image in an article seeking to underline the close affinity of the two devotions, makes equal sense in terms of maintaining the status of the Kasimierowski version (Stackpole 2012). The Hyla and Kasimierowski images in fact embody different sensibilities. In the Hyla image, Jesus’ eyes look directly at the viewer, and when reproduced on holy cards or booklets for mass circulation, or approached through a computer screen on numerous websites, there is a sense of immediacy and of a reciprocal, sympathetic gaze. The Kazimierowski image (with eyes downcast), on the other hand, seems designed, as indeed it was initially intended, for elevation on the wall of a church looking down on priest and faithful. Faustina’s Diary records Jesus saying ‘My gaze from this image is like My gaze from the cross’ (I, 326), but this could be, and is, interpreted in differing ways. In these visual manifestations it is clear that different Christologies are represented and soteriologies communicated, visualizing the historic theological tension between a ‘Christ of the cross’ and a ‘Christ of the Resurrection’ and therefore varying emphasises upon and prioritizations of sin, suffering, penance and atonement. Sopocko’s insistence on the depiction of Christ crucified, the scars on hands and feet visible, and the gaze literally looking down from the Cross correlated with his initial desire only to show the image on Low Sunday, in the specific context of the institution of the sacrament of penance. In his second encyclical on Divine Mercy in 1980, which he confessed to ‘feeling very close to Faustina’ whilst writing (Weigel 1999, 387), John Paul II explored the role of justice and mercy within the crucifixion and resurrection and identified mercy as a concept essential to ‘the church in our times’, to address the fears, anxieties and ‘terrible tensions which have built up in the world and which entangle humanity’, believers and unbelievers (§15).18 Thus he sanctioned a more open depiction of Christ’s ‘merciful gaze’ meeting that of the devotee in an engaged, accessible sensibility but also in ‘solidarity with the human lot … the harmonious fullness of a disinterested dedication to the cause of man, to truth and to love’ (§7). In the light of this emphasis, both images have been rearticulated in distinct ways in relation to other popular devotional types to reaffirm their potential to engage. 18 http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp -ii_enc_30111980_dives-in-misericordia_en.html (8 June, 2012). canvassing the faithful: devotion to the divine mercy 95 Such engagement readily permeates and punctuates everyday lives, and is embodied in a variety of devotional enactments of the works of mercy. For many, the commitment is articulated and felt on an individual or familial basis, which nonetheless focuses (not least through the 3 pm prayer) on an extended family of devotees engaged in the same practice. A woman from Sierra Leone now living in East London has adopted 3 pm GMT as the hour when her dispersed family around the world join in prayer, transmitting and reinforcing a strong sense of connection through that shared experience.19 Martha, a former nun born in the Cameroon, who has worked as a nurse in Britain since 1994 and acts as the pivotal supporter of a large extended family in London and Africa, believes just as passionately in the power of prayer to bind relationships. She points to the image in her living room, which assumes a three-dimensional, visceral presence: This [means] so much to me… the Divine Mercy and St Faustina… Christ appearing to her with these rays coming from his heart there, the water and the blood… And he actually said ‘Any home in which this is exposed’ …Well, it’s not just exposing it and [then] not doing and not living out your faith, but you believe and you know that this is Christ, this is what Christ did for us – water cleansing us, and the blood nourishing us as well, life, source of life for us.20 Just as Marie is prompted by a novena card falling from her bible, Petra – the Madeiran woman with whom this article opened – has built up a rich environment of casual encounters with the Divine Mercy image around her home, so that there is no room in her house which does not have such a focus for prayer. For her and for others such as Eileen,21 the image in different media is an everyday, immediate presence alongside other holy images and the detritus of ordinary life (figure 7). Others form collective groups dedicated to the externalization of belief and communal prayer practices. Frédéric joined the Faustinum, a form of sodality, under the aegis of which he gave classes on the Divine Mercy in prison, praying ‘for those men with hardened hearts’ (Frédéric 2012). Many groups, organized on a parochial or wider basis, are formed under the title ‘Servants of Divine Mercy’. One such group in London, which started with a Filipino neighbourhood association, and which meets every Saturday for prayer 19 Interview with Alesha, 20 June 2009 (#82). 20 Interview with Martha, 29 May 2009 (#63–4). 21 Interview with Eileen, 1 February 2010 (#124). 96 jane garnett and alana harris Figure 7: Eileen’s sitting room, in which the Divine Mercy nestles amongst books and family photos. Source: authors’ photograph. and once a month at the West Ealing Divine Mercy shrine, encourages individual spiritual discipline (reading the bible and Faustina’s Diary, and 3 o’clock prayer), attendance at mass and confession, and works of mercy, which include financial support for a Filipino Church, and donations to those who have suffered bereavement (Lydia 2012). Similarly, a Facebook group originating in America calls for single men ‘aged between 18 and 50’ to become ‘friends’ of the Servants of the Divine Mercy. Whilst the language and imagery are gendered in relation to different conceptions of Christ, and the uses to which this devotion is put (as discussed below), canvassing the faithful: devotion to the divine mercy 97 this is a devotion to which men as well as women are drawn (see Hermkens, Notermans and Jansen 2009; Woodhead 2008). At the heart of the Divine Mercy lies the concept of healing, understood spiritually, morally and corporeally. The attitude of trust in God’s mercy and in the immanence of His grace, reinforced by prayer, is the basis of such transformation. The explicit mapping of the devotee’s life on the life and passion of Christ is believed to provide an exemplary path for good living and confidence when faced with pain, guilt, suffering and ultimately preparation for death. Just as the cult to Thérèse of Lisieux was forged on the fields of Flanders (Harris 2013), an initial stimulus to widespread promotion of the Divine Mercy devotion was its use by Polish soldiers in the Second World War. The soldiers experienced Faustina’s fears for Poland and found in the prayers a way of coping with the reality of evil and the constant presence of death. A 1941 image of the Divine Mercy held at the shrine in West Ealing (London) is surrounded by ‘ex votos’ such as war medals and jewellery, donated to thank the Merciful Christ for wartime survival and the provision of a British refuge from communism. As well as these thanksgivings for the avoidance of death, other devotees subjectively understand physical and mental healing in creatively embodied terms: a Filipino woman doing more than two jobs and burdened by remittances which led her to seek an unhealthy, addictive escape in gambling, attributes her recovery to a dream of the Divine Mercy in which the Divine Heart replaced her own.22 Frédéric also maps his transformatory encounters with Christ in embodied, three-dimensional terms, drawing upon Divine Mercy imagery: My dear God, let the rays coming from your humble heart touch my heart as well as the hearts of the whole congregation gathered today. I like to hide in their shadows, not only in the sacraments but also in everyday life. I would like to be changed by you … so that my language becomes merciful, and my feet take me wherever someone needs me (Buttiger 2012). There is devotional encouragement to such imaginative, mimetic engagement with a fleshy, physically palpable and healing Christ within the pseudo-medical literature advocating the Divine Mercy to address cancer (Sobecks 2012) and explicitly within the ‘Prayer for Healing’ used by a Filipino Divine Mercy group in London. This prayer treats devotees’ own bodies as potentially iconographic representations or ‘vessels’ analogous to the Divine Mercy image: 22 Personal communication with Father Thomas, 8 June 2012 (written notes). 98 jane garnett and alana harris Jesus, may Your pure and healthy blood circulate in my ailing organism and may Your pure and healthy body transform my weak unhealthy body, and may a healthy and vigorous life flow once again within me, if it is truly Your Holy Will. Amen. (Lydia 2012). Alongside this premium on an embodied prayerful healing encounter, there is also a strong emphasis in the devotional literature on the example of Faustina herself praying by the bedsides of fellow patients in hospital, and on the saying of the Divine Mercy chaplet at the bedside of the dying to invoke the presence of Jesus as a forgiving, merciful saviour. Martha, who works in palliative care for cancer patients, did not know of the Divine Mercy before her arrival in Britain but was exposed to it through a parish in St Alban’s where retired people – with the support of an Irish parish priest – used the church for 3pm prayers. She describes the power and utility of the chaplet in a holistic approach both to the nursing of patients (with their present bodily needs and desire for closure and comfort) and with a mind to her transcendent understandings of assurance of a ‘good death’: it says if you say this prayer, the Divine Mercy chaplet, on the bedside of somebody who is dying He will stand beside that person, not as a just God … as a merciful God, you know. … And a lot of my people, a lot of the patients, they don’t want to hear about God, and you don’t even have to mention this thing. So I just silently intercede for them and say, ‘Well God, you know best’ … But in a few, I think one or two homes, no three actually, who have been Catholics and I came in there and we prayed the Divine Mercy. Oh I was so moved by it. We prayed the Divine Mercy and they were even … [they] allowed me to explain a bit more about it. And we prayed it together and they had just called the priest, themselves called the priest to come and, because she died just as I was coming.23 For Martha there is a palpable sense of the need for such devotional prayer for herself (‘looking after people physically … and being there spiritually’). However, a sharp tension is created for her and other Catholic nurses working in a secular medical context in which expressions of faith are tightly quarantined to official chaplains. Martha’s testimony reveals her belief in the power and intercessory agency available to the laity, outside sacramental settings such as Penance and Extreme Unction, to minister God’s grace and forgiveness to the dying. She draws on the words of Jesus recorded by Faustina: ‘whoever will recite it, will receive great mercy at the hour of death… Even if there were a sinner most hardened, if he were to 23 Interview with Martha, 29 May 2009 (#63–4). canvassing the faithful: devotion to the divine mercy 99 recite this chaplet only once, he would receive grace from My infinite mercy’ (Diary II, 687). Bernice, a Mancunian woman in her 70s, has been praying the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy for over twenty years, having read about it in a Catholic newspaper. It is a prayer she practised regularly and unselfconsciously ‘walking to work in the mornings as the prayers are simple and the rosary beads slipped easily through my fingers inside my coat pocket’.24 Now approaching later life and experiencing thoughts of mortality and bouts of insomnia, she dedicates regular 3am sleepless prayers to ‘those in need of prayer … praying for souls in their last agony’. Her conviction of the Chaplet’s efficacy is enhanced by its role in providing peace and solace to her (non-religious) neighbour in her last hours: Poor Betty, she was so agitated and I could see fear in her eyes. The family left me alone with her, and although she didn’t appear to know me, I just held her hand and whispered the prayers for the dying …. A while after I came home and Bernard and I prayed the Chaplet of Divine mercy together – just the other side of the wall from where she was lying. Early next morning her daughter came to tell us that she had died in the early hours – shortly after I had left … and probably whilst we were praying for her – Betty had become very calm and peaceful and had fallen into sleep from which she did not awake. Her family were convinced that the prayers had taken away her fear.25 Such bedside prayers to create a ‘good death’ are seen as a way of making incarnate God’s mercy in the face of suffering, especially in times of vulnerability, fragility and brokenness. This can appeal across personality types, theological convictions and institutional religious affiliations. Father Peter, a young priest ministering in a deprived inner-city parish in north-west England, was introduced to the Divine Mercy in the seminary and his devotion was developed and nurtured by an already-established Faustinian group in a parish to which he was appointed. Now, ministering to a new parish that has a very large Polish contingent, he has established a Divine Mercy shrine in the church and instituted 9am novena prayers before a ‘Hyla-inspired’ image donated by the Polish chaplaincy in Manchester and the exposed Blessed Sacrament.26 For help in developing her priestly vocation Anglican convert and curate Amelia draws upon the Divine Mercy chaplet alongside the spiritual writings of Henri Nouwen, the Catholic priest whose classic work on contemporary ministry, The Wounded Healer (1979) addressed the transition in the modern world to a 24 Personal communication (letter), 26 May 2012, from Bernice. 25 Ibid. 26 Personal communication with Father Peter, 28 May 2012 (written notes). 100 jane garnett and alana harris more internalized spirituality.27 Required to be in loco Christi each Sunday, to be an image or icon of the Merciful Christ and to enact physically the Mysterium Paschale, clergy like Peter and Amelia find within the devotion (and its visual representations) resources for addressing the wounding and healing, immanence and transcendence they are called to embrace in their Christian ministry (Garnett and Harris 2013). Conclusion Compared to longer-standing Catholic cults focused on Jesus (such as the Sacred Heart) and Mary (such as Lourdes), devotion to Saint Faustina and her visions and images of the Merciful Christ remain in the ‘formation stage’: the ban on its promotion and practice was only officially lifted in 1979 (Witko 2000, 41). Many aspects of it continue to be controversial or contested, not least because of its exponential growth worldwide and the range of forms which it can take. Taking off at the beginning of John Paul II’s pontificate, it was aided by his promotion of the cult of saints and at the same time addressed a lack felt by many laity in the wake of the Second Vatican Council’s stress on aesthetic minimalism and devotional constraint (Tanner 1990, ii, 842; Ryan 2005; cf Caussé 2010). Priests growing up since this period have also often proved more responsive to lay devotional initiatives. Focused on an image arising out of a visionary experience by a simple girl, the framing narratives make explicit the association between this simplicity and the spirit of trust which lies at the heart of the devotion. The detail that Sopocko had wanted ‘Christ, King of Mercy’ as the inscription to the image instead of ‘Jesus, I trust in You’, fits with an iconographical symbolism and liturgical emphasis tending more to the hierarchical and sacramental. In the theology of salvation, the softer and more intimate Kraków image, significantly gendered feminine in Sopocko’s criticism of it, seems to offer for many devotees a more engaging way into an understanding of the works of mercy. But to a striking extent there is interplay between these images, as with pre-existing Catholic (and nonCatholic) imagery with a much longer history, giving rise to creative representations and transformations of older traditions. The Divine Mercy images and prayers have achieved a striking global resonance through their scope for personal individuation and agency, whether clerical or lay. This very vitality has proved challenging and ultimately uncontainable. 27 Interview with Amelia, 29 October 2009 (#117). canvassing the faithful: devotion to the divine mercy 101 Understanding the terms of such a devotion illuminates the dynamic outworkings of belief and the power of prayer. References Ammerman, Nancy (ed.). 2006. Everyday Religion: Observing Modern Religious Lives. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Buttiger, Frédéric. 2012. ‘Testimony’ in Journal of Mercy (Publication of the Marian Helpers Association of Great Britain), Spring 2 (57): 7–8. Breathneach, Deuglan. 2004, God’s Loving Mercy. Roscrea: Lisheen Publications. Bujak, Adam. 2012. Łagiewniki. An Opportunity for the World, Kraków: Biały Kruk. Bujak, Adam and Sąsiadek, Jolanta. 2007. 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Divine Mercy: The Devotion and Graces as Revealed to Saint Faustina Kowalska. London: Veritas. Harris, Alana. 2013. ‘Bone Idol? British Catholics and Devotion to St Thérèse of Lisieux’ in N. Christie, M. Gauveau and S. Heathorn (eds), The Sixties and Beyond: Dechristianization as History in North America and Western Europe, 1945–2000. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 429–52. Hermkens, Karina, Willy Jansen and Catrien Notermans (eds). 2009. Moved by Mary: the Power of Pilgrimage in the Modern World. Farnham: Ashgate. Kowalska, St Maria Faustina. Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul. Stockbridge: Marian Press. http://www.saint-faustina.com/Diary/DMIMS1.shtml (12 June 2012). Lydia 2012. “Testimony’ in Journal of Mercy (Publication of the Marian Helpers Association of Great Britain), Spring 1 (56): 7–8. McDannell, Colleen. 1995. Material Christianity: Religion and Popular Culture in America. New Haven: Yale University Press. ——. 2004. Picturing Faith: Photography and the Great Depression. New Haven: Yale University Press. McGuire, Meredith. 2008. Lived Religion: Faith and Practice in Everyday Life, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Michalenko, Sophia. 1987. Mercy My Mission: The Life of Sister Faustina A. Kowalska SMDM. Stockbridge: Marian Press. Morgan, David. 1998. Visual Piety: A History and Theory of Popular Religious Images. Berkeley: University of California Press. ——. 2008. The Sacred Heart of Jesus: The Visual Evolution of a Devotion. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. ——. 2012. The Embodied Eye: Religious Visual Culture and the Social Life of Feeling. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Odell, Catherine M. 1998. Faustina: Apostle of Divine Mercy. Indiana: OSV Press. 102 jane garnett and alana harris Orsi, Robert. 2012. ‘Everyday Religion and the Contemporary World: The Un-Modern, or What was Supposed to Have Disappeared but Did Not’ in S. Schielke and L. Debevec (eds), An Anthropology of Everyday Religion, Oxford: Berghahn, 2012, 147–60. Ryan, Salvador. 2005. ‘Resilient Religion: Popular Piety Today’, The Furrow 56:3, 131–41. Stackpole, Robert. 2008. Divine Mercy: A Guide from Genesis to Benedict XVI. Marian Press. Stackpole, Robert. 2011. ‘Why So Many Images? Which One is Best?’, http://thedivinemercy .org/library/article.php?NID=2826 (9 July 2011). Stackpole, Robert. 2012. ‘The Difference is in the Emphasis: The Sacred Heart of Jesus and The Divine Mercy, Part Five’, http://thedivinemercy.org/news/story.php?NID=2354 (29 June 2012). Tanner, Norman (ed.). 1990. Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, 2 vols. London: Sheed and Ward. Tarnawska, Maria. 1993. Blessed Sister Faustina Kowalska: Her Life and Mission. London: Veritas. Witko, Andrew. 2000. The Divine Mercy and Sister Faustina. London: Catholic Truth Society. Woodhead, Linda. 2008. ‘Gendering Secularization Theory’, Social Compass 55:2, 187–93. Zimdars-Swartz, S. 1991. Encountering Mary: From LaSalette to Medjugorie. Princeton: Princeton University Press. PUBLIC PRAYER, POLITICAL MOBILIZATION, AND CIVIC PARTICIPATION: THE CASE OF PROTESTANTISM IN HONG KONG* Shun-hing Chan and Wing-leung Law Introduction On 23 May 2010 (Pentecost Sunday), City Renewal, a Hong Kong Protestant group, held a large-scale prayer meeting with the theme “Coming Back to the Heart of the Father” at Hong Kong Stadium, in response to the Global Day of Prayer that originated in South Africa. The purpose of the event was to pray for the union of Christians from around the world and for the “seven mountains (pillars)” of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (“SAR”), including the Church, education, arts and entertainment, media, family, government, and business. The organizers also claimed that they would pray along with more than two hundred million Christians at different places around the globe simultaneously. On that day, there were cross-denominational Protestants and clergy among the 16,000 attendees. Apart from arranging a succession of parades, worship, prayers, sermons, and stage performances, City Renewal invited some principal government officials to deliver messages and lead prayers. These invitees included the Secretary for Justice, the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, and the Secretary for Security. While an atmosphere of “joy and harmony” permeated among the participants in the stadium, a group of protesters suddenly stood up and raised slogans demanding that the congregation pray for the 4th of June victims. They displayed crosses printed with “Tiananmen mother,” and papers and masks showing the faces of some of the imprisoned Chinese human rights defenders, such as Liu Xiaobo, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010, to express their discontent with the arrangement of the prayer meeting.1 Immediately * An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2012 Annual Conference of the Hong Kong Sociological Association. The authors wish to thank the participants for their helpful comments. 1 The protesters were members of Back to Christ. They sent a draft prayer to City Renewal before the protest, requesting that it be used instead of the official prayer, but the 104 shun-hing chan and wing-leung law after the protestors stood up, volunteers and security guards employed by the organizer expeditiously surrounded them and restrained their actions. While they compelled the protesters to leave the venue using excessive force, the volunteers said, “Jesus loves you.” Volunteers and security guards also treated journalists from different media rudely, denying them access to the scene of the conflict, and wresting and damaging their equipment.2 Afterward, the involved groups and individuals published their own statements expressing their views on the incident. This controversial incident was extensively reported by the local media. The incident cited above shows that Protestant groups have different understandings and expectations about the form and content of prayers, and that a close relationship between prayer and politics exists. In the literature on prayer, researchers have put more emphasis on private prayer, focusing less on the political, social, and cultural implications of public prayer. As the number of Christians in mainland China has increased, and interactions between Christian groups in Hong Kong and mainland China have become more frequent, the civic engagement of Hong Kong Christian groups have had a perceptible effect on mainland Christian groups. Furthermore, since Hong Kong is one of the few cities in China that enjoys a relatively high level of autonomy and freedom, it may provide inspiration to democracy advocates in mainland China. In other words, the organizational development of Protestant groups, as members of a civil society in Hong Kong, and their stance on different social issues are critical to the advancement of democracy and a civil society in mainland China. To a certain extent, the forms and content of prayer activities reflect a group’s mobilization strategies and its response to different kinds of socio-political issues. The purpose of this article is to investigate the relationships between prayer, political mobilization, and civic participation by examining prayer activities organized by Hong Kong Protestant groups. The research question is, as a religious ritual and practice, what are the socio-political implications of prayer? For instance, how can public prayer facilitate or restrain request was denied. The content of the prayer they sent focused on the seven sectors in Hong Kong and mainland China. The focus and meaning of the content, however, were totally different from the official prayer. For example, it criticized the governance of the government and state repeatedly. 2 Lai Ka-chun and To Ki. 2010. “At The Global Day of Prayer, with Sixteen Thousand Participants, Back to Christ Held a Separate Prayer Meeting outside the Stadium.” Christian Times 24 May 2010, http://christiantimes.org.hk/Common/Reader/News/ShowNews.jsp ?Nid=59713&Pid=5&Version=0&Cid=220&Charset=big5_hkscs. Accessed 1 May 2012. mobilization and participation: protestantism in hong kong 105 political mobilization and civic participation? The case analysis to follow will discuss how the pro-China Protestant groups and the liberal Protestant groups use the practice of prayer as a religious cultural tool to mobilize people to support or oppose the governance and bills of the government, thereby further influencing the development of a civil society and other political developments. This article first reviews the literature regarding past research on prayer. The next section introduces the features and structure of the pro-China prayer campaign, and the mechanism of filling vacancies in the Legislative Council, which is closely related to political developments in Hong Kong. The following section, the socio-political dimension of prayer, is analyzed by examining the role played by different Protestant groups in the political system. The final section of the article discusses the relationship between public prayer, political mobilization, and civic participation in Hong Kong society, before ending with a brief discussion and the conclusion of the article. Literature Review: Studies on Prayer In sociological literature, researchers have discussed a variety of issues on prayer, including its nature, types, forms, and content, as well as implications of civic and political participation, and social functions and effects. Joseph Baker suggested that “prayer represents an individual’s attempt to communicate with the supernatural, as well as oneself and others” (Baker 2008:169). According to Christian teaching, prayer is a kind of medium that relates God and human beings and, therefore, Christians agree that prayer is a religious practice that should be performed in general. Meanwhile, a sacred and authoritative subject that every prayer relates to enhances the persuasiveness of prayer. Prayer can be divided into different categories, namely ritual prayers, petitionary prayers, meditative prayers, and conversational prayers. Prayers help believers to undergo various kinds of religious experiences and to gain a sense of peacefulness. Prayer is also the most important factor in accounting for a pro-church involvement stance in political activities, such as candidate issues (Mathisen 1993:228–229). Prayer can be categorized into private prayer and public prayer. Private prayer refers to “praying outside of formal religious services” (Loveland et al. 2005:5), and public prayer denotes “praying in formal prayer meetings,” such as the regular and large-scale prayer meetings discussed in the 106 shun-hing chan and wing-leung law current article. In a formal or large-scale prayer meeting, most organizers add other procedures that are performed in coordination with prayer to enrich the content of the prayer meeting and to enhance its persuasiveness and effects. These procedures may include an opening ceremony, worship, life testimonies shared by people from different backgrounds, messages delivered by public figures with high social status or popularity, and other religious rituals and symbolic actions. The content of prayer is diverse and is largely without restrictions. In general, it includes, but is not confined to, confession, repentance, praying for oneself and others, blessings, recital of scriptures, descriptions of social and individual conditions, and callings. In addition, it can cover all public affairs and social issues related to nations, races, social strata, occupations, gender, and ages. Researchers have suggested that “there may be reason to believe that the content of individual prayer varies across religious traditions” (Loveland et al. 2005:3). Furthermore, the social context and the content of prayer cannot be separated. It is worth studying whether the content of public prayer can influence that of private prayer. For instance, is it possible to unify the contents of private and public prayer by propagating the assigned content of public prayer through publications or the Internet? The relationship between the two is significant in understanding the socio-political dimension of prayer. Regarding the topic of prayer and civic involvement and political participation, Matthew Loveland and his colleagues investigated the relationship between private prayer and participation in voluntary associations in the United States. They found that those who prayed more often belonged to certain types of voluntary associations. They argued that private prayer promotes membership in social service associations that emphasize personal relationships because it enhances cognitive connections and sympathy with the needs of others; however, private prayer is not related significantly or directly to the membership of political groups. The effect of prayer on the breadth of civic participation is strengthened when it is combined with high levels of involvement in religious institutions, particularly voluntary organizations that provide social ties that may entice one into additional civic involvement. They succinctly stated their position as follows: “[that] prayer indirectly increases political participation by enhancing efficacy (empowerment) may be true,…the small indirect positive effect is overwhelmed by this direct effect: prayer pushes individual civic participation toward nonpolitical forms of engagement” (Loveland et al. 2005:2–4, 8). They concluded that prayer is related to civic involvement and is a cultural tool for social change. mobilization and participation: protestantism in hong kong 107 Prayer has additional functions and effects. Jeffrey Brand found that anti-nuclear activists used a series of shared symbols, actions, and rituals to create a sense of religious community that was united not only by their commitment to peace and anti-nuclear sentiments but also to a spiritual commitment. These activists began the process of mobilization commitment with community prayer and reflection, which led to collective action. Referring to the idea of “practices of commitment” suggested by Robert Bellah, Brand also found that practices of prayer convey ritual, aesthetic, and ethical meaning, and they could be repeated for any cause, such as “to create a shared set of symbolic resources, to engage supporters in shared experiences, and to provide common messages to followers, allow[ing] leaders of protest communities to possess the ability to establish organized efforts on behalf of a cause” (Brand 1997:41–50). Hence, prayer has a function that facilitates the formation of religious/spiritual communities of protest. In other studies regarding the frequency and content of prayer, Baker proposed that, theoretically this is understood by conceptualizing prayer as a coping mechanism….The idea that social position and social structural conditions influence prayer patterns is essential to a sociological view of prayers…. Coping is an effort to ‘manage’ (that is master, tolerate, reduce, minimize) environmental and internal demands…individuals look to God to help maintain a feeling of control and justice in difficult situations (Baker 2008:169–171). In a study of “underground” church websites in China, Gerda Wielander (2009) found that house church members combined up-to-date technologies and electronic publications containing domestic and international news linked with prayers in order to facilitate the linking up of relatively dispersed smaller groups in different regions. This resulted in the formation of the identity of resistance and the gradual building of virtual communities of faith (or online communities), along with the entity of religious groups or organizations. These communities helped maintain the existence of the underground websites in order to continue the opposition movement, avoid government control, and strive for freedom and human rights. Prayer, actions, and institutions are closely related to each other regarding social and political mobilization. Prayer not only influences the thoughts of individuals but also promotes a set of ideas to a community so that a consensus can be reached. For example, if there is consistency between the content of prayer and a particular stance on a socio-political 108 shun-hing chan and wing-leung law issue, prayer can function as the agent for changing people’s mindsets and mobilizing political participation. As observed by Miguel de la Torre, As the sacred and political shared the same space, the boundaries between the two became blurred in the minds of the supporters who gathered before Elián’s house to pray. Jorge Mas Santo, the chairperson of the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), the most powerful Exilic Cuban political lobbying organization in the United States, helped complete this fusion when he said, ‘Praying in a religious ceremony is the best way to show our support’ (De La Torre 2005:252). This means prayer can result in subsequent actions and can significantly influence social reality. In addition, this process can be completed by systematic and large-scale social organizations. In other words, prayer can be understood as a kind of cultural resource, as well as an instrument of mobilization. In sum, prayer promotes civic involvement, forms identity and community, and acts as a coping mechanism and a cultural resource for the mobilization of people and communities. One can hypothesize that owing to its sanctity, permeability, and diversity, prayer enhances religiosity and transforms consciousness and one’s way of thinking. At the same time, it functions as a force that integrates and mobilizes individuals to address public issues. Furthermore, prayer facilitates civic participation and political mobilization, and it promotes the development of a civil society and political change. It is particularly effective when coordinated with other religious elements and means of communication, under the impetus of a certain stance on a social issue and with the assistance of the organizational structure and social networks of religious organizations. Since prayer has the power to influence civic participation, and given that the relationships among social organizations in civil society are somewhat competitive, one can theoretically infer that the content of prayer is influential in determining social engagement in either voluntary associations that provide only social service or civic associations related to political or social activism. It is reasonable to hypothesize further that people may participate in political activities because they first take part in social activities or organizations related to social service due to the practice of praying. Following this logic, one can assume that conservative prayer content is a somewhat negative element in trying to build a civil society, in that it often aligns with support of the government; conversely, critical prayer content contributes to building a comprehensive civil society. mobilization and participation: protestantism in hong kong 109 The Features and Structure of the Pro-China Prayer Campaign The Jireh Fund As mentioned in the Introduction, members of Back to Christ protested against the Global Day of Prayer organized by City Renewal in Hong Kong because the Protestant groups involved had different understandings of the form and content of prayer. In addition to City Renewal, the Jireh Fund, another Protestant organization that has cooperated with City Renewal in some ways, has organized similar large-scale prayer meetings involving senior government officials. It is noteworthy that the organization has built well-organized networks, which are influential in Asia, and even globally. The Jireh Fund has organized different religious activities in which prayer is the central theme, and some of these activities have been supportive of the government’s stance regarding the mechanism of filling Legislative Council vacancies, which is highly associated with Hong Kong polity. As a non-profit and non-denominational Christian organization, the Jireh Fund was officially founded in 1999. Its board of directors and advisory team consist of clergy and lay believers from different denominations. According to its website, Jireh Fund provides a variety of resources for prayer, encouraging people from different sectors to participate in prayer in different forms and ways, including “Bless Hong Kong at 8 a.m. Everyday,” “All Nations Prayer Net: Extend the Kingdom of God,” “Prayer in Unity for the City,” prayer handbooks, regular prayer meetings, and online prayer meetings. In addition to their prayer ministry, the Jireh Fund has established other ministries to coordinate prayer campaigns, including evangelistic ministries, mission ministries, publications ministries, mental health ministries, caring ministries, and children and youth ministries. These ministries target the youth, the mentally rehabilitated, the mentally retarded, and the elderly. The Jireh Fund also hosts gatherings called “Amen Worship and Prayer Meeting” for males, females, single women, the elderly, social workers, teachers, and workers in order to build networks among people with diverse backgrounds.3 Since 2001, the Jireh Fund has been organizing the yearly “‘Do This’ Million-Hour All Nations Prayer Campaign,” which later changed its name to “‘Do This’ Million-Hour All Nations Prayer Net.” The campaign is based on units of one million hours, encouraging Protestants to identify 3 For the Jireh Fund website, see http://en.jirehfund.org. Accessed 31 May 2012. 110 shun-hing chan and wing-leung law themselves by a certain number of hours in which they pray for individuals, families, workers, churches, the livelihood of people, and the economy. By July 2010, the Jireh Fund claimed that it had completed its thirteenth million-hour prayer campaign in three months and more than 22,000 people had participated in that activity (the target of the prayer campaign is 60 million people). Since 2003, the organization has published a prayer in a special column called “Bless Hong Kong at 8 a.m. Everyday” six days a week in the local newspaper Ming Bao, which has 100,000 readers. The content of the column starts with an excerpt from a news report, followed by a prayer responding to the selected news related to issues of politics, the economy, society, culture, and the livelihood of Hong Kong citizens. In addition, the organization has compiled 270 prayer handbooks for mass printing and distribution. By 2008, the total circulation of the handbooks was more than 2.2 million, some of which were translated into different languages, such as English, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Russian, and Kirghiz. It is worth noting that the Jireh Fund indicated that through the prayer campaign, they have established networks with churches and religious believers from around the world, including mainland China, Macau, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, Ukraine, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, Kazakhstan, Kirghizia, Uzbekistan, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Congo.4 The prayer activities of the organization cover various local and international issues, e.g. childbirth, marriage of females, the spread of depression, infectious diseases, homosexuality, the future Chief Executive and Cabinet, the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference, the South Asian tsunami, the Sichuan earthquake, the Financial tsunami, the general election in Australia in 2010, political change in Kirghizia, and the Tohoku earthquake. In March 2005, for example, the Jireh Fund invited clergy and believers to attend a meeting about mobilizing people to participate in the million-hour prayer campaign during that year. The former Chief Executive Tsang Yam-kuen and other principal officials were invited to the meeting, and some of them delivered messages related to economic 4 In 1996, the Jireh Fund had already started its prayer campaign; the first target was to pray for the smooth handover of Hong Kong to mainland China. See “How the Prayer Actions Had Been Started,” in “Do This” Million-Hour All Nations Prayer Net Calling Handbook. (in Chinese) July 2010:8–10, http://www.do-this-prayer.org/prayer_handbook/ book/gather/8-9.htm. Accessed 31 May 2012. mobilization and participation: protestantism in hong kong 111 and political affairs in Hong Kong, as well as regional security. They also led prayers for approximately 3,000 participants.5 Thus, it can be said that the Jireh Fund utilizes prayer as an instrument of its mobilization strategies, combining prayer and various social issues using focused content. In order to achieve the goals of the prayer campaigns, the organization makes extensive use of such mass media as the Internet, television, newspapers, and prayer handbooks, as well as crossdenominational networks. The cross-denominational networks include church organizations, Christian groups, and schools, and they encourage people to engage in prayer. Put simply, the Jireh Fund integrates and mobilizes Protestants to take part in different forms and scales of prayer meetings. The Mechanism of Filling Legislative Council Vacancies On 18 November 2009, the Hong Kong SAR government issued a “Consultation Document on the Methods for Selecting the Chief Executive and for Forming the Legislative Council in 2012” to collect public opinion regarding the dual elections in Hong Kong. Since the consultation paper and the package of proposals were of profound importance with farreaching effects on democratic development in Hong Kong, they received much attention from the Hong Kong people. Five legislators from two different pro-democracy political parties resigned on 25 January 2010, aiming to launch a political campaign called “five-district resignation, de facto referendum.” The act of resignation was a means to oppose the proposals of the government and to mobilize Hong Kong people to strive for universal suffrage.6 As the incident was critical to democratic development, and referendum has been a highly sensitive issue in the eyes of the Chinese government, Hong Kong SAR government officials denied the legitimacy of the political campaign. However, the political campaign did not violate the Basic Law and its related ordinances; so government officials could not prohibit their actions under the framework of the political system. A year later, in order to avoid a re-occurrence of a similar political campaign, the Hong Kong SAR government submitted a “Legislative Council 5 Tsang Yam-kuen took over as the Chief Executive from Tung Chee-hwa, who had participated in similar prayer meetings when he was the Chief Executive. Law Man-wai. 2005. “Tsang Yam-kuen Attends the Jireh Fund Prayer Meeting.” Christian Times 15 April 2005, http://christiantimes.org.hk/Common/Reader/News/ShowNews.jsp?Nid=28588&Pid=2 &Version=920&Cid=74&Charset=big5_hkscs. Accessed 1 May 2012. 6 There were 60 legislators in the Legislative Council in Hong Kong at that time, and five legislators accounted for 8 percent of the total number of legislators. 112 shun-hing chan and wing-leung law (Amendment) Bill 2011” to the Legislative Council for the First Reading on 8 June 2011, expecting it to be passed in July 2011. In brief, the bill suggested that by-elections should be replaced by a new method called the “replacement mechanism.” Under this mechanism, The first candidate who has not yet been elected in the list with the largest number of remainder votes will fill a vacancy of the Legislative Council arising mid-term. If the candidate concerned has died, or is now disqualified or does not wish to serve, the first unelected candidate on the list with the second largest number of remainder votes will fill the vacancy.7 This issue resulted in considerable controversy and received much attention from the Hong Kong people, since the bill was perceived to be related to the political rights of citizens (i.e., the right to vote and the right to stand for election). Hundreds of scholars, many of them political scientists, issued a joint statement against the bill proposed by the government. The Hong Kong Bar Association (HKBA) and the Law Society of Hong Kong also issued their own statements criticizing the bill. The former issued four statements in thirteen days, questioning the proposal and the arguments put forth by the government. One of the statements stated: The electors are simply denied the right to make a choice as to who should fill a vacancy….The HKBA questions how this can be regarded as respecting and reflecting the ‘free expression of will’ by the electors within the meaning of Article 25(b) of the ICCPR and Article 21(b) of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights….Further, the HKBA maintains that a LegCo consisting of such a member…is not a LegCo “constituted by election” within the meaning of Article 68 of the Basic Law….The HKBA notes with the deepest regret that the Administration has not seen fit and appropriate to conduct a general consultation of the public in respect of the present proposal which has such fundamental and far reaching consequences to the rights of the public in respect of future elections in the HKSAR to LegCo.8 As the controversy was related to a constitutional issue and public opinion had been increasingly adverse, government officials decided to make 7 See Paragraph 3(a) of the “Legislative Council Brief Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2011,” http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr10-11/english/bc/bc56/general/bc56.htm#n. Accessed 20 April 2012. 8 See “HKBA’s statement dated 25 June 2011 in reply to the Government’s written response dated 24 June 2011, on the Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2011.” The first and second statements are “Hong Kong Bar Association’s Submission on the Proposed Replacement Arrangement in the Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2011” and “HKBA’s Press Release on the Government’s Proposals Regarding Replacement Arrangements in the Event of a Vacancy,” respectively; http://www.hkba.org/whatsnew/press-release/ index.html. Accessed 10 June 2012. mobilization and participation: protestantism in hong kong 113 minor modifications to the bill but insisted upon enacting it without general consultation. The HKBA issued a new statement criticizing the government for violating the will of the majority. The number of people who participated in the subsequent rally on 1 July 2011, two days after issuance of the statement by the HKBA, was the highest since the public rallies held in 2003 and 2004.9 According to the survey of the “Public Opinion Program” from the University of Hong Kong, 50,000 Hong Kong citizens took to streets on that day to oppose the replacement mechanism for filling Legislative Council vacancies. This incident put legislators who had not yet decided whether to support the bill under pressure.10 On 4 July 2011, the government announced the postponement of the resolution proposing the bill, and later issued the “Consultation Paper on Arrangements on Filling Vacancies in the Legislative Council,” providing for consultation over a period of two months. In other words, government officials changed their minds twice within a week; this was perceived as an impairment of the authority of the government. It is worth noting that during the consultation period, government officials held two public hearings in August and September; some protesters and one legislator invaded the venue of public hearings to oppose the move of the government. After the end of the consultation period, the Hong Kong government submitted a “Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2012” for the First Reading that prevented the Legislative Councilors who had resigned from standing in a by-election for six months during the same term. On 18 February, the HKBA issued another statement opposing the new proposal: It must be emphasized again that both (i) the right to elect and (ii) the right to stand for election guaranteed under Article 26 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong SAR are correlated. The restriction imposed on a resigning Member not only curtails the resigning Member’s right to stand for election, but also the electors’ choice of their right to elect as well.11 9 The South China Morning Post commissioned the “Public Opinion Program” from the University of Hong Kong to conduct a survey on the public opinion of the replacement mechanism. The survey found that “almost two-thirds of the people in the survey agreed that there should be an election when a Legislative Councilor died, 62.5 percent agreed that there should be an election when a Legislative Councilor was disqualified from office, and 57.6 percent agreed that there should be an election when a Legislative Councilor resigned.” http://hkupop.hku.hk/chinese/report/scmp11legco/index.html. Accessed 10 June 2012. Another survey conducted in July showed similar results. http:// hkupop.hku.hk/english/report/appledaily11/index.html. Accessed 10 June 2012. 10 Civil Human Rights Front, the organizer of the 1 July March, claimed that 200,000 people participated in the demonstration. 11 “Statement of the Hong Kong Bar Association on the Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2012.” http://www.hkba.org/whatsnew/press-release/20120218e.pdf. Accessed 10 June 2012. 114 shun-hing chan and wing-leung law Finally, the re-formulated bill was passed in the Legislative Council in June 2012. In the case of the replacement mechanism, during the whole process of proposing the original bill, making minor modifications, delaying the resolution, issuing a consultation paper, and producing a new bill, the government had made a number of mistakes and ignored the opinions of the citizens. The Socio-Political Dimension of Prayer Prayer and Political Mobilization among Christian Groups Protestant groups took different social actions in response to the bill, including actions related to prayer. First, the liberal Protestant groups and other social organizations issued two joint statements in June and September 2011, respectively. The two statements urged the Hong Kong SAR government to withdraw the proposed replacement mechanism immediately, since it would expropriate the citizens’ right to vote in the by-elections, and to preserve the by-election system. Furthermore, the statements urged the government to implement immediately universal suffrage as the method for selecting the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council, and urged Hong Kong citizens to defend Article 26 of the Basic Law, which stipulates that “Permanent residents of the Hong Kong SAR shall have the right to vote and the right to stand for election in accordance with the law.” In addition, the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs was asked to apologize and resign.12 On 1 July 2011, nine Christian groups gathered to hold a prayer meeting with the theme “No fear of bigwigs, practicing the principles of justice, caring for neighbors, walking with the Lord” before the July 1 March, encouraging Christians to take part in the march and to express their views to Legislative Councilors and government officials. The meeting included prayer, singing hymns, readings from the Bible, and sharing messages.13 More than 350 participants took part in the prayer meeting. Reverend Po Kam-cheong, General Secretary of the Hong Kong Christian Council, criticized the government vocally: 12 For the Hong Kong Christian Institute website, see http://www.hkcidata1.org/ database/claims/claims.html. Accessed 1 May 2012. 13 The organizers included Back to Christ (the protest group that took part in the Global Day of Prayer), the Hong Kong Christian Institute, and the Justice and Peace Commission of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese. mobilization and participation: protestantism in hong kong 115 The biggest loophole in the political system of Hong Kong is the lack of ‘double universal suffrage’ up to the present….When government officials faced fierce opposition, they threw another proposal at us and claimed that this was a better one…because they wanted to solve the problem quickly, without considering the harm the proposal posed to the spirit of voting, which is the foundation of Hong Kong society.”14 For a better understanding of the demands of the liberal Protestant groups, it is useful to refer to the prayer delivered by the Back to Christ group, which protested against the Global Day of Prayer on May 23, 2010. In that prayer, the group demanded the following: the Church should not hand over its power to the establishment; the business sector should not create hegemony to exploit people; journalists should not conduct selfcensorship on the media; and the Chinese government should not suppress the dissidents who have brought peace to the state.15 The Jireh Fund took a different political position during the legislative process. On September 3 and 5, 2011, the organization published two prayers in “Bless Hong Kong at 8 a.m. Everyday” in Ming Bao, denouncing the protestors for interrupting the public hearing on September 1. Excerpts from the two prayers are as follows: Prayer 1 (3 September 2011) “And seek the peace of the city,…and pray unto the Lord for it” (Jeremiah 29:7). Almighty God, source of all powers on Earth, disputes have been provoked in our city recently…in particular, the public hearing on the replacement mechanism in the Legislative Council was targeted by protesters, which was truly upsetting. Dear Lord, we need peace, not disturbance; we need to survive and Hong Kong has to move on. We pray for the Commander of all to be with us…bestow upon us peace, stability, and harmony, so that Hong Kong citizens will know how to live a devout, upright, and peaceful life.16 Prayer 2 (5 September 2011) “Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction” (Proverbs 31:8). 14 To Ki. 2011. “Reverend Po Kam-cheong Speaks at the Christian Prayer Meeting on 1 July: How the Replacement Mechanism Harms the Spirit of Voting.” Christian Times 2 July 2011, http://christiantimes.org.hk/Common/Reader/News/ShowNews.jsp?Nid=67218&Pid =5&Version=0&Cid=220&Charset=big5_hkscs. Accessed 1 May 2012. 15 “Back to Christ Sends a Prayer to the Organizers of the Global Day of Prayer.” Christian Times 10 May 2010, http://christiantimes.org.hk/Common/Reader/News/ShowNews.jsp ?Nid=59601&Pid=5&Version=0&Cid=220&Charset=big5_hkscs. Accessed 1 May 2012. 16 See the Jireh Fund website, http://www.do-this-prayer.org/blessHK/2011-9-3.html. Accessed 31 May 2012. 116 shun-hing chan and wing-leung law Almighty God, the source of truth and justice, we commend all political leaders into your care. We pray that all of them, Christian or non-Christian, faithful or unfaithful, will observe justice as their guiding principle, and that they seek justice for the ones who suffer from injustice and who have been treated unfairly….Dear Lord, more radical means have been adopted recently in demanding a response from the government. In the past, the Hong Kong people have expressed their sympathy with the protesters, but the trend has been reversing. The officials have fallen victim to such violent ways of expression…. O God, Lord of Peace, we pray that you take charge of this change. May you guide us to understand that violence cannot solve problems. Unjust leaders do not always stay in power, and shouts cannot change the minds of leaders. May we know that by turning only to You, Lord of all creation, can we seek peace and harmony; this is the path we should take. Let us pray that God can arouse the spirit of the faithful praying among Christians in Hong Kong to retain peace and stability.17 The discourse and messages delivered by the clergy, who often attend prayer activities and meetings organized by the Jireh Fund, help to understand the intent of the two prayers quoted above. During one prayer meeting, a speaker reminded the participants that “people who truly pray must take action, and love is not a slogan but an action…prayer brings subsequent actions.”18 Another speaker suggested that “Christian public servants should hold prayer breakfasts so that they are not alone in their struggles when they discuss political affairs.”19 This speaker also stressed that “liberalism from the West is not the way to solve problems in Hong Kong.”20 The same speaker further interpreted verses in Romans 13:1–7 on another occasion, as follows: Christians must place themselves under the authority of the government, because the governance presented by the government is ordered by God…. Christians must respect the authorities, who are the servants of God and who carry the responsibility to honor those who do good and to punish evildoers; [therefore, Protestants should] cast their blank votes to express their discontent over the five-district resignation in response to the de facto referendum.21 17 Ibid. 18 Law Man-wai. 2005. “Tsang Yam-kuen Attends the Jireh Fund Prayer Meeting.” Christian Times 920, 15 April 2005, http://christiantimes.org.hk/Common/Reader/News/ ShowNews.jsp?Nid=28588&Pid=2&Version=920&Cid=74&Charset=big5_hkscs. Accessed 1 May 2012. 19 Ibid. 20 Ibid. 21 Daniel Ng. 2010. “Praying for a Peaceful Hong Kong.” Kingdom Revival Times 12 March 2010, http://www.krt.com.hk/modules/news/article.php?storyid=6643. Accessed 1 May 2012. mobilization and participation: protestantism in hong kong 117 As the prayers and speeches were related to important political issues in Hong Kong, a Protestant wrote a critical article in the newspaper Christian Times on October 10, 2011, criticizing the prayers published by the Jireh Fund for being subjective and incomprehensible: Selected excerpts from news reports regarding the two days of prayers were actually quotations from the government condemning the protest against the public hearing on the replacement mechanism.…One prayer depicted the government officials as victims and the protesters, who lack power, as rioters,… which interprets the incident from the angle of the government officials, without mentioning a word about the demands of the protesters. How could the phrase “the dumb,” quoted from Proverbs 31:8, be used to describe authorities who have dominant power in shaping public opinion?…Why did the author of the prayer not discuss the ideas of the protesters, such as questioning whether the replacement mechanism is just or unjust, and whether the procedure to produce the list of participants invited to the public hearing is fair or unfair?…The author of the prayer accused the protesters of instigating the disturbance. This is in line with the position of those who have a vested interest.22 There are many differences between the prayers delivered by pro-China Protestant groups and the liberal Protestant groups. First, the prayers of the liberal Protestant groups showed that they are critical of the existing political system and of government bills with a rational-critical stance, which attempt to safeguard the rights of Hong Kong citizens. These groups mobilized Christians to participate in prayer meetings and demonstrations, facilitated political reform and advocated checks and balances in the political system, and demanded that government officials be accountable to the public. On the contrary, the prayers of the pro-China Protestant groups focused on smearing the protesters as “rioters,” instigating social disturbances, and hindering social development. In the prayers, they used the words “peace” and “harmony” together, mixing religious terminology with the political propaganda slogan used by the Chinese government, which echoes the state ideology of building a “harmonious society” (hexie shehui). The prayers also avoided the issue of institutional reform in Hong Kong, as well as the controversy arising from the government’s bills and the government’s problems in handling the proposed legislation. The controversies over the prayers are often associated with the question of what should be selected from the Bible and how it should be 22 Fung Tin-wang. 2011. “Please Do Not Take Jesus Christ to Prison.” Christian Times 10 October 2011, http://christiantimes.org.hk/Common/Reader/News/ShowNews.jsp?Nid =68782&Pid=1&Version=0&Cid=837&Charset=big5_hkscs. Accessed 1 May 2012. 118 shun-hing chan and wing-leung law interpreted. Different Protestant groups draw biblical passages from Christian tradition and use them as their tools for integrating and mobilizing believers in the Christian community of Hong Kong. The content of the prayers not only describe social issues and instigate sentiments but also reflect political stances supporting or opposing the government. Prayer activities encourage believers to take action, casting their votes or restraining them from voting in elections, and mobilizing or counter-mobilizing them to participate in demonstrations against the government. Prayers in Support of the Pro-China Political Party In 2012, the Legislative Council Election in Hong Kong was to take place on September 9th. There was a story in the newspapers in August concerning the decline of support for four candidates of the pro-China political party Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Progress of Hong Kong (DAB). The Jireh Fund published a prayer for the four candidates in “Bless Hong Kong at 8 a.m. Everyday” in Ming Bao on 21 August. The prayer quoted the Biblical passage of Romans 13:1, and then reported the story of the declining support for the four pro-China candidates, followed by the prayer. An excerpt of the prayer is as follows: Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but God: the powers that be are ordained of God (Romans 13:1). Our Lord of justice and righteousness, the new election of the Legislative Council has become a fierce battle. Please take charge of this election and choose the higher powers who listen to God, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. The prayer drew the attention of laity and church leaders in the Protestant community. A Protestant criticized the prayer and the Jireh Fund on the Internet on 22 August, and his article was soon published by the Christian Times. The author pointed out that the prayer was wrong to mix up the concepts of “the higher powers” in the Bible with the “representatives of the political system” in modern polity. The prayer reflected the political ideology of the Jireh Fund, who embraced the rule of emperors in ancient China and sided with the regime. The author also criticized the Jireh Fund for canvassing voters for the pro-China candidates of the DAB by using religious language in prayer, directly or indirectly influencing Protestants to cast their votes for the pro-China candidates.23 The Jireh Fund later 23 Chan Chi. 2012. “It is Wrong to Canvass Voters in the Name of Religion.” Christian Times 2 September 2012, http://christiantimes.org.hk/Common/Reader/News/ShowNews mobilization and participation: protestantism in hong kong 119 issued a statement responding to the criticisms, in which it denied any political position or support for any political party.24 The views of church leaders were also reported in the Christian Times. Professor Sun Po-ling, President of the Baptist Theological Seminary in Singapore, stated in his blog that he wanted to vomit after reading the prayer. He held that the prayer not only was a bad example of Christian witness to Christ but also lacked the common sense of citizenship. Another church leader, Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, a minister of the Baptist Church and a reputable democrat in Hong Kong, expressed his worry that the prayer was actually a political advertisement for the four pro-China candidates, which revealed that the Jireh Fund had become the political propaganda arm of the DAB. Reverend Wu Chi-wai, General Secretary of the Hong Kong Church Renewal Movement, pointed out that the prayer was biased and unjust, tilting to the four candidates in the election, which was unfair to the other candidates. He expressed his fear that the prayer functioned as a guiding thought aimed at influencing Protestants’ voting behavior.25 The prayer in support of pro-China candidates is another example illustrating the mobilization function of prayer in political campaigns. This incident differs from the previous example, in that the prayer serves the pro-China political party in the Legislative Council Election exclusively, rather than discrediting the opponents from the democratic movement. However, the similarity is that the nature and function of the prayer serves the state ideology of the Chinese government, intending to influence subtly the attitude and behavior of Protestants by blurring the boundaries between the idea of the ruling body mentioned in the Bible and the pro-China political party today in Hong Kong. This could result in strengthening the power of the pro-China Legislative Councilor, hindering institutional reform and stifling political change in Hong Kong. In the 2012 Legislative Council Election, the pro-China political parties won the majority of seats in the council. .jsp?Nid=74174&Pid=2&Version=1305&Cid=641&Charset=big5_hkscs. Accessed 3 September 2012. 24 “The Jireh Fund Denies Praying for Political Party, Clarifies That It Has No Favored Political Position or Orientation.” Christian Times 27 August 2012, http://christiantimes. org.hk/Common/Reader/News/ShowNews.jsp?Nid=74142&Pid=1&Version=0&Cid=837 &Charset=big5_hkscs. Accessed 3 September 2012. 25 “The Jireh Fund Denies Praying for Political Party.” Christian Times 2 September 2012, http://christiantimes.org.hk/Common/Reader/News/ShowNews.jsp?Nid=74186&Pid=2&V ersion=1305&Cid=944&Charset=big5_hkscs. Accessed 3 September 2012. 120 shun-hing chan and wing-leung law Discussion and Conclusion The controversy over the replacement mechanism among Protestants in Hong Kong shows that prayer is closely related to politics. In order to change people’s political views, religious groups have deliberately taken resources from their religious tradition and expressed it in prayer. In doing so, prayer could be transformed into a powerful instrument of political mobilization. The Jireh Fund delivers prayers supporting the government and the state, and it had launched its prayer campaign to different continents of the world through its organizational structure, mass media, cross-denominational ties, and transnational networks. Meanwhile, the liberal Protestant groups focus on the poor governance of the government and call for institutional reform and the implementation of universal suffrage. The prayer activities of the Jireh Fund and the City Renewal groups show that there are similarities between the conservative wing of Evangelical Christianity in Hong Kong and neo-conservatism in the United States. These Protestant groups in Hong Kong have merged relatively conservative theology with political stances supporting proestablishment, organizing prayer movements to build on the globalization of neo-conservatism. In addition, they have deliberately blurred the boundaries between Christian faith and the political ideology of the government by organizing highly religious prayer activities, through which they create a sentiment of pro-establishment that leads to political action in support of the government. In doing so, they are actually political players, siding with the regime and enhancing its legitimacy, and thereby engaging in local politics. Since the ideas and values of Hong Kong society have affected mainland China immensely over the last thirty years, the Chinese government is concerned about its influence on citizens in mainland China regarding political reform and democratization. The prayer campaigns support of the Hong Kong SAR government indirectly assists the Chinese government in hindering the development of democratic movements in Hong Kong. The prayer campaigns function is transforming the vernacular, consciousness, views, stances, and behaviors of religious believers using “soft” methods (i.e., religious sentiment and emotion). In addition, their mechanism of mobilization can be extended immeasurably through its organizations and networks among cross-denominational Christian groups, which has formed a huge social base that supports the state and weakens the capacity and growth of a civil society in Hong Kong. mobilization and participation: protestantism in hong kong 121 Analyzing different dimensions of prayer and its influences in a comprehensive way is a difficult task. In its nature, types, forms, content, religious traditions, frequency, social context, means of communication, and relationships with other religious elements, the socio-demographic background of prayer and the structures of the organizations concerned are correlated with each other in a rather complicated manner. This may also be the reason different researchers use a variety of approaches and foci in their studies on prayer. This study proposes that public prayer is a cultural tool used to facilitate political mobilization and civic participation. The research agenda on prayer should include the relationship between public and private prayer, and a comparative study on prayers under different religious traditions, as well as prayer and mass media in the future. As prayer campaigns have become a global phenomenon, their development and interaction with a global civil society and the emerging civil society in China deserves attention from researchers. References Baker, Joseph O. 2008. “An Investigation of the Sociological Patterns of Prayer Frequency and Content.” Sociology of Religion 69(2):169–85. Brand, Jeffrey D. 1997. “Protest as Prayer Plowshares Actions and the Building of Religious Community.” Journal of Communication and Religion 20(2):41–52. Chan, Shun-hing. 2000. “Nationalism and Religious Protest: The Case of the National Day Celebration Service Controversy in the Hong Kong Protestant Churches.” Religion, State and Society 28(4):359–83. ——. 2007. “Christian Social Discourse in Postcolonial Hong Kong.” Postcolonial Studies 10(4):447–66. ——. 2009. “Governance Crisis and Social Mobilization of the Christian Churches in Hong Kong.” Pp. 58–84 in Politics and Government in Hong Kong: Crisis under Chinese Sovereignty, edited by Ming Sing. London: Routledge. ——. 2013. “Governance and Public Policy under the Donald Tsang Administration: Critical Voices from the Christian Community in Hong Kong.” Pp. 171–197 in The Second Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR: Evaluating the Tsang Years 2005–2012, edited by Joseph Cheng. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong Press. Collins, Randall. 1988. “The Durkheimian Tradition in Conflict Sociology.” Pp. 107–28 in Durkheimian Sociology: Cultural Studies, edited by Jeffrey Alexander. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. De La Torre, Miguel. 2005. “Pray for Elián: Religion and Politics in Miami.” Pp. 249–62 in Latino Religions and Civic Activism in the United States, edited by Gastón Espinosa, Virgilio Elizondo, and Jesse Miranda. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. Law, Wing-leung. 2008. “Public Religion and Social Movement: A Case Study of Catholicbased Community Organizing.” (Chinese language) Fu Jen Religious Studies 17:205–37. Lindsay, D. Michael. 2006. “Is the National Breakfast Surrounded by a ‘Christian Mafia’? Religious Publicity and Secrecy within the Corridors of Power.” Journal of American Academy of Religion 74(2):390–419. Loveland, Matthew T. et al. 2005. “Private Prayer and Civic Involvement.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 44(1):1–14. 122 shun-hing chan and wing-leung law Mathisen, James A. 1993. “Varieties of Prayer: A Survey Report.” Sociology of Religion 54(2):228–9. Wielander, Gerda. 2009. “Protestant and Online: The Case of Aiyan.” The China Quarterly 197:165–82. Wood, Richard. 1994. “Faith in Action: Religious Resources for Political Success in Three Congregations.” Sociology of Religion 55(4):397–417. ——. 1999. “Religious Culture and Political Action.” Sociological Theory 17(3):307–32. NARALOKA PRARTHANA PRAYER IN THE LANGUAGE OF PROTEST Ashok Kumar M. and Rowena Robinson* Introduction Naraloka Prarthana (2002) is a poem in prayer format through which Madduri Nageshbabu, a revolutionary poet in Telugu literature, challenges the dominant paradigm of prayer in various religious traditions, essentially by using Christian idioms of protest. The poet belongs to the Mala caste, born to Mrs. Anasuyamma Madduri and Mr. Zachariah Madduri from Narasaraopet of Guntur district, Coastal Andhra. He is one of the major Dalit poets of recent times. He authored such notable works as Velivada (1995), Rachhabanda (1996), Loya (1997), Meerevutlu (1998), Naraloka Prarthana (2002), and Godavari (2007), which is a collection of poems published after his death. He passed away on January 10, 2005. His works are sidelined and marginalized from the so-called mainstream Telugu literary circles, but he is highly acclaimed by Dalit writers and Ambedkarites in Andhra Pradesh.1 His contribution, through his works, to the contemporary Dalit movement is voluminous, providing direction and ideas with the help of Christian idioms. Dalit Christian theologians in the south continue to remain indifferent to Madduri’s ideas on Christianity and Dalit empowerment. While Dalit Christian theology is seen as a reflection of Dalit suffering, aspirations, protest, pathos, and hopes, at the same time, Madduri is different because he seeks to merge Ambedkar’s thought with Christian idioms, thus producing a far more radical political ideology. Further, prayer has been underrepresented in Dalit theology to date. * Ashok Kumar M is Assistant Professor, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi; Rowena Robinson is Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. 1 Ambedkarites are followers of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, Ph.D. (1891–1956), also referred to as Babasaheb; he converted to Buddhism, taking many other Dalits (“untouchables”) with him. He is considered the chief architect of the Indian constitution. He earned doctorates from Columbia University and the London School of Economics, as well as credentials in law. Andhra Pradesh is a state on the southeastern coast of India – ed. 124 ashok kumar m. and rowena robinson In many ways this prayer challenges institutionalized forms of performing prayer. It is exceptional for two important reasons: firstly, it is written in resemblance to the Lord’s Prayer, and secondly the poet himself comes from the Christian milieu in addition to his assertive Dalit Christian identity.2 Like any other poet he has a target audience in his mind, Dalit Christians, to whom he wants to send out a strong ideological message through this prayer. His ideological position is not something that is surreptitiously articulated but is openly visible in every stanza. Naraloka Prarthana intends to highlight the grievances and injustice done to Dalit Christians as well as outline an action plan to be implemented in India. It launches a serious critique of the indifferent behavior and political position of passivity opted for by Christians and Dalit Christians against the backdrop of rising Hindu fundamentalism and caste discrimination in contemporary India.3 The poem is a carefully crafted attempt to accommodate power relations within the discourse of prayer in the Indian Christian tradition. By way of reaching out to people with such a proposition Naraloka Prarthana negotiates for social space within the Indian Christian tradition to produce counter-cultural ideas to criticize as well as address issues related to social injustice and unequal power relations between Dalit Christians and dominant caste Hindu groups. In fact, this work remains one of the most profound works of protest literature in Telugu, a language spoken by people of Andhra Pradesh. However, the poet has been systematically sidelined in the Telugu literary circles for a variety of ideological reasons, predominantly due to his profound anti-caste and anti-Hindu religious position. In that sense, he is an unsung hero of Telugu literature. This literary work, with its revolutionary character, gives us many insights with which to think in new ways about the sociology of prayer. Despite its obvious centrality to any understanding of the spiritual worldview of an individual or community, prayer has not often been the 2 In the late 1880s Jyotirao Phule, a renowned social reformer, used the Marathi word ‘Dalit’ to describe a group of people traditionally regarded as the outcastes, oppressed, and broken victims of Hindu society. The word ‘Dalit’ means ‘suppressed’, ‘crushed’, or ‘broken people’. It was the young intellectuals of the Dalit Panther Movement of Maharashtra who began to use the term as a reminder of their oppression. 3 Hindu fundamentalism as a religious and political movement advocates Hindu nationalism, and predicates itself on a hatred of religious minorities, particularly Muslims and Christians, in India. This ideology is championed by the Sangh Parivar, an umbrella term used to describe a range of organisations such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Bajrang Dal, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the like. naraloka prarthana: prayer in the language of protest 125 focus of research, even among those who study religion (see Poloma and Pendleton 1989). In the context of Christianity, studies have shown that prayer is usually understood as some form of communication with ‘God’, though whether this takes a ‘meditative’ slant, focuses on ‘intimacy’, on ‘asking God a direct question’, or relying on ‘petition’ is something that has to be in each case analyzed separately (Dein and Littlewood 1995; Poloma and Pendleton 1989). In India, Christianity is closely enmeshed with other religious traditions, and particularly with Hinduism. With regard to studies of worship and prayer in Hinduism, the relevance of the syntagmatic structure to the understanding of the efficacy of mantra has been pointed out (Das 2008), and differences have been drawn between three divine grades: the high deities of Brahmanical or Sanskritic Hinduism, the village gods and goddesses (local or secondary deities), and the malevolent spirits or ghosts (Harper 1959; Babb 1975). In the first instance, God in the sense of the Supreme Being or Paramatma is omnipresent but remote and will not intervene in the events or affairs of the world. To specific high Gods, on the other hand (such as Shiva, Vishnu or Lakshmi), prayers and worship may be directed and even specific requests for favors or boons, but these gods are not normally manipulable and may not be forced to comply. Gods of the second category are closer to the daily round of life on earth and may even demand certain forms of sacrifice or cause harm if ignored or insulted. A certain amount of bargaining and negotiation is possible in conversation with these deities. The relationship has an element of the contract, and the language of ‘duty’ and ‘entitlement’ may not be out of order: the gods have duty to protect, and in return they expect payment in the form of regular offerings. Malevolent spirits can be kept off by the chanting of mantras or may have to be placated by sacrifices or other offerings. On other occasions, a shaman invoking a superior deity may forcibly remove them. The literature on prayer per se is hard to find; however, the idea of the divine hierarchy permits us to make certain judgments about the nature of prayer brought into play at each level. Perhaps at the highest levels, prayer is largely adoration and is more meditative in form. Petitionary prayer may be available at the two higher levels; and also what has been called ‘conversational’ or ‘colloquial’ prayer (Poloma and Pendleton 1989:47). Requests for specific needs may be contained in petitionary prayer, while colloquial prayer has a more conversational style and includes wishes that are more general or universal: for blessings, guidance or the lessening of suffering in the world (Ibid.:47–48). Towards the spirits, 126 ashok kumar m. and rowena robinson prayer appears to be far more in the manner of a formulaic recitation. At the same time, these categories cannot be treated as closed and mutually exclusive. Naraloka Prarthana emerges directly from the everyday experiences of Dalit Christians. Dalit Christians perceive Indian society from the margins. Their interactions with other religious and caste groups highlight their marginalization and make manifest the cultural and social discrimination that they experience. They experience violence from the upper castes and are in a political and economic position of vulnerability. Naraloka Prarthana challenges the existing relations of dominance by invoking ‘Christian idioms’ in ritual practice, and inflecting them with the language of protest. In doing so, it expands horizons and also diversifies the content of prayer with a clear political agenda. Christianity itself is at the margins of Indian society; the use of Christian idioms emphasizes the setting up of an alternative understanding of Indian society in which the social suffering of the so-called lower castes is centralized and core religious practices and structures of Hinduism and of Christianity are called into question. Patillo-McCoy observes that ‘religious practice becomes a strategy for participation in public life’ and that using prayer may be a ‘cultural tool for social change’ (Patillo-McCoy 1998:773). Patillo-McCoy is making a proposition that prayer may be associated with commitment to civic engagement. Poloma and Gallup’s study of prayer and politics shows that ‘one of the fruits of prayer is a heightened political awareness’ that lessens the separation between ‘the private religious side and the public political side of life’ (Poloma 1991:78). With similar concerns, Frederick Harris studied the direct positive outcomes of prayer on political participation. He proposes a model that demonstrates that internal religiosity increases personal efficiency, which in turn promotes political efficiency as well as political engagement (Harris 1999). Along similar lines, Naraloka Prarthana is an attempt to go rework the existing prayer forms to perform a new and different kind of work, the work of eliciting a greater degree of political participation from Dalit Christians. It intends to start a new prayer form of its own, namely ‘protest prayer’ in poetic form. Naraloka Prarthana could be better understood in the framework of the relationship between religion and Dalits in India. Contentious Relationship between Religion and Dalits The religion of Dalits and Dalit Christians of India is in many ways distinct from others in its degree and style. The reasons for their having such a naraloka prarthana: prayer in the language of protest 127 distinct religiosity lies more in the social situation in which they find themselves than in any specific features of the religious faith they follow or practice on an everyday basis. Mendelshon and Vicziany (1998) rightly observed that the Hindu value system has deeply entrenched a fault-line between the Dalits and the caste Hindus, which led to the perpetual denial of human dignity and seems to have determined the way Dalits respond to different situations in the course of history. Webster (1999) has also argued that struggling against religiously-imposed and religiously-sanctioned marginality in their day-to-day life continues to be at the center of the Dalit movement in contemporary India. It is a critical reminder for us that religion continues to be at the center of their political discourse. The Dalits, in the course of history, can be shown to have been instrumental in the emergence of many religious and sectarian traditions in India: the Satnami movement in Chhattisgarh (Dube 1998), the Ad Dharm movement in Punjab (Juergensmeyer 1982), the Mahar movement towards Buddhism (Zelliot 1969), and group conversions in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to Christianity, particularly in south India (Pickett 1933). In fact these religious traditions intensify India’s diversity. In the Dalit imaginary, religion has been a source of discrimination and humiliation for centuries; strategies of conversion may speak of their efforts to embrace a tradition or world-view that confers on them dignity and self-worth. Efforts by Dalits to escape the oppressive shackles of caste intensified during the colonial period, when conversion often, but not only, to Christianity was the choice opted for, particularly by Dalits in south India. A number of scholarly debates on these conversions have ensued. The central focus of these debates has largely been on the motives, intentions, means, modes, and motivations of converts from various social and religious backgrounds (Robinson and Clarke 2007). The direct or indirect role of Dalits in reforming Hinduism, their participation in conversions to Christianity, Islam, and more recently to Buddhism under the leadership of Ambedkar for varied reasons are noted themes in the literature. Some scholars have argued that their motivation towards conversion to Christianity in groups was nothing but the cumulative effect of western influences on India (Forrester 1979). Another body of scholars argues that it was self-motivated and hence voluntary. This has brought ‘Dalit agency’ to the center of debates on religious conversions in India (Daniel Jayaraj 2009). Dalits have established various traditions of protest across different Indian states. Naraloka Prarthana is a unique response by a Dalit from the Lutheran Christian community in Andhra Pradesh. The challenges faced 128 ashok kumar m. and rowena robinson by Andhra Dalits are placed, within the poem, along with the experiences of marginalization of all Indian Dalits. The Context of Naraloka Prarthana The socio-political context in which Badduri Nagesh Babu wrote his Naraloka Prarthana has its political roots that date back to the 1980s. One can trace the rise of the Andhra Dalit movement during this period to two important historical incidents: the Karamchedu and Chunduru massacres.4 Ever since then, the Dalits of Andhra began to politicize their social suffering by means of asserting their identity with the help of institutional resources in whatever way possible. Their major concerns have been to articulate the caste-ridden character of Hinduism in modern India, the rise of militant Hindu nationalism, and attacks on Christians and other minorities in late 1990s. Their efforts have been mainly pursued through means of both literary expression as well as political activism (Keshav Kumar 2011). Most of their poetry and writing is written in the Telugu language. It is interesting that the Dalit writers believe that they require cultural power first in order to strengthen their political struggle. When it comes to attacks on minorities in recent times, two regions – Gujarat and Orissa – are significant. These two regions witnessed unprecedented communal clashes that resulted in violence and the loss of many lives. In particular, in Gujarat Muslims were the target of violence, while in Orissa it was the Christians. The study of this violence has been reflected in many scholarly writings (Robinson 2005; Chatterji 2009). A conscious effort towards garnering the cultural strength of Dalits of Andhra was made in the form of Untouchable Spring, by Kalyan Rao (2000). Employing a number of Christian idioms, the book effectively articulates ‘how Dalit folk memory has been colonized by Brahminical narratives’. Many Dalit writers identify with Christianity and employ 4 Karamchedu is a large, mostly prosperous village in Prakasam district, where growing commercial crops such as cotton and tobacco are the main agricultural activity. On 17 July 1985, a mob of 3000 Kamma landlords assaulted the Madigas, killing six men and raping three girls. All the Madigas of this village sought refuge in a Church compound in Chirala town. Chunduru village is dominated by the Reddy caste group in the district of Guntur. The second largest community was that of the Malas, who are known for their political awareness and assertiveness, enhanced by education and employment. On 6 August 1991, in a horrifying incident planned by the Reddys, allegedly with the support of the local police force, seven members of the Mala community were killed and several more injured. This incident forced national attention on the rural Andhra caste question. naraloka prarthana: prayer in the language of protest 129 Christian idioms in their political articulations. This has largely to do with the Christian milieu in which they grow up and also the cumulative effect of direct colonial rule and missionary influence in this region. Madduri is one of the most influential Dalit poets in Andhra literature with radical theoretical orientations, which appear to resonate with Latin American liberation theology. Through his Naraloka Prarthana, he wants to protest against the rising religious nationalism and the insecurity and violence it wreaks on society, especially on Dalits and Dalit Christians. This prayer is an attempt to bring religion into political discourse at the same time as it brings politics into the language of religion. It is once again a reminder, that religion and politics are not water-tight compartments; rather they must be perceived as ‘intrinsically intertwined’ domains (Bayly 2001). The Metaphors and New Propositions of Naraloka Prarthana The poem has a tripartite structure: sermon, liturgical prayer, The Lord’s Prayer. A series of reversals mark its ‘this-worldly’ and iconoclastic character. It is addressed not only to God but also to the Dalit. It rejects both the deferential and humble stance of Christian prayer as well as the ‘bargaining’ or cajoling essence of some forms of Hindu prayer (see Keane 1997:55). In each section, the poem deliberately plays with the idea of ‘imputed authorship’ (Ibid.:59). The first section is structured as a sermon, the author of which is usually an individual pastor or priest. The individual author has full responsibility for his speech. The second part takes the form of part of a liturgical prayer, which would be led by the pastor and is far more conventional in that it is part of an approved rite, authorized by the church. Thus, as the poem develops it appears to assume greater boldness, challenging not only the individual voice of the local pastor but, progressively, the centralized religious authorities that frame the liturgy and, finally, Christ himself. The use of reversal is enabled by the play between entextualization and contextualization (Bell 1988; Keane 1997:63). The poet takes what would normally be entextualized speech (for example, ‘dear brothers and sisters in the Lord or in Christ’; or, ‘please bow your heads now so we can pray’) and contextualizes it through reversal. He now speaks of ‘Dear brothers and sisters in insult or humiliation’ or asks his audience ‘please raise your heads now so we can pray’. Paradoxically, the very absence of the anticipated phrases becomes a way to subject the formulaic (entextualized) patterns of Christian prayer, invocation, or address to a critique. It also 130 ashok kumar m. and rowena robinson emphasizes what is present: the Dalits and their radical political ideology. This also facilitates the underlying shift from spiritual concerns to the collective concerns of Dalits in this world. At certain points, of course, the movement is transparent; the poet wants Dalits to be granted ‘the kingdom and power’ in the Lord’s Prayer, through which he believes God’s grace will be revealed. The Eleventh Commandment Naraloka Prarthana, which translates as ‘A prayer for This World’, depicts the multi-dimensional and complex nature that prayer encompasses. Before he introduces the concept of the Eleventh Commandment, the poet urges all the Dalit Christians to understand what he calls the ‘real gospel’. This produces a critique of the Christian gospels and the transparent weakness of the social message they bear, which hardly enables the comprehension of the contemporary ‘satanic mobs’ organizing like an ‘army’ to conduct a ‘sacrificial fire’ with Dalits Christians and other minorities. The poet suggests that, at this time, the Dalit Christians require to form a ‘salvation army’ to protect themselves against the attacks. The play on the Christian ‘Salvation Army’ is obvious; it is also critical in that it implies that that is hardly the kind of army that is required today. In a time of war, vengeance and hatred for the enemy are required. The Ten Commandments, given to Moses, are considered as a set of principles, instructions, and prohibitions relating to ethics and worship that are fundamental to both Judaism and most forms of Christianity in the world. The poet sees these Ten Commandments as weak and ineffectual, patently insufficient in the face of the kinds of crises facing the Dalit Christians today, both socially and religiously. A radical refashioning of the second commandment engenders an Eleventh for Dalits: ‘Hate your enemy like Satan’. Inverting both the commands to ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself’ and ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’, the new commandment calls Dalits to spread the ‘real gospel’ teaching about caste oppression and their Satanic enemies, prepare for battle against Hindu fundamentalists and reproduce cultural power by writing the Naraloka Prarthana, orienting them to this world and their concerns within it. The Naraloka Prarthana positions itself as a reversal of the ‘Lord’s Prayer’, which Telugu Christians call the ‘Paraloka Prarthana’ [A Heavenly Prayer] and which is believed to be detached from this-worldly affairs in its content and orientation. The poet’s Eleventh Commandment calls for the capture and crucifixion of the ‘Aryan King’, for which purpose a separate cross naraloka prarthana: prayer in the language of protest 131 should be prepared. This act of crucifixion of the tormentor of Dalits, the modern equivalent of Judas, is not a replication or substitute for the original crucifixion; it is a retribution for it. Jesus’ sacrifice is not trivialized by the poet; rather, the Dalits are, by implication, the contemporary counterparts of Christ himself. Like them he suffered, but now they will avenge his death and their own victimhood by the capture and crucifixion of their oppressor, Judas, the ‘Aryan King’. The capture and death of the Aryan King is worth not just thirty pieces of silver but putting at danger the very lives of ‘330 million Indians’. The reference to 330 million Indians is interesting because this is also the mythological number of Hindu gods. Not the Lord’s Kingdom, Let Us Establish the People’s Kingdom First This prayer considers that the crucifixion of the ‘Aryan King’ is the foundation-stone for the establishment of the people’s kingdom in India. The reference to the Aryan King is dense. It recalls, for instance, the struggle between Dalits as Dravidians against the Aryan conquest of south India. This prayer demands that the ‘Aryan King’ be crowned with a ‘crown made of scorpions’ before he is taken to the cross. The tenth commandment5 clearly declares that one must not covet the property of one’s neighbors. Taking this message from the tenth commandment, Naraloka Prarthana draws the attention of Dalit Christians to the issues of land control and the politics of landholdings in India. Scholars have shown the significance of the politics of land and land control for understanding south Indian caste history and the dominance-subordination relationship between landed castes and largely landless Dalit agricultural labourers (for instance, Frykenberg 1979). The social significance and economic value of landholdings in India is very high, and it has been increasing in recent times. When it comes to the land distribution in Andhra Pradesh today one sees a stark picture of inequality with the two dominant caste6 groups, the Kammas and 5 The Tenth commandment says that you shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s. 6 Indian sociologist, M N Srinivas, coined the concept of the ‘dominant caste’ in his study of Mysore in south India. For him, ‘a caste may be said to be dominant when it preponderates numerically over the other castes, and when it also wields preponderant economic and political power. A large and powerful caste group can be more easily dominant, if its position in the local hierarchy is not too low’ (1955:18). The Chief criteria of caste dominance are economic strength, political power, numerical strength, and finally social status, if not ritual purity, in the local caste hierarchy. This dominant caste group sets the model which the rest of the local rural population may seek to emulate. 132 ashok kumar m. and rowena robinson Reddys, holding the majority of the landholdings in the region. The prayer exhorts Dalit Christians to be vigilant about their position and to pierce a ‘wooden stake’ rather than an iron rod (or spear) into the bodies of ‘those who grabbed their lands’. This may be a metaphor for the claim to land, as in the past wooden stakes would mark out the boundaries of one’s property. There is no turning of the other cheek in this new theology – its ruthless and unforgiving character are marked by offering ‘sulfuric acid’ instead of water to the crucified enemies. Today’s Dalits are ‘the avenging Christs’; the call to crucify their oppressors strikes both at the killers of Jesus and the tormentors of the Dalits, reaffirmed by ensuring that Christianity’s promise of the ‘resurrection of the body’ remains unfulfilled for three eras for these oppressors. The re-writing of the gospels manifests the poet’s chafing at the inadequacy of Christian theology for Dalits. Raise Your Heads Before We Start to Pray This command is a call for the Dalit social revolt to also enter into and radicalize the churches. This prayer locates itself on a terrain on which it criticizes Hinduism, or at least fundamentalist Hinduism, as well as distancing itself sharply from established Christianity [in this case, specifically, Lutheranism]. The prayer forms a trenchant critique of high-caste Hindus; it is also a critique of the church and the clergy, which have marginalized Dalit identity, Dalit practices, and Dalit agendas in their understanding of the faith. The second section of the poem commences with the phrase ‘now that the sermon is over, it’s time for all of you to raise your heads before we proceed to prayer’. This phrase alerts the Dalit as well as the church. It is not just time to raise one’s head to pray in accordance with the closed liturgical structure and order of the service in the church; it is the crucial moment for the church and the Dalits to raise their heads and take bold decisions. The poet is turning the Dalit away from the internally-oriented church to assert, in effect, that the church must turn itself inside out and direct itself to the take account of the humiliation of inter-caste relations on the ground. Till recently, the Dalits and other lower castes were not permitted to raise their heads to look directly at members of the dominant caste, even when they spoke with them. Such religiously-encoded prohibitions rigidly structured inter-caste interactions in south India, though in some places these are now gradually dismantling. By instructing the Dalits to raise their heads, the poet seeks to alter the very habitus of subordination, naraloka prarthana: prayer in the language of protest 133 borne crucially by the body and not just encoded in thought, language or the texts. The invocation both metaphorically and really calls for the disregard of conventional caste practices and modes of humiliating behaviour forced on the Dalits in the course of their interactions with their landlords and other members of the dominant castes. The call commands the Dalits to lift up their heads, to look God, the pastor, and the upper castes in the eye. Thus, the Dalit should take neither the oppression by the dominant castes nor the discounting of his critical concerns by the church submissively. With upright stance and upward gaze, his posture is one of physical and ideological defiance; the disobedience of the body to codes of behaviour demanded of the Dalit both within and outside the church is the basis for the new revolt, which diverges radically from expectations by being both unruly as well as violent. Synthesis of Solomon’s Knowledge and David’s Sling Insofar as the Bible teaches that ‘where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them’, this prayer goes against the spirit of this verse by giving a greater importance to ‘grouping’ and ‘collective strength’. It particularly emphasizes the number in a group that is five, two plus three, as an indication of merging two groups for better collective strength. Instead of being in twos or threes, Dalit Christians must know the political significance of the larger group strength in times of difficulty. In other words, peaceful assembly of a few is not what the poet wants to achieve; it is an army that he is trying to build. At the same time, the reference is also to the idiomatic expression, available in almost all regions of India, of the strength that emerges when the five fingers of the hand work together. As Christians believe, even if it is a small group gathered in His name, the Lord has promised to be in their midst. But in the religious world wherein Naraloka Prarthana is performed, the merging of groups for better implementation of political strategy and the demonstration of collective strength are the hallmarks of group formation. It implicitly cautions the Dalit Christians about the unexpected dangers of being divided into small groups by highlighting the benefits of being united in large groups, which may work greatly in their favor in the kind of crisis situation that they are at present going through. In order to struggle both against established Christianity and the political context of the oppression of Dalits in India as a whole and Andhra in particular, the prayer asks the Lord to ‘grant not only Solomon’s knowledge 134 ashok kumar m. and rowena robinson but also David’s sling’. It is the combination these two aspects that will make them strong enough to tackle caste-driven religiosity and religiondriven casteism in India. As it continues, the text turns its focus to the content of the prayers that Dalit Christians generally employ in their daily worship. The poem calls for a radical shift in the content of prayer as well as in the approach to the divine. Concerns to do with the after-life of the Christian are substituted with social concerns belonging to this world, the everyday world of poverty and oppression. In particular, the prayer pleads for Solomon’s knowledge, the wisdom of Solomon, to obtain an understanding of the circumstances of the life (the ‘hell’) they endure. This understanding should point to them towards the causes of their condition, and the exploitative groups responsible for condemning them to this kind of life. At this point, the poem turns into the Lord’s Prayer, but it is a revolutionary and completely rewritten text, which is located firmly in this world and sees the Kingdom, which is a Kingdom on earth and not in heaven, as belonging to the Dalits. Our Lord in heaven Against all the evils of darkness Hallowed be thy name When the state is trampling on our dreams and faith Let our kingdom come soon As your will is not being realized in our lives, as it is confined to our hearts Uproot those saffron mobs that are solely responsible for this Whether or not you give us our daily bread Do not give them their daily bread, who rape nuns Committing crimes against us has been the only occupation of these professional sinners We have forgiven them, as we are powerless and lack resourcefulness Lord you do not forgive them Do not grant them entry into the kingdom Those who bring us temptations and evil By granting us the kingdom and the power Reveal your grace, Amen.7 7 Translated by Ashok Kumar. naraloka prarthana: prayer in the language of protest 135 Professional Sinners This metaphor refers to the Hindu fundamentalists [The Saffron Parties]as those who decided to adopt sin as their occupation and did not leave a stone unturned to snatch the opportunity to humiliate and harass Dalits, Dalit Christians, and other minorities. Naraloka Prarthana recognizes them as ‘professional sinners’. It appeals to the Lord to ‘destroy’ or ‘uproot’ them since they are the biggest hurdles in the fulfillment of ‘God’s will’ in Dalit Christians’ lives. It further states that ‘God’s will’ has been conditioned to confine itself only in Dalit Christians’ hearts as an unfulfilled dream; it does not get translated into everyday reality because of the acts of the ‘professional sinners’. It further requests God that ‘whether or not you provide us our daily bread, do not provide their daily bread to those who rape nuns in India’. It highlights the underpinning political intentions of such religious fundamentalist groups and the potential damage they may cause to the very existence of Christianity in India; they have already been recognized as the single most important threat for Christianity and Christians in India. This prayer proceeds on the premise that these Hindu religious fundamentalist groups express their hatred towards Christianity in many different ways, including violence. At the same time it admits the weakness of Dalit Christian groups in India, for they could not resist the violent attempts organized by the Hindu fundamentalists. It therefore conveys a request to the Lord ‘not to forgive them’ for their sins. Dalit Christians of India have forgiven these saffron groups for their atrocious crimes against Christian nuns, because of their weak political and economic strength. It praises the Lord for having enormous strength and submits to the Lord’s authority to punish, unlike the Dalit Christians of India who in their weakness and lack of resources and resourcefulness had meekly forgiven the Hindu fundamentalists. This prayer requests that those who are bringing ‘temptations’ into Dalit Christians’ lives must not be given a chance to be either in the people’s kingdom or in God’s kingdom. Submitting Prayers in the Name of Dalit, Amen! As we have begun to expect from our earlier analysis, the Lord’s Prayer asks for the realization of the Kingdom of God on this earth, in the name of the Dalits. For a deprived, largely landless community this is a radical demand, couched in the language of prayer; it is a call also for Dalits to begin claiming their rights to land from the state. 136 ashok kumar m. and rowena robinson Within the Lord’s Prayer, the poet locates the Dalits not merely in opposition to the local landed dominant castes in Andhra Pradesh but, forging a link with Dalits across the country, sees them as struggling with three forces: the dominant castes, the Hindu fundamentalists and, crucially, the state. The text, as a whole, connects Christ with the Dalits. In fact, for the poet Christ is a Dalit who suffered physical and social abuse. The other model offered to the Dalits is Ambedkar, referred to by the poet, as the ‘Mahar Intellectual’. Dalits need to awaken themselves to the influence of both Christ and Ambedkar and realize the latter’s significance for freeing them from ‘socially-constructed problems that are spreading like viral diseases’. A Pragmatic Prayer To summarize, Naraloka Prarthana could be seen as a pragmatic prayer that focuses on the immediate concerns of the Dalit Christians. Those immediate concerns are not metaphysical insights into life or the eternal benefits available after death. By the nature of its focus, it treats the subject of God as pragmatic. Hence it charts a course of action to counter the obstacles posed by the Indian social system with a unique religious agenda. In other words, this prayer is a literary response in religious idioms and also a way forward at a time of social unrest, written in the language of protest. The source of such a response comes not from religious knowledge alone; it draws its insights and energy from the personal experience of the poet as well as the prevailing or shared political consciousness of Dalit Christians of Andhra in south India. Conclusion One of the most influential theoretical paradigms in the anthropology of religion in recent decades has been Geertz’s interpretative model that underscores the role of religion in establishing a cultural ‘web of meaning’ (Geertz 1973). At the same time, to explore religion as a local cultural system focusing on the ideas and beliefs that are believed to hold cultures 8 B.R.Ambedakar championed the lower castes who came to identify themselves as Dalits in modern India. He led one of the most popular conversion movements in modern India by influencing Mahars in Maharashtra, the caste he belonged to, to leave Hinduism and accept Buddhism as their new faith. This Mahar movement to Buddhism tends to dominate our thinking about the subject matter of Dalits and the Dalit movement in modern India. naraloka prarthana: prayer in the language of protest 137 together means that one might underplay the ways in which religion and religious manifestations are shaped by larger social and political factors. The need to study the power relations behind ‘religious regimes’ and the ways in which the construction and authorization of religion take place must be taken into consideration (Asad 1983; Wolf 1991). Asad observes that the focus on ‘meaning’ is nothing but a visible example of the Christian bias in the discipline (Asad 1983). As observed by Jean Comaroff (1991) in the social context of Africa, a new religion can serve to express people’s resistance to colonial domination. In our present case, Protestantism, as adopted by Dalits in coastal Andhra, in the context of colonial India, is now providing new religious idioms for Dalit Christians to counter Hindu religious fundamentalism and its dominant paradigms, which reproduce inequality and hierarchized power relations. Naraloka Prarthana goes beyond the Geertzian framework of religion by incorporating ideas of the politics of land, land control, social injustice, discrimination, communal violence, and above all religious fundamentalism in India within its alternative liturgical frame. It is perhaps easy to categorize religiosities into established dichotomies of ‘doctrinal’ and ‘practical’ expressions, which division might apply to both Christian and non-Christian traditions (Whitehouse and Martin 2004). Again, Cannell has argued that ‘fundamental to any understanding of Christianity today is the opposition between broadly Protestant and Catholic Christianities (2006:22). In the Indian case, it is indeed true that, historically, Catholic missionaries in India tolerated caste to a much larger extent than Protestant missionaries. However, this poem manifests that Dalits among both denominations have remained on the margins and continue to suffer injustice and abuse. The language of protest re-frames received theology and becomes the basis for construction of a new Dalit theology centring itself around the concerns and struggles of Dalits in this world. Prayer is an agency to promote Dalit political consciousness. Mainstream Indian Christianity has kept Dalit experiences on the margin; the Dalits’ battle is not only with the forces of caste oppression outside the community but also against the church and its teachings, which are rendered in the poet’s evocations, puny feeble things that can hardly capture the rage and the loathing of the Dalit for those who have tormented him for so many centuries. Indeed, it seems to fall to the Dalits to protect Christianity itself, to give it some teeth, to ‘masculinize’ it for the fight against Hindu fundamentalists who attack and ‘rape’ nuns and seek to wipe Christians and other minorities off the map of the country. 138 ashok kumar m. and rowena robinson In one sense it also represents a literary attack on the privileges accorded to some groups in the social structure. It must be treated as an important critique of the rise of religious fundamentalism expressed in Christian idioms. It opens up the possibilities of usurping ‘prayer’ from a private, spiritual realm onto a public, political terrain in order to employ it as a ‘cultural tool’ to challenge the domination of particular caste groups or to seek wider social change. It is oriented to the future with a clear political plan and revolutionary imagination. It strengthens the argument that religion/ Christianity and religious idioms/Christian idioms continue to be a major source of protest against caste domination in India. Christianity, just as it did during the colonial period, is providing ideas, idioms, religious platforms, and other avenues to record Dalit protest, publicly and privately, against the structures of social domination (Roche 1984; Oddie 1991; Kooiman 1989). It certainly represents the ways in which prayer can be ‘vernacularized’ at the same time as it is politicized; here, it challenges the existing power relations and emerging hatred against religious minorities. Prayer is not something that is confined to the personal space or religious domain alone. According to the needs of the community, both the content of prayer as well as its context may undergo radical changes. Sometimes it takes the route of pragmatism; here it goes further than that to become revolutionary and transformative. This paper attempts to go beyond the conventional ways of understanding prayer by treating it as an act of social imagination that could both be an expression of protest as well as constitutive of it. Madduri’s poetry obviously shatters neat theoretical models of prayer and their compact separations between the petitionary, conversational or formulaic. Prayer that has been extracted to do the labour of politics speaks to experience rather than exegesis. However, Madduri is not merely offering a new basis for the construction of Dalit politics; he is simultaneously constituting a novel theology and soteriology – of and for Dalits. 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Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania. THE MEANING OF PRAYER FOR YOUNG MUSLIM IMMIGRANTS IN QUEBEC (CANADA) Josiane Le Gall The issue of youth and religion has sparked a new interest in recent years, as evidenced by the growing literature on the subject (e.g., Collins-Mayo and Dandelion 2010; Gauthier and Perreault 2008; Giordan 2010; Lefebvre 2008). This enthusiasm also characterizes research being done on Muslim youth, both in the context of migration and in their place of origin. However, as noted by Jeldtoft (2011), the majority of these studies focus on practicing Muslims, often engaged in Islamic associations. The authors examine dress, fasting, and the five daily prayers (e.g., Ali 2005; Furseth 2011; Jacobsen 2006), but rarely reflect on the various meanings of these practices and rituals. Moreover, most studies on young Muslim immigrants examine these religious practices as an indicator of people’s religiosity. For example, using level of involvement according to five-pillars orthodoxy standards, Beyer (2010) distinguishes three main categories among Muslim young adults in Canada: highly involved Muslims, moderately to somehow involved, and the non-religious. These studies are filling the gap within academic knowledge regarding religious practices and beliefs among Muslims. However, classifying young Muslims into diverse categories according to the degree of adherence and intensity of ritual practices does not tell us much about how these practices tie into spiritual and religious dimensions of their lives; instead it gives the impression that these young people are first and foremost interested in ritual aspects of religion. In this paper, we examine different practices of prayer among young Muslims in Quebec as well as the importance and meaning of prayer in their lives. It is based on ethnographic field research that explores the religious practices and beliefs of 108 young immigrant Muslims of different ethnic and national backgrounds. We demonstrate how prayer, one of the five fundamental practices required of every Muslim, is a strong component in young Muslim immigrant daily life, regardless of religious commitment. It is argued that for the majority prayer, and more broadly religion, it is an important resource in their lives. 142 josiane le gall Prayer: An Instrument to Achieve Self-Fulfillment In a recent text on prayer, Giordan (2011) suggests that we are witnessing a shift from exteriority to interiority, ‘from the formal and sometimes imposed observance of external rules to an attention to the exigencies rising out of the introspection of the self’ (2012:84). The objective truth makes way for subjective authenticity, which becomes the way of judging the life world in which the subject lives. Based on data from research conducted with young Italian adults, Giordan also hypothesizes a shift from a ‘materialistic’ to a ‘post-materialistic prayer’. In his opinion, we are witnessing a growing emphasis on the meaning of life, on the sense of belonging, on the desire for self-realization, and on intellectual and aesthetic gratification. In this respect, praying seems to have a relevant role in building a satisfactory life because the practice allows the individual to achieve fulfillment: ‘it answers more to the needs of personal well-being, and even morals are subsumed by the framework of self-realization’ (2011:87). Another aspect that emerges from Giordan’s research is how prayer becomes a way to discover what he calls the ‘true self’. Several recent studies on youth and religion indicate that the latter represents an important resource that allows them to give meaning to their lives while achieving personal fulfillment (Collins-Mayo 2010; Gauthier and Perreault 2008). Today’s youth face many different options with respect to the direction that their lives may take. From this perspective, religion and spirituality provide another resource for those who want to use them. Collins-Mayo wrote in this regard: ‘The important point from the perspective of sacralisation in late modernity is that whatever form of spirituality is adopted it is increasingly a matter of individual choice’ (Collins-Mayo 2010:4). Moreover, it seems that the choices young people make are strongly influenced by the need to maintain what Heelas and Woodhead (2005) call a ‘subjective-life spirituality.’ Prayer plays a notable role in this regard; for example, in a chapter on the meaning and place of prayer in young people’s lives in Britain, Collins-Mayo (2007) emphasize how prayer makes a difference in how young people face the world. Those who pray do it as a way to make sense of their lives and cope with problems and difficulties. Prayers remains, she writes, a possibility for young people ‘with the potential to help them build up a positive self-identity, strengthen their sense of moral connectedness and motivate them towards more purposive and confident living’ (2007:43). According to authors such as Saint-Blancat (2004), there is every reason to believe that a similar phenomenon exists among young Muslims. For the meaning of prayer for young muslim immigrants 143 those who grew up in Europe, Saint-Blancat argues that, like their peers, their experiences fit into a social context of a great transformation in their relation to religion, wherein they internalize and share aspirations, including an individual quest for meaning (2004:236). The growth of religiosity noted among second- and third-generation Muslim migrant youth by several scholars in recent decades and their participation in rituals has been interpreted in several ways. It is seen frequently as a means for these youth to assert their distinctiveness and independence from their parents (Glynn 2002; Kibria 2008; Minganti 2010), as well as a way to reject aspects of the Western culture and society in which they are growing up that they consider unacceptable, such as racism (Ali 2005). Other studies emphasize that for young Muslim immigrants, religion is a significant source of community. For example, in an analysis of how Bangladesh-origin Muslims in Britain and the U.S. view and understand revivalist Islam, Kibria (2011) emphasizes that for migrant youth who face marginalization and stigmatization in both the dominant society and the immigrant community, revivalist Islam may offer a powerful means to assert a positive and distinctive sense of identity. On the other hand, in her discussion of how religious Muslim women negotiate Islamic practices within French and German public spheres, two national contexts where prayer is not easily accommodated, Jouili (2009) shows how this Islamic ritual is decontextualized and emerges as a site of difference and of contestation. According to Jouili, ‘a “de-contextualised” salat questions norms external to itself. In the context of taken-for-granted secular – religious dichotomies, prayers performed visibly in secular public spheres turn into contestations of these very dichotomies, as do claims for recognizing Muslim practices as legitimate in these spheres’ (Jouili 2009:458). As Frisina (2010:340) points out in a recent study on Muslim youth in Italy, religion can also become a spiritual resource for these young people ‘which allows them to feel at peace with themselves and helps them in moments of difficulty’. In this context, religion offers Muslim youth a reference framework and tools to face everyday challenges (Mahmood 2005). Methodology The data for this paper stem from semi-structured interviews with 108 young immigrants who identified themselves as Muslim, from different ethnic backgrounds and resided in Quebec for five years or more; 74 of the 108 participants were women and 34 were men. They range in age from 18 144 josiane le gall to 25 and originate from a variety of different countries, including Iran, Turkey, Mauritania, and Iraq. Forty-five of the participants are from Algeria, 20 from Morocco, and 21 from Lebanon, which are among the principal countries of origin of the recent immigrant population in Quebec. All of the participants, who were recruited outside Islamic organizations, are attending college or university. They are on the whole, like most Muslims in Quebec, highly educated.1 In comparison, research on young Muslims in Europe or Muslim countries show that parents who have a scriptural knowledge are rare (Parekh 2009). The ‘snowball’ method was used to recruit research participants. To diversify recruitment networks and thus ensure greater diversity in the profiles of the youth, interviews were conducted by several research assistants. In the interview, which lasted from two to three hours, we asked participants about their own religious identities, practices, and the influences that may have shaped the significance of their current religious tradition. We chose to look at first generation youth because of the recentness of Muslim migration in Quebec, a population which grew significantly form 1990 onwards.2 Although Islam is the fastest growing religion in Quebec, very little research has been conducted on the religious practices and beliefs of young Muslims; rather, research in Quebec on Muslims has focused on documenting women’s economic integration, discrimination and rights. The Practice of Prayer Our results show the significant role played by religion and spirituality in the lives of many Muslim youth in Quebec. They also confirm the prevalence of prayer among young Muslims, as found in a number of studies, and that it is one of the most respected rituals, along with fasting during Ramadan (Beyer 2010; Frisina 2010). Nearly half of those interviewed in our study assert that they pray regularly. Some do not always conduct the 1 Nearly 70 % of immigrants to Quebec are selected for admission in light of their occupational and language skills; consequently they are generally better educated than the average members of the host society. 2 This growth is expected to persist, with several countries with large Muslim populations at the forefront of the new migration. Algeria, Morocco, and Lebanon rank first, second, and seventh, respectively, as the countries of birth of newcomers for the 2006–2010 period. For Quebec, immigrants admitted in 2011 largely came from ten countries of birth, including Algeria (3rd), Morocco (4th), Iran (7th), Lebanon (8th), Egypt (9th) and Tunisia (10th) (MICC, 2012). the meaning of prayer for young muslim immigrants 145 five prayers at the prescribed hours and combine several prayers in the morning or at night, which is an acceptable practice in Islam. Others admitted sometimes omitting prayers during the day, without totally catching up in the evening. While some have been praying for a long time, from as young as nine years old in some cases, they have only maintained this ritual on a regular basis for a few months or years, while others have adopted it even more recently. People pray first and foremost at home, and secondly at school or at work. The mosque is principally frequented during the evenings of Ramadan and for some, on Fridays. The observance of prayer, however, does not allow us to draw conclusions on the degree of piety or religiosity. On the one hand, those who are less strict in observing religious prescriptions do not consider themselves as necessarily less religious; many among them respect Islamic values and regard the religious dimension as very important. In fact, being Muslim does not coincide with the practice of religious rules (Phalet et al. 2012; Voas and Fleischmann 2012). Islam is by no means a homogeneous category, and we found many different levels of personal religious commitment and practice among Muslim youth in Quebec. On the other hand, many of those who do not pray agree on the importance of prayer. Several had already prayed for short or longer periods in the past, or had tried unsuccessfully to do so on one or more occasions and plan to revive this practice in the near future. This was also the wish of some thirty people who have never met this religious obligation. Finally, many mentioned praying in a different fashion than as required by their religion. They speak to God in their own words, without following any ritualized gestures. These ‘internalized ritual practices’, the expression used by Jeldtoft (2011), are performed from time to time, very often right before going to bed: In fact, I don’t do the conventional prayer requested by Islam. However, I do pray inside as I see fit for God. (Saïd, 23, Algerian) I don’t do my prayers regularly. I don’t pray in the way … five times per day. But each time I eat, I go to bed or get up, I pray. But not in Arabic or standing up like Muslims pray, but directly with God. (Sara, 24, Iranian) I pray in my own way….I don’t get down on all fours and I don’t go to the mosque. I don’t do things like that. It’s about feeling good and a little free. (Dodo, 19, Lebanese) Only a minority (6 out of 108), two of which had already prayed in the past, disclosed not praying at all and strongly ruled out this possibility. Most accord the same importance to religion but do not believe that it needs to occur with the practice of rituals. 146 josiane le gall Spiritual Journey An analysis of the narratives of the youth illustrates the fluctuations in time of the shape or the intensity of the practice of prayer. A large number also speak in terms of a spiritual journey. They note sometimes being more or less religious or practicing than in the past. Myriam, a twentyyear-old Jordanian woman, began praying at the age of fourteen, but she has been respecting this practice regularly only for the past four years. She says her interest in religion came gradually. Elia (25, Algerian) explains how she has slowly come to completely abandon the practice: ‘It’s a long process. It changed little by little.…it’s not an abrupt rupture. Instead, it occurred through personal reflection, the course of life.’ Many referred to several different ‘stages’ or ‘moments’ throughout their life. Mohamed, a 22 year old Egyptian, who observes his daily prayers, with a lot of catching up, summarizes these changes: ‘Since high school, it was a bit less and now it’s a little more. You know, it depends because faith (varies). We’re human, we cannot always be at the (same) level. It’s like the stock market: you go up, you go down.’ As it is constantly changing, adhering to a given form of relation to religion is first and foremost the product of a personal journey. In addition to family socialization, which plays an undoubtedly key role, numerous factors influence this form, including the pivotal encounter with an important person, peer groups, a difficult life experience such as the mourning of a loved one or a trip to the country of origin. Many wonder about Islam and, in particular, about the merits of ritual practices, which can lead either to strengthening or abandoning the latter. As Cesari (2004) has argued, to be Muslim in a non-Muslim context means to lose one’s relationship to Islam as a cultural and socially accomplished fact, and instead, opening it up to questioning. Young Muslims in Quebec have to make their way in a mostly secular society and as part of a minority. Their extensive exposure to the sometimes contradictory norms of the wider society, discrimination, and media coverage of Muslims and events on the international scene obliges them to examine their personal views on faith, God, and religion. For several respondents, questioning the basic tenets of Islam began during adolescence, a phase they described as an identity crisis and which corresponds, as for many of this age (Galland 2009) to a period of challenging and re-examining rules. Mohammed, the young Egyptian mentioned earlier, recounts how, during adolescence, he engaged in a critical reflection regarding the meaning of being Muslim. He the meaning of prayer for young muslim immigrants 147 explains how he wanted to know why Islam prescribes the principles it does and why it is practiced in the manner it is: ‘It didn’t come like that. I was doing my prayers and each time I was wondering why I was doing it. Is it real? I asked myself a lot of questions. Is it really our religion? What is the purpose of praying?’ Today, he prays regularly. Many respondents felt unable to comply perfectly to all religious prescriptions in a non-Muslim context and opted for certain adjustments. For example, the difficulty of finding time to pray in a society where prayer is not incorporated into the daily rhythm emerges repeatedly in the comments of the respondents. All are constrained by the timetable imposed by their studies. Praying requires getting up early in the morning, stopping several times a day, finding a place to pray and to make ablutions. Under these conditions, praying five times a day is a challenge that is difficult to maintain. When they are unable to achieve their day-time prayers, young people are forced to do a lot of catching up at night, which discourages many. While for some people it is a question of time rather than of faith, several youth insisted that a lack of maturity and faith does influence their decision. It Has to Come from the Heart Most respondents believe that prayer is a religious requirement. Like many others, Alia, a 25 year-old Lebanese woman, emphasizes the importance of this pillar, the second in Islam after the testimony of faith in the oneness of God (Shahada): ‘We must not forget that it is an obligation to pray. It is no use if I wear the veil and I do not pray…. Prayer is Hamoud, the pole, the base that will hold everything’. As noted by Maréchal (2003) regarding European Muslims, adherence to Islam is, for all respondents, a question of personal reflection and choice. In no case may religious requirements be imposed. In effect, most of the youth maintained the conviction that their religion is a personal matter. As they put it, ‘It is between me and God’. For example, Meggie, a 24 year-old Lebanese woman, explains that she recently stopped praying, but she would like to restart one day: ‘I will not do them because I have to. I’ll do it because I want to do them…. I don’t like blindly following rules. I think everything is relative to each of us and it’s up to us. We are not machines.’ The importance of prayer as religious commitment emerges regularly in the comments of the youth who respect the ritual of prayer. They frequently 148 josiane le gall use expressions such as ‘to do it from the heart’, ‘it’s a need’, ‘it’s the basic need of the soul’, demonstrating how this practice is integrated into the everyday. For Fernando (Algerian, 18) praying is something that one does for oneself: ‘The act is not important. The act is just what’s visual. What is important, is the spiritual. It’s when we feel the need that we should do it’. For these youth, it is not enough to simply be born into a religion or to conform to the Islamic practices in a mechanical fashion. Their religion cannot be measured by how often they pray or go to the mosque. They insist instead on the internalization of the spiritual message. When they pray, they take their time and reflect on the meaning of the words. Prayer, like any other religious obligation, must be meaningful and enrich the individual, particularly on the spiritual level. As Alia puts it: ‘But a prayer is complicated. It’s not just important to read. It’s important to think.… It has to come from your heart’. This search for authenticity, a commonality with youth their age (Babès 1997), is often accompanied by, as mentioned above, the desire to learn about the significance of prayer. Many of these individuals report that their understanding of prayer has changed. For example, those who have been praying for a long time say at first they did it by social and family obligation, but their practice transformed after they understood the importance of prayer and its meaning, a transformation they often associate with a stronger faith and maturity. While some youth admit to having a bad conscience because they do not pray or say they felt a sense of guilt before being able to regularly, many agree that it is better not to pray than to do it automatically. This is the case of Hassam, a 23 year-old Afghan, who justifies his failure to comply with this religious practice in the following way: ‘Because I don’t feel I have enough faith, enough devotion to do them, so it would be an automatic mechanical gesture, that doesn’t mean anything’. Naima’s testimony illustrates the desire shared by many to wait until one is ready before praying. This nineteen year-old Algerian woman prays every night through an inner process before going to bed and sometimes during the night. A few years ago, during the Ramadan fast, she wanted to start praying, but persisted only three days: ‘One beautiful day like this you are ready, you begin and you don’t stop. Because playing with this, you know I start and stop, it’s not very good.’ Similarly, praying irregularly is of little value in the eyes of many who prefer to temporarily abandon the practice. Moreover, few people say that their behavior is far from exemplary and that praying would not make any sense. But how do young people understand prayer? the meaning of prayer for young muslim immigrants 149 An Intimate Moment with God As we have seen so far, the spiritual aspect is very present in the speech of those who pray. All emphasized the primacy of the relationship to God, a fundamental dimension of this Muslim ritual. This allows them to get closer to God symbolically and to establish communication with Him. In their words, this is a unique moment of intimacy where they find themselves ‘face to face with God’, ‘closer to God’, ‘in connection with God’; ‘It’s you and there is God in front of you’. A comment from Fouzia (24, Lebanese) is eloquent on this point: ‘It’s the practice that leaves me between me and God because when I pray, I am in God’s hands. It’s the only moment when I can be alone with God.… This is the way you can remember God, move closer to God.’ Each of the five daily prayers is accompanied by a fixed Arabic recitation that includes praises of God, affirmations of His oneness, a general request for divine guidance, and Quran verses. The worshipper may also add private prayers to his recitation (Bowen 1989). Young people often address requests to God while praying, particularly in difficult times, ‘when everything is going wrong’. They then hope to receive His support and help. This category of prayer is by far the most common form of prayer amongst those who perform non ritual prayers. Fatima (24, from the Ivory Coast) prays from time to time but limits herself to interior prayers. She considers religion comforting and would like to pray more often, once ‘things will be in order in her life’. As she puts it, ‘When I have difficult periods in my life, this is when I seek refuge with God’. Health problems or grief are two reasons to call on God. Preoccupations linked to daily life also come back frequently in the stories. Thereby, numerous requests concern their studies: young people turn to God to get help passing their exams. Dodo declares, ‘I tend to do some prayers before an exam. To pray God to get help.’ Rare are those who pray for the world. Sara (24, Iranian) is one of them: ‘Whenever you pray, you ask for help for everyone, for the whole world, for the problem is happening in the world’. As observed by Giordan (2011) and Collins-Mayo (2007), praying for personal material gain is not a subject for petitions. In addition, many young people say that their requests are usually answered by God. It is not unusual to hear comments such as those of Fouzia: ‘I know that if I practice for something that I want, I will receive it. I know that’. The prayer of thanksgiving is mentioned almost as often as the petitionary prayer. Young people are grateful for what happens to them in life and thank God for everything he ‘gives them’. Fiona, (18, Moroccan) expresses her gratitude to God: ‘It’s really to 150 josiane le gall pray God for everything he does for us because we could not be what we are today if we didn’t thank him for the food he gives us, for our housing.’ Prayer as a Spiritual Resource Prayer is a good example of a practice whose meanings are multiple. In the opinion of young people who pray, it is a resource in their lives that brings many benefits, which is also true for religion. It first appears as a guide that leads the individual to continuous improvement, while attempting to respect the values and behaviors prescribed by religion, becoming a source of moral self-hood (Simon 2009). The majority of those interviewed perceive Islam as a code of values from which they emphasize the humanistic character (honesty, respect, generosity, etc.). Praying, the young people wonder about their past actions and how to behave in their daily lives to become ‘better people’, ‘more complete’. The majority insists on the necessity to return ‘to the source’ or ‘on the right track’ by accomplishing ‘good actions’, in conformity with their religion. Safa (19, Algerian) illustrates this point: ‘Each time that you do your prayer, you come in contact with God and you remember your principles, your objectives in life and who you really are and what you really want’. The testimony of Amina (24, Moroccan) goes in the same direction: ‘The presence of God shows me which way to go.… It’s reassuring. I know there’s someone with me watching me, telling me where to go’. Prayer is thus a moment of introspection that helps young people to step back and think, an aspect that is very present in the story of most of them. In the life of Yassima, religion is omnipresent and affects all her actions that have to ‘please God’ to earn His respect. This 24 year-old Tunisian does her five daily prayers by duty but also because it is a moment of rest where she momentarily forgets her problems. She also engages in intimate conversations with God. According to her, He has imposed prayer so that believers take a moment of introspection several times a day. In her eyes, religion is a source of comfort because all things, good and bad, have been decided by God and human beings must accept them. Furthermore, this moment of introspection in which they thank God leads young people to appreciate and be grateful for the simple things in life. In the opinion of many, prayer is also a great lesson in humility. Assuming the presence and omnipotence of the creator, all become aware of their human condition and see that they are ‘small’ compared to the world around them: the meaning of prayer for young muslim immigrants 151 You see how weak you are and things that you can’t do. (Hasna, 22, Lebanese) The purpose is to thank the creator and above all to recognize that there is someone above us, so this humility is important when you stop to thank God. (Soraya, 23, Moroccan) This moment of reflection leads them also to recognize that all are equal before God because they execute the same gestures of submission to God. Moreover, whatever form they may take, from the more ritualized prayer to the more individual one, the prayers enable practitioners to recharge and above all to ‘find comfort’, a recurrent expression in the testimonies collected. By providing practical answers to situations that sometimes appear out of their control, not only do they offer a way to go through the difficulties of everyday life or particular challenges serenely, but also to face the doubts and uncertainties of everyday life. The possibility of turning to God, notably to make requests, also results in a reduction of anxiety or concerns linked to personal problems while allowing practitioners to face the future with confidence. Fatima says that before praying she ‘felt lost’ and ‘depressed’, but that now life seems easier. For this eighteenyear-old Somali, the feeling of being close to God helps her in her daily life: ‘When you have problems, exams, when life is not going well, it does not advance well, you want to advance but you can’t, you think and you think. But if you pray and think about God, it looks like He will come over your body and do you good’. Similarly, prayer is the only recourse for Mélissa (23, Iranian) in difficult moments: ‘Personally, when something goes wrong, I just turn to God, because there is nothing else you can do’. During the prayer, young people find a confidant with whom they can share their thoughts, something that comforts them while offering relief. When asked what the meaning of the prayer is for her, Lilia (19, Lebanese) responded: ‘It’s a matter of regaining some inner peace, because it is a direct relation with God. Precisely, whatever happens, God is always there, we can confess all to him, we can confide in him’. Besides, given the importance of this pillar, simply to fulfill this religious obligation provides some ‘sense of accomplishment’ and allows them to grasp the future with confidence. Also, almost all respondents explain that prayer leads to reduced stress and anxiety in their lives. Interrupting their day several times to devote themselves to God is seen as a moment of ‘rest’, of ‘respite’ or of ‘meditation’ that allows them to let go and relax. In this regard, Marie (24, Algerian) says: ‘There are people who will smoke a cigarette to decompress, well then you can also go to pray to decompress’. Caught in the everyday turmoil, marked by studies and work, this timeout imposes itself as a necessity while providing a sense of well-being, as evidenced by the 152 josiane le gall following excerpts: ‘It soothes the soul’, ‘It calms you down’, ‘It is pacifying’, ‘You feel a certain peace inside of yourself’. Dodo (19, Lebanese), started to pray at 14 years old. For her, praying is as much a moment of recollection as a means to decompress and reflect: ‘It’s like a moment in a day when I’m free of all thought. Then I focus on the fact that I must pray to God, to thank Him and also asked Him to help me for the rest of my day. It is also a time to pause.’ She goes to pray before her exams: ‘For example, during the exams period when I am really stressed and I need to study all day, I go “Ok, now I’m going praying” and I forget my exams for a moment’. Conclusion Most studies on Muslim migrant youth emphasize changes in practice and a significant increase of the feeling of belonging to the Muslim faith. Authors address the causes of such a renewal of religious belief and practice and agree that it does not reflect a desire for re-Islamization, but highlights a behavior of resistance and claims within the younger generation (Roy 2002; Santelli 2008; Tietze 2002). Such a reinterpretation of Islam is often described as a way to fight against social exclusion (Khedimellah 2004). In contrast, this paper examines the importance and meaning of one of the Islamic rituals, i.e. prayer, and its importance in the lives of young Muslim immigrants in Quebec. According to several authors, over the past few years we have witnessed a certain openness from the youth in western countries to spiritual and religious questions (Campiche 1997). This openness would translate itself by the emergence, for many, of an individual quest for meaning and relevance (Gauthier and Perreault 2008; Lenoir 2003). Do young Muslims immigrants in Quebec represent an exception? What does prayer teach us about the presence of this ‘cult of spiritual quest’ (Lenoir 2003)? Our results illustrate how prayer is a strong component in young Muslim immigrant daily life, regardless of religious commitment. In spite of the focus of its mandatory aspect, the spiritual element is very present in their narrative, as these young Muslims are not first and foremost interested in ritual aspects of religion but emphasize instead the significance of religious practices. During prayer, which varies widely from brief mental thoughts to formal prayers recited at home or in mosques, young people seek to establish a close relationship with God instead of praying by automatism. Not only the meaning of prayer for young muslim immigrants 153 does praying allows them to appreciate life while expressing gratitude and appreciation, but it helps them become better individuals in particular through the adoption of values and behaviors consistent with their religion. For the majority of young people, prayer (and more generally religion) is a resource in their lives as it serves as a potential source of virtue, as a vehicle of moral and ethical development. Prayer is also a resource for overcoming everyday difficulties and problems. Whatever form it takes, from a ritualized to an individual prayer, this spiritual practice provides meaning in daily life and helps young people find comfort, communication, and proximity to God. A large majority of youth are questioning themselves about central issues of life and consider themselves in search of meaning and a spiritual life that allows them to feel comfortable with themselves and others. For young Muslims immigrant in Quebec, this search for personal accomplishment relies on the values and norms of Islam, the religion transmitted by their parents. Even those who pray in their own way adhere strongly to it and believe in the existence of an Almighty God. 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The Turkish Second Generation in Seven European Cities.’ In Maurice Crul, Jens Schneider, and Frans Lelie The European Second Generation Compared: Does the Integration Context Matter? Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. Roy, Olivier. 2002. L’islam mondialisé. Paris: Éditions du Seuil. Saint-Blancat, Chantal. 2004. ‘La transmission de l’islam auprès des nouvelles générations de la diaspora.’ Social Compass 51:235–47. Santelli, Emmanuelle. 2008. ‘Être musulman après le 11 septembre: l’expérience des descendants d’immigrés maghrébins en France.’ Diversité urbaine 8(2):135–62. the meaning of prayer for young muslim immigrants 155 Simon, Gregory M. 2009. ‘The Soul Freed of Cares? Islamic Prayer, Subjectivity, and the Contradictions of Moral Selfhood in Minangkabau, Indonesia.’ American Ethnologist 36(2):258–75. Tietze, NiKola. 2002. Jeunes musulmans de France et d’Allemagne. Les constructions subjectives de l’identité. Paris: L’Harmattan. Voas, David, and Fenella Fleischmann. 2012. ‘Islam Moves West: Religious Change in the First and Second Generations.’ Annual Review of Sociology 38:525–545. ‘WITHOUT PRAYER YOU HAVE NOTHING’: PRAYER IN UNCERTAIN TIMES IN TRINIDAD Rebecca Lynch For Marcel Mauss in his 1909 work On Prayer, prayer is the essence of religion, religion’s central point (2003[1909]). While Mauss reaches the definition of prayer as ‘…a religious rite which is oral and bears directly on the sacred’ (2003:57),1 he also acknowledges the very broad and less definable aspects of prayer: Infinitely supple, it has taken the most varied forms, by turns adoring and coercive, humble and threatening, dry and full of imagery, immutable and variable, mechanical and mental. It has filled the most varied roles: here it is a brusque demand, there an order, elsewhere a contract, an act of faith, a confession, a supplication, an act of praise, a hosanna. (Mauss 2003:2) Fairly unsurprisingly therefore, given the multiple aspects to it, prayer has been broken into different categories that facilitate its study. These include looking at prayer in terms of adoration, confession, intercession, petition, and thanksgiving (Wakefield 1983); adoration, thanksgiving, supplication, confession, reception, and obligation (Whittington and Scher 2009); ritual prayer, petitionary prayer, colloquial prayer and meditative prayer (Poloma and Pendleton 1991); inward, outward, and upward aspects to prayer (Ladd and Spika 2002, 2006); active and passive communicative prayer and responses from God (Dein and Littlewood 2007), amongst others. Key to the study in this paper, however, is the concept that prayer is a form of communication between humans and the spiritual realm and that what is considered prayer and what is not is defined by the community itself under study. As illustrated below, their understanding of prayer does not necessarily mesh with how others have traditionally defined the concept but rather links to other cultural beliefs about the spiritual from the Caribbean region. Anthropological investigation of prayer appears to have developed little from Mauss’ classic work. While prayer is fundamental to European 1 Mauss notes that he includes the notion of prayer as being oral in his definition with the understanding that prayers not spoken aloud but interior to the person also have a sort of language, and that unspoken prayer rituals are a form of sign language (2003:56). 158 rebecca lynch religious understanding and discussion, it may be a less central concept to apply to other cultural contexts. Morphy suggests that the ambiguous and diverse nature of the use and meanings of prayer, its close association to discourse on Christianity, and its dependence on knowledge of the local language (which is therefore less accessible to those spending shorter time periods in the field) may mean that prayer is a difficult concept for cross-cultural comparison, despite its salience (Morphy 2003:142). As argued by Mauss, prayer is more that an individual act; it is a social act. This is not to say that it is not also an individual act but rather, Mauss argues, that while prayer occurs in the mind of a person, it is also a ‘social reality’ that exists outside that person and is part of religious convention, and it is the social reality and conventions themselves that influence the performance of that personal prayer (Mauss 2003:36). In this sense, it can also be understood as a socio-cultural act, influenced by the beliefs and cosmological worldview of the culture and the context and demands of everyday life in that culture. This study looks at the place of prayer in everyday life in a Trinidadian village, how it is influenced by culturallyspecific cosmological beliefs regarding interaction between humans and the spirit world, as well as by the wider cultural context in which the individual lives. Prayer is a critical point where such beliefs and everyday experiences interlink since such a relationship is reinforced and made real through the act of prayer itself. Prayer and Coping Empirical studies of how prayers may affect medical outcomes have increased in recent years (see Breslin and Lewis 2008 for reviews of these studies; see also Francis and Evans 1995; McCullough 1995, Dein and Littlewood 2008); however, Dein and Littlewood (2008) point out that there are limitations for such a field of research and conclude that such studies find no compelling evidence for an effect of intercessory prayer on patients’ recovery. They note, rather, that prayer can be an effective coping strategy (2008:42), as has also been found by a number of studies looking at coping with illness (Taylor, Outlaw, Bernado and Roy 1999), but also for dealing with less personal crises. Ai, Tice, Pearson and Huang (2005) found that prayer was a coping mechanism for people dealing with the September 11th crisis in the U.S.A. for example. For the women coping with breast cancer in Dein, Stygal and Martin’s study (2006), prayer was connected to optimism and hope. In these studies, hope and optimism are prayer in uncertain times in trinidad 159 seen as critical aspects of the power of prayer in enabling coping. Hope and optimism regarding personal and wider circumstances can be seen as key elements of a positive religious worldview that is meaningful to the individual, a worldview in which individuals can situate themselves, the divine, and their particular circumstances, and which may therefore provide reason to be hopeful and optimistic. Such studies link with research that investigates meaning systems within religion (Park 2005b; Silberman 2005), and how meaning-making within religion may assist with coping (Park 2005a; Dein, Cook, Powell, and Eagger 2010). Religion offers a worldview that encompasses the human, the divine or spiritual world, and an understanding of how the world works. It allows the individual to make sense of the world and to be able to respond to it, giving ontological security regarding the workings of the universe. Such ideas link to existential psychological perspectives such as Eric Fromm’s work, Escape from Freedom (1994 [1941]), which argues that humans need to avoid isolation and to be connected to the outside world, and to Antonovsky’s (1979, 1987) notion of ‘sense of coherence’(SOC), found to have a positive correlation between optimism and self-esteem and a negative correlation between anxiety and depression (Hart, Hittner, and Paras 1991). A ‘just world hypothesis’ is also found in many religions (Hogg, Adelman, and Blagg 2010), where good things are seen to happen to good people and bad things to bad people, giving the world a method, purpose, and consistency. Such a worldview and sense of cosmological order is acknowledged, and, indeed, reinforced through prayer. Individuals are perhaps never more so aware of their position, their relationship to the divine with whom they are attempting to communicate, and their personal circumstances than when they are praying. The act of praying makes such a worldview real to individuals in their particular circumstances, relating to them personally, not only acknowledging their personal meaning system but acting within it. It is ritual that expresses meaning and, as Geertz (1973) suggests, in turn gives our world meaning: ‘In ritual, the world as lived and the world as imagined…turn out to be the same world’ (Geertz 1973:112). Prayers may aid coping by bringing individual meaning-systems to the fore and reinforcing them, thus facilitating the understanding of the individuals, who can then relate cosmologically and act in accordance to their current circumstances. This study of the use of prayer as part of everyday life in Trinidad suggests that prayer enables people to cope with day-to-day problems and experiences through the comfort and hope that communicating with God brings, reinforcing a cultural worldview 160 rebecca lynch that places God in control and so gives meaning to the individual’s everyday world. Prayer in Trinidad: About the Study Trinidad is an island of 1,684 square miles located in the southern Caribbean seven miles from mainland Venezuela. With its smaller and more tourism-driven neighbour, Tobago, it forms the nation of Trinidad and Tobago, one of the richest nations within the Caribbean due to its supply of oil and natural gas. The history of Trinidad explains its ethnically diverse population: following the virtual annihilation of the indigenous Amerindian population, European colonizers (Spanish, French, and British) brought Africans over as slaves,2 and then Indians as indentured laborers. Trinidadians of African and Indian descent form the majority of the population, approximately 37.5% and 40% respectively; 20.5% are ‘of mixed heritage’, and 0.63% are White/Caucasian (National Census Report Trinidad and Tobago [2000], 2009). The island is also theologically diverse, with the Census recording that 29.6% of the population are Roman Catholics and 25.6% Hindus. These are the largest single religious groups, although over one third of the population is Protestant of different denominations (Anglican 8.9%; Baptist 8.2%, Jehovah’s Witnesses 1.8%; Methodist 1.1%; Pentecostal 7.8%; Presbyterian 3.8%; Seventh Day Adventist 4.5%). In addition, 6.6% of the population is Muslim. Also prevalent in Trinidad is obeah which, according to Fernandez Olmos and Paravisini-Gebert is not a religion but a system of beliefs rooted in Creole notions of spirituality which acknowledges the existence and power of the supernatural world and incorporates into its practices witchcraft, sorcery, magic, spells and healing. (2003:121) Fernandez Olmos and Paravisini-Gebert (2003) note that although obeah does not have an established liturgy or community rituals, it can express other aspects of Afro-Caribbean religions including divination, spirit possession, and animal sacrifice; and central to its practice is the manipulation of spirits by humans. Brought over by African slaves and providing them with a form of social control and perceived autonomy, obeah involves the undertaking of secret rituals to bring particular circumstances into effect, as well as being a form of healing (Fernandez Olmos and 2 Slavery in Trinidad lasted only for a relatively short period of time, slaves arriving from 1776, and slavery was abolished in 1834. Allen notes that this had an important effect in that many retained their African beliefs and practices, 1998:78. prayer in uncertain times in trinidad 161 Paravisini-Gebert 2003). Outlawed and viewed as pagan worship by the colonial government in Trinidad and Tobago, the demonization of the practice of obeah has continued into present times. It is seen as either ‘evil and fearsome’, or ridiculous, but it is still sufficiently part of social reality for even the well-educated middle class to take care to address suspected obeah attack (Laitenen 2002:35). In practice, also, accusations of obeah use abound at local, national, and even international levels. Trinidad also suffers high rates of crime and violence, and many in Trinidad view the justice system as corrupt and incapable of dealing with this. During fieldwork a State of Emergency (SoE) was called in Trinidad in an attempt to deal with the crime situation. Running from August to December 2011, the SoE gave police special powers to arrest and hold people, and a curfew was enforced in particular areas, restricting movement in the evenings and early morning. One of these areas was the main fieldsite for this study. As such, the SoE forms part of the backdrop to this work. The fieldsite was a rural village on Trinidad’s North-East coast. The vast majority of those in the village were of Afro-Caribbean origin, reflecting the population in other villages in the area, although not Trinidad in general. The village was is situated in the poorest region in Trinidad, and like other villages on the coast, agriculture and fishing were key forms of local employment, although there were a few jobs of any kind in the area. During the colonial era3 the village had many estates producing coffee, cocoa, citrus, nutmeg, bananas, and coconuts amongst others crops. These estates had long since closed however, and young people increasingly left the village for Port of Spain, the East-West corridor, and to the USA and Canada to look for work. The main social problems in the village and the surrounding area were seen as child sexual abuse and drugs.4 Other crimes and violence are viewed as more prevalent in the capital and along the East-West corridor, and local community members were more wary travelling to these areas (although many did so frequently). Both local and national systems and institutions were frequently viewed as corrupt and the policing and justice system as ineffective. The inability of local police to detain those well-known to be involved in the drug trade in the local community was often cited as an example of this. Participant observation was initially conducted in and around the capital of Trinidad, Port of Spain, and in the East-West corridor, an urban 3 Trinidad became independent from Britain in 1962. 4 As well as being traded in the surrounding coastal waters, drugs (marijuana, and to a lesser extent, cocaine) were both grown and imported locally. 162 rebecca lynch sprawl where most businesses in Trinidad were based, followed by the main period of fieldwork undertaken in the village (April 2011-May 2012). During fieldwork the researcher lived with local families, attending community meetings, events, and gatherings, immersing herself in the local culture and way of life. The vast majority of those living in the village were Christian, and church services and events were attended in all seven of the local churches (Anglican, Catholic, Evangelical, Spiritual Baptist (two), Independent Baptist and Seventh Day Adventist churches), and in one Pentecostal church in a nearby village. Most of the researcher’s attendance and involvement was based in the three churches which most people attended: the Pentecostal, Seventh Day Adventist, and Catholic churches, and the researcher also attended Bible study and prayer meetings in the first two of these churches. Special attention was also paid to the Spiritual Baptist churches and to the Independent Baptist church due to their strong influence on the local community. Despite differences in praxis between these churches, there were many similarities in belief and approach between the denominations; differences blurred as community members often visited each others’ churches, members of the same family were often members of different churches, some people attended more than one church, and many of those in the village choose to change churches once or more during their lives. Informal interviews were conducted with community members throughout the period of fieldwork. Notes were taken both during and after participant observation and conversations, depending on the context. The study focused on understandings of health and illness and the relation of these to the wider cosmological worldview. In undertaking fieldwork, prayer emerged clearly as an important aspect of everyday life. Prayers and explanations about the use of prayer were part of church services and activities, other community events and gatherings, as well as interviews and everyday conversation. Use of Prayer in Trinidad Prayer featured greatly in daily life within Trinidad, and churchgoers and non-churchgoers alike reported using different types of prayer in their lives.5 5 The researcher met only three people who claimed to be atheists, although there may well have been others. Only one of these people lived in the village of study. For another, it was the continual involvement of prayer in aspects of daily life that he found particularly offensive, and his refusal to be involved in prayer caused anger for others. prayer in uncertain times in trinidad 163 All events and meetings, from children’s sports days to informal village meetings, started with a prayer that invited the Holy Spirit into the group to guide the proceedings. Such prayers would serve to remind those present why they were gathered, focusing and drawing together a sometimes very diverse group of people as all those present united in prayer. Individuals reported that they prayed in the morning when they awoke, thanking God for waking them and asking for guidance in the day ahead, and again at night, thanking God for the day that had passed. ‘Grace’ was said before meals, giving thanks for food and for being able to eat, but also, in some cases, asking that the food be blessed so that it did not poison or cause harm to those eating it. Individuals reported praying on the way to work as they travelled in cars and maxi taxis, asking for safe arrivals. Religious leaders were asked to bless vehicles, boats, and houses, to thank God for providing such items, but also importantly to ask for protection from harm (e.g. house fires, carjacking, drowning) while using them.6 Such blessings involved the religious leader saying a short prayer over the item, and, where performed by a Catholic priest, the item was also sprinkled with Holy Water. Individuals may also be blessed for particular reasons, for example through a prayer that asked God to bless a child who had an exam so that they might be guided by the Holy Spirit to know how to answer the questions. In leading others in prayer, or in individual prayers, the Holy Spirit was believed to guide the person in knowing what to say and how to say it. Prayers could be made more effective by increasing the numbers of people praying and by the morality and Christian-like nature of their behavior. Since the greater the number of people praying meant the greater the power of the prayer, prayers said by a whole church or by a prayer group would be more effective than one person praying alone. This belief was used to motivate church attendance, often citing the words of Jesus: ‘For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them’ (Matthew 18:20, KJV), the Holy Spirit being more present and effective in a group. Certain people were believed to have a particularly strong relationship with God through being spiritually powerful people. These were people who had spent years developing their spirituality and deepening their relationship with God or who had a particular gift from God. 6 Some people may be spurred into getting these items blessed following a mishap; a friend who lived on the East-West corridor reported getting every new car blessed after being car-jacked on two previous occasions. 164 rebecca lynch They maintained their power by living a good Christian life, listening to and being led by the Holy Spirit, and having a particularly deep relationship with God. Prayers made by these individuals were thought to be particularly effective, and indeed such individual spiritual power may be revealed by their ability to have their prayers answered. In the Pentecostal church the intercessory prayer group was comprised of those who had a particular gift in praying for others so that personal, local and national problems might be taken to them for this. Individuals who did not have such a gift could improve their prayer effectiveness through living a good Christian life, including maintaining regular communication with God. Such activities helped the Holy Spirit to dwell within the individual, guiding their actions, keeping them blessed by God, and allowing them to continue to be a good Christian whose prayers God would answer. Fasting was also thought to increase prayer efficacy and was undertaken when there was an urgent or particularly difficult situation. There were different levels of fasting, from not consuming any food or drink (even water) to eating everything but meat, and the level or duration of fasting could differ dramatically. Fasting was felt to increase the individual’s closeness to God by denying self desire and demonstrating control, as well as allowing blood flow that would have usually been used on digesting food to circulate to the brain, improving brain activity and ability to focus on God and on the prayer. Individuals reported feeling more spiritual and ‘lighter’ during fasting. Asking in Prayer All community members questioned agreed that there was nothing that an individual couldn’t request in prayer, including personal gain (e.g. money, a car). Whether such prayers would be answered was a different matter however, God gave what was needed and what was good for the individual. Whatever the issue, individuals were encouraged to pray to God about it, something mentioned commonly in everyday conversation (for example when giving advice to others). While community members reported that they asked for material items, prayers said in church services for particular individuals tended to be in relation to family, for example, for children to do well at school, to curb the alcohol or marijuana use of teenagers and sons-in-law, to guide the husband back to church and to God. Prayers to gain a job or promotion or to improve a situation at work were also common in services, as prayer in uncertain times in trinidad 165 were prayers for healing from sickness or emotional situations (for example, after the death of a loved one). On occasion, stronger, more powerful prayers were needed for cases of severe enduring sickness (particularly if it was thought to have a spiritual cause), or in cases of spirit possession. These aimed to drive out evil spirits from within the body or the disease caused by evil spirits, using God’s power to do so. Such cases were handled by local religious leaders, often using a team from their church who would pray with them, although the Catholic Church referred individuals to priests based in other areas of Trinidad who were able to perform exorcisms. Often community members left the local area to seek help from religious leaders who were renowned for their ability to heal. Although there were religious leaders and spiritually powerful people in the local community who could perform such services, most people preferred to seek help from leaders and spiritual healers outside the area, who were generally seen to be more effective and kept cases more confidential. Prayers for protection were also commonly said, asking God to keep individuals and their family healthy, and individuals and their possessions safe from crime and misfortune. Sickness, crime, and other misfortunes were all seen to have a spiritual element, which only God could control. While these could be brought on the self by not living according to how God wants humans to live (for example contracting HIV by having sexual relations outside marriage), these could also all be caused by other people putting witchcraft directly onto the individual or onto other individuals who may harm them. This was defined as obeah, also (locally) linked strongly to devil worship. For most people, their strong faith in God and their life as good Christians meant that they were ‘covered with the blood’ (Jesus’ blood spilt on the cross), and they were therefore protected from harm. For example, one community member disclosed that anyone who tried to kill her would be struck down by God before they had a chance to do so. Other people would say prayers around their house or yard to protect them from evil spirits or people with bad intentions (who were following the Devil, as anyone with bad intentions is). Prayers for the nation were also said both in churches and in prayer group meetings. This was seen to be extremely important given the high rates of crime and violence in Trinidad, and, related to this, the high number of people choosing to follow the Devil rather than God. The prayers asked for citizens to turn back to God and to change their behavior, as well as for the government to make the right decisions following God’s wishes. The PNM party, which was supported by most people locally, had lost the last election; so prayers were also said to return this party to power. 166 rebecca lynch ‘Bad’ Prayers While community members agreed that there was nothing that one couldn’t ask for in prayer, there were also some things that one shouldn’t pray for. These were ungodly requests, for example praying to win the lottery when God is against gambling. More often, however, objections were made to prayers for harm being inflicted on others. These were unacceptable because God is the judge who rewards and punishes and it is not for humans to judge one another. Such prayers would cause these desires to ‘come back on you’: what you prayed for others might be visited upon you. This is not to say that some people did not pray for misfortune for others who had wronged them. While no one admitted to doing this, stories of others who had done so were passed on, for example a woman who, after her husband left her for another woman who then became pregnant, prayed that the new woman’s baby would die. Another form of prayer frequently mentioned were prayers used to undertake obeah. Such prayers could be said for a range of intentions, mainly for protection (e.g., to protect a garden from thieves), to benefit the individual (e.g., to increase the number of fish a fisherman catches), or for such malicious reasons as to harm someone directly (e.g., ‘putting something on them’ that might result in illness), or to turn themselves into an animal, object, or folkloric creature to harm someone (e.g., to become invisible, or turning into a soucoyant or gombo).7 Although there has been a movement within wider Trinidad seeking to view obeah as not necessarily a negative practice, in the Christian village where the study was set obeah was viewed negatively as ‘black magic’ by the vast majority of community members. Magic was believed to work through the Devil fulfilling what was requested; so the individual who engaged in this was therefore following the Devil and not God. ‘Bad’ prayers were therefore believed to be addressed to the Devil or to particular evil spirits, although some community members argued that the person saying these may not 7 Soucoyant are part of Trinidadian folklore; they are community members who shed their skin at night, fly in a ball of fire and enter other people’s houses to suck their blood. There were many stories of occasions where people suffered soucoyant attack, although there was also disagreement between community members as to whether such creatures existed. Gombos are part of the folklore of the villages in the local area; they are male community members who enter other local people’s houses and have sex with women while they sleep. Soucoyant and gombos undergo this change and then revert back into humans through using particular ‘prayers’ that they learn. They may also learn particular prayers in order to enter locked houses and keep their victims and their families asleep while they do their work. prayer in uncertain times in trinidad 167 realize that they are addressing the Devil. These ‘bad’ prayers, which could be accompanied by rituals, were passed down from other people or learned from particular ‘bad’ books, such as The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses. The Bible could also be used to produce evil, particularly Psalms, if read with malicious intent. Few community members would give precise details of these bad prayers, as to do so would indicate that they were themselves involved in such activities, but many did indicate what others allegedly did. If an individual did not know how to do such prayers themselves or wanted someone with more spiritual power to undertake them, they could visit a specialist, a presumed obeahman/woman, who would say prayers and undertake rituals on their behalf. Such visits were made to spiritual specialists outside the community to hide it from neighbors and so that the obeahman/obeahwoman wouldn’t know the people involved. Likewise, people from other villages would often come to the village seeking a spiritual specialist for similar help. Good people (good Christians) said good prayers, bad people (nonChristians or not ‘real’ Christians, both of which would fall into the category of followers of the Devil, since those who don’t follow God must therefore follow the Devil) said bad prayers. While those saying bad prayers may be temporarily rewarded by the Devil, they would ultimately be punished by God; and while good Christians may suffer as part of life, just like Jesus or like Job, they would ultimately be rewarded in the next life. Responses to Prayer God answered prayers in three ways: ‘yes’, ‘no’, or ‘wait’. When the individual received what they asked for, the prayer had been answered. If it was not received, this may be because it was not right for the individual to receive it (a ‘no’) or because it was not the right time for the individual to receive it (a ‘wait’). God answered prayers, but He gave only what the individual needed and when they needed it, rather than whatever the individual wanted. Thus prayers may not be answered immediately. A direct response to a prayer may have come from God through dreams or visions, or by revelation during prayer. Very few people ever heard an actual voice from God, but many described the experience of an ‘urge’, a ‘feeling’, or an idea that popped into their head, all of which were attributed to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit guided the believer and was compared to the voice of the individual’s conscience telling them what to do, also communicating aspects known only to God (for example it may tell the person not to 168 rebecca lynch catch a particular maxi-taxi as it may be involved in an accident). It was up to individuals themselves to either follow this guidance or ignore it, something that people struggled with if they were being guided to do something they didn’t want to do. As well as learning to hear and be led by the Holy Spirit, the individual must learn to distinguish the voice of the Devil from the voice of God. In addition to direct communication from God, answers may also come from those around the individual, for example in a church sermon or in what others did or said, since God may have communicated through others. Proof that prayer worked and that God answered prayers was talked about frequently in daily life: the family situation that got resolved, the recovery from sickness, the lost spectacles that were then found, and, on one occasion, the hurricane that came close to hitting Trinidad but instead passed between Trinidad and Tobago, causing minimal damage to both islands. Not only was this a clear case of prayer working for the community, but it was also a case of God wanting to protect Trinidad as a nation, a country for which God has a special love. Discussion Prayers were an active part of everyday life in Trinidad. The content of prayers reflected and indeed revealed key societal issues and beliefs about how the world worked. Prayers for jobs, protection from crime and the detention of criminals, money to pay household bills, the keeping of family members away from drugs and alcohol and close to God and the church illustrate the common problems experienced in the village and the main concerns of community members. Prayers reflected the daily reality of lives in the area: there were few jobs, high rates of crime in certain areas, and low conviction rates, with drug (and alcohol) abuse seen as a serious local problem. The emphasis placed on blessing cars among those who lived along the East-West corridor (where there were greater numbers of car-jackings and accidents) also illustrates the link of prayer to local experience. Prayers were said for aspects of life which were important to the individual locally and around which there was a level of uncertainty: jobs, crime, family, money, health. Such prayers asked for resolution and assistance in dealing with personal and social issues; their presentation situated these in a context where God was in control of what happened, that everything happened for a reason, thereby helping the individual to make sense of problems in everyday life. Prayer reduced anxiety; community prayer in uncertain times in trinidad 169 members saying that anxiety and faith were incompatible. One who had faith and trust in God could not be anxious. That prayers were often said by women (who made up the majority of those who attended church services in Trinidad) for male family members/partners (who were more likely to engage in un-Christian behavior) links with Wilson’s influential work on respectability, reputation and gender roles in the Caribbean more generally (Wilson 1973). In prayer, individuals expressed and shared their stress and life problems, not only with God but often with other members of the community (in churches or outside) who were also asked to pray about them. For some, communing with God was a comfort in itself, but a good relationship with God, mediated by prayer, also offered protection for the individual from evil spirits and the Devil. Such a powerful external controlling force may be particularly important where the state cannot be relied upon for such assistance: it was God who rewarded and punished humans for their actions, something that the state could not or would not do. God was in control, giving existential security where there was little actual security and a clear notion of spiritual justice where there may not be worldly justice. Community members felt they had little control over their immediate circumstances: unemployment schemes were run by the government and had recently been cut in the area, for example, and power and control in the nation were seen to be based around the main cities and the EastWest corridor, with villages along the coast being forgotten and left behind. Individuals felt that the government made decisions that were not for their benefit, which they could not influence through their own political action. In this Trinidadian village however, despite external control coming from outside the individual (and the community) in terms of state power, ultimate power over life circumstances came from a far stronger force, that of spiritual power, God. This was another external power, but one that the individual could commune and relate with, the way they chose to live their life being justifiably rewarded or punished by God. God judged, then rewarded or punished people according to whether they have followed Him or followed the Devil. Punishment came in the form of God allowing the Devil to do something to the individual (as God did not directly punish people) instead of protecting the individual from the Devil’s work. The Devil was always there and, with evil spirits who work for him, was always around the individual. It was the Devil who was responsible for anything bad, evil, or ungodly that occurred. It was down to individuals themselves to choose who they followed however, meaning that community members could choose to influence their lives positively 170 rebecca lynch by following the path God has laid out for them. Community members knew when they were on this path since they were guided by the Holy Spirit, which wes the medium through which God operated on earth. God’s control was also reinforced through the phrase ‘Please God’ after making plans as well as through prayers. If the individual acted in a righteous way and still encountered misfortune, God has also allowed this for a reason, for example recovery from a serious illness to show His divine power and ‘convict’ others to follow Him. Thus prayer (and a Christian lifestyle) gave individuals limited agency over their circumstances so that they were not entirely dependent on the control of others. This suggested a strong sense of coherence within individuals, a clear worldview in which the positions of humanity, the divine, and other forces were laid out and explanations were given for everyday circumstances. Such beliefs, illustrated by the study of prayer, reveal the cultural worldview of the area, how individuals placed themselves and their own agency in relation to external worldly and spiritual agents. As well as providing explanation for misfortune, such beliefs also link to Caribbean beliefs in witchcraft and in the spirit world. Obeah utilized spirits to divine the future, to increase individual gain, to protect the individual, or to suppress or harm others. Not all spirits had the same level of power however, and the more powerful the spirit, the more powerful the effect, but also the more spiritually powerful the obeah practitioner must be to manipulate it. The power of one spirit may therefore trump the power of another, so that individuals hoped that the most powerful spirit was working for them. In this way, Christian beliefs tied into these ideas: God and the Holy Spirit were seen to be the ultimate powerful spirits, trumping the Devil and other evil spirits. To have God as a spirit working personally for individuals, protecting them and blessing them for their gain, and harming other spirits that try to harm them meant that individuals could be beaten by no other spirit: they were working with the ‘the ultimate obeahman’, as some community members referred to God. The issues that community members took to church to pray about or asked a spiritually powerful individual to pray for on their behalf were also issues that an individual may have used obeah for, or may be asked of an obeahman/woman. As well as using a spiritually powerful intermediary as above, harming others was something that was particularly linked with obeah and which could also be taken up in prayer. The term ‘prayer’ wa also used by community members to refer to obeah incantations, such as turning into a creature as well as oral addresses to God. The phrase ‘Please God’ may also be seen to work in a similar way to such incantations: by saying prayer in uncertain times in trinidad 171 the phrase, the future event became more assured and failure to say this invited the opposite. While there has been much discussion within anthropology as to the difference between magic and religion (see chapter 2 in Bell 1997 for a historic review of this), the data from this study suggest that in this cultural context they might be closely linked. Prayer and its incorporation into daily life may resemble Christian practice in many places around the world. However the content of prayers and beliefs about how prayers work reveal a particular worldview and the central concerns of a culture. Prayer in this Trinidadian village helped people make sense of and deal with the everyday problems of daily living, asking God for assistance and protection, placing Him in control of a situation that may otherwise seem unpredictable and uncontrolled. Studying prayer in this village also reveals a worldview that included aspects of Caribbean spirituality and witchcraft, with prayer linking the community member to a wider meaning system and understanding of the world, with the act of prayer itself reinforcing and making real the relationship between humans and the spiritual realm. Prayer was therefore a key method through which religious beliefs that bring meaning and understanding to the individual were reinforced and made real, enabling the individual to cope with problems in life. References Ai, Amy L., Terrence N. Tice, Christopher Peterson, and Bu Huang. 2005. ‘Prayers, Spiritual Support, and Positive Attitudes in Coping with the September 11 National Crisis’. Journal of Personality 73(3):763–91. Allen, Caroline. 1998. ‘Health Promotion, Fitness and Bodies in a Postcolonial Context: The Case of Trinidad’. Critical Public Health 8(1):73–92. Antonovsky, Aaron. 1979. Health, Stress and Coping. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. ——. 1987. Unravelling the Mystery of Health. How People Manage Stress and Stay Well. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Bell, Catherine. 1997. Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Breslin, Michael J. and Christopher Alan Lewis. 2008. ‘Theoretical Models of the Nature of Prayer and Health: A Review’. Mental Health, Religion & Culture 11(1):9–12. Dein, Simon, Christopher C.H. Cook, Andrew Powell, and Sarah Eagger. 2010. ‘Religion, Spirituality and Mental Health’. The Psychiatrist 34(2):63–64. Dein, Simon, and Roland Littlewood. 2007. ‘The Voice of God’. Anthropology and Medicine 14(2):213–28. ——. 2008. ‘The Psychology of Prayer and the Development of the Prayer Experience Questionnaire’. Mental Health, Religion and Culture 11(1):39–52. Dein, Simon, J. Stygal and P. Martin, 2006, ‘The Use and Expectations of Prayer Among Women with Breast Cancer’. Healing Ministry 13(4):23–31. Fernandez Olmos, Margarite, and Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert. 2003. Creole Religions of the Caribbean. New York: New York University Press. 172 rebecca lynch Francis, Leslie J., and Thomas E. Evans. 1995. ‘The Psychology of Christian Prayer: A Review of Empirical Research’. Religion 25(4):371–88. Fromm, Erich. 1969. Escape from Freedom. New York: Henry Holt & Company. Geertz, Clifford. 1973. The Interpretation of Culture. New York: Basic Books. Hart, Kenneth E., James B. Hittner, and Kerry C. Paras. 1991. ‘Sense of Coherence, Trait Anxiety, and the Perceived Availability of Social Support’. Journal of Research in Personality 25(2)137–45. Hogg, Michael A, Janice R. Adelman, and Robert D. Blagg. 2010. ‘Religion in the Face of Uncertainty: An Uncertainty-Identity Theory Account of Religiousness’. Personality and Social Psychology Review 14(1):72–83. Ladd, Kevin L., and Bernard Spika. 2002. ‘Inward, Outward and Upward: Cognitive Aspects of Prayer’. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 41:475–84. ——. 2006. ‘Inward, Outward, Upward Prayer: Scale Reliability and Validation’. Journal for the Psychology Study of Religion 45(2):233–51. Laitenen, Maarit. 2002. Marching to Zion: Creolisation in Spiritual Baptist Rituals and Cosmology. Helsinki: Research Series in Anthropology. Mauss, Marcel. 2003 [1909]. On Prayer. New York: Durkheim Press/Berghahn Books. McCullough, Michael E. 1995. ‘Prayer and Health, Conceptual Issues: Research Review and Research Agenda’ Journal of Psychological Theology 23(1):15–20. Morphy, Howard. 2003. ‘Some Concluding Anthropological Reflections’. Pp. 139–154 in Marcel Mauss, On Prayer. New York: Durkheim Press/Berghahn Books. National Census Report Trinidad and Tobago. CARICOM Capacity Development Programme (CCDP) 2000 Round of Population and Housing Census Data Analysis Sub-Project. The CARICOM Secretariat, 2009. Accessed on 11th June 2012 through: http://www.cso.gov.tt/ files/pdf/TrinidadandTobago2000NationalCensusReport.pdf. Park, Crystal, L. 2005a. ‘Religion as a Meaning-Making Framework in Coping with Life Stress’ Journal of Social Issues 61(4):707–29. ——. 2005b. ‘Religion and Meaning’. Pp. 295–314 in Raymond F. Paloutzian and Crystal L. Park (eds.) Handbook of the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. New York: Guildford Press. Poloma, Margaret M., and Brian F. Pendleton. 1991. ‘The Effects of Prayer and Prayer Experience on Measure of General Well-being’. Journal of Psychology and Theology 19(1):71–83. Silberman, I. 2005. ‘Religion as a Meaning System: Implications for the New Millennium’. Journal of Social Issues 61(4):641–63. The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses: The Mystery of All Mysteries. Chicago: L.W. deLaurence & Co. 1910. Taylor, Elizabeth Johnston, Frieda Hopkins Outlaw, Therese R. Bernado, and Angeli Roy. 1999. ‘Spiritual Conflicts Associated with Praying About Cancer’. Psycho-Oncology 8:386–94. Wakefield, Gordon S. 1983. A Dictionary of Christian Spirituality. London: SCM Press. Whittington, Brandon L., and Steven J. Scher. 2009. ‘Prayer and Subjective Well-Being: An Examination of Six Different Types of Prayer’. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion 20(1):59–68. Wilson, Peter J. 1973. Crab Antics: The Social Anthropology of English-Speaking Negro Societies of the Caribbean. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. STREET PRAYER: A CASE STUDY OF THE USE OF PRAYER BY STREET PASTORS Sylvia Collins-Mayo It is not often that prayer is the focus of attention in the British press, but in early 2012 it became the topic of headline news on two occasions. The first related to a court ruling that the Council of Bideford, a small town in south west England, was acting unlawfully by including prayers as an agenda item at the start of council business. The judge ruled that local government councils do not have the right to formally summon councillors to pray (BBC News Devon 2012). A flurry of public debate then followed about the desirability of mixing prayers with politics. The second occasion was when Fabrice Muamba, a player for the (then) premier league football club Bolton Wanderers, collapsed on the pitch due to a heart problem. Tabloids and broadsheets reported and commented on appeals from family and friends to ‘Pray 4 Muamba’, which seemed to generate a widespread ‘prayerful’ response from the public (Williams 2012). Both of these examples raise a number of questions about the meaning of prayer in modern British society and in particular its place in civic and community life. When and why do people pray? What benefits or otherwise do they see prayer as bringing? Does prayer have a role to play in public life? If so, what form do such prayers take in a society where half the adult population does not ascribe to any religious tradition, and the other half is increasingly diverse in its religious affiliations (Lee 2012)? The purpose of this chapter is to explore these questions through a case study of prayers and praying in a south of England Street Pastors project – Street Pastors ‘Knightsborough’ (SPK). SPK is one of over 160 Street Pastor projects launched in Britain since 2003 through the Ascension Trust (Isaac 2009; Street Pastors 2012); the number of projects continues to increase, including a developing international presence. The Street Pastors organisation nationally describes itself as an interdenominational Church response to urban problems. Volunteers from churches work alongside, but independently from, the police, councils, and other interested parties patrolling troubled areas in towns and cities, befriending and caring for people who are in trouble or who 174 sylvia collins-mayo might cause trouble for others. By providing a positive and practical presence on the streets their aim is to enhance communal safety and help reduce crime and antisocial behaviour. As such, Street Pastors is a faithbased variant on a broader spectrum of ‘citizen’ or ‘volunteer patrols’ which from time to time have been launched in the UK and elsewhere. A current example of a secular patrol is Street Watch (Street Watch 2012). Street Watch volunteers seek to promote good citizenship and community cohesion, and to reduce antisocial behaviour and fear of crime by engaging in high visibility patrols around their local area – aims somewhat akin to Street Pastors. Another increasingly well-known patrol group, which like Street Pastors has a faith-based origin but unlike them does not insist that its volunteers are churchgoing Christians, is Street Angels (CNI Network 2012). SPK was established in 2006 to help mitigate the relatively high levels of alcohol related violence and vulnerabilities that were associated with Knightsborough’s thriving night time economy. A typical SPK night starts at 10.00 pm on a Friday or Saturday evening and finishes at 4.00 am the next morning. During the night, in two or three shifts with breaks at a central base church, the volunteers walk around the town engaging with people and tending to a range of physical, emotional, and spiritual needs as they come across them. For example, they interrupt situations that are brewing trouble by chatting with the protagonists; they administer aid where people are sick or injured; they chaperon vulnerable individuals to taxis and buses; and they listen to those who are worried or in distress. Running throughout these activities is prayer. Prayer lies at the heart of SPK’s identity and operation – volunteers pray before, during and after their patrols; they pray ‘back stage’ in the base church and ‘front stage’ on the streets. As such, SPK provides an interesting example of prayer in action. Volunteers’ prayers lie in the gap between formal public worship and the private prayers individuals offer on their own. Like prayers before council meetings, SPK’s prayers are ostensibly for the facilitation of public service – the restoration and maintenance of community safety, law, and order. Like prayers for Muamba, SPK’s prayers are also spontaneous lay prayers, sometimes drawing in members of the public, and are concerned with immediate situations and specific individuals. The study of SPK prayers and praying therefore offers the researcher an opportunity to explore some of the social roles and meanings of prayer in everyday life. street prayer: the use of prayer by street pastors 175 Method The data for this chapter come from an evaluation of SPK’s work after five years of operation (Collins-Mayo et al. 2012). The evaluation was not specifically a study of prayer, but prayer was prominent in much of the data. Data collection involved field observations of six night patrols; a questionnaire survey of SPK volunteers to which there was a 66% response rate (n=56);1 three focus groups to explore volunteers’ experiences in depth;2 semi-structured individual interviews with three members of the SPK management team and the local SPK Co-ordinator; interviews with representatives from seven partner organisations;3 39 street conversations with young people out night clubbing (which constituted a ‘straw poll’ of 79 individuals); and 1 street conversation with a security guard. In addition, SPK diaries of night patrols from 2006 to 2010 and the Faith Volunteers’ Monitoring forms submitted by SPK to the local police authority for the same period were included in the study. The data were analysed thematically using NVivo qualitative data analysis software to ensure a degree of systematization and rigor. All the names used in this chapter are pseudonyms to preserve participants’ anonymity. The SPK volunteers who took part in the study were predominantly white, middle-aged, well educated and in paid employment (either full or part time). There were slightly more women than men. Nearly all of the volunteers lived locally, albeit most residing outside of Knightsborough town itself. All of the volunteers were regular churchgoers as this is a requirement of the Ascension Trust; and they tended to be active within their congregations fulfilling various roles to do with church leadership, organisation, and building maintenance. Sixty-two per cent of the volunteers also did other voluntary work beyond their church and SPK duties. Taken together, the volunteers can be described as well integrated into their various communities and socially engaged. 1 56 people responded to the questionnaire out of a volunteer list of 84; 36 were street pastors, 11 were prayer pastors, and 9 were both street and prayer pastors. 2 Focus Group 1 n=9, Focus Group 2 n=4, Focus Group 3 n=5. 3 Two church leaders, an ex-club manager, two council officers, a senior police officer, a police community support officer and a representative for the town centre business community. 176 sylvia collins-mayo Prayer in SPK Prayer is structured into the organization of SPK. Volunteers are recruited to one of three roles, all of which involve praying, and two specifically so. Volunteers can train as street pastors and pray out on patrol as part of their street pastoral duties, or they can become prayer pastors or home pastors and concentrate their energies on praying, either at the base church whilst the street pastors are out or from home. Unlike street pastors, prayer and home pastors are not formally trained by the Ascension Trust to do their work but are nevertheless regarded as vital to the whole SPK operation. Home pastors are sent regular prayer letters by the Co-ordinator to inform and direct their praying whilst prayer pastors, being on site, can be more responsive to the immediate prayer needs of the night patrol. Indeed, it is testimony to the importance of prayer in SPK’s consciousness that under its operative protocols at least two prayer pastors must be present at the base church to support the team of (at least four) street pastors, if the patrol is to go ahead at all. The volunteers in the study noted that there had been a few occasions when prayer pastors had not been available and so the patrol had been cancelled. This was a source of frustration to one street pastor, Kevin, who took the view that since prayers are not geographically bound, prayer pastors need not be physically present in the church building. Spiritual presence is more important, and this could be effected from home – as the home pastor role suggests. In fact, not all Street Pastor projects around the country make prayer pastor presence a requirement, and one prayer pastor did indicate that there had been an occasion within SPK when he had prayed alone. However, Kevin was the only volunteer in the study who seemed happy with the idea of such an arrangement, and lone prayers were very much the exception in SPK. Protection For most of the street pastors having somebody physically present praying for them back stage was a source of reassurance and, in their view, safety. This was important as for some there was a sense of vulnerability, both physical and spiritual, in doing a night patrol. Eleven per cent of street pastors and 18% of prayer pastors said they sometimes felt physically vulnerable fulfilling their SPK role. Twenty-one per cent of street pastors and 25% of prayer pastors said they felt spiritually vulnerable in their role. Thus prayer pastors routinely prayed for street pastors’ protection at the street prayer: the use of prayer by street pastors 177 start of each shift and throughout the night. Without this, many of the volunteers would not feel comfortable going out: I’m talking about prayer … reckon that we’re protected by God and we make a point of that among ourselves from the outset of the evening. [Ron, prayer pastor] One of the things that people say, “Oh, I couldn’t be a street pastor. I’d be too scared.” And I find the thing is that once you’re out on the street and you know you’ve got a prayer pastor, and I actually email a group of friends to say ‘please pray for me, I’m out tonight’ [as well], and I just do feel protected. I don’t feel afraid. I’m not stupid and I’m not naive, and I know it’s dangerous because I’ve seen some of the danger and been in the middle of it, but we’re protected, definitely. … I actually didn’t realize but there are Street Pastor groups who don’t have a prayer pastor at base … when I found out I have to say I was appalled. I thought, “I couldn’t do it!” I couldn’t do it [go out] without knowing that there was somebody here praying at the other end of the phone. [Debbie, street pastor] I am 73 years old and most women of my age would be too afraid to walk through Knightsborough town centre at night. But I know they would be safe if they were to [do so] – not only because of street pastors but because of the prayer cover. [Questionnaire, R32, street pastor] In some respects the physical presence of the prayer pastors is symbolic of the prayer support the street pastors receive and is therefore important. One church leader also noted that being physically present meant the prayer pastors were more fully integrated into the whole SPK enterprise than they otherwise would be, and thus physical presence was equally important for prayer pastors as it was for street pastors. Intervention As Debbie’s comment above indicates, street pastors are in mobile phone contact with prayer pastors and can therefore call in their prayer requests as the night progresses. Ron (a prayer pastor) likened it to being in a police station “because the phone rings and you never know what it’s going to be about; and it means that we can think about it – react yourself and with the other prayer pastors – you can actually pray. And the good thing about it [is that you can] pray for people you’ve never met.” The literature on prayer identifies a range of prayer types of which Giordan suggests ‘requesting prayers’ are the most common (Giordan 2011:79). Even non-religious people pray occasionally for help in times of difficulty. A national opinion poll commissioned by Tearfund (White et al. 2007) found that 42% of adults in the United Kingdom pray to God outside 178 sylvia collins-mayo of church or religious services. Twelve per cent of people who identified themselves as being of no religion pray sometimes. (Ninety per cent of churchgoers said they pray at least monthly outside of church.) Women are more likely to pray than men, and older people more likely than younger people. The top five prayer topics were: family and friends (68%), thanking God (41%), guidance (32%), healing (26%) and world problems (25%). Fifty per cent of those who pray believe that prayer can change the world. This confirms my own finding with young people that for those who pray, prayer is seen as a “legitimate practical response to a tough situation, a way to bring hope to difficult circumstances” (Collins-Mayo 2010:37). For street and prayer pastors, all of whom are committed Christians and regular churchgoers, intercessory prayers in particular are regarded as a direct and effective form of intervention in situations that need help – either to prevent trouble developing or escalating, or to help individuals in difficulty. One volunteer recalled the following critical incident which shaped her understanding of the significance and value of the work of the street pastors. She wrote: Prayed for young man who said he was crippled from childhood, was on double crutches. Next time we saw him, he ran up to us, excited “the prayers worked”, no crutches, no limp. Many incidents where people have asked us to pray for them and they have had prayers answered or their faith has been restored or lives saved. For example, one very busy night, two young men were assaulted. One was unconscious, bleeding from the head, ambulance called, but because so much violence that night around same location, ambulance took someone else away thinking it was our call. Took another hour before another response team arrived. I know it was our prayers that kept unconscious head injury man from worse fate. [Questionnaire, R1, street pastor] Just as flip-flops are given out to barefooted girls to reduce injury from broken glass on pavements, so prayers are said to calm a quarrel and avoid a fight; just as volunteers comfort distressed individuals, so too do they pray to bring them peace. The fact that prayers are seen as equivalent to other forms of intervention is evidenced by the fact that they are sometimes recorded as such in the formal Faith Volunteer Monitoring (FVM) forms submitted to the police. Out of the 506 FVM forms accessed in the study, 175 prayer interventions were recorded. For example: 0305 – [Name of night club] – Called CCTV – a group of (4) white males were chasing after (2) Asian males near the [shopping centre] – They were monitored and we prayed and the other group got onto a bus that appeared and out of danger. [FVM form 4/8/07] street prayer: the use of prayer by street pastors 179 1.40 am – [location] Called CCTV and police, fight broke out between 6 males white, lot of punching and kicking. One guy down on ground, shirt ripped off, graze to forehead. We prayed and called prayer pastors. Fight broke up we went over to help and offer wet wipes etc. to guy who was now trying to put shirt back on. As they were making their way over to get cab, police arrived and they began talking with them and pointing in the direction of where the other 3 guys had gone. [FVM form 1/3/08] Prayer is one way in which the SPK volunteers as people of faith draw on and utilize their ‘religious capital’ – that is to say, their knowledge and skills of the Christian tradition (Stark and Finke 2000) – for the common good. In their view this particular resource enables them to contribute in a positive and distinctive way to the management of Knightsborough’s night time economy. SPK volunteers’ ability to engage in intercessory prayers also means that they are never redundant on the streets. Working alongside the police, security guards and other emergency services, the volunteers are well aware of the limits to their role and their competencies, and they are careful not to overstep the mark. Consequently they do not physically intervene in situations where they might get hurt or hinder the police or other personnel doing their jobs. They do, however, frequently stand back and pray as events unfold before them. … we approached the nightclub. One of the security guards came up to the street pastors and explained that a young man they were dealing with was very drunk, so much so that he could hardly stand up, but was also likely to be aggressive. He advised the street pastors to stay away. The volunteers took his advice. Like police, if security guards are dealing with an issue then the pastors leave it to the professionals. However, they did pray for the person and in particular his safe return home. [Observation 20/3/2010] In addition to any direct effect prayer might have, one of the social consequences of street pastors standing around calmly praying is that they provide social dissonance for high spirited or angry young people. This can of itself interrupt situations as they develop. One young clubber made the point: “Not being funny or anything, but it’s probably because there are older people around that makes a difference.” As mentioned above, most of the volunteers were middle aged or older. The street pastors are sometimes proactive in offering prayer to individuals they have been talking to. For example, Stephanie remembered having a long conversation and praying with a young man who had been dealing drugs and was involved in knife crime. Laurence said that “when we’ve asked people to pray for them probably 90% of the time they say 180 sylvia collins-mayo ‘yes’.” This, of course, leaves some who do not want to be prayed for and who sometimes make their refusal very clear indeed, but this is the exception rather than the rule. Not all prayers are initiated by the street pastors, sometimes members of the public ask the volunteers to pray for them as the following SPK diary entry indicates: White male early twenties asked if we would bless him. We laid hands on him and prayed for him. He asked if we would make sure things were alright; he didn’t want to talk further. [SPK diary13/7/2007] The field observations confirmed prayer requests on several occasions. For example, soon after a plane crash in Poland which killed many Polish officials, a Lithuanian young man in his twenties asked the street pastors if they believed in Jesus and when they said “yes”, to stand with him for a minute silence: He looked downwards during the silence with his eyes closed. He didn’t snigger or look away to his friends. After this silence, he said “Jesus is in our hearts”; he turned to his friends behind him who were a bit drunk and larking around and said, “Not in them!” Maria corrected him [good naturedly] and said, ‘In them as well!’. … He gave Maria a hug.” [Observation 16/4/2010]. At other times prayer seems to be the right response to a person’s distress. Tina remembered the following critical incident in her own SPK experience: A young university lad was walking towards me with his friend and as he approached I knew he was troubled. He approached more and just asked for a hug. I stood with the rest of the team behind me just hugging this lad who sobbed on my shoulder. I asked his name, and I just prayed and rocked him as he sobbed. It was so ‘godly’ as it seemed silent despite all the hustle and bustle of the night. There was abundant peace. Meanwhile his friend was talking to the rest of the team and told them the lad I was with had contemplated suicide that day, and had shown no emotion. The friend didn’t know why he had chosen me but I am glad he did. He just mopped his eyes with a tissue and walked away saying ‘thank you’. I often wonder what happened to him, but I know how blessed I felt by the experience and was so aware of God’s presence. Prayer as a Social Phenomenon The above gives a flavour of the type of prayers and praying SPK volunteers engage in and its meaning and importance to them. It also provides a basis upon which some of the wider sociological aspects of prayer can be street prayer: the use of prayer by street pastors 181 considered. That prayer is both a social phenomenon as well as a religious one is recognised by Mauss (1909/2003: 32–37): “A prayer is not just the effusion of a soul, a cry which expresses a feeling. It is a fragment of a religion. In it one can hear the echo of numberless phrases; it is a tiny piece of literature, it is the product of the accumulated efforts of men and women over generations” (1909/2003:33). In other words, prayer is part of a learnt and inherited social tradition. What constitutes a ‘proper’ prayer, how prayers are expressed, where, when and by whom, are all the result of social influence mediated through one’s religious-cultural heritage – “however freely one prays, one always observes the general principles of ritual simply by not violating those principles. Consciously or not, one conforms to certain norms and adopts an approved attitude” (Mauss 1909/2003:34). The efficacy of prayer is also in part socially determined, since answered prayer has to be recognised as such. Put another way, praying is a type of social action which carries social meaning and accomplishes things in a relational manner. Prayer Work That prayer is an action with intended outcomes is evident in the intercessory prayers SPK volunteers pray. As we have seen, the volunteers pray in the hope of affecting specific results – calming situations, staving off harm, etc. Such prayers are not simply idle requests to God; they involve work on the part of the volunteers in that they are both purposeful and effortful – “we simply prayed as hard as we could” recalled Gerald. Mauss hints at the same: … every prayer is an act. It is not just dreaming about a myth or simple speculation on dogma, but it always implies an effort, an expenditure of physical and moral energy in order to produce certain results. Even when it is entirely mental, with no words spoken, with scarcely even a gesture, it is still a [voluntary] movement or an attitude of the soul. (1909/2003:54) Mauss’ references to ‘moral energy’ and ‘a movement … of the soul’ suggests prayers require a degree of emotional as well as cognitive engagement on the part of the person who is praying, and can therefore be seen alongside and overlapping with the more general ‘emotion work’ (Hochschild 1983) street pastors do when they encounter people’s distress and sadness, joy and excitement on the streets. In her study of emotion work Hochschild makes the point that in everyday life individuals manage their feelings in order to conform to the norms of emotional expression that apply in different social contexts. Street pastors demonstrate 182 sylvia collins-mayo their emotional resilience and dexterity as they engage with people, switching emotional register from moment to moment as the situation demands – expressing sympathy for those who are suffering, sharing conviviality with happy party-goers, and so on. The act of praying can help in the process of managing emotions by layering emotion work with religious meaning. In this respect Riis and Woodhead’s (2010) discussion on emotional regimes in religious contexts is relevant. Religions, they suggest, have their own emotional order that orientate moods and value some emotion states over others. Trust, hope, compassion, kindliness, for example, are all emotion states religious individuals might seek to cultivate within themselves in order to ‘live up’ to their faith. For SPK volunteers a significant emotion is love in that they seek to express the love of God and Jesus for the people in Knightsborough town centre. Love is often counterposed by the volunteers with being judgemental, something which the volunteers are expressly keen to avoid. Collectively praying for the wellbeing of individuals in Knightsborough is one way in which the volunteers act out love, and by extension underline the normative mood orientation volunteers aspire to. Volunteers are therefore put in touch with appropriate emotion states of compassion and empathy, for example, whilst others, such as annoyance, anger, frustration, etc., are ruled out. Thus praying helps the volunteers to get a deeper feel for their faith. Similarly, prayers can contain feelings that might otherwise be troubling. At the end of a night patrol, for instance, the volunteers pray together to bring closure to the evening. They have no intention to, and no mechanism for, following up individuals they meet during the night and therefore they never know if a vulnerable person they put in a taxi gets home safely, if a couple they stop fighting will start up again, or if a suicidal person they comfort will find longer term help. The closing prayers at the end of the night serve the purposes of articulating concerns and transferring anxieties from the individual to God, entrusting the outcome to Him, and facilitating the transition back into the volunteers’ daytime activities. Meaning and Identity Just as prayer work orientates mood, so it also provides an interpretative framework through which to understand the events of the night patrol. William James notes that the prayerful individual discerns a meaningful patterning to events in his or her life that is understood as being of divine origin (James 1902/1985:472) – a ‘led life’. For the SPK volunteers working in a context of prayer there was something of this discernment expressed street prayer: the use of prayer by street pastors 183 in terms of an awareness of God’s guidance. Several of the volunteers spoke about occasions when they happened to find themselves in the right place at the right time with the right people. For example, one street pastor told of a young man who had had his tooth knocked out but as ‘God would have it’ one of the volunteers on duty was a dental nurse who knew what to do. On another occasion the team felt ‘called’ to walk down a road that was a detour from their normal route. They nearly missed, but found, a young man unconscious under a pile of rubbish bags and called an ambulance, which probably saved his life. Such guidance was understood as an answer to the prayers that surrounded their work. The possibility of missing somebody in trouble ‘haunted’ Debbie, but the rest of the team reassured her that they would always be guided by God to where they were needed. Several stories of answered prayer had become part of the collective memory of SPK. Rehearsed and recognised by volunteers, stories of answered prayer served to enhance volunteers’ faith both as individuals and collectively, confirming the meaning and value of SPK’s work, empowering the volunteers, and enhancing their commitment to it. Stories of answered prayer therefore contributed to a strong SPK identity among the volunteers. Eighty-four per cent of the volunteers agreed that they had a strong sense of identity as a street or prayer pastor. This identity was further enhanced by the act of collective praying back stage in the base church. The prayers uttered in a shared faith language articulated a common cause and a ‘common sacred’ (Giordan 2011:83) that made for a strong sense of unity. Indeed, one was left with the impression that some of the volunteers had a stronger sense of affiliation to SPK than to their home church. If praying together provided a sense of belonging for volunteers, it was also a basis for the exclusion of others who were not in a position to join in: those for whom Christian prayers were unacceptable or made no sense. For the volunteers the success of SPK lay in their distinctively prayerful Christian approach: We pray at the beginning and therefore we would be happy to help other faiths set up their own [projects], but we have a purpose and the purpose is around out-living our faith, and so we wanted to keep that boundary for this project. (SPK Management Team Member] Relationship and Prayer Power One of the defining features of prayer, as Giordan (2011) points out, is that it is relational. Prayer by definition involves a relationship between the 184 sylvia collins-mayo pray-er and the prayed-to, be that God or some other spiritual being. This, according to Mauss (1909/2003:53) is what distinguishes prayer from other prayer-like actions such as incantations. In the case of the latter, it is the words of the spell themselves which are supposed to be effective rather than a mediating spiritual power. The SPK volunteers were not asked about the type of God they were in relationship with. However, since their aim was to show the love of God to people outside of the Church, and since they felt that they were protected by God and that their prayers for the wellbeing of others were answered, one can assume the volunteers saw God in a benevolent way. Whilst prayer involves some relationship with God, SPK prayers also involve relationships with other individuals – the ‘prayed-with’ in the case of collective prayers, and the ‘prayed-for’ in the case of intercessory prayers. As shown above, street pastors sometimes offer to pray for people and generally this is taken in a positive way. SPK’s public prayers are seen to provide a benign point of engagement between the sacred and secular in a way that talk about belief is assumed not to. The police and local authorities were initially cautious about Street Pastors when the idea of establishing SPK was first mooted for fear that the volunteers might seek to share their beliefs and proselytize. The volunteers do talk about their beliefs, but they tend to do so only when members of the public initiate it, and they are very wary of being seen and accused of proselytising. Prayers on the other hand, whilst offered with caution to willing parties and in the context of a foregoing conversation, are formally acknowledge in the Faith Volunteer Monitoring forms given to the police. Thus secular authorities know that the volunteers pray and, if not condone it, do at least tolerate or ignore it. This raises interesting questions about the relationship between prayer and belief amongst members of the public. Whilst SPK volunteers may share a common sacred, members of the public do not; and for those who relate to a sacred entity at all, they do so to differing degrees. My previous research with non-religious young people is a case in point – sometimes it was enough simply to accept the possibility that God might exist rather than specifically believe in God to make prayer a meaningful and worthwhile activity (Collins-Mayo 2010). The fact that street pastors are recognizably religious is important for people’s acceptance of being offered prayer and being prayed for. Street pastors stand out as religious personnel (insofar as religious terminology is still recognised by the general public), as they wear a uniform with the words ‘STREET PASTORS’ conspicuously printed on it. If people ask them street prayer: the use of prayer by street pastors 185 who they are, the volunteers are also quick to say they are from local churches. Thus their faith position is not incidental. As noted above, religious personnel are expected to conform to certain emotional norms; equally they are expected to conform to certain behavioral norms. People who overtly present themselves as Christian are expected by the public to practice what they preach – to ‘do good’ and observe moral codes that others may fall short of – or risk being seen as hypocritical (Collins-Mayo et al. 2010; Davie 2002). Prayer is one such behavioral norm. Since Street Pastors nationally and SPK volunteers locally have built a positive reputation for helping people, they are generally respected and trusted; so their prayers are seen in the context of something offered by caring religious personnel for the blessing and wellbeing of others. In this respect Davie’s (2007) notion of ‘vicarious religion’ has some resonance. Davie argues that the religious minority (of which SPK members are a part) implicitly keep faith alive for the non-religious majority; and the non-religious majority occasionally avail themselves of religious services when they want to. To some extent then, SPK volunteers can be seen as praying and believing on behalf of the public, whose members sometimes join in as they have need. Whilst praying might be seen as a benign activity, its relational quality means that there is always a power dynamic involved in praying with people. The charismatic leader who is seen as ‘hearing’ God, for instance, is able to wield a great deal of control over others; prayer groups develop internal power dynamics concerning who leads and who prays, etc., which influences the direction of the group’s prayers. The significance of power dynamics in prayer is something that religious professionals are generally aware of, and something which recent debate about prayers in the secular caring professions has sought to articulate (e.g. French and Narayanasamy 2011). Observations of how SPK volunteers pray together suggest that they have developed an egalitarian approach in that although prayer pastors tend to lead prayers others are welcome to join in. Some volunteers, however, are more confident about extemporary praying than others. Beyond praying together, SPK volunteers are aware of the potential for the manipulation of vulnerable people through prayer. Prayer practices are therefore kept under review by the volunteers and the SPK management team. Lucy, for example, said: “obviously we ask people whether they want prayer because you don’t jump [in]. You ask their permission to pray for them.” One member of the management team made the point that praying with people in an open manner was something to be treated with caution. “It’s something that people aren’t used to that can be taken the wrong way.” Another indicated that they had developed policies concerning 186 sylvia collins-mayo prayer, specifically the laying-on of hands and prophesying over people, to establish boundaries between appropriate and inappropriate prayer formats. If a volunteer’s prayers became a cause for concern a ‘quiet word’ would be had to keep them in check. Prayerful Citizens I began this chapter with two newspaper stories that posed questions about the meaning of prayer in modern British society and its place in community living. My analysis of SPK volunteers’ prayers and praying points to three conclusions: First, that prayer is a resilient practice in the face of widespread religious changes. Whilst people do not necessarily go to church and they may not be sure what they believe about God, they are still open to the possibility of prayer having a beneficial effect in their own and other people’s lives. Voluntary, open-handed prayers are generally seen as a good thing, a way to care, to hold a person in mind, to bless. So, just as people appear to have been willing to pray for Fabrice Muamba, the people of Knightsborough were often open to being prayed for by street pastors. A second conclusion is that whilst faith provides the motivation for SPK volunteers to take on night patrols, prayer provides the means. Prayer is in the organisational DNA of SPK and is central to its identity. Prayer provides a common language in the present and stories of answered prayers a shared memory of the past. By praying the volunteers have a distinctive faith-based method of intervention in troublesome situations on Knightsborough’s streets; praying also empowers them to act in other ways since they feel guided and protected. Prayer as means feeds back into volunteers’ faith motivations in a virtuous circle. Through their prayers volunteers are able to present and manage their Christian selves and to live out and so deepen their faith. Consequently prayer contributes to the social sustainability of SPK as an enterprise relying on volunteers. This takes us to the third conclusion that prayer does have a role to play in civic life. In times of austerity and the Big Society agenda of Britain’s coalition government, Street Pastors nationally and SPK locally are increasingly welcomed by the police, councils, and businesses. In Knightsborough, the volunteers are seen by partner organizations as an extra resource for managing the night time economy, more personnel to free up police and security staff time. Dinham suggests this is a common perspective for those involved in policy-making and delivery; religious groups are seen as repositories of “human capital (staff, volunteers, members), social capital (networks of trust and reciprocity), physical street prayer: the use of prayer by street pastors 187 capital (community buildings and venues) and financial capital (collections, subscriptions, donations)” (2009:8). The faith dimension gets overlooked. However, the centrality of prayer to SPK’s operation and identity draws attention to the potential vitality of religious capital for civic engagement. SPK volunteers are prayerful citizens, and their contribution to the safety and communal wellbeing of Knightsborough cannot be properly understood apart from prayer. References BBC News Devon. 2012. “Bideford Town Council Prayers Ruled Unlawful.” URL: http://www .bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-16980025 Published 200/2/2012. Accessed 8/6/2012. CNI (Christian Nightlife Initiatives) Network. 2012. URL: http://www.sa-cni.org.uk/index .html Accessed 21/6/2012. Collins-Mayo, Sylvia. 2010. “Young People’s Spirituality and the Meaning of Prayer.” Pp. 33–46 in Abby Day (ed.) Religion and the Individual: Belief, Practice, Identity. Aldershot: Ashgate. Collins-Mayo, Sylvia, Bob Mayo, Sally Nash, and Christopher Cocksworth. 2010. The Faith of Generation Y, London: Church House Publishing. Collins-Mayo, Sylvia, Andrew King, and Lee Jones. 2012. Faith in Action. Kingston University unpublished report. Davie, Grace. 2002. “Vicarious Religion: A Methodological Challenge.” Pp 21–35 in Nancy Ammerman (ed.) Everyday Religion: Observing Modern Religious Lives. New York: Oxford University Press. Dinham, Adam. 2009. Faiths, Public Policy and Civil Society: Problems, Policies, Controversies. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. French, Charlotte, and Aru Narayanasamy. 2011. “To Pray or Not to Pray: A Question of Ethics.” British Journal of Nursing 20(18):1198–1204. Giordan, Giuseppe. 2011. “Toward a Sociology of Prayer.” Pp. 77–88 in Giuseppe Giordan and William H. Swatos, Jr (ed.) Religion, Spirituality and Everyday Practice. New York: Springer. Hochschild, Arlie. 1983. The Managed Heart, Berkeley: University of California Press. Isaac, Les, with Rosalind Davies. 2009. Street Pastors. Eastbourne: David C. Cook. James, William. 1902/1985. The Varieties of Religious Experience. Harmondsworth: Penguin Lee, Lucy. 2012. “Religion: Losing Faith?” Pp. 173–84 in Alison Park, Elizabeth Clery, John Curtice, Miranda Phillips, and David Utting (eds.) British Social Attitudes 28. London: Sage. Mauss, Marcel. 1909/2003. On Prayer. Oxford: Berghahn Books. Riis, Ole, and Linda Woodhead. 2010. A Sociology of Religious Emotion. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Stark, Rodney, and Roger Finke. 2000. Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion. Berkeley: University of California Press. Street Pastors. 2012. Street Pastors Project Areas. URL: http://www.streetpastors.co.uk/ CurrentLocations/tabid/247/Default.aspx Accessed 21/6/2012. Street Watch. 2012. Street Watch: Civilian Street Patrols. URL: http://www.street-watch.org .uk/ Accessed 21/6/2012. White, Emma, Keith Ewing, and Jacina Ashworth. 2007. Prayer in the UK. Teddington: Tearfund. Williams, Richard. 2012. “Popularity of the ‘Pray4Muamba’ Message Both Surprising and Uplifting”. The Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/mar/26/pray -for-muamba-message Published 26/3/2012. Accessed 18/6/2012. PRAYER AS TRANSGRESSION: STORIES FROM HEALTHCARE Sonya Sharma, Sheryl Reimer-Kirkham, and Marie Cochrane Amid the workings of modern hospitals, which are characterized by high acuity, technology and managerialism, prayer, often presumed private, is also performed in public, as in hospital chapels, at a patient’s bedside, or in a corridor with family (Reimer-Kirkham and Sharma et al. 2011). Healthcare staff and volunteers are increasingly asked to accommodate spiritual and religious diversity, which is embraced and avoided due to different beliefs, no belief, or other priorities. Thus, prayer in addition to involving the sacred, making meaning, seeking divine support, and not being fixed to a particular religious tradition, can also be perceived a transgressive act that accommodates and resists social and institutional norms and structures in healthcare settings. Prayer has the capacity to ‘transgress’ limits and conventions, to deny and affirm difference, and move against and beyond boundaries (Ooks 1994; Jenks 2003). In this paper, we explore such transgression, drawing on selected findings from a program of research that examines the negotiation of religious and spiritual pluralism in Canadian hospitals and home health. Our focus is on the various and contested ways that patients, volunteers, and staff approach prayer. We address three overlapping areas. First, prayer by patients, volunteers, and staff both supported and challenged normative western Christian practices and secularity often associated with healthcare. Second, acts of prayer had the capacity to bridge and reinforce religious differences between individuals and groups. Third, because meeting needs for prayer had the capacity to disrupt institutionalized schedules in a taxing and high-paced environment, some staff were wary of transgressing healthcare routines in the everyday. As we examine these areas, we draw on sociologists and feminist postcolonial theorists to conceptualize our understandings of the everyday practices and power of prayer, arguing that prayer, when accommodated and resisted, can transgress and thereby reinforce and bridge unlikely boundaries. 190 sonya sharma, sheryl reimer-kirkham, marie cochrane Where Do the Stories Come From? Overview of Research Program The stories that form the foundation of this paper were generated during a critical ethnographic study, conducted in nine Canadian hospitals, that examined the negotiation of religious, spiritual, and cultural plurality. Utilizing interviews and participant observation, 69 healthcare professionals (nurses, doctors, and allied health care professionals), spiritual care practitioners (professional and volunteer), patients and families, and decision-makers participated in the study. Data were analyzed through thematic coding analysis. Findings demonstrated how religion is ‘lived’ in the everyday (McGuire 2008; Reimer-Kirkham 2009), how religious and spiritual plurality is negotiated in clinical encounters (see Pesut and Reimer-Kirkham 2010; Pesut, Reimer-Kirkham et al. 2010), and how institutional and social contexts (Reimer-Kirkham and Sharma 2011) shape these encounters. A theme that emerged to tie the personal, interpersonal, organizational and social dimensions together was that of sacred space. Analysis revealed how sacred spaces, whether designated or informal, were shared, blurred, and were sites of the negotiation of identity and power (Reimer-Kirkham and Sharma et al. 2011). The context of the study is western Canada, which is important. Canada, particularly in its major cities, represents a remarkable mix of ethnic, religious, and national backgrounds. Along with its indigenous peoples (Aboriginal, Metis, and Inuit) (Ralston Saul 2008; Todd 2008) and founding settler Canadians (English and French), it has in more recent years seen a steady influx of immigrants from non-European countries (Statistics Canada 2008). Although seven out of ten Canadians self-identify as Roman Catholic or Protestant, much of the shift in Canada’s religious profile is the result of this migration. In the past decade, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Sikhism have increased substantially in their number of adherents. At the same time, the percentage of Canadians indicating ‘no religion’ on census surveys has risen (Clark and Schellenberg 2006), including those who identify as atheist. Also in this category of ‘no religion’ are those who represent emergent non-religious spiritualities, the growing phenomenon in modern western society of the sacralization of nature, the self, and everyday life (Lynch 2007; Sharma, Reimer-Kirkham et al. 2012). Since the 1970s, Canadian hospitals, formerly administered by such religious groups as the Catholic Church and the Salvation Army, have transitioned to government oversight with chaplaincy services and other expressions of religion and spirituality largely side-lined from the hospital operations. However, amid social change and increased spiritual prayer as transgression: stories from healthcare 191 and religious diversity,1 we have observed an on-going tension around spiritual care as an essential or non-essential service in an era of fiscal restraint. Such dilemmas are related more broadly to the question of the role of religion in public spheres. Many of our research participants perceived healthcare services as secular, neutral spaces, a perception that was reinforced during our research with an abrupt disbandment of the spiritual care services department when 13 spiritual care co-ordinators were laid off as part of cost containment. Demanding workloads, biomedicine, and managerialism, and emphases on cure, treatment, and efficiency in hospital contexts operate together to preclude attending to prayer (Armstrong and Armstrong 2002; Baer, Singer and Susser 2003; ReimerKirkham, Meyerhoff et al. 2004; Varcoe and Rodney 2009). This can result in failing to understand people’s lives as contextual and overlooking the ways that religious and spiritual expressions such as prayer are deeply political, gendered, and increasingly racialized. Prayer in the Context of Health, Illness and Healthcare: Review of Scholarly Literature Prayer as a phenomenon of study in relation to health, illness, and healthcare services (including professional relations, resource allocation, and service delivery) is not new. Hundreds of articles can be found when one searches ‘health’ and ‘prayer’ in academic databases such as PubMed. Here we summarize the nature of this scholarly literature. Prayer and Illness Research into prayer has focused on the effects of prayer on health and illness in both descriptive and intervention studies. For example, some studies have suggested that receiving prayer is good for mental health (Koenig 2005), while others have discovered that those receiving intercessory prayer in health research experience better health outcomes in relation to coronary care, cancer, mental health, AIDS, or blood stream 1 National Health Services. 2003. NHS Chaplaincy: Meeting the religious and spiritual needs of patients and staff. http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh _digitalassets/@dh/@en/documents/ digitalasset/ dh_4062028.pdf (accessed 2 January 2011). Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. 2004. http:// www.jcaho.org (accessed 21 January 2011). Canadian Nurses Association. 2010. Position statement on spirituality, health, and nursing practice. www.canaiic.ca/CNA/documents/ pdf/publications/PS111_Spirituality_2010_e.pdf (accessed 7 July 2011). 192 sonya sharma, sheryl reimer-kirkham, marie cochrane infections (Byrd 1988; Sicher et al. 1998; Harris et al. 1999; Leibovici 2001; Hank and Schaan 2008; Ai et al. 2010; Sharp 2010). Alternatively, there are researchers who have not found a positive relation between prayer and better health (Krukoff et al. 2005; Benson et al. 2006). Hank and Schaan (2008) investigated the relationship between individuals’ frequency of prayer and various dimensions of older adults’ physical and mental health in nine European countries and found that frequency of prayer correlated negatively with all four health outcomes in the study. Hollywell and Walker (2008) note that many studies on prayer and health originate in the ‘Bible Belt’ of the U.S.A., suggesting the importance of social context. Moreover, they note no randomized controlled trials have tested the effectiveness of private prayer, with the result that no metaanalysis of its effects is possible at this time. As such, the role of prayer as a benefit to health remains contested in health research with a lack of consistent evidence. Part of the reason for the inconsistent findings no doubt stems from the difficulty of studying prayer and its accompanying ineffable, metaphysical dimensions with empirical methods, the challenge of finding definitional agreement in the context of diverse worldviews, and the ethical implications involved in the study of prayer, particularly with patients who are suffering or frail (Andreesu 2011). The matter of causal ordering may also complicate the overall picture, such that those facing health challenges may intensify their personal prayers, producing an impression of a negative correlation between sickness and prayer. Prayer and Healthcare Services Related to the study of the effects of prayer on health and illness, a growing body of scholarly literature addresses how healthcare services, including individual healthcare professionals, might facilitate prayer or even ‘intervene’ with prayer. Studies are descriptive (describing how prayer is taken up in healthcare), interventional (studies designed to test how prayer as intervention is received in healthcare), and prescriptive (as ethical, theoretical, or philosophic pieces that outline how prayer ‘ought’ to be integrated). Balboni and colleagues (2011) in a cross-sectional, multi-site, mixedmethods study found that most advanced cancer patients, nurses, and physicians reported that patient-initiated prayer was at least occasionally appropriate, as was clinician prayer. Another qualitative study (Ekedahl prayer as transgression: stories from healthcare 193 and Wengstrom 2008) with Swedish oncology nurses found that prayer was used as a coping strategy to deal with the stresses of their work. Based on data collected with chaplains in American hospitals in the 1990s, Hzando and colleagues (2008) discovered that prayer was the most frequent intervention by chaplains. The literature also raises ethical cautions in the application of prayer and calls for healthcare providers to give careful thought and obtain consent before prayer is provided to patients. In not doing so, they risk abusing the authority placed in them or being perceived as promoting their own religious beliefs and values (French and Narayanasamy 2011). Concerns with the negative effects of prayer on patients’ health and wellbeing has meant the increased professionalization of care whereby religious and spiritual expressions are constrained, sometimes resulting in conflict between medical services and patients’ beliefs, other times provoking uncertainties on the part of healthcare professionals about what to do with their own religiously or spiritually grounded beliefs and values. A disjuncture uncovered in our previous research is that despite professional mandates for ‘spiritual care’, many health professionals do not, for various reasons, take up this mandate, often viewing religion or spiritual expressions as individual or private (thus reinforcing Westernized conceptions of religion and spirituality). Providers’ and recipients’ worldviews have a profound impact on whether and how prayer is addressed (Pesut and Thorne 2007). Other researchers have identified barriers to spiritual care-giving, such as demanding workloads, perceiving spiritual care-giving as low priority, insufficient education regarding religious and spiritual traditions, lack of confidence, and differences in faith between patient and healthcare professional (Chibnall and Brooks 2001; Narayanasamy and Owens 2001; Van Dover and Bacon 2001; Vance 2001; Koenig 2002; Fletcher 2004). These findings point out that while healthcare professionals recognize the significance of religion and spiritual expressions, individual practitioners vary in their proclivity and ability to provide for prayer. In summary, current scholarship tends toward instrumental approaches to the integration of prayer in healthcare contexts, where the application of prayer is intended toward certain ends. The confluence between prayer and how it is accommodated and resisted in social and institutional healthcare contexts is yet to benefit from sustained critical analysis. Toward this end, our interest in this chapter focuses on the social relations of prayer, and how it is ‘lived’ in healthcare settings. 194 sonya sharma, sheryl reimer-kirkham, marie cochrane Theoretical Framework Given recent social shifts and our observations of previous research, we note that there is a need to examine prayer in the social and institutional contexts of healthcare, particularly how it is accommodated and resisted. Accommodation is ‘the willingness to help or fit in with someone’s wishes’ (Soanes, Spooner, and Hawker 2001). Resistance is ‘refusing to accept a definition of oneself and saying so. It is refusing to act as requested or required’ (Martin 1987). In our definitions of accommodation and resistance, we do not view the relationship between them as a binary, but as a way of describing the complexity associated with enacting and facilitating prayer that is linked to forms of power and difference. Staff, volunteers and patients’ subjectivities are engendered and dwell in contexts of several co-existent discourses on, for example, culture, gender, and religion, and these discourses may contradict, conflict, and complement each other in how prayer is facilitated and avoided. Interrogating how prayer is accommodated and resisted expands our knowledge of how prayer can ‘transgress’ and thereby shift or bolster relations of power and differences between individuals and groups. By utilizing the notion of ‘transgression’ in our description of prayer, we rely on theoretical work that has investigated the relationship between the sacred and transgression. Sociologists Emile Durkheim (2002) and Marcel Mauss (2003) remind us that the sacred and thus prayer is eminently social, relational, and expressive of collective realities. French philosopher Georges Bataille (1985; 1991), who drew on Durkheim and Mauss in the late 1930s and was situated in a rationalist post-sacred society, was concerned however with how the sacred was ordinarily stifled. He was interested in how the sacred materialized to transgress the order of things. So are we. In this paper, we consider how prayer is enacted in the seemingly rational and ordered nature of healthcare. French philosopher and social theorist Michel Foucault, who drew on Bataille in his 1963 essay, ‘A Preface to Transgression,’ explained that limit and transgression depend on each other and that ‘a limit could not exist if it was absolutely uncrossable, and, reciprocally, transgression would be pointless if it merely crossed a limit composed of illusions and shadows.’ Heeding these theorists, we aim to attend to the limits that prevent prayer from happening, but also the limits that prayer transgresses, altering lived experiences of healthcare. We first address this dynamic in the ways staff and patients enacted and received prayer, which prayer as transgression: stories from healthcare 195 supported and challenged vestiges of normative western Christian practices and the presumed secularity typically associated with modern healthcare. Supporting and Challenging Normative Western Christian Practices and Secularity Opening to spirituality in healthcare has meant that some nurses have been able to more easily enact their Christian faith whilst doing caring work. A nurse told us about the following experience with a patient: I just said a very simple prayer, that she’d be comfortable and peaceful and what she believed in. I knew she was Catholic but, you know, she was loved and the Lord loved her. And I just said a little simple prayer … It is different praying over somebody … or praying with somebody. She couldn’t speak and I acknowledged that she couldn’t speak and I just hoped that this would be the prayer that she wanted … She found out I was also a Christian so we always ended our visit with a prayer. Acceptance of spirituality across faith traditions and of none has become more common. Wicks (1995) found in her Australian study that nurses applied holistic approaches to health and illness that resisted dominant discourses of biomedicine, approaches that have become more common in nursing. Through a combination of social factors and societal changes, nurses have negotiated and expanded spaces to articulate and practice discourses of healing that include the awareness of the sacred. Wicks (1995:128) discovered that ‘nurses saw healing as an active, central and even autonomous part of their work.’ Prayer as healing can interact with forms of power, transgressing medical expectations and norms. It can also cross boundaries to bridge different faith traditions. From the nurse’s story of care, she and the patient were from different Christian backgrounds. Yet, prayer became a common ground between them, even though there have been historical differences between some Christian groups. However, enacting and offering prayer is often contested as acceptable or ethical behavior in healthcare contexts (French and Narayanasamy 2011). This recently came to light in February 2009 in the U.K. (Wilkes and Sears 2009) when a community nurse of the Christian faith offered to pray for an elderly patient. Although the patient did not make a formal complaint, the nurse was suspended after the patient shared this exchange with another nurse. The nurse who offered prayer faced disciplinary action for breaching the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (2008) code of conduct on equality and diversity (clause 48) and for not practicing impartiality, 196 sonya sharma, sheryl reimer-kirkham, marie cochrane but was perceived as using her professional status to promote causes not related to health (clause 59). In response, the nurse was confused and explained that she was not trying to force her beliefs on others (Wilkes and Sears 2009). Members from the Christian community were also upset with the nurse’s suspension, perceiving the Council’s actions as discrimination against her being Christian (Wilkes and Sears 2009). In our research, some nurses were adamant about the place of Christian beliefs as separate from contexts of healthcare. A home health nurse who told us about an experience of being asked to join in prayer with a patient’s husband recounted to us what her colleague said to her, ‘We don’t pay you to pray.’ In this case, although prayer happened in the private space of the family home and not in the public space of the hospital, the supervisory nurse reinforced religious expressions as private acts that happen between family members in the home when staff are not present. The healthcare provided in the community is an extension of the hospital, which is largely considered public, secular, and impartial. In this instance, we observed the nurse accommodating the patient’s and family’s needs for prayer. We also observed resistance to prayer by the supervisory nurse, whereby supporting prayer could be perceived as affecting the professional order and outcomes of care. In contrast, a Sikh woman patient said to us, ‘I’m not going to say ‘no’ to anyone praying for me. Are you kidding? You want to pray for me, go for it!’ These examples demonstrate that there are varied responses to prayer by healthcare providers, family members, and care recipients, ranging from acceptance to ambivalence to rejection that both support and challenge western Christian practices and the presumed secularity of healthcare contexts. Prayer Can Bridge Religious Differences Acts of prayer that both supported and challenged normative western Christian practices also resulted in the bridging of religious differences between participants in our study. One of the places we conducted our research was in a hospital situated in a well-established Sikh community. The history of the hospital includes the Sikh residents who live in the surrounding areas of the hospital as fundraising for the development of a large room adjacent to emergency services to accommodate visitors. The design of this space was for families to dwell in and was vital for addressing the cultural and religious diversity of the community (Reimer-Kirkham 2003). Creating a space where faith and family could be experienced was prayer as transgression: stories from healthcare 197 an example of how religious diversity challenged normative western Christian and secular practices. Prayer also occurred beyond these designated sacred spaces. An example of where prayer took place among people from different backgrounds and traditions was recounted by a Sikh spiritual care volunteer who was called on to perform prayer for a Christian woman patient who refused to have surgery until she was prayed for. She told us: My coordinator said, ‘It is Good Friday today. All the priests are busy on the outside.’ I told her, ‘I’m not Christian.’ But she said, ‘Please, this is very important.’ I said, ‘okay’ and she took me to these two gentlemen, in the parking lot, near the main entrance. When I went there, they were, I think, 6’1 or 6’2. They had black [leather] jackets, that bikers wear, and they had belts and tattoos. She introduced us and said that I will do the prayer. When I started walking with them, they were talking with me and you know how we judge sometimes people from how they look on the outside. They were two amazing gentlemen. They took me to their mother and I think there were 5 or 6 more brothers and sisters, their spouses and kids. And the surgeon was there and said, ‘Okay, I’m stepping out and you guys do your job so then we’ll start our job.’ I put both hands together and did a general prayer. That’s it, general prayer. I will never forget. When I finished the prayer I opened my eyes and when I looked at the lady she was so peaceful and before I was scared, I didn’t know if she will like it. The family gave me a hug afterward. Acts of prayer are various and intersect with race, gender, and class. Black feminists Patricia Hill Collins (1990) and Kimberle Crenshaw (1991) have argued that social systems of classification such as race, gender, and class must be understood in relation to each other and as implicated in operations of power. As highlighted by the Sikh spiritual care volunteer’s experience, religion also intersects with these forms of difference that are situated within social and institutional norms and structures. When they converge together they can create inclusions and exclusions. They can also create possibilities for transgression, whereby a person may step out of the norm and alter relations of power and difference, exposing tensions between structure and agency. In this story both the volunteer and patient moved to experience prayer while embedded in systems of power that promote secularity, which can preclude different faith traditions from coming together or being experienced. Although hesitant, the volunteer transgressed notions of religious difference to pray, and the patient transgressed the surgeon’s authority in order to experience prayer. Prayer in this example again highlights how religious differences and power are accommodated and resisted. 198 sonya sharma, sheryl reimer-kirkham, marie cochrane Prayer and Healthcare Routines in the Everyday ‘When a patient interacts with a doctor, the relationship is not symmetrical. In addition to the physician’s presumed medical expertise, a number of microstructural factors increase the relative power of the doctor in the medical encounter’ (Freund and McGuire 1999:226). Freund and McGuire (1999:227–28) list the ways in which physicians and more broadly the hospital staff can exercise power: the use of language such as titles and medical terminology, the information healthcare providers are privy to, the physical setting of an encounter including uniforms to denote who has power, and social control of time such as when patients have access to nurses and family members. The professionalization of medical care has resulted in forms of care that separate the body from subjectivity whereby ‘rationalized medicine views the body as an object’ (Freund and McGuire 1999:229). Modern biomedicine with a focus on pathology and treatment interventions can often prevent seeing patients as social, emotional, and spiritual beings and seeing their lives in context. Thus, when religion and hence needs for prayer are raised in contexts of care, these can be perceived as crossing a boundary, challenging codes of behavior for how care is supposed to happen and be received. In our research we talked to nurses about how they obliged patients’ religious traditions and rituals. In some faith traditions cleanliness is really important, especially to Muslims and Sikhs, which a hospital assistant told us about: All the time, cleanliness is important. It’s like if you used a bedpan then you have to clean your hands. A lot of it is hygiene. For a Sikh person it is very important; an early morning bath or shower before they eat something. You shower, you cleanse yourself, you cleanse your body and then you cleanse your mind, say your prayers and then you eat. That’s all they need is just to clean their towels and the nurses can’t be bothered, don’t have the time, don’t even think about it. Nurses can’t accommodate that. This assistant described the demanding workloads, which resulted in spiritual care-giving as a low priority for healthcare providers. To provide for the amount of cleanliness that one patient needs could impact the level and quality of care needed for other patients. One nurse responded to a Muslim patient’s needs for cleanliness for their prayers, ‘My God doesn’t care if I am dirty.’ On the one hand, these experiences reinforce boundaries between people, convey a lack of cultural and religious understanding, and de-contextualize patients’ religious and spiritual lives. Balboni and colleagues however state that ‘Prayer is the most common spiritual practice among patients facing illness and is a frequent means by which prayer as transgression: stories from healthcare 199 religion and/or spirituality helps patients endure and find meaning in the context of advanced illness’ (Balboni et al. 2011:837). These examples thus highlight the need for postcolonial understandings of religion and spirituality in nursing, drawing attention to the complexities of identity and hybridity (Reimer-Kirkham 2012:103). This means for instance that race (White/Black), religion (Christian/Muslim), and gender (male/female) lived in the everyday also contain in-between spaces, which Bhabha (1994) perceives as carrying the meaning of culture. ‘Hybridity creates the space for resistance to the hardened identities of colonialism, deconstructing essentialist notions of race or religious groups.… Applied to religion, hybridity reflects the complex mixing of individual (and institutional) religious/spiritual subjectivities in today’s global societies’ and in the ethnically diverse context of healthcare (Reimer-Kirkham 2012:104). On the other hand, there seems to be little room, time, or even willingness for several nurses to disrupt their healthcare routines in the everyday in order to facilitate patients’ needs for prayer. Biomedical and managerial tasks take priority. A home health nurse explained to a patient about their weekly prayer routine, ‘Either you don’t pray twice a week and we come to see you, or we don’t see you.’ Such examples demonstrate that prayer, in addition to the ways it interacts with forms of difference, also interacts with forms of power. Drawing from Michel Foucault (1980; 1991), we understand power as distributed across healthcare environments and productive of those environments and the subjects within them. Power is also relational and emerged from staff-patient-environment interactions. As such, hospitals can be perceived as sites of disciplinary power, in which bodies are acted upon to re-iterate particular norms, and as Foucault suggests, since power is relational, and emerges ‘between’ subjects, this can result in dynamics of resistance and accommodation. Amid everyday healthcare routines, staff may accommodate what is easiest, whether prayer of a familiar religious tradition or their professional duties. They may also resist such routines by praying for a patient or supporting a family of faith. As such, in our research, instances of accommodation and resistance to prayer by staff varied. Some patients listened to prayers on the radio or sang them in their beds, which was viewed by staff and patients as both disruptive and comforting. Other patients prayed with a chaplain or made their bedside into a space of ritual with fabric and crystals, which staff supported. Acts of accommodation and resistance were not always clear-cut but dwelled in contexts of several co-existent discourses that shaped the limits that prevented acts of prayer and that acts of prayer transgressed. 200 sonya sharma, sheryl reimer-kirkham, marie cochrane Conclusion In this paper, drawn from research on the negotiation of religious and spiritual pluralism in Canadian hospitals and home health, we focused on various ways that staff volunteers and patients approached prayer. We examined how patients, volunteers, and staff both supported and challenged normative western Christian practices and secularity associated with healthcare, by enacting and avoiding prayer. We also explored how prayer can connect people from different religious traditions. And we demonstrated how prayer can be prevented in healthcare routines in the everyday, de-contextualizing people’s religious and spiritual lives. Looking at the ways that prayer was accommodated and resisted in healthcare contexts shows how everyday practices and the power of prayer can transgress social and institutional boundaries. A recent article by Cadge et al. (2009) discussed the ‘boundary work’ (Gieryn 1983) of pediatric physicians. They described boundary work as the way in which professionals and professions stake claims or negotiate knowledge, as influenced by individuals, social structures, and institutional contexts. They found that pediatric physicians viewed religion and spirituality, on the one hand, ‘as challenges and impediments to medical knowledge or care and viewed themselves as advocates for the best interests of the child in their care’ (Cadge et al. 2009:713), while on the other, ‘as a bridge, helping patients and families make sense of things, adjust to difficult news, and answer questions that are beyond the scope of medicine’ (Cadge et al. 2009:714). In this paper, our interest has also been with these types of boundaries, but especially with how acts of prayer occur in between these lines of medical expertise and coping mechanism. In our stories from healthcare, prayer has brought religious traditions together, been prevented from occurring or enacted by staff and patients regardless of circumstances. Thus, prayer is not only personal but political – political in the sense of competing needs, identities, and interests and the processes by which these are regulated or resolved between staff and patients. This is particularly relevant in light of increasingly pluralistic populations in countries such as Canada, and therefore people’s everyday needs in healthcare, including religion and spirituality, and prayer. Prayer as political is linked with power relations. Power plays a central role in how patients and nurses get what they want and get things done, which can have implications for how prayer is received and for people’s experiences prayer as transgression: stories from healthcare 201 of the social and institutional contexts of healthcare, which can further affect health and illness. The ways that prayer was received in healthcare contexts, moreover, revealed the complexity associated with how religion and difference are lived and negotiated in public spheres. In this paper, the stories highlight how accommodating and resisting prayer interacts with notions of what constitutes private and public religion. For instance, is prayer really private given what is needed by some patients from staff to facilitate its enactment (e.g., cleanliness)? Or does the power held by healthcare staff, their routines, and their protocols reinforce prayer as private? In the hospital or the home, patients and healthcare providers can have a powerful effect on how and whether faith is expressed publicly or privately, revealing the complex entanglement of secular and religious meanings. Our research also revealed that prayer does not exist alone but intersects with other forms of difference. The confluence of prayer, class, gender, and race affects people’s experiences of health and illness and contexts of care. Abrums (2004) found in her research with a small group of African American church-going women, that they used their religious beliefs to help them cope with and resist racism and discrimination in experiences of healthcare. Similar to what Abrums found, our participants also relied on their faith and prayer as a way of coping with illness but also as a way of challenging social hierarchies, marginalization, and colonizing histories, such as the Sikh community funding the building of a designated sacred space within their local hospital for prayer and extended families. bell hooks (1990:149) remarks that it is in the margins where sites of ‘radical possibility’ are found. Thus prayer, often marginalized within healthcare contexts but indeed becoming more accepted, can offer sites of radical possibility for healing and comfort, but also for where the sacred dwells, transgressing boundaries, thereby transforming structures of power and difference. Acknowledgements We are grateful to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for funding the research upon which this article is based. 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Sears. 2009. ‘Persecuted for Praying: Nurse who Faces the Sack after Offering to Pray for Sick Patient.’ Daily Mail Online, accessed February 15, 2012: www .dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1133423/Nurse-faces-sack-offering-pray-sick-patient .html#ixzz1uw3ZgJld. PRAYING FOR THE DEAD IN SOKA GAKKAI INTERNATIONAL – U.K. Helen Waterhouse Though one might point at the earth and miss it, though one might bind up the sky, though the tides might cease to ebb and flow and the sun rise in the west, it could never come about that the prayers of the practitioner of the Lotus Sutra would go unanswered. (Nichiren 1272) In the middle of the sixteenth century the familiar and ubiquitous place occupied by the dead in the lives of the English came to an abrupt end. ‘Physical death was to become final and the funeral to serve only as solace for the living’ (Morgan 2000:141). From our own twenty-first century vantage point it is not easy to imagine how prayers for the dead were fitted into daily life and the pattern of the year and perhaps too easy to dismiss chantry practices and the sale of indulgences as opportunities for priests to take advantage of grieving and frightened relatives. Prayers for the dead have not gone away from official British religion in the intervening centuries, but they have changed in character. In recent and contemporary Christianity, prayers for the dead are what Douglas Davies calls a ‘prime example of prayers against death’ (Davies 2002:126). For those who chose to involve the Christian Church in funerals, the death of individuals is closely associated, at least by the celebrant, with Christ’s triumph over death and the consequent redemption of those who believe in the Christian salvific myth. Sixty-seven per cent of funerals arranged by the Co-operative in Britain still involve a religious (though not necessarily Christian) element (British Religion in Numbers 2011). In secular Britain individuals who may or may not take comfort from the Christian message still talk to and pray for their dead in their own unofficial ways (Klass and Walter 2001). The argument in this chapter is based on the religious practice of around 12,000 people1 in the U.K. who, rejecting both Christianity and other religious or secular alternatives, chose to embrace a Japanese form of Buddhism. Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is a movement that currently claims more than 12 million members world-wide and 1 This figure was supplied by Soka Gakkai International – U.K. in May 2012. 206 helen waterhouse representation in 192 countries or territories (Soka Gakkai International 2012). It promotes a straightforward chanting practice, the core of which has remained constant as the movement has travelled the globe. As Soka Gakkai has extended its reach it has adapted to multiple cultural settings. This process has been eased by elements within its doctrine that allow for skilful adaptation, thus making the practice highly portable (Waterhouse 2002:133). Though numerically successful compared to most new religious movements, Soka Gakkai International in the U.K. remains a relatively small organization. As the title of the chapter makes clear, we are concerned here with the prayer for the dead, which forms part of the daily liturgy of Soka Gakkai. Soka Gakkai is usually understood as a life affirming movement because it is concerned with enlightenment now rather than at some point in the future or after death. But it acknowledges that death is part of life and allows space for the dead within its liturgy. For members of the movement, praying for the dead constitutes an officially sanctioned and integral part of religious practice. I use Soka Gakkai in the U.K. here because it is a movement I have studied over a long period but also because it is a practice of choice rather than of family tradition: the great majority of Soka Gakkai members in the U.K. are first generation converts. Evidence from fieldwork that informants value the prayer for the dead and value the ways in which they use their prayers to accommodate the dead in their ongoing lives tells us something about the wider society. The chapter opened with a quotation from Nichiren (1222–1282) the radical monk and teacher who first promoted the exclusive practice of the Lotus Sutra on which Soka Gakkai is based.2 The excerpt is included as a reminder that although prayer is discussed here through a sociological lens, the particular prayer that will be the focus of the paper is integral to a religious practice founded on faith in the efficacy of prayer and the power of a religious text. Nichiren promoted the idea that faith in the title of the Lotus Sutra is the only means by which salvation can be attained in a degenerate age. According to Nichiren, the age is degenerate because the Buddha’s teachings no longer have potency (Nichiren 1278a), a state of affairs predicted within early Buddhist texts. The analysis in this chapter is based on publications produced by Soka Gakkai and on fieldwork among Soka Gakkai Buddhists. The interview 2 As Stone (1998: 119) has shown, prior to Nichiren, the chant he adopted for universal use was exclusively a deathbed practice. praying for the dead in soka gakkai international – uk 207 excerpts were recorded in England and Wales in the period between 2002 and 2006.3 The analysis is also informed by fieldwork among Soka Gakkai Buddhists extending back to the mid-1990s, including a short period in Japan in 2005, and carried out in more or less intensive periods since that date. The chapter is structured in three parts. First it describes the prayer for the dead in Soka Gakkai practice to provide a context for the analysis that follows. Second, it shows that although praying for the dead is characteristic of Japanese Buddhism, Soka Gakkai members in the U.K. are, in general, oblivious of this Japanese heritage. Instead they give the prayer their own interpretation in ways that resonate with their cultural assumptions. This emphasises the fact that British practitioners do not find it either surprising or culturally alien to pray for their dead. Third and finally, the paper argues that practitioners use the prayer for the dead to do ‘griefwork’: to renegotiate their relationships with deceased family members, friends and other acquaintances. In this way they can both let them go and keep hold of them (Walter 1996). The Prayers in Question If we define prayer in an inclusive way it can include both meditation and chanting. In traditions such as Buddhism, where god beings are not supremely powerful, meditative practices including mantra recitation and prayer shade into each other (Pye 2008; Gross 2003). If asked about their prayers, members of the movement are likely to refer to the morning and evening liturgy and, in particular, to the chanting of the mantra nam myoho renge kyo. This prayer is of central importance in Soka Gakkai practice. It is described by the movement’s Japanese President, Daisaku Ikeda, as, ‘a ceremony in which our lives commune with the universe’ (Ikeda 2006:15). Even without a broad definition of prayer that can embrace mantra practices, Soka Gakkai members still pray, as we shall see. They believe that if they pray with vigour, tenacity, and sincerity, this will lead to personal and societal change for the better. Sociological accounts of SGI are often focussed on the values and personal aspirations of Soka Gakkai members (e.g. Wilson and Dobbelaere 3 The research, which was funded by the British Academy, set out to study second generation members of the movement in the U.K. Discussion of the prayer emerged naturally in early interviews, and I began to ask about it thereafter. The members quoted in the article are not connected to one another by their experience of bereavement. 208 helen waterhouse 1994). The liturgical prayers of this movement have received less attention. The liturgy is based on the text of the Mahayana Buddhist Lotus Sutra. This text, which is attributed to the Buddha, is of more significance in Japan than in other lands where Mahayana Buddhism is practised. Japanese Buddhist schools tend to focus on a single text (Gombrich 1994:21–22), and for schools in Nichiren’s lineage the focal text is the Lotus Sutra. Soka Gakkai International – U.K. is part of Soka Gakkai International and, like its Japanese parent group, Soka Gakkai,4 it sees itself as operating within the lineage of Nichiren. The U.K. organization like other national organizations uses the Japanese version of the sutra.5 Extracts from the text are recited in classical Japanese so that members of this organization across the world, including modern Japanese speakers, perform the prayers in a language which they do not understand. Most Soka Gakkai members in the U.K. use a prayer book called Daily Practice of the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin in which the Japanese characters are transliterated into easily pronounced English syllables. The liturgy comprises two chapters from the Lotus Sutra, the mantra or ‘great title’ (daimoku) nam myoho renge kyo (translated loosely meaning, ‘homage to the Lotus Sutra’) and a series of four prayers of praise, gratitude and supplication, one of which is important for this argument. The liturgy, called gongyo (assiduous practice), is chanted twice a day, morning and evening, usually in front of a butsudan (altar) containing a scroll, the gohonzon, which is an inscription of nam myoho renge kyo within a mandala or Buddha world. The mantra nam myoho renge kyo, the ‘essential phrase’ (Nichiren 1278b) for which the movement is well known, is chanted for extended periods within the liturgy and may also be chanted at any time outside of it and for multiple reasons. Members may chant alone, in local meetings of two or more people, or in large national or international gatherings. The series of prayers of praise, gratitude, and supplication, four in the morning and three in the evening, are offered near to the start of the liturgy. Prayer is the word chosen by the organization to translate into English the Japanese term gokannen mon, which means something like ‘meditation on what one has in one’s mind’. This is the only section of the liturgy that is translated into vernacular languages for 4 For convenience I refer to Soka Gakkai throughout but make it clear whether I am discussing members in Japan or in the U.K.. 5 The Lotus Sutra is also extant in its early Sanskrit form as the Saddharmapundarika Sutra. praying for the dead in soka gakkai international – uk 209 daily practice. Known in English as ‘the silent prayers’, the prayers are intended for silent intonation. This is the only point within the practice when the room is silent, and the periods of silence, punctuated by the ringing of a bell and three-fold recitations of the mantra nam myoho renge kyo, mark out the prayers as distinctive. The practice book makes it clear that the prayers, as written out, are guidelines to help members express gratitude and determination. ‘Therefore, it is not the specific wording of the silent prayers, but rather our sincerity and heartfelt thoughts while performing the prayers that are important’ (Soka Gakkai InternationalU.K. 2004:26). The prayer for the dead is part of the final prayer in the series. It follows prayers for protection (morning only), praise for the Gohonzon, and for the spread of the teachings, and sits in the middle of a longer prayer that starts as a prayer for self and finishes as a prayer for peace throughout the world. The text of the complete fourth prayer, as currently constituted, is: I pray to bring forth Buddhahood from within my life, change my karma and to fulfil my wishes in the present and future. I pray for my deceased relatives and for all those who have passed away, particularly for these individuals I pray for peace throughout the world and for the happiness of all humanity. (Soka Gakkai International-U.K. 2004:30) As the prayer for the dead is observed the bell sounds continuously, not unlike a death knell. Members report that they remember specific people during the prayer for the dead. They may remember the recently deceased, family members, and close friends, and many remember people periodically or on the anniversary of their deaths. They may also remember significant public lives. Members are free to use the prayer as they wish (Delnevo 1994:9). Why Pray for the Dead? This section considers why there is a prayer for the dead embedded in the Soka Gakkai liturgy and proposes a reason why it has survived several changes to the silent prayer formulations in English. Care of ancestors and, in particular, of the newly dead is so much a part of Buddhist practice in Japan that some claim it has become its defining quality (Kitagawa 1987:217). Smith (1974:2) argued forty years ago that, for most Japanese 210 helen waterhouse today, ‘Buddhism has come to mean ancestor worship and nothing more’. More recently, scholars of Japanese religion have discussed the role of Buddhism in death rites alongside its role in teaching personal liberation (Reader 1991:77), and others have documented a ‘shift from veneration to memorialisation’ (Valentine 2010:276). Religious practice in Japan is in decline among the young, just as it is in many other developed nation states (Inoue 2003; Covell 2005), but ancestor rites remain central to household and temple practice. Probably the majority of Japanese households still have a Buddhist altar of some kind where the ancestors are remembered (Reader 1995:55; Nelson 2008). The first and most obvious explanation for the prayer for the dead in the U.K. version of Soka Gakkai liturgy, therefore, is that this is a Japanese-derived movement and Japanese Buddhist practice takes seriously the memorialization of ancestors. This prayer found its way into the English language prayers (and into prayers in other languages) because, for the Japanese parent organisation, praying for the dead is an important component of Buddhist practice. The first version of the liturgy used in the U.K. was entirely in Japanese, and the prayer for the dead came embedded within that. Since that time there have been several changes to the silent prayers, mainly cuts and simplifications. Throughout these changes the prayer for the dead has remained constant. There are reasons why pressure to change the prayer might have been brought to bear. First, significant disruption to Soka Gakkai practices in Japan might have highlighted the role of ancestor practices in Japan, causing it to be dropped from the English version of the prayers. Second, praying for the dead, though common to all Japanese Buddhism, might have been regarded as a cultural practice rather than as essential to a Buddhist practice that is mainly concerned with this life. I will consider both these cases before demonstrating that recitation of this particular prayer by Soka Gakkai members in the U.K. has very little to do with traditional Japanese practice. Within Japan, funerary memorials and the conduct of funerals have been significant for a dispute between Soka Gakkai and the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood with which Soka Gakkai was closely associated from its beginnings in the 1930s until 1991, when it was excommunicated by Nichiren Shoshu for a variety of reasons (Hurst 1992:124; Wilson and Dobbelaere 1994:232–45; Bocking 1995). Soka Gakkai now performs all its functions as a lay movement and, in Protestant fashion, manages without priestly input (Bocking 1995; Stone 2003). Within Japan Soka Gakkai has always attracted controversy. Among the multiple reasons for that is that praying for the dead in soka gakkai international – uk 211 it insists that members do not place ancestor memorial tablets within the altar (butsudan). This ban is significant in Japan because of the value placed on honoring the ancestors. When individuals, and especially eldest sons, join Soka Gakkai in Japan, it can cause concern among relatives, who may worry that the ancestors will not be properly cared for, thus risking trouble for the living. Present day Japanese members argue that, on the contrary, Soka Gakkai practices on behalf of the dead are more assiduous than practices carried out by the priests of other sects. This is because the dead are remembered twice every day in the liturgy, not just for the initial 49 days after a death in which the spirit of the dead is believed to be unsettled, on formal death anniversaries, and traditional memorial festivals.6 While this is a significant issue in Japan, British members do not have memorial tablets; they are not part of British cultural practices for the dead. These disputes in Japan are of little, if any, significance in Britain. The split with the priesthood might have prompted consideration of the value of the prayer for the dead in the English language liturgy, but it did not. Praying for the dead may be a normal part of Buddhist practice in Japan, but it is not part of ‘normal’ Buddhist practice in the U.K. and in other Anglophone areas where Buddhism has been transferred or translated. In the adaptation of Buddhism for new Western contexts, choices are made about what is essential and must survive and what represents cultural accretion. In making these decisions leaders take account of what is meaningful and skilful for practitioners in new places at new times (Waterhouse 1997; Bluck 2006). In spite of the importance of caring for the dead in Japan, in the translation of Japanese Buddhist forms to suit western audiences, ancestor practices have been dropped in favour of elements within Buddhist teaching that are rational, such as texts, or meditational with a psychological impact. Ancestor practices do not fall into these two categories. Non-Soka Gakkai Buddhists in the U.K. can have Buddhist funerals, but prayers for the dead do not feature in most daily Buddhist practice in the U.K. Among the Buddhist movements operating in Britain, Soka Gakkai is marked out for the nature of the emphasis it places on Buddhahood in this life. The five guidelines for faith issued by Soka Gakkai in the U.K. – for a harmonious family, for each person to become happy, for surmounting obstacles, for health and long life, and for absolute victory – are firmly 6 Based on discussion with members in Japan in 2005. 212 helen waterhouse focused on living now rather than on anything that might happen after this life. And yet, because death is seen as part of life, the prayer for the dead remains a part of Soka Gakkai liturgy despite the fact that changes to the liturgy have occurred. The majority of British practitioners understand little of the history or theology underlying the care of ancestors in Japan or underlying the prayer for the dead as understood in Japan. For example, when asked about ancestor memorials, a very senior leader in the organisation knew virtually nothing about the importance of such Japanese practices and referred me to a Japanese member. Another said, I hadn’t really thought of it quite like that… being dutiful and all that sort of stuff. That I would really, really struggle with. Because, again, I’m cussed and I would think, ‘bloody hell, I don’t want to fit into that kind of model of the dutiful son’. (adult male leader A) For this informant, as for all the members with whom these prayers were discussed in interviews, the history behind praying for the dead in Japan was of no interest and deemed to be of concern only for Japanese members. Findings from fieldwork suggest that the reason why the prayer for the dead has been retained is not because of its Japanese heritage but because of its value to members. As the next informant suggests, ‘people gain’ by devoting time to praying for their dead. I love that prayer of all the prayers. A lot of them are incomprehensible when you start practising: Nichiren Daishonin, the gohonzon. Or you don’t feel it deeply: the high priests, kosen rufu, all these things. But I think to pray for your grandma and grandpa who have passed away, or now my Father… that doesn’t seem odd at all to me. I think people gain (male senior leader B). Soka Gakkai practice is physical and experiential in keeping with the emphasis on doing rather than believing in Japan (Reader, 1991: 18). Indeed, Christine Valentine has said even of grief in Japan that it ‘has been treated as less an internal state and more as something people do’ (Valentine 2009: 6). Members ‘do’ prayers, they do not ‘say’ them. The prayers are an energetic act, perhaps reflecting in part Marcel Mauss’s argument that ‘to speak is both to act and to think; that is why prayer gives rise to belief and ritual at the same time’ (Mauss 2003:22). The Japanese name for the performance of the full liturgy is gongyo, which translates as assiduous practice. Within this organization emphasis is placed on energetic practice, and in exchange for assiduous practice resulting from strong faith there is the promise of results. In the U.K. context and in other national contexts (see Machacek and Wilson 2000) the practice is promoted as praying for the dead in soka gakkai international – uk 213 efficacious and straightforward. No guarantee is offered that precisely the desired results will be the outcome, but a minimum outcome is guaranteed including, sometimes, the ability to do without the sought for benefit. Members engage with the teachings of Nichiren through the letters he wrote to his followers and with the teachings of President Ikeda through his prolific publications. In both sources doctrine is presented in practical ways, as applicable in daily life, not as theory. One British Soka Gakkai member said of all the prayers, “I love them because they seem so practical” (female adult leader H). In spite of the practical nature of the teachings, some Soka Gakkai doctrine is difficult to grasp because it relies on unfamiliar concepts, but the prayer for the dead is easy for British members to comprehend without a detailed theological underpinning. It is not seen as part of the ‘Japaneseness’ that members have to take on trust. The liturgy book makes clear that none of the silent prayers is essential to the power of the practice, which lies primarily in the mantra, nam myoho renge kyo. It is difficult to find any reference to the prayer for the dead in English language publications, and new members very seldom ask questions about it (interview U.K. General Director 2003). Members accept the prayer without the need for explanation because they value what it represents. They report that they linger over or take time over it. It does not matter to them how Japanese members think about the prayer. What does matter is the meaning with which they themselves imbue it. Discussing the prayer for the dead members said: I’m very proud of it. (adult male A) I love it actually – it is something I really love to tell people when they start to practise. I always feel really proud of it. (adult female C) The prayer for the deceased is the way of devoting some time, albeit a few seconds or whatever, to connecting with the people without whom I wouldn’t be here. (adult male youth leader D) I find it a wonderful prayer because it just somehow makes a connection between human beings. (adult male senior leader B) Praying for the dead is a significant part of Buddhist practice in Japan, but that is not the reason why Soka Gakkai members in the U.K. place value on the prayer. Long notes that ‘even in the cultures of modernity and displacement there is still a yearning for the ancestors … the space for the ancestor in the human mode of being still remains’ (Long, 2001). The retention of this prayer and the unselfconscious high regard in which it is held by individual Soka Gakkai members provides evidence for the value placed on prayers for the dead in Britain today. 214 helen waterhouse Gaining from the Prayer This section moves us on from the idea that Soka Gakkai practitioners value the prayer for the dead, independent of its meaning in Japan, to consider whether what they report may be understood in terms of recent theorizing in the sociological study of death. In other words, why it is that the prayer has positive outcomes: why ‘people gain’ from it. In traditional Japanese families one of the purposes of performing correct ancestor practices is to quiet the spirits of the dead to ensure that they make no trouble for the living (Reader 1991:44). The dead make trouble for the living in many different ways, not all of which necessitate either belief in their continued existence or any intention on their part to be troublesome. In this section I draw on the sociology of death and dying to suggest that Soka Gakkai members use the prayer for the dead to do their own individual griefwork. Griefwork is the term used to describe the strategies people use to deal with bereavement and grief. Individuals may be helped in this by friends or counsellors, or they may work alone. The foundation for much of today’s understanding of the grieving process lies with Freud’s 1913 articulation of bereavement (Walter 1996:7). In this tradition professional counselling has aimed to help people work through troublesome emotions after a death, in order to come to a place where they can cut their ties with the deceased and invest instead in other living relationships. Similarly to Klass et al. (1996), Tony Walter (1996:23) argues that instead of cutting ties with the deceased, ‘members of modern Western societies need to know that they can keep those they have lost’ and that the bereaved need to find a ‘place where the dead can be retained’ (1996:20). There have been disagreements about the extent to which Walter and Klass et al. provide a new model or develop an old one (Stroebe 1997; Walter 1997; Klass 2006), but the idea that the bereaved want continuing bonds with the deceased has been influential. Scholars working in this area argue that individuals use different strategies to keep hold of their dead (e.g. Stroebe 1997; Hockey et al. 2007). I shall show that Soka Gakkai members in the U.K. use the focus of the liturgical prayer for the dead and the chanting of the mantra to work on their own grief following bereavement and that, in the process, the life of the deceased may be rewritten. Building on Walter’s ideas and developing theory in this area, Arnar Árnason (Árnason 2000:189) argues that ‘the discourses of the bereaved speak of the bereaved as much as the deceased’. The stories the bereaved develop around the deceased are stories they tell rather than accurate praying for the dead in soka gakkai international – uk 215 historical accounts of the deceased. It is Árnason’s development, or rearticulation, of Walter’s argument that fits accounts Soka Gakkai members provide about praying for their dead. Saying the prayer for the dead and chanting nam myoho renge kyo is the ritual method of choice for Soka Gakkai practitioners in the U.K. when they are bereaved because it is the ritual of choice in their daily lives. When Soka Gakkai members in the U.K. pray for the dead, they are certainly concerned about the future happiness and circumstances of those who have died; we come to that shortly. But interview accounts also show that as they pray and chant for their deceased, members may also adjust their understanding of their relationships with them and reinterpret the lives that the deceased led. According to the doctrine of the Soka Gakkai movement, when people die they enter an intermediate state between death and rebirth in which all of life’s functions are dormant. The karmic causes that people have made in their lifetimes are stored at a deep level of consciousness. Acts performed in previous lifetimes determine what will happen to them in the future and come to fruition when the time is right for rebirth (Ikeda 1988). Daisaku Ikeda (2006:6) writes, ‘There is a marvelous Buddhist principle that teaches that the living, through their prayers and actions, can pass on to their deceased friends and loved ones the benefit of the good causes they have accumulated’. It is clear from member accounts that many believe their practice operates to the benefit of the deceased in accordance with the doctrines of the movement: I just pray for their eternal happiness, whatever that is. (female adult leader E) I am confident that the deceased people have picked up the prayers that we send to them everyday and night. (female adult leader F) The more you strive to change your own karma, to do your own human revolution, the better things will be for them next time round and for those to come as well. My wish is the same for all of them that they’re born again very quickly into circumstances, where they can absolutely achieve their creative potential. (female adult leader G) In these accounts we see that members are concerned with what happens to the deceased in the future. They believe in rebirth because that is part of the doctrine of the movement. The third quotation above expresses the idea that making good causes has a beneficial impact on others as well as on self, and it refers to a quick and beneficial rebirth. Others report, as in the first two extracts, a more diffuse desire that the deceased be happy in whatever their future holds. 216 helen waterhouse Members also discuss praying for the dead in terms of the impact this has on the bereaved rather than on the deceased: If someone very close to you has passed away some people do grieve on that for a long time and I really felt that for us to be able to do the prayers for them everyday rather than once a month or once a year, is a big difference; to chant for the deceased everyday helps a lot of people to let go. (female adult leader F) I just found it really, really hard to come to terms with that loss. And yet I couldn’t cry. I wanted to cry: I felt like I really needed to cry. But I couldn’t somehow. So being able to chant, well actually, sometimes I couldn’t even chant, I’d just sit in front of the gohonzon. I’d open up the butsudan and sit in front of the gohonzon and think of my grandma, and it was really, really helpful. (adult male youth leader D) My children’s grandmother on their father’s side was murdered, so that situation has affected the whole family, so that is really important to me. It is not just about her life and her eternal happiness. It is not just about that. But it is about everyone else who is involved in that and everyone else who is still suffering because of that. (female adult leader H) In the first of these two quotations the member talks of ‘letting go’. It is the grief that she wants the bereaved to let go through their prayers and chanting, not the person who has died. The first two quotations are both examples of members describing chanting and praying for the dead as methods by which to work on grief. The speaker in the third quotation, having been close to a violent death, recognizes that this has an ongoing impact on the living. The young man in the second quotation above also said: Often I just don’t understand it at all. I do feel though that there is still a connection between myself and deceased relatives and that I want them to be proud of me. I want my grandparents, whom I think of every time I do the prayer for the deceased, and my Uncle Arthur, basically, the relatives, who have passed away, while I’ve been alive. I want them to be happy in knowing that I’m kind of doing something positive with my life. (male youth leader D) This quotation makes it clear that he has not just let go of his deceased relatives, he wants to keep the connection between himself and his family members alive. In particular he wants their continuing approval that he is ‘doing something positive’ with his ongoing life, things that they could not have known about at the time of their deaths. In the next example it is not just grief that needs to be let go. For this young woman the death of someone close to her in dark circumstances left her with feelings of grief and a degree of fear. praying for the dead in soka gakkai international – uk 217 The first time I chanted about somebody who died who was very close to me, and they died a pretty horrible death, all I could feel was just hellish suffering, and as I chanted about that energy, it was kind of like I was surrounded by this awful, awful, terrible energy. And the more I chanted, bit by bit by bit that energy changed and maybe just changed the way I was feeling about it all. Or maybe it… maybe it’s changed. But now when I chant about them, it’s, it’s like they’re not, I don’t know, I’m not connecting with anything, any of the suffering in respect of it. (female youth leader I) This young woman is unclear whether the circumstances for the deceased have changed or whether it is her own attitude that has changed. She articulates a feature of these accounts, which is that there is no clear dividing line between the well being of the deceased and the well being of the person who is left behind. In the next account we see an example of someone renegotiating her relationship with her father after his death. I think I had some regrets about how I was towards him towards the end. I got very irritated and angry with him because he was a pain and he was a bit horrible to my mum sometimes. But I feel comfortable about him again now… I remember him every day in my prayer. (female adult member J) It is clearly important for this woman to feel ‘comfortable’ about her father. Here it is her regrets about how she behaved towards him that have been resolved. She has managed to reach an understanding of herself and of her father and perhaps of her mother as well. The next member draws a distinction between the way her prayers for her late father worked for her and the struggle she had with her mother before she found a secure place for her. She had regrets about her mother’s life and felt disappointed for and about her mother because she felt her mother had not fulfilled her potential. This is the same woman who said (above) that she prayed for her parents to ‘achieve their creative potential’. The minute my dad had died and I did my prayers for the deceased there was joy. It took a long while to get there with my mother and I can’t articulate that in any other way. They are both in the same place now. But with Mummy, it took a lot longer, and I think it was because – I had a very good relationship with both of them – but Mummy’s, life was… I won’t say less fulfilled… yes she should have done all kinds of stuff she didn’t. (female adult leader E) This member expresses, clearly, Walter’s notion that the bereaved need to find a place for the dead. She says that both her parents are ‘in the same place now’. This may be a reference to the idea that family members may be reborn together, but it is more likely that her reference is to the place 218 helen waterhouse her parents occupy in her own memories of them. The secure and comfortable place they occupy in her life is the same for both. These accounts are highly personal. For the majority of these informants, talking about the ways in which they pray for their dead and the impact those prayers have on their own lives was emotionally charged. It is likely that the comfort and adjustment that these Soka Gakkai members gain from saying the prayer for the dead is the same kind of comfort and adjustment that other bereaved people gain from their own strategies and rituals. Indeed I have made a point here of distinguishing the experience of Soka Gakkai practitioners in the U.K. from the experience of their coreligionists in Japan, but as Christine Valentine (2010:290) has shown, there is ‘an interweaving of traditional and contemporary ideas’ in Japan itself as the bereaved attempt to make sense of death and deal with their grief. A survey carried out among temple priests from the Soto sect in Japan suggests that 85% regard funeral customs as more appropriate for meeting the needs of the living than the dead. Although there are no comparable statistics for previous periods, there is agreement that this represents a shift in attitudes (Covell 2005:176). Stone (2005:73) suggests that although ‘Buddhist strategies for control over death were never monolithic’, contemporary criticism of funeral practices within Japan grow out of non-traditional assumptions. Summary This chapter has described, in some detail, the prayer for the dead in Soka Gakkai practice. It has argued that while praying for the dead is characteristic of Japanese Buddhism, Soka Gakkai members in the U.K. do not understand this prayer as simply part of the Japanese heritage of the movement. The evidence for this argument comes mainly from interviews with British Soka Gakkai members who do not find it either surprising or culturally alien to pray for their dead. Finally the chapter has argued that the prayer for the dead and indeed the wider liturgy in which the prayer is embedded is used by members to do the ‘griefwork’ that helps them to renegotiate their relationships with deceased family members, friends, and other acquaintances and in this way maintain their bonds with them. The scholarly study of prayer may be out of fashion, but the careful study of prayer and of its place in religious practice is instructive for any movement or tradition and for the wider society in which it operates. This account of the prayer for the dead in Soka Gakkai International – U.K. praying for the dead in soka gakkai international – uk 219 takes a sociological lens to the ways in which the prayer is understood and used. In so doing it adds to wider sociological observations about the desire for continuing bonds with the dead. A similar process of analysis is also instructive in relation to other elements within Soka Gakkai prayer practice. 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Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Valentine, Christine. 2009. ‘Continuing Bonds after Bereavement: A Cross-cultural Perspective.’ Bereavement Care 28(2)6–11. ——. 2010 ‘The Role of Ancestral Tradition in Bereavement in Contemporary Japanese Society.’ Mortality 15(4)275–94. Walter, Tony. 1996. ‘A New Model of Grief: Bereavement and Biography’ Mortality 1(1)7–25. ——. 1997. ‘Letting Go and Keeping Hold: A Reply to Stroebe.’ Mortality 2(3)262–66. Waterhouse, Helen. 1997. Buddhism in Bath: Adaptation and Authority. Leeds: Community Religions Project, University of Leeds. ——. 2002. “Soka Gakkai Buddhism as a Global Religious Movement.” In John Wolffe (ed.) Global Religious Movements in Regional Contexts. Milton Keynes/Aldershot: The Open University/Ashgate. Wilson, Bryan, and Karel Dobbelaere. 1994. A Time to Chant Oxford: Oxford University Press. PENTECOSTAL-CHARISMATIC PRAYER AND SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT Michael Wilkinson and Peter Althouse The study of Pentecostal-Charismatic prayer raises a number of questions about the relationship between our understanding of prayer, spiritual renewal, and social engagement. Yet, there is still very little social scientific research on prayer beyond measures of frequency and whether or not people believed prayers were answered. Although Gallup surveys since 1948 report that nearly 90% of the American population pray (Poloma and Pendleton 1989; Poloma and Gallup 1991; Gallup and Lindsay 1999), in most cases the question asked ‘Do you ever pray?’ only assesses the frequency of prayer. What is less known is how people pray, what kinds of prayers are offered, and in what contexts and life circumstances people pray. Among Pentecostal-Charismatic Christians there are varieties of prayer.1 For example, speaking in tongues is described as a type of prayer language that is said to empower Pentecostal-Charismatic Christians, serving as a form of primal speech or ecstatic utterance (Cox 1995; Csordas 1997). Healing prayer is another type that has received attention among scholars (McGuire 1988; Csordas 1994; C. Brown 2010). The laying on of hands for imparting spiritual gifts, prophetic prayer, spiritual warfare, and intercession are all types of prayer within Pentecostal-Charismatic spirituality (see Anderson 2004). How these kinds of prayer are learned, practiced, and what effects they have on the individuals who pray or the people they pray for requires more research. Furthermore, PentecostalCharismatic Christians are innovative and often adapt older forms of prayer; this too requires attention. 1 We use the term Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity to refer to the broader movement of renewal that defines the various groups that historically developed in the twentieth century. Such groups as the Assemblies of God are referred to as classical Pentecostals while charismatic is used to specifically talk about renewal within the Roman Catholic Church and the mainline Protestant Churches. Neo-Pentecostalism refers to those particular groups like the Vineyard churches and Catch the Fire Ministries that emerged since the 1980s. There are other evolving terms to describe the indigenous Pentecostal-Charismatic churches in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. While this chapter focuses on a neo-Pentecostal group, those who participate within it are representive of the larger global movement. 222 michael wilkinson and peter althouse For example, ‘soaking prayer’ is a recent innovation and adaptation of prayer. It is a development from the ‘Toronto Blessing’ that emerged in the early 1990s (see Poloma 2003). While most scholars believed the movement was over by the late 1990s, our research shows that the Toronto Blessing has not ended. Rather, in the past fifteen years the church has gone through several changes including a new name, the development of a global strategy to plant new churches in major urban areas such as Houston, Raleigh, Montreal, and London. Now known as Catch the Fire (CTF), the ministry has encouraged soaking prayer as central to its mission and vision. CTF has developed an extensive prayer network encouraging followers to attend Soaking Prayer School, Soaking in His Presence weekend retreats, to form soaking prayer groups in homes, churches, and places of work, and to practice soaking prayer on a daily basis. Soaking is a metaphor used by CTF to describe a type of prayer that focuses on receiving God’s love, which facilitates loving others. In this chapter we examine the prayer practice of soaking among CTF participants and evaluate as a case study the implications of such prayer. More specifically, we measure the level of social engagement associated with soaking prayer, noting how Pentecostal-Charismatic Christians claim God’s love enables them to love others more deeply. Toward a Sociology of Pentecostal-Charismatic Prayer Pew Forum’s 2007 Survey on prayer suggests that praying is not as frequent as a decade earlier, but the survey asked only two questions on prayer: frequency of prayer and believed answers to prayer.2 Though the national average reveals that 58% of Americans pray daily, diminishing to 17% weekly, the higher percentages of prayer frequency are reported for Evangelicals (78% daily), historic Black Churches (80% daily), and sectarian type churches, i.e., Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses (82% and 89% respectively). When probed further about whether respondents received an answer to prayer, the national average is 19% at least once a week, 12% once or twice a month, 18% several times a year and 23% seldom or never. Once again Evangelicals, Black Churches, Mormons, and Jehovah Witnesses score higher on the weekly measure (29%, 34%, 32%, and 36% respectively), but with other Christians within the range (29%). Although 2 See http://pewforum.org/Prayer-in-America.aspx, accessed August 8, 2010. pentecostal-charismatic prayer and social engagement 223 the research is starting to change, little is still known about the contexts and methods of prayer (Poloma and Gallup 1991; Poloma and Pendleton 1989; Ladd and Spilka 2002, 2006; Breslin, Lewis, and Shevlin, 2010). The practices of prayer in the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement have been of interest to a few scholars, especially the ‘charismatic’ nature of Pentecostal-Charismatic spirituality, a topic of interest especially due to Max Weber’s structural distinctions between charisma and rational types (McGuire 1988; Poloma 1989; Csordas 1994, 1997; Poloma 1995). A few studies have attempted to probe the relationship between prayer and various kinds of inner, emotional and physical healing, but once again these studies raise more questions than answers (McGuire 1975, 1988; Poloma 1991, 2006, 2009; Griffith 1997). Poloma and Pendleton’s 1989 and 1991 studies on prayer and quality of life are based on the annual Akron Area Survey. Their analysis probes meditative prayer, ritualistic prayer, petitionary prayer, and colloquial prayer in relation to five measures of quality of life. They discover that prayer experiences are better indicators of quality of life than any of the four types of prayer. The relationship between meditative prayer and existential quality of life is moderately significant, but ritual prayer is positively related to negative effect, i.e., those engaged in ritual prayer are more likely to be sad, depressed, and tense. Colloquial prayer is a predictor of happiness. They conclude that frequency of prayer is less important than how one prays and the experiences one has during prayer. Moreover, meditative prayer is related to intimacy and personal relation to the divine. Poloma and Gallup (1991) confirmed earlier findings from the 1988 Gallup Survey and expanded the focus to include more details on religious experience, the relationship between prayer and political activism, prayer and forgiveness, and the relationship between prayer and non-Christian religions. They probed experiences of a deep sense of peace and wellbeing (38% occasionally, 32% regularly), a strong sense of God’s presence (33%, 26%), receiving a response to a specific request (32%, 15%), receiving deep insight to spiritual or biblical truth (28%, 12%), and feeling inspired or led by God to take a particular action (26%, 9%). Interestingly, although all four prayer types showed a relationship to prayer experience, the strongest was meditative prayer. The findings were more mixed for prayer and political activism. Although the majority felt that religious organizations should not be politically involved or work for legislative change on moral or ethical issues, a majority of respondents (57%) who had experiences in prayer felt political involvement was appropriate, whether or not they were Evangelical, attended church regularly, used a 224 michael wilkinson and peter althouse particular form of prayer, or professed religious salience. Once again those involved in meditative prayer (in which experience was prominent) were more likely to be politically involved. Meditative prayer is more significant in helping people to forgive those who have wronged them and less likely to hold resentment than the other forms of prayer. Likewise, experience in prayer is the leading cause for forgiveness and positively related to wellbeing. With regard to such institutional forms of religion as church attendance or following church teachings, meditative prayer and experiencing God’s presence are negatively related to institutional approaches. Other studies have focused on the relationship of prayer to mystical experience and feelings of intimacy (Baesler 2002), feelings of self-worth (Krause 2004, 2005), and the use of prayer as a ‘coping mechanism’ to deal with lack of control in life circumstances (McCullough 1995; Baker 2008). It has also been noted that prayer is practiced more frequently by older people (Levin 1997; Krause 2004; Pew Forum Survey 2007), by females than males, and by African Americans than other racial groups (Levin 1997; Pew Forum Survey 2007; T. Brown 2009). There is a positive relationship between prayer and education but a negative relationship between prayer and income (T. Brown 2009). This may be due to felt need (people who are economically well off may feel no need to pray) or to other religious factors (high levels of income may be less important for people who are religiously motivated). The positive relationship between prayer and health has also been noted, but more investigation is needed in this area (McCullough 1995). Finally, frequency of prayer and perceived experiences of divine love appear to be positively related to increased altruism (T. Brown 2010). The problem with social scientific research on prayer is that there is little effort to conceptualize or theorize the practice. Moreover, the affective, behavioral, and cognitive aspects of prayer tend to lack differentiation. Theologically, Richard Foster (1992) categorized different kinds of prayers into three movements that he identified as inward, upward, and outward. Ladd and Spilka (2002, 2006) used Foster’s categories to theorize and test the cognitive connections of prayer to establish relationships and self-understanding. Inward prayer is considered to be transformative and includes simple prayers, prayers of the forsaken, examen, the prayers of tears, relinquishment, formation, and covenant. Upward prayer produces intimacy and includes adoration, rest, sacramental prayers, unceasing prayer, prayers of the heart, meditative, and contemplative prayers. Outward prayer is focused on ministry and includes ordinary prayers, petitionary, intercessory, healing, suffering, authoritative, and radical prayers. pentecostal-charismatic prayer and social engagement 225 Findings suggest that prayers of self-examination (i.e., inward) are absent from the repertoire of practiced prayers except in conjunction with upward and outward prayers. This points to a relationship between selfunderstanding and social process in that the self is defined in relationship to probing the needs of others and external factors. Ladd and Spilka (2006) also attempted to differentiate the inward, upward, and outward directionality of prayer and to probe the intentionality of prayer. The inward, upward, outward directions of prayer are not hard categories but engage multidirectional approaches simultaneously. Ladd and Spilka conclude that 1) conceptualizing prayer as inward, upward, and outward forms of connectivity is a useful framework for the study of prayer; 2) inward, upward, and outward forms of connectivity function independently from motivation for belief; 3) prayers that are internal and paradoxical in orientation relate to structural need in the context of personal and/or social upheaval. Inward and upward prayer has a stabilizing effect, whereas outward prayer enacts a bold desire to challenge present structures; 4) prayer is a means of spiritual connectivity that forms social collaboration rather than self-centered solitude; 5) prayer does not add to life satisfaction, perhaps because prayer is practiced in both positive and negative life circumstances; and 6) prayer is separate from paranormal belief, which calls into question the contention that religiosity is equivalent to superstition (245–46). Ladd and Spilka call for more qualitative research on the affective aspects of prayer, the physical or bodily behaviors during prayer, and the different range of perceptions-ofthe-world between the novice and the proficient person of prayer. Research into soaking prayer is one study that has the potential to expand the social scientific understanding of prayer in this way. Soaking prayer is an adaptation based on several influences. Among the early classical Pentecostals, followers were ‘slain in the spirit’ and fell to the ground after experiencing the power of God. Throughout the twentieth century, the practice took different names but phenomenologically remained the same. Some mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic charismatics preferred the term ‘resting in the Spirit’ to describe what happened to people as they gently came to rest on the floor following prayer. However, it was the Roman Catholic, Francis McNutt (1974, 1977, 1988) who linked ‘resting prayer’ with healing and used the term ‘soaking’ to describe prolonged prayer for people where those who prayed would place their hands on the needy person, soaking them in healing love. McNutt spoke on occasion at the Toronto meetings and no doubt had some influence on its practice. When people began to ‘rest in the Spirit’ in Toronto, it 226 michael wilkinson and peter althouse was playfully referred to as ‘carpet time.’ However, Carol Arnott (2001), the wife of John Arnott, leader of CTF, explained that following a long meeting she was tired and said she wished she could ‘rest in the Spirit’; she said God told her she could and all she needed to do was lie on the carpet and let God love her and renew her. Following this experience, she believed God was leading her to help people understand the importance of resting in the Father’s love, and by 2003 the first soaking prayer school was offered, quickly becoming a catalyst for a grassroots prayer movement. Soaking prayer is claimed to facilitate and expand the reception of divine love in order to give it away in acts of forgiveness, reconciliation, compassion, and benevolence. It is a rich term that captures a number of charismatic rituals such as resting in the Spirit, anointing, prayer of the heart, divine presence, waiting or tarrying, contemplation, hearing God, intimacy, healing, prophecy, and impartation. Throughout our research, in which we attended conferences, churches and house meetings in the Unites States, Canada, England, New Zealand, and Australia, we observed people soaking, what it means to soak, and why soaking is considered an important practice in the renewal. At the soaking prayer school, students participate in a series of teachings about how to hear God’s voice, the presence of God, the tyranny of performance in our culture, receiving the experience of the Father’s love, how to start a soaking prayer group, and how to soak in the Word. There was also a time of praise and worship with repetitive, charismaticstyle music and extemporaneous or ‘prophetic’ singing from the music leaders. Participants would engage in somatic and tactile worship, with dancing and visual props, glossolalia, and other charismatic expressions of praise. For the most part, soaking is non-verbal. Participants do not pray to bring their cares and concerns in petition to God or intercede for one’s needs or the needs of others. It is meditative prayer where people open their hearts and minds to receive the Father’s love. During times of soaking in small groups, people will light candles, turn down the lights, and play meditative worship music while lying on the floor in a comfortable position for about one to two hours. Following the time of soaking participants will ask each other what they feel God is asking them to do as they consider ways of loving others. The language of love is central to the renewal. Phrases like ‘Love and kisses,’ ‘sweetheart,’ ‘walking handin-hand,’ ‘gentle whisper,’ ‘spontaneity,’ ‘love and acceptance by the Father,’ ‘trust,’ ‘embrace,’ ‘playing,’ ‘being children, sons and daughters of God’ are rhetoric heard in the Soaking Prayer meetings and in the various pentecostal-charismatic prayer and social engagement 227 CTF sponsored events. The language of love – the wide-eyed love of a child in the Father’s presence, the giddy love of a young couple just learning who the other person is, the mature love of a parent who wants good things for a child or one who wants to help one’s community in a way that benefits people in the community – are all aspects of the kinds of love emphasized by CTF. These types of love have close connections to the mystical tradition in Christianity, where the erotic and the sublime coincide with the profound love of an overwhelming God (see Poloma 2003). At the conclusion of the soaking school, John and Carol Arnott came in to speak to the group. As John spoke about prayer, he referenced the inward, upward, and outward directions of prayer and said: ‘We are on three journeys, an inward journey, and an upward journey, and an outward journey.’ We have since heard him speak numerous times of the inward, upward, and outward. At the Voice of the Apostles Conference in Baltimore, 2010, John spoke of the inward, upward, and outward journeys in terms of being filled with ‘a river that flows from the throne of God.’ As you ‘drink from the river’ you begin to get touched with the love of God. Then you begin to honor Him and love Him, and there’s an overflow that pours your heart out towards heaven. The next thing you know, He’s saying, ‘Okay, now it’s time for the outward journey.’ You begin to take that river of God to the nations of the world. …It is in the Father’s heart to fill this earth with His glory, and He wants you to be a part of it. This is your inheritance. This is your destiny. The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. At the soaking prayer school, John Arnott said that the ‘inward, upward, and outward’ is related to the outworking of love in the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. The Great Commandment is the commandment of love: love God and love one’s neighbor. This love is not obligatory, a duty to be performed before a vengeful God, but a relational love that is intimate, passionate, and full of hope. The Great Commission is how that love is expressed to the world as Christians are sent out to share God’s love with others. Love, therefore, is understood as something received from God through spending time in God’s presence, and is then released to the world through mission. Arnott said: ‘Mission is life under the anointing not only for relationship with God, but also so that you are fruitful.’ Arnott’s sense of mission is egalitarian in that it empowers all the people of God to spread God’s love in diverse ways. During the soaking prayer school, John’s wife Carol came into the room to speak about prayer. At one point she asked John what he said and on 228 michael wilkinson and peter althouse learning that he spoke of the inward, upward, and outward journeys, she said, ‘Oh John, you’ve got it wrong’ and then went on to explain soaking prayer is about ‘we, He, they.’ On the surface this may seem a trivial matter in describing soaking prayer, but Carol used a relational metaphor while John used a spatial one. According to Carol, ‘we’ is the community of believers who are loved by God and receive God’s good things. Group solidarity is an important element in the charismatic renewal as people approach the sacred through worship together and feel a sense of emotional closeness to God and each other. ‘He’ is a reference to God and the love and praise given to God through prayers, but also reciprocal love received from a loving Father. ‘They’ refers to the families, communities, and the world that need to hear and experience divine love, once again producing a sense of solidarity as people are equipped and empowered to love others in the world and to show them love through their action toward others. Carol’s image is more communal and relational, while John’s was more spatial and individualistic. The distinction suggests a fundamental difference between how men and women experience and understand prayer. This is important because women are the ones who are predominantly involved in soaking prayer and host prayer meetings in their homes and churches. However, with some notable exceptions, the leadership of the renewal is predominantly male. Surveying Practitioners of Soaking Prayer Following our observations of soaking prayer over a two-year period, attendance at the Soaking Prayer School, attendance at renewal events, and interviews with 126 participants, we conducted a survey of people who practice soaking prayer. Our survey is not a random sample of people in the charismatic renewal who practice soaking. Rather, it represents a population of people, mostly those we interviewed, but also participants from the soaking school, home groups we observed that agreed to participate, and individuals who agreed to complete the survey. The survey was intended to ask soaking prayer practitioners a series of questions that identifies a basic demographic profile, prayer practices, charismatic experiences, and benevolent behavior. The survey was made available to participants through an online survey format. Some 258 people responded to the survey, mostly from the United States, but also from Canada, England, Australia, and New Zealand. What follows is a general description of the pentecostal-charismatic prayer and social engagement 229 practice of soaking prayer, charismatic experiences, and associated benevolent behavior.3 Findings The participants from our survey fit a demographic profile that is predominantly from the United States, female, aged fifty-five and older, married, white or of European descent, university educated, and affiliated with a charismatic congregation. Table 1. Profile of Participants (N = 258). Country – USA Female Age – 55+ Married Race/Ethnicity – Euro American/White Education – University degree Religious Affiliation – Charismatic/non-denominational 71.9% 70.2% 44.3% 73.9% 86.5% 55.9% 50% On frequency, the participants, not surprisingly, have very high levels of prayer, with 59% claiming to pray throughout the day. The practice of praying throughout the day is a teaching associated with charismatic churches, including praying in the Spirit or in tongues, wherever one may find oneself in the day, doing chores, at work, or leisure activities. When combining the percentage of those who pray throughout the day with more than once per day and daily, the number swells to 93%. Table 2. Frequency of Prayer. < Once per week Several times per week Daily More than once per day Throughout the day 0.4% 6.6% 13.1% 20.9% 59% 3 There is some debate about the appropriateness of tests of significance for survey research, especially when the population is not based upon a random sample. See Jackson (1999:245–49) for a discussion about when tests of significance are not appropriate . 230 michael wilkinson and peter althouse The types of prayer activities vary among our participants. We asked about a range of activities; 95.9% said they talk to God in their own words. Intercession, or praying for others, was done by 90.6%. Those who respond that they pray for their personal needs drops to 77.1%, showing that while praying for oneself is important praying for others is practiced more. Interceding for world events, however, drops to 54.3%. So praying for others is practiced most. Listening to Christian music while praying was practiced by 76.7% of the respondents. Some 71% include Bible reading with prayer, with 45.3% reading other religious material while praying; and 41.6% reciting Bible passages when in prayer. Some 27.3% of the respondents indicated they fast as a type of prayer practice. Incorporating technology into prayer, such as praying on Internet sites where prayer requests are made, was practiced by 13.9%. Finally, reciting memorized prayers was only practiced by 12.7%, showing that among Pentecostal-Charismatic Christians prayer is most often about personal communication, or talking to God in one’s own words, while interceding on behalf of others. Table 3. Types of Prayer Activities. Talk to God in Own Words Intercede for Others Intercede for Personal Needs Listen to Christian Music Read & Reflect on Bible Intercede for World Events Reflect on Devotional Readings Recite Bible Passages Fast Pray on Internet Sites Recite Memorized Prayers 95.9% 90.6% 77.1% 76.7% 71.0% 54.3% 45.3% 41.6% 27.3% 13.9% 12.7% When we asked the respondents about the practice of soaking prayer, 45.4% of the respondents indicated that up to a quarter of their prayer practice was soaking; 25.4% of the respondents stated that from 25–49% of their prayer time is spent in soaking prayer. Soaking prayer was most often practiced at home without other people, as reported by 86.8% of the respondents. What we see among the respondents is that they incorporate different types of prayer into their practices. pentecostal-charismatic prayer and social engagement 231 Table 4. Soaking Prayer. Percentage of Prayer Time Spent in Soaking Prayer 100% 75–99% 50–74% 25–49% 1–24% None Location for Soaking Prayer (all that apply) Home by Myself Home with a Group Church based Center Renewal Events 0.4% 7.5% 16.3% 25.4% 45.4% 5.0% 86.8% 39.6% 38.7% 31.9% The respondents also reported high levels of charismatic experiences. For example, 38.7% claimed to feel the presence of God most days with another 25.8% stating they did so daily. On questions about experiencing spiritual insight, answer to prayer, sensing a divine call to act in some way, a revelation from God, and prophesy, the respondents indicated they had these experiences some days. When asked about protection from evil, 24.8% of the respondents claimed that they daily experienced protection with another 22% stating they did so most days. On the practice of speaking in tongues, 40.6% of the respondents claimed they did so daily, 28.1%, most days, and another 20.7, some days. Only 5.5% of the respondents said they did not speak in tongues. Table 5. Charismatic Experiences. Daily 25.8% Felt Presence of God Spiritual Insight 15.2% Answer to Prayer 6.8% Divine Call to Act 5.9% 5.8% Revelation from God Most Days Some Days Once in a Never Don’t While Know 38.7% 27.6% 7.1% 33.5% 31.1% 14.9% 19.3% 43.3% 45.0% 40.5% 48.4% 7.6% 14.9% 34.7% 25.1% 0.0% 0.9% 0.0% 0.0% 1.8% 0.9% 0.4% 2.3% 2.3% 0.4% (Continued) 232 michael wilkinson and peter althouse Table 5. (Cont.) Daily Prophesy over Others Protection from Evil Tongues Most Days Some Days Once in a Never Don’t While Know 2.3% 7.8% 41.1% 40.2% 7.8% 0.9% 24.8% 22.0% 23.9% 23.4% 0.9% 5.0% 40.6% 28.1% 20.7% 5.1% 5.5% 0.0% We also asked a series of questions about compassion, hope, and forgiveness. The respondents indicated they had high levels of compassion towards others, were hopeful, and valued forgiveness. Compassion and hope was claimed to be experienced most days by the respondents. Forgiveness was reported to be experienced with higher numbers on a daily basis. For example, 34.7% claimed they experienced a greater forgiveness through prayer, 39% claimed the ability to forgive others, and 58.7% said they were able to forgive God. Some 41.8% claimed they had the ability to forgive themselves most days. Table 6. Compassion, Hope, and Forgiveness. Greater Compassion Greater Hope Greater Forgiveness Forgive Others for Hurts Forgive God Forgive Self Daily Most Days Some Days Once in a While Never Don’t Know 25.7% 33.5% 30.7% 9.6% 0.0% 0.5% 31.4% 34.7% 36.4% 31.1% 24.1% 24.3% 7.7% 9.5% 0.0% 0.0% 0.5% 0.5% 39.0% 39.0% 16.1% 5.5% 0.0% 0.5% 58.7% 40.9% 28.2% 41.8% 8.0% 14.1% 1.4% 3.2% 0.5% 0.0% 3.3% 0.0% On questions about benevolent behavior, the respondents claim to be enabled to help family member and friends some days. However, when combined with daily helping and helping most days, the percentage of respondents able to help family is 81.3%. Helping friends daily, most days, and some days, amounts to 83.3%. Helping co-workers, strangers, and pentecostal-charismatic prayer and social engagement 233 people who dislike them declines in frequency but with notable responses. Some 32.2% of respondents said they help co-workers some days; 50.7% of respondents help strangers once in a while; and 40.5% claim to help those who dislike them once in a while. Table 7. Benevolent Behavior. Daily Most Days 26.5% 26.0% Help Family Members Help Friends 11.1% 31.5% 6.8% 19.5% Help Acquaintances Help Co-workers 9.5% 18.6% Help Strangers 4.1% 12.0% Help those Who 3.8% 12.4% Dislike Me Some Days Once in Never a While Don’t Know 28.8% 17.8% 0.5% 0.5% 40.7% 35.3% 15.7% 36.7% 0.5% 0.5% 0.5% 1.4% 32.2% 28.6% 26.2% 32.2% 50.7% 40.5% 3.0% 0.9% 1.9% 4.5% 3.7% 15.2% When asked about their responses to suffering, the respondents indicate that they are saddened by suffering with very little difference when it comes to location or the type of people involved. Between 35% and 37% of the respondents reported that some days they are saddened by suffering in foreign countries, their own country, community, and among strangers and loved ones. Table 8. Response to Suffering. Daily Saddened by 12.1% Suffering in Foreign Countries 13.9% Saddened by Suffering in My Country Most Days Some Days Once in a Never Don’t While Know 19.1% 35.8% 30.2% 1.9% 0.9% 24.1% 36.6% 21.8% 1.4% 2.3% (Continued) 234 michael wilkinson and peter althouse Table 8. (Cont.) Daily 11.6% Saddened by Suffering in My Community Saddened by 12.7% Suffering of Strangers and Loved Ones Most Days Some Days Once in a Never Don’t While Know 25.1% 37.2% 22.3% 1.4% 2.3% 17.4% 35.7% 23.9% 6.6% 3.8% Respondents also agreed that it is important to leave the world a better place (52.9%), to support causes for the less fortunate (50.2%), and that they were motivated to help humanity (55.9%). Table 9. Response to World Need. Strongly Agree Agree Important to Leave World 45.1% a Better Place I Support Causes for less 39.8% fortunate in the World I am Motivated to Help 39.7% Humanity Disagree Strongly Disagree 52.9% 1.5% 0.5% 50.2% 9.5% 0.5% 55.9% 3.9% 0.5% Finally, we asked questions about giving time and money to help others. Some 97.2% of the respondents said yes, they have given time to help people in the past 12 months with 29.3% doing so more than once a week. 97.2% of the respondents also indicated they had given money to help others with 30.7% giving between $100 and $499, 30.2% between $1,000 and $5,000, and 10.9% over $5,000 in a 12 month period. Discussion A number of interesting connections are observed in the relationship between prayer, renewal, and social engagement. Three are highlighted for pentecostal-charismatic prayer and social engagement 235 Table 10. Giving Time. Yes, I have Given Time to Help People in Past 12 Months How Often in the Past 12 Months? Once A few Times Once or Twice a Month Once a Week More than Once a Week Daily 97.2% 1.4% 18.3% 20.7% 17.8% 29.3% 12.5% Table 11. Giving Money. Yes, I have Given Money to Help People in Past 12 Months How Much Money in the Past 12 Months? <$100 $100–$499 $500–$999 $1000–$5000 >$5000 97.2% 11.5% 30.7% 16.7% 30.2% 10.9% discussion here: the relationship between prayer and benevolence, women and prayer, and prayer and prophecy. Benevolence and Prayer In Ways and Power of Love (2002), Harvard sociologist Pitirim Sorokin argued that love and its relationship to altruism is an important social process that can be defined and empirically measured. Believing that a singular definition of love is unhelpful, Sorokin proposed an integrative approach that included social, psychological, biological, physical, ethical, religious, and even ontological dimensions. Love is defined as a kind of energy that infuses people, motivating and leading them to meaningful acts. He argued that an outflow of love energy depended on an inflow of love energy, and he included the possibility of a ‘supraconscious’ source as important in the production, experience, and expression of love. On the social level he defined love as ‘a meaningful interaction – or relationship – between two or more persons where the aspirations and aims of one person are shared and helped in their realization by other persons’ (13). In order to examine the many dimensions of love empirically, Sorokin set out 236 michael wilkinson and peter althouse the following guidelines, arguing that love can be measured according to intensity (the level of love’s concentration), extensity (the range of love’s reach in caring for others beyond immediate social relations), duration (the time spent in altruistic activity), purity (the degree of selfish interests invested in loving others), and adequacy (the consequences of acts of love) (15). According to Sorokin (334–36), unusual individuals sometimes emerge in what he called ‘Apostles of love’ or ‘exemplars of love.’ These individuals are able to transcend the ethnic, tribal, or political hostilities of their time to focus on loving others. Sorokin argued that these exemplars were able to intuit a link to the supraconscious as a greater source of love that motivated people to love and care for others. He also acknowledged that religious techniques such as yoga, meditation, and prayer could be used to instil love, so that exemplars can be energized by love (inflow) in order to love others more effectively (outflow). Prayer in particular is viewed as a technique for moral transformation and altruism because it is the most sincere communion with the supraconscious, allowing the individual to transcend him/herself in the ongoing journey that included peaks of spiritual experience and altruism. Sorokin’s work underlies an important aspect of our understanding of the experience of soaking prayer and what Pentecostal-Charismatic Christians call the Father’s love. Specifically, the techniques by which people come to experience love or what Sorokin called a process of altruization or altruistic transformation is observed. Soaking prayer is a specific type of prayer among Pentecostal-Charismatic Christians that focuses on resting, receiving, and experiencing divine love that motivates them to act benevolently. Those who practice soaking prayer have high levels of altruistic behavior demonstrated in loving acts toward others. Recently, Sorokin’s ideas have been extended by the work of Margaret Poloma, Stephen Post, and Matthew T. Lee. Poloma, for example, has been interested in the way that institutionalization and charisma, religious experience and revitalization function in Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity (Poloma 1989, 2003; Poloma and Green 2010). In her research of the Toronto Blessing she observed that love was an important theme in the ecstatic experiences of the renewal meetings, but noted that social scientists were reticent to investigate love as a religious experience, unwilling to take seriously participants’ claims of divine love or the relationship of this experience to the social expression of love. Poloma asked: ‘To what extent can emotionally powerful experiences of a “divine flame of love” move us beyond our ordinary self-interests and help us express pentecostal-charismatic prayer and social engagement 237 unconditional, unlimited love for all others, especially when our human capacities seem to reach their limits?’4 Poloma, Post, and Lee (Lee and Poloma 2009; Lee, Poloma, and Post 2013) developed a model of social interaction they call ‘Godly Love,’ which is an optic to observe benevolent behavior through the social interactions of actors that includes exemplars, collaborators, beneficiaries, and experiences perceived as the divine as a source of motivation or, in the words of Sorokin, a love energy. ‘Godly love’ is not to be equated with divine love, nor is it an attempt to provide an ontological definition of love in the social sciences, but is a non-reductionistic and interdisciplinary approach that attempts to observe the nexus between religious experience and benevolence through the lens of social interaction. Poloma and Lee (2011) probed the relationship between prayer and love by focusing on the reported effects of divine encounters on human behavior and attitudes. They employed the Thomas Theorem that says if people believe a situation to be real, then it is real in its effects. In other words, if the perception of the experience of divine love is motivating people to engage in acts of benevolence, then the effect of benevolence is real regardless of the source of love experienced. Based on a U.S. national survey and on qualitative interviews, they showed how prayer shifted from active to receptive forms over the course of the believer’s spiritual journey with prophetic and mystical experiences as an outcome of the receptive. By looking at the qualitative lifelong spiritual journeys of people who pray and claim to experience divine love, one begins to see the way that different types of prayer flow together and the way in which social actors become exemplars of altruistic behavior. All three prayer types (active, prophetic, and mystical) contributed to the highest reporting of divine love experiences. They concluded that it is not enough to note a connection between benevolent behavior and religiosity, but that attention needs to be paid to receptive types of prayer. Soaking prayer is a variant of meditative prayer. It also fits the receptive type of prayer that includes prophetic and mystical characteristics in Poloma and Lee’s typology. It captures the inward, upward, and outward directionality of prayer discussed by Ladd and Spilka. Soaking prayer is similar to the upward prayer of the heart, but with characteristics of the inward prayer of tears, the upward prayer of rest and meditation, and the outward prayer of healing. Soaking prayer, as defined by Francis MacNutt, 4 See http://www3.uakron.edu/sociology/flameweb/index.html, accessed August 9, 2011. 238 michael wilkinson and peter althouse is categorized as a kind of petitionary or intercessory prayer because it is a form of healing prayer. However, CTF has adapted soaking prayer in a way that expands its meaning and consequences beyond healing prayer to include the reception of love for the purpose of loving others. Among the respondents in our survey we found high levels of prayer correlated with high levels of compassion and willingness to forgive; helping of family, friends, co-workers, and strangers; and the giving of time and money to help people in need. Women and Prayer R. Marie Griffith’s (1997) analysis of Women’s Aglow is a rich ethnography of a trans-denominational network of women’s prayer. Although she calls this group Evangelical, in fact the majority exhibited a PentecostalCharismatic spirituality. In the cultural context of such paradoxical tensions and expectations as surrender and control, shame and freedom, victimhood and liberation, wholeness and health when ‘threatened by suffering or fragmented by conflicting expectations,’ prayer is the medium of identity construction through which ‘contradictory idioms are mediated and tensions between them are resolved’ (75). According to Griffith, prayer plays an important role in personal transformation through conversion, inner healing, and recovery. It creates possibilities of liberation, intimacy, emotional healing, courage, renewed love, and self-transformation as it constructs the ‘authentic self’ and its relationship to others – God, family, and friends. The process of forgiveness, release, restoration, and freedom is an important part of the transformation of the self and restoration of loving relationships. However, Griffith interprets the prayer rituals of Women’s Aglow through the lens of therapeutic culture, which is admittedly evident in attempts at personal transformation. While Griffith is open to a more corporate understanding of collective transformations, her study fails to interpret these moments. Sorokin’s measurements of intensity and extensity are helpful here. Griffith notes that in the context of Women’s Aglow, women who pray together produce high levels of intimacy and the experiences of renewed love. She also observed that women prayed together in small groups with other women who may be family members, acquaintances, or friends. Cast in Sorokin’s measurements, these moments exhibit higher levels of intensity but lower levels of extensity. In other words, the production of love energy in corporate prayer is extended to family and friends but, at least in the ethnography of Women’s Aglow, does not extend to a greater love for others in the pentecostal-charismatic prayer and social engagement 239 world. Her observations of the role of women and prayer, however, are particularly insightful for understanding how women involved with CTF are empowered through charisma, as a form of spiritual gift, to be active in the ministry of the movement. The respondents in our survey were overwhelming female, as was observed in the soaking prayer groups we attended, showing an important relationship between women, charisma, and benevolence that requires further research. Prophecy and Prayer Poloma (2009) investigated the practices of healing experiences in the Assemblies of God (AG) and the related kinds of prayers, noting that prayers for healing are almost universally practiced in PentecostalCharismatic Christianity. Three measures of prayer are employed in her analysis: glossolalic prayer, healing prayer, and prophetic prayer. Prophetic prayer is defined as prayer because it intuits hearing from God and communicating the divine to another person or persons. The alternate is also possible in that one can receive a prophetic message from another person who has claimed to hear from God. Poloma also tests for active/discursive forms of prayer on one end of a continuum and receptive/intuitive forms of prayer on the other end. Using a variety of statistical tests Poloma concludes that prophetic prayer is the leading indicator of all three healing measures (spiritual healing, inner or emotional healing, and physical healing) and leaned more to receptive/intuitive forms than the active/discursive form. The result is surprising, given the AG’s resistance to prophetic prayer. Curiously, glossolalic prayer has no direct effect on healing experiences though Poloma allows for the possibility that glossolalia has an indirect effect tested through bivariate analysis, because those who are glossolalic are more likely to engage in healing and prophetic prayers more frequently. Poloma and Green (2010: 35) looked at the way that prophecy functions in the AG in spiritual gifts such as interpretation of tongues, anointed preaching, insight into healing, words of knowledge, etc. Prophecy does not typically predict the future but provides assurance, confirmation, warning, or encouragement. Moreover, prophecy is more than an intense spiritual experience (though it may include such experiences), but an interaction between ‘hearing from God’ and conveying the divine message to other people. Important to note is the social interaction that defines prophecy within a collective context. There is an impartation from one person to another person or persons that may include embodied touch 240 michael wilkinson and peter althouse such as ‘laying on of hands’ or simply the giving of a ‘divine message.’ This is an important observation for understanding how soaking prayer incorporates the ideas of rest and receiving but also the active component of prophetic prayer as evidenced in social engagement. Conclusion In this chapter we have attempted to offer some observations about soaking prayer as an innovation and adaptation of prayer among PentecostalCharismatic Christians. Soaking prayer is ritualized in such a way that it captures the mission and vision of Catch the Fire ministries, which is to love God and love others. Through observations, interviews, and a survey of soaking prayer participants we explored the claims surrounding the role of prayer and social engagement. The respondents from our survey, while highly committed and active, show high frequencies of prayer, charismatic experiences, and pro-social behavior with a strong sense of compassion and forgiveness, as well as high levels of altruistic acts through giving of time and money to those in need. References Anderson, Allan. 2004. An Introduction to Pentecostalism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Arnott, Carol. 2001. ‘The Purpose of Soaking in His Love.’ Pp. 6–9 in Spread the Fire. Toronto: Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship. Baesler, E.J. 2002. ‘Prayer and Relationship with God II: Replication and Extension of the Relational Prayer Model.’ Review of Religious Research 44:58–76. Baker, Joseph. O. 2008. ‘An Investigation of the Social Patterns of Prayer Frequency and Content.’ Sociology of Religion 69:169–85. Brown, Candy Guenther, ed. 2010. Global Pentecostal and Charismatic Healing. New York: Oxford University Press. Brown, T. 2009. ‘Rational Praying: The Economics of Prayer.’ Journal of Socio-Economics 38:37–44. ——. ‘The Economics of Altruism: The Role of Religious Experience.’ http://www.thearda .com/rrh/papers/altruism.asp, accessed August 10, 2010. Cox, Harvey. 1995. Fire From Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishers. Csordas, Thomas J. 1997. Language, Charisma & Creativity. Berkeley: University of California Press. ——. 1994. The Sacred Self: A Cultural Phenomenology of Charismatic Healing. Berkeley: University of California Press. Foster, Richard J. 1992. Prayer. New York: Harper Collins. Gallup, G. Jr., and D.M. Lindsay. 1999. Surveying the Religious Landscape. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Morehouse Publishing. pentecostal-charismatic prayer and social engagement 241 Griffith, R. Marie. 1997. God’s Daughters: Evangelical Women and the Power of Submission. Berkeley: University of California Press. Jackson, Winston. 1999. Methods: Doing Social Research. Scarborough, Ontario: Prentice-Hall. Krause, Neal. 2004. ‘Assessing the Relationships among Prayer Expectancies, Race, and Self-esteem in Late Life.’ Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 43:395–408. ——. 2005. ‘Exploring Race Differences in a Multidimensional Battery of Prayer Measures among Older Adults.’ Sociology of Religion 66:23–43. Ladd, K.L.,and B. Spilka. 2002. ‘Inward, Outward, and Upward: Cognitive Aspects of Prayer.’ Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 41:475–84. ——. 2006. ‘Inward, Outward, Upward Prayer: Scale Reliability and Validation.’ Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 45: 233–251. Lee, Matthew T, Margaret M. Poloma, and Stephen G. Post. 2013. The Heart of Religion. New York: Oxford University Press. Levin, Jeffrey. S., and Robert. J. Taylor. 1997. ‘Age Differences in Patterns and Correlates of the Frequency of Prayer.’ The Gerontologist 37:75–88. MacNutt, Francis. 1974. Healing. New York: Bantam Books. ——. 1977. The Power to Heal. Notre Dame, Indiana: Ave Maria Press. ——. 1988. Overcome by the Spirit: The Extraordinary Phenomenon that is Happening to Ordinary People. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Chosen Books. McCullough, M.E. 1995. ‘Prayer and Health: Conceptual Issues, Research Review, and Research Agenda. Journal of Psychology and Theology 23:15–29. McGuire, Meredith B. 1975. ‘Toward a Sociological Interpretation of the “Catholic Pentecostal” Movement. Review of Religious Research 16:94–104. ——. 1988. Ritual Healing in Suburban America. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. Poloma, Margaret M. 1989. The Assemblies of God at the Crossroads: Charisma and Institutional Dilemmas. Knoxville: University of Tennessee. ——. 1991. ‘A Comparison of Christian Science and Mainline Christian Healing Ideologies and Practices.’ Review of Religious Research 32: 337–350. ——. 1997. ‘The ‘Toronto Blessing’: Charisma, Institutionalization, and Revival.’ Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 36:257–71. ——. 1998. ‘Inspecting the Fruit of the ‘Toronto Blessing’: A Sociological Assessment.’ Pneuma 20:43–70. ——. 2003. Main Street Mystics: The Toronto Blessing and Reviving Pentecostalism. Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira. ——. 2006. ‘Old Wine in New Wineskins: The Rise of Healing Rooms in Revival Pentecostalism.’ Pneuma 28:59–71. ——. 2009. ‘Pentecostal Prayer within the Assemblies of God: An Empirical Study. Pneuma 31:47–65. Poloma, Margaret M., and B.F. Pendleton. 1989. ‘Exploring Types of Prayer and Quality of Life: A Research Note. Review of Religious Research 31:26–53. ——. 1991. The Effects of Prayer Experiences on Measures of General Well-being. Journal of Psychology and Theology 19:71–83. Poloma, Margaret M., and G.H. Gallup. 1991. Varieties of Prayer. Philadelphia: Trinity Press International. Poloma, Margaret M. and John Green. 2010. The Assemblies of God: Godly Love and the Revitalization of American Pentecostalism. New York: New York University Press. Poloma, Margaret M. and Lynett F. Hoelter. 1998. ‘The “Toronto Blessing”: A Holistic Model of Healing.’ Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 37:258–73. Poloma, Margaret M. and Ralph W. Hood, Jr. 2008. Blood and Fire: Godly Love in a Pentecostal Emerging Church. New York: New York University Press. Sorokin, Pitirim A. 2002 [1954]. The Ways and Power of Love. Philadelphia: Templeton. CRAZY WORLD, CRAZY FAITH! PRAYER, POWER AND TRANSFORMATION IN A NIGERIAN PRAYER CITY Annalisa Butticci1 Introduction From a sociological perspective, prayer has been analysed by the founding fathers of the discipline as a social activity. In this respect, Weber (1969) considered it as an act of power to force spiritual beings to serve human ends. Durkheim (1995) included prayer in his theory on the role of rituals as a means to discipline, revitalize, and excite the community, bringing people together, reaffirming social bonds, and bolstering congregational solidarity. The most comprehensive analysis of prayer as social activity was made by Mauss (2003), who identified prayer as a social phenomenon, institution, social reality, and collective fact (See Giordan 2011 and Jenkins 2008). Sociological studies of prayer, even when that theme is not the focus of the analysis, have been looking at the relationship between prayer and community (Neitz 1987; Ammerman 2003; McGuire 2008), prayer and young people (Mason 2011), prayer and power (Swatos 1982), and prayer and the body (Csordas 2002). Scholars have conceptualised the multidimensionality of prayer, the variety of practices (Heiler 1932; Clakins 1911; David 1999), and the influence of prayer on people’s psychophysical wellbeing (Poloma and Pendleton 1991; Poloma and Gallup 1991). Also, prayer has been studied as a stratagem for coping (Pargament 1997) and antidote to anxiety (Brown 1994; McCullough 1995) as well as a means of compensating economic and social deprivation (Norris and Inglehart 2004; Krause and Chatters 2005; Baker 2008; Stark and Bainbridge 1987). The work reported here builds on previous socio-anthropological studies of prayer but shifts the focus from the individual to the community, from the intimate time and space of prayer to public spaces and collective 1 My special thanks go to the Global Prayer project, which supported the first field work in Lagos and to Matthews Ojo and Enzo Pace for their precious advise. 244 annalisa butticci prayer. It examines the material and sensory worlds of prayer, such as the spaces, sensations, and collective emotions aimed at creating community and activating the transformational power of prayer. Drawing especially on Canetti’s study on crowds, it analyses the power of a crowd at prayer and its vision of redemption, freedom, and equality. The Spiritual Warfare of the ‘Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministries’ The Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (henceforth MFM) began in 1989 in Lagos, Nigeria, as a small praying group of eight people in the apartment of Daniel Olukoya and his wife Shade. Olukoya, the General Overseer of MFM, was born in 1956 in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. He graduated at the top of his class in Microbiology at the University of Lagos and earned the Ph.D in Molecular Genetics at the University of Reading, United Kingdom. As a researcher, he has several scientific publications to his credit and has made an important contribution to biotechnology and health by creating a new type of OGI, a weaning food which can control diarrhoea (Olukoya 1994). He has also held positions as head of the National Institute of Medical Research and the Genetics Department of the University of Lagos. He also established the first indigenous laboratory of molecular biology and biotechnology in Nigeria. Olukoya was ordained as a pastor in 1985 at the Christ Apostolic Church in Lagos, the Church founded by Apostle Joseph Babalola, his great inspiration and spiritual father. However, in 1988 he left the Christ Apostolic Church and established his own church, known as the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries. Today, this church is one of the most influential deliverance ministry in West Africa and has one of the largest Christian congregation in Nigeria, with attendances of over 100,000 members in a single meeting. The peculiarity of the MFM prayer style gave the church a unique identity within the Pentecostal and Charismatic African churches. The growth, spread and wealth of MFM do owe a great deal to the power of its aggressive and violent prayer in physically and spiritually fighting the evil forces causing individual, social, and spiritual afflictions. In one of his popular speeches, Oluokoya said: Spiritual violence is needed. You must have violent anxiety. You must burst forth with holy anger, violent determination and faith. You must possess holy fury, fierceness, rage and madness. No soul that ever cried violently to God has been disappointed. There are prayers you must say and actions you crazy world, crazy faith! prayer, power and transformation 245 must take so that fellow human beings look at you and say you are a mad person. If you want to survive in this crazy world, you need a crazy faith! (Olukoya 2010) The style of MFM prayer has been strongly institutionalized though the production of a massive body of publications, translated into indigenous African languages, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. Olukoya has written over a hundred books and pamphlets to instruct his followers on spiritual check-ups, prayer techniques, and fasting programs. In this respect, MFM is also known as a ‘do-it-yourself’ gospel ministry where followers’ hands are trained to wage war and their fingers to do battle. His most famous book, Prayer Rain, launched to the public as the most powerful and practical manual ever written, is a collection of prayers, spiritual exercises, body techniques of prayer, and fasting programmes to fight 125 specific afflictions, ranging from divorce, unprofitable business, evil networks, satanically inspired illness, sexual perversions, marine spirits, and so on. However, this manual is only one example of the infinite list of prayers Olukoya has conceived of to deal with all kinds of daily challenges. Here are some examples: Every curse that I have brought into my life through ignorance and disobedience, break by fire! In the name of Jesus (Break! Repeat 20/30 times) All bacteria of poverty in my life, die! In the name of Jesus. (die! Repeat 20/30 times) Every pattern of failure in my root, die! In the name of Jesus. (die! Repeat 20/30 times) I command every blessing confiscated by witchcraft spirits, ancestral spirits, satanic agents, evil powers to be released by fire! In the name of Jesus (To be released! repeat 20/30 times) Every power that had padlocked my breakthrough they, shall release the key by fire! (Release it! 20/30 times) God of Elijah, arise and give me my breakthrough! (Give me my breakthrough! 20/30 times) Prayers are addressed not only to God but also to evil powers, demons, and spirits. While the prayers to God are requests for blessings, mercy, and in many cases ‘Fire from heaven’, the prayers addressed to evil forces are aggressive commands to force demons, wicked spirits, witches, and ancestral curses to surrender to believers’ fury. The believers repeat their prayers over and over, screaming at the top of their voices, and acting according to the prayers. They act in the conviction that there are no distinctions between the physical and the spiritual realm. As a prominent Ghanaian theologian, Kwame Bediako, explained, this idea is very strong in the African continent, together with dependence on nature, awareness of 246 annalisa butticci spirits and powers, and the strong belief in the power of ancestors. In this complex view, the physical acts as a vehicle for spiritual realities (Bediako 2000:88). When prayer is meant to purify, deliver, and expel spiritual contamination from the body, believers are asked to act as if they were washing their heads with the blood of Jesus, shaking their bodies to rid them of serpents and scorpions,2 cutting, breaking, destroying, and dissolving bondage by evil powers, revoking and withdrawing covenants, pacts, and evil dedications, and vomiting, expelling, and releasing the wicked spirits dwelling in their bodies. The pastors leading the deliverance prayers repeat such words and phrases as ‘die’, ‘break’, ‘shake’, and especially ‘fire’ innumerable times, filling space with obsessive and repetitive sounds that provide rhythm to the movement of the body at prayer. At the end of prayer sessions, which usually last 20–25 minutes, the believers are exhausted and bewildered. Between one session and another, members listen to messages, sing songs, and recover their energy before engaging in another round of violent prayers. Prayer meetings, events, and deliverance and healing services usually last from three to four hours and include the preparation of the body with three days of complete fasting, meant to humble and discipline the senses. Believers express their violent prayers until they are exhausted, at the same time coping with hunger, dehydration, and the implacable hot weather.3 Because of the uncommon practices and words associated with MFM prayers, the church has often been at the centre of criticisms by people who consider its believers to be ‘strange people’. Olukoya has responded to these criticisms through his books and speeches, specifying that the battle that MFM is fighting is not a physical battle but a confrontation between believers and evil powers. The words die, break, destroy, etc. aim at stopping the actions and consequences of negative powers and evil forces. Olukoya wrote: Many people misunderstand the prayer of MFM. When someone prays ‘Be bound’, it means he gives no room to someone or something to operate. And when he says ‘Be loosed’ it means he allows something or someone to 2 Serpents and scorpions are quoted in the Bible as symbols of the power of Satan. ‘I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you’ Luke 10:19 (King James Bible). 3 The scenario clearly recalls some of the practices analysed by such scholars as Durkheim (1995) and Turner (1974, 1979, 1982), which are often associated with such mechanisms as repetitive rhythmic prayers, sensory deprivation and stimulation, fasting, and communal rituals that induce altered states of consciousness. crazy world, crazy faith! prayer, power and transformation 247 operate. We do not quarrel with people but with the witchcraft spirit inside people. It is that spirit we ‘bind’ or order to ‘fall down and die’, not the person. (Olukoya 2000:106) Olukoya also explained what violence means. He argues that the problem with most people in prayer is lack of concentration. The reason why his followers are called ‘prayer warriors’ is that they can focus their attention on an object in prayer for a long time without distraction: The greatest enemy in prayer is lack of concentration. When men and women pray with concentration they see visions. People’s wandering minds can achieve nothing. Violence means great power, forceful activity, damaging force, intense, severe and highly excited action, fury, fierceness, rage and rampage, madness and craziness, explosion, and storminess. (Olukoya 2000:72) As prayers of a deliverance church, the prayers of MFM work as special spiritual treatments, while the church operates as a spiritual clinic. Its pastors make a spiritual diagnosis of believers’ afflictions and prescribe specific prayers, spiritual exercises meant to discipline the mind and the body. These prescriptions include fasting and abstinence, night vigils, specific long sections of aggressive prayers, and spiritual ‘vitamins’, which are usually scriptures from the Bible. The MFM’s main spiritual clinic is located in Prayer City, the second largest prayer camp in Nigeria, second only to the Redeemed Christian Church of God camp.4 The Prayer City project was started in November 1997, when MFM acquired 50 hectares of land at Kilometre 12 of the Lagos Ibadan expressway. The project was born out of Olukoya’s vision of having a place where prayers could go on continuously for 24 hours. Its work began on June 9, 2000. Prayer City is organized into several areas devoted to various functions and services, including a market area with a bank, a health centre, market stalls, restaurants, shops, an internet café, a business centre, and a residential area where some of MFM pastors and members bought a plot of land and built their houses. Other facilities include the international office, several multipurpose halls, chalets and hostels that can accommodate almost four hundred people, and a huge open auditorium. 4 According to Ukah (2011), other Pentecostal prayer camps include the Redemption camp of the Redeemed Christian Church of God camp, Christ Embassy Camp, Deeper Life Bible Church Camp, Methodist Reawakening Camp, Assemblies of God Camp, Life Assembly; Methodist Village, Gideon’s Village, The Gospel Faith Mission International, Samson Ayorinde World Outreach, the Muslim NASFAT Camp, and ‘Islamic City’, still under construction. 248 annalisa butticci The activities of the spiritual clinic mainly take place in this auditorium, which can contain almost one million people at a time. Spiritual activities focus on deliverance and healing prayer programs and are implemented by two departments: the Deliverance Department and the Intercessory Department. The former is divided into seven groups, each group treating particular spiritual afflictions. Groups A, B, C, and D treat general spiritual problems such as witchcraft attacks, spirits responsible for physical illness, failure, poverty, marine spirits, ancestral curses, and all kinds of troubling evil spirits. The Deliverance Department also includes the Expectant Mothers Group, which is devoted to families and women with fertility and pregnancy problems, the Children Deliverance Group, specializing in children suffering the attack of evil forces, and the Drug Addicts Group, specializing in drug addiction and psychic disorders. The deliverance programs run from Monday to Friday, and every week almost five hundred people attend them. On Monday mornings, candidates gather at the meeting area of the big auditorium to register for the weekly program and be assigned to the appropriate group. The groups gather in seven areas of the auditorium to follow their own programmes. These usually start at 8:00 am and finish at 12.30 pm. In the afternoons, the candidates rest. Some have enough money to stay at the Prayer City guest houses; others spend their week sleeping in the auditorium on improvised beds and in shelters among the thousands of white plastic chairs in the auditorium. After the afternoon rest, candidates go back to the auditorium to attend the evening service, starting at 7:00 pm and ending at 9:00 pm. After this, they rest again until 11:00 pm, when the night vigil begins. Every night, candidates pray from 11:00 pm to 3:00 am. From Monday mornings to Wednesday afternoons, candidates are also required to fast, during which time no food and water are permitted. Common group activities are only planned on Thursday nights and Friday mornings for the Thursday night vigil and the Friday morning ‘Prayer Rain Programme’. Each group has its specific Bible scriptures to be read and studied and prayers to be said. Each group also has a leader pastor and a team of six to seven pastors and ministers, who carefully follow the candidates in their process of deliverance. A total of sixty pastors and ministers work at the spiritual clinic of Prayer City. The second Department is the Department of Prayer and Intercessions. It is divided into two groups: the General Prayer Group, which ministers to those who are at Prayer City for general prayers, and the 24 Hours Intercessory Group, active 24 hours in intercessory prayers for the Church crazy world, crazy faith! prayer, power and transformation 249 and the Country. The prayers of the Intercessory group started on June 2000 and have been ongoing since then. The people involved in this group are called ‘spiritual warriors’ and pray without stopping for six hours before others come to take their place. The Political Narrative of Prayer MFM was born of the tribulation and creativity of the city of Lagos, a mega city of almost nineteen million people. The last few decades of increased rural-urban migration amassed millions of people in Lagos, bringing to it what Ruth Marshall called ‘urban paranoia about “evil doers” and strangers who are out to cheat, deceive, rob and kill’. creating an Hobbesian sense of “all against all”’ (Marshall 1998:284). Lagos has been described as the city of a million contradictions, ambiguities and charismas. In his work on the Redeemed Christian Church of God camp, Ukah wrote, ‘Lagos is the unequal, or rather uncanny, combination of wealth and poverty, posh and slum, lack of a functional urban infrastructure and unimaginable wealth, conspicuous consumption and property accumulation’, whereas Jonathan Hayes (2007:104) defined it as an ‘urban apocalypse’, ‘a place where all forms of social solidarity break down’, an ‘anarchic urban catastrophe’, and a place of ‘environmental destruction and human misery’. Ukah (2011) argued that the Redeemed Christian Church of God camp represents a response to the concentration of poverty and disease and all the manifestations of state failure, as a sort of alternative ‘City of God’ where all the failed promises and frustrated dreams of Lagos are to be achieved. To some extent, this analysis can also apply to the MFM Prayer City. However, I would like to describe other features of Lagos connected to the role of MFM in the city. Lagos is a complex reservoir of imagination, creativity, and charisma which are also incorporated in these sacred spaces at the entrance of the city. Lagos has its own unique ‘soul’ and ‘body’, which give this vibrating mega-global city its own urban charisma (Hansen and Verkaaik 2009:9). On the one hand, this is the charisma of Lagos, its ‘soul’ and mythology visible in its various buildings and sites, ranging from the beaches where Christians and traditional practitioners meet their spirits and powers, to the old colonial neighborhoods, markets, modern buildings, and night clubs. On the other hand, there is the Charisma in Lagos, in its crowds, gods and deities, pastors, priests, imams, babalawo, Buddhist and Hindu priests and their extraordinary ability 250 annalisa butticci to master the city and its great potential. Lagos is also the city of those who, all together, make up the spiritual mosaic of the metropolis. Hence, Lagos is a massive theatre of cultural and religious worlds, where actors and spectators can experience the potential of human creativity and talents. In this sense, the MFM Prayer City is the fruit of a charismatic enterprise of translation and mediation, helping to re-orient Lagosians befuddled by the urban convergence of multiple possibilities of divine salvation and eternal damnation. MFM spiritual warfare is the quintessential spirit of the city of Lagos, where people are in constant search of power. The African concept of power is closely related to the African socio-historical worlds (Boesak 1977:41). Power is conceived as a ‘vital force’ accessible through a close relationship with the divine and hence through prayer (See also Kalu 2010 and Olupona 2001, 1991). As Ojo aptly argued in his seminal work on Pentecostalism in Nigeria that power is central to the lives of Nigerians: I am convinced that nothing occupies the attention of Africans as much as power, particularly its manifestation, whether in the form of material wealth, political and social statuses, traditional privileges like chieftaincy, colonial heritage, etc.… Power is focal to social relations from most Nigerians, amid a social milieu where ‘power’, whether in terms of ethnic linkages, financial resources, filial relations, or business connections, has been able to achieve much for them. Crucial to the life and activities of charismatic movements is the articulation and appropriation of new forms of power in very pragmatic terms to mediate and address the contemporary needs of Nigerians. (Ojo 2006:89). The Yoruba culture and world view has contributed immensely to the creation of the MFM prayer style and narrative. The search for individual and collective power, as Peel observed, is the dominant orientation towards religion in Africa. ‘The major premise of all Yoruba religious practice was that the material phenomenal world is continuously affected by unseen powers of various kinds and indefinite number’ (Peel 2003:93). Yoruba society is still built on the basic cosmology of spirits, ancestors and supreme beings. People’s lives are troubled by fear of the unknown, witches, and enemies. In this respect, MFM provides a continuation of power in both its traditional and modern forms. In addition, the militaristic language of prayer represents the Nigerian historical context, which has witnessed the massive growth of MFM. The church emerged during a period of breakdown of religious and political authority within a milieu of political instability crazy world, crazy faith! prayer, power and transformation 251 and socio-economic recession. The process of massive urban migration and modernization, coupled with the bitterness caused by the military regimes, created a deep sense of existential dread. Nigerians were facing the bloody military regime of Babangida and Abacha and fighting a daily battle against desperate economic conditions. The militaristic idiom of the two regimes became part of the hermeneutics of prayer,5 together with Olukoya’s personal and professional background as a microbiologist. Such terms as prayer warriors, prayer bullets, army of the Lord, bombardment of prayers, or spiritual vitamins, divine immunity, bacteria of poverty, and acidic prayers against spiritual cholera recall some of the elements that define the social origins of prayer and the creativity of the charismatic leader of MFM. As a deliverance church par excellence, MFM is especially concerned about its followers’ bondage to their past. Prayer focuses on the destruction of ancestral curses, spirits of the ‘father’s house’, evil foundations, altar dedications, and the spiritual inheritance of idolatry. Hence, the goal of MFM prayer is to separate followers from the legacy, mistakes, and consequences of the past.6 The narrative of prayer recollects the Nigerian past, re-evoking the historical trauma of colonialism and the slave trade, and the perilous contamination with Western influences introduced by missionaries, travellers, and merchants. In his book of prayer entitled Dealing with the Evil Powers of Your Father’s House, Olukoya writes: Although you may have your own mind, you are a product of your ancestors. The power of your father’s house accounts for a greater percentage of the powers that are shaping and affecting your own destiny…. Our ancestors have sold many of us into spiritual slavery. Many of them served idols and made terrible covenants with very powerful spiritual entities. Since the deal has been sealed, you will continue to suffer even if you decide to change your geographical location. (2002:8) This demonization of the past is about its connection with the present and moral foundation of society. The curses of the past and their consequences in the present are more clearly and openly described in the book of prayer Satanic Diversions of the Black Race, in which Olukoya lists the demonic arrival of slave traders who led Africans to the ‘horrifying slave trade experience’ and of white missionaries, who ‘just changed from one 5 Gyadu (2004) and Anaba (1993) commented on similar situation concerning the endtime churches in Ghana during the Rawlings era. 6 In this respect, see also Meyer (1999) concerning the analysis of conversion as a conversion to modernity in Ghana. 252 annalisa butticci idol to another called Mary’. He also mentioned idolatry, polygamy, and evil dedications, visible, for instance, in the naming of children Esubiyi, Oguntola, Oguntolu and Osunbiyi, which reflect the names and glorification of traditional idols. He wrote (Olukoya 2002:33), ‘How can the Lord answer you when the cause of the faulty foundations is still in place?’ According to the MFM belief, one of the most dangerous and powerful spirits is the marine spirits responsible for various emotional, sexual, and economic afflictions (See also Hackett 2003, 2011). They are also responsible for the afflictions of Nigerian society, especially corruption, lust, and greed. They control pride, commerce and trade, the economy and the flow of money, but also sexual perversion, fashion, make-up and cosmetics, alcohol, and certain kinds of music, especially that played during night parties. The marine spirits operate sexually, possessing and marrying human beings and forcing them to sign agreements and contracts. They are often figured as half human and half-fish, usually with long silky hair and pale skins. In his book Power against Marine Spirits, Olukoya instructs his followers about how to spread prayer nets to trap them. He writes (Olukoya 1999:68), ‘A prayer net is an aggressive prayer in which you pray at regular intervals in such a way as to leave no breathing space for them to escape. The prayer against Marine Spirits is not a five-minute prayer, especially if someone’s life has been captured. You need strong prayer sessions’. The cover of the book, which was personally designed by Shade Olukoya, shows two marine spirits wearing all kinds of jewellery and surrounded by the symbols of their evil forces: mirrors and brushes, symbolising the power of their beauty and seductiveness, a bottle of sperm, representing the sexual intercourse they have had with their victims, wedding contracts and certificates signed by their victims, together with the gifts, money, and wealth taken from them. The cover also shows two marine spirits being fatally overwhelmed by a huge sword, signifying the power of prayer. Marine spirits are also called Mami Wata, pidgin English for ‘Mother of the Water’. According to Drewal: Africans use the pidgin term to acknowledge the spirit’s otherness as well as to indicate its incorporation into the African world. The term mediates between Africans and those from overseas and represents Africans’ attempts at understanding or constructing meaning from their encounters with overseas strangers’. (Drewal 1988:160) The Mami Wata has been integrated into the MFM prayer, generating a dramatized narrative of events and figures from the past. The unknown, the stranger, and the incognita of the massive social transformation of Nigerian society, coupled with the fascination and crazy world, crazy faith! prayer, power and transformation 253 fear of easy access to the cultural and economic fruits of globalization are represented by mysterious water spirits and other spirits that clearly refer to the Nigerian socio-historical world. The past is re-evoked and rearticulated through prayer, which become a powerful counter narrative of the community. MFM incites believers to act with faith and discipline, criticising social and spiritual misbehavior as shameful. The prayers emphasize the plagues of corruption, poverty, illness, and greed. The strategy proposed to attack and destroy these evils is the creation of a new moral code in which prayerfulness is a potential source of virtue, a vehicle of moral, ethical development, and human progress. Hence, it is through the metaphysical experience of collective prayer that the community shares what reveals and transforms the human condition as well as recollecting its past, inhabiting the present, and envisioning a new order for the future (Rappaport 1999, Ladd and McIntosh 2008). As Ammerman (2003) argued, the prayer, gestures, and music always tell the story of the community at prayer. She observed, ‘Any community that wants to sustain itself must have space behind the wall to tell its own primal narrative and imagine its own future in relationship to that narrative’. In this sense, we can also look at prayer as a form of communication, whereby stored collective memories are mobilized into social actions by the transfer of energies accumulated in collective rituals (Pace 2010). According to Pace: The rites and liturgies of religions can be seen as great public communication systems that serve specifically to reiterate (so as to acknowledge and have acknowledged) the content and confines of the communicative pact that the community of ‘faithful’ has signed in order to come into being. MFM prayer has the power to let the believers imaginie the possibility of another world of meanings. Through such imaginings it also contributes to shaping a communal moral consciousness transforming uncertainty into spiritual and moral action. MFM prayer is therefore an implicit and embodied form of charismatic knowledge able to deliver the people and the nation from the yoke of the past and proposing a new ethical and moral order. The narrative of prayer is also, as Peel (1995:605) argued, a political discourse, enabling believers to integrate their memories, experiences, and aspirations into a plan for long-term action. In this respect, MFM prayer may be analyzed as a form of aesthetics of persuasion in which, according to Birgit Meyer (2010:743), sensory forms govern believers’ engagement with the divine and each other, but also enable a criticism of dominant politics and structures. In the Nigerian context, the MFM prayer style is a 254 annalisa butticci collective and social phenomenon or, in the approach of Marcel Mauss, an institution, a product of the history, language, and feelings of the community at prayer. It is a social institution not only in content but also in its sensory forms, insofar as the bodies and the senses of believers are empowered to see, touch, hear, and feel the supernatural. Prayer, Crowds and Transformation The power of MFM prayer reaches its peak in the setting provided by Prayer City. Prayer City was purposely created to accommodate massive crowds of prayer warriors and to shape the emotional, sensory, physical and collective experience of prayer. The open auditorium is the heart of tPrayer City. It is where the main altar is located. The auditorium is modestly decorated. Several placards are hung here and there, printed with quotations from the Bible and showing images of snowy mountains, autumn forests, and other ‘exotic’ winter landscapes. The left wing of the auditorium contains a special point devoted to prayer against witchcraft attacks. A small notice with ‘witchcraft house’ written on it indicates the space. Nearby is another sign saying ‘Free Wi-Fi’ to highlight the availability of the internet connection provided by the Prayer City browser. The huge auditorium is filled with thousands of white plastic chairs. The seats are arranged in banks like the sections of a stadium. From each seat, believers can easily see and hear those near the altar, also thanks to several large video screens and speakers. The dominating color at Prayer City is purple, which is also the MFM’s official colour. The altar is considered the place where believers connect with the divine and its miraculous power. The huge image adorning the altar – personally designed by Shade Olukoya – represents a passage of the Bible, John 1:51: ‘And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man’ (King James Bible). The image shows a wide blue sky with angels descending from a stairway connecting heaven and earth. A quotation from the Book of Genesis 28:16 stating: ‘Surely the Lord is in this Place’ dominates the image. The altar is beautified with a large red carpet, colored curtains, rosettes, plastic flowers, and plants. The MFM logo, showing a black mountain on fire and three messages from the Bible saying ‘Fire in the Words’ (Jeremiah 23:29), ‘Fire on the Mountain’ (Deuteronomy 4.11), and ‘Fire in the Bones’ (Jeremiah 20:9) decorates the large glass pulpit at the centre of the altar. When believers visit Prayer City, they usually go to the altar to pray. They lie on its red carpet and roll on it over and over, moving from one crazy world, crazy faith! prayer, power and transformation 255 side to the other, praying, crying, and passionately talking to God. They often hold pictures of people they love, or their passports, visa documents, work papers, and all kinds of objects that they want to be blessed. Proximity to the power of the altar is deemed to yield spiritual empowerment to individuals, because it is believed to be the place directly connected with heaven, where prayers are easily heard and answered by God. The Prayer City auditorium and its premises provide the setting within which mass deliverance and healing prayers take place. There are several large-scale events which have made Prayer City popular, such as huge deliverance conferences, the MFM Annual Watch-Night Service, and the ‘Power Must Change Hands’ program, the last taking place every first Saturday of the month. These events are charged with an uncommon emotional power, especially when the charismatic leader, Olukoya, leads the prayer sections. From the pulpit, he delivers his messages and leads the massive crowd of almost one million people in their desperate and furious prayer. Every time, the crowd welcomes him with a mysterious and reverential silence. This intermediate moment of silence is marked by an enigmatic ‘change’ of energy. In silence, the crowd recomposes itself and prepares itself, like a lion about to attack its prey. Olukoya starts his prayer section by asking the crowd to shout a loud ‘Hallelujah’. The response is a powerful sound which invades the auditorium and its premises and shakes everyone to their bones. The following prayers engage the crowd in a desperate fight against evil spirits. The war between the spiritual warriors of MFM and the army of darkness takes place under the guidance of Olukoya. Altogether, one million believers break demonic bondages, evil foundations, spirit possessions, family links to idols, witchcraft, false religions, and ancestral curses and attack the power of the marine spirits possessing political leaders. They always include a special prayer section to deliver Nigeria from the power of the ‘Mami Wata’ and the evil yoke of corruption, greed, and lust. They first raise their hands to the sky to receive and send ‘Fire’ and then perform all the required movements, again with their hands. Thousands of men and women fight their battle against demonic spirits and manifest the miraculous touch of the Holy Spirit by throwing their bodies to the ground, crushing the chairs, shaking, trembling, rolling, and screaming at the top of their voices. The smell, sound, touch, and sight of so many people furiously praying is overpowering. In these moments of maximum excitement, the vibration of the crowd generates a warm light wind filled with the smell emanating from the rising temperature of their bodies. There is no other audible sound except prayer and no space to go without being touched, pushed, or knocked down by a man or woman raising their arms to the sky or falling 256 annalisa butticci on the ground. The massive movement and sound of the crowd and the multi-sensory experience of this spiritual and social catharsis are all overwhelming. Prayer City contributes in important ways to the very meaning of MFM prayer and to the shape and content of the source of power of that prayer in contemporary Nigerian society. It facilitates the gathering of an impressive crowd of prayer warriors, who find in the power of the consecrated space and in the experience of the crowd the source of their spiritual and social empowerment. In this sense, Prayer City shapes the content of a religious system in its very essence of religio, so that social bonds are fully achieved in the moments of mass excitement that unite the crowd (Arnason and Roberts 2004). The prayers, aggressively recited and enacted by each individual at the same time and in the same way, allow believers to experience what Canetti called the liberating, transformational and redemptive power of the crowd (1973). He describes the fusion of individuals in a crowd as a transformation that negates a whole pre-existing order and opens up a new field of possibility. The crowd at prayer negates the urban and post-colonial fears of Lagosians. The unknown, anonymous neighbors and fear of exposure and touch are neutralised by the experience of the compression of bodies. The crowd is the reversal of the fear of being touched, release from the constant effort of avoiding physical contact with anything strange, and the feeling of relief in surrendering to the crowd (Canetti, in Arnason and Roberts 2004:92). The creativity of the crowd at prayer lies in its subverting political project of freedom, liberation, and equality. In the crowd, distinctions are rendered null and all feel equal when no one person is greater or better than another. According to Canetti (1973:32), ‘one might even define a crowd as a state of absolute equality’. That vision of equality is an important aspect of MFM doctrine. According to Olukoya, individuals share the same confrontation with evil powers. He wrote, ‘No exception. No matter how educated you are, you are not exempted. Scientists, smart businessmen, those who are in the military, as well as those who have travelled over the world, are all victims of the power of their fathers’ house’ (Olukoya 2004:10). At Prayer City, there are no special seats reserved for important personalities. Followers can sit anywhere and find themselves praying and holding the hands of their unknown neighbors. Those who wish to sit close to the altar usually go to Prayer City the night before the event. They spend the night on the ground, just to be sure that they will enjoy the best view of their leader delivering his speech and leading the prayer sections. crazy world, crazy faith! prayer, power and transformation 257 As Boch (2009:285) aptly argued, the crowd not only liberates individuals and communities from the fear of being touched, ‘the crowd incident destabilizes existing power structures, creates a momentary equality and freedom, and in that sense empowers the individual in a common act’. That sense of equality is in clear contrast with contemporary Nigerian hierarchical forms and social structures. Nigeria is one of the most highly developed economies in Africa. And yet more than 70% of Nigerians live below the poverty line, while the rest hold immense wealth and live in shameless opulence. But within the crowd all are equal, individuals are ‘a live drop in one single flood, one ocean, and each single drop wants the same thing’ (Canetti 1984:461), in this case, divine salvation and social redemption. The crowd at prayer in its collective addressing of the plagues of Nigerian society represents a counter-society, a critique to established structures. For Canetti, the fusion of the individual in the crowd is a transformation that negates and subverts the pre-existing order and open up new fields of possibility. In this respect, the crowd at prayer is a political body, an agent of potentiality and creativity. It provides an effective liberating energy that relates precisely with its fundamental equality. Prayer City itself, the setting, and relational placement of believers all convey an egalitarian message that redefines existing social relations.7 As Boch also noted, the idea of the liberating effect of the crowd clearly recalls Durkheim’s theory of ‘collective effervescence’. I also observe close parallels with Turner’s vision of ‘communitas’ and its subversive effect on social structures and the alienating constraints oppressing people (See also Olaveson 2001). In his study on pilgrimage as sacred ‘peripherality’ (1974), Turner also conceptualized these spaces as ‘the centre out there’ whereby the ritual movement in pilgrimage culminates in a liminal moment of ‘communitas’ that was anti-structural and anti-hierarchical, releasing an egalitarian sociality and amity. Prayer City thus embodied an alternative ethical order, defined by new relations of power and authority. The MFM communitas and its moments of collective effervescence represent revitalizing forces that, together with the power of the crowd, embody that same vital force that African societies attribute to close contact with transcendental powers. The power of the regime of emotion created at Prayer City contributes immensely to the shaping of a new vision of social order. As Riis and Woodhead argued: 7 See, in particular, Kilde (2008) in his work on the Sacred Space. 258 annalisa butticci Emotional life can be imagined as a field of forces in which energies are charged or released. How a person or group feels affects its capacity to act, and the power of a community to shape and coordinate feelings may lend it wider social power. …Religions characteristically inculcate long-lasting moods and motivations that provide a general orientation towards life and death. As such they reach deep into human identity, both personal and collective, and cannot be easily changed or discord. (2010:210) Conclusion MFM prayers are a Nigerian institution, serving several vital functions. They express Nigerian myths and rites, dogma and history, fears and dreams. They encompass moral formulae and the vision of a new social order. Its Nigerian historicity is visible in its reiteration of the community’s past and myths. Prayer represents a Nigerian institution, acting as a counter-narrative of social and spiritual redemption that may thus be a positive and regenerative force, re-classifying and re-writing the history of Nigerian society and creating order against the confusion of the post-colonial state. Through the teaching and practice of strict techniques of prayer, bodily discipline, and determination, MFM proposes a new social order and a new model of individual and collective empowerment. According to MFM, prayer is power and power is life. In this sense, the crowd at prayer is also a celebration of life, a political response to the daily fear of failure and death, especially in a city like Lagos, able at one and the same to exalt human talent and reveal the misery of human annihilation. The question of the body, the physical, and the power of the crowd at prayer, its growth and density are essential for MFM spiritual warfare. Prayer City is still under construction, and there are still many interventions which the church is planning to achieve. In May 2010, Olukoya inaugurated a new ambitious project: the construction of the largest deliverance stadium in the world, with a capacity for more than 500,000 people. At the inauguration ceremony, he stated: It is well established that the Prayer City is a place that connects the world to God through prayers and more so ignites the fire of apostolic revivals and blessings. The vision is to build a world-class deliverance stadium and conference centre to take care of the deliverance needs of the children of God, as well as new converters in the world. (Olukoya 2011) The crowd is life, and its urge for growth is a propensity to promote this life ever further, that is, to incorporate new bodies and liberate more crazy world, crazy faith! prayer, power and transformation 259 individuals. In short, therefore, the tendency is at once to expand and intensify bodily compression is the crowd’s fundamental contribution to life. The ultimate question is: What happens after prayer? What happens after the crowd has dispersed? MFM prayer warriors will probably not knock violently on the doors of the corrupted leaders who sold out the dreams of the Nigerian founding fathers of freedom and justice to the global system of massive economic exploitation of African resources. They will not go to the rich neighborhoods of Lagos, demanding that the owners of the big villas share their wealth. This does calm sceptical observers who see in MFM and other Nigerian mega-churches the fruits of another system of accumulation of wealth in the hands of religious leaders. The same observers would see in the MFM prayer only an irrational and unreasonable act. However, it would be extremely over simplistic to observe the millions of people praying with fury and fierceness as a purely unreasonable response to their problems. The transformative power of MFM prayer lies in its embodied aesthetic practices. MFM Prayer City is an emotional and dissenting space where the crowd becomes a political body and the voice of the crowd tells a passionate Nigerian postcolonial counter-narrative of equality, freedom and liberation from old and new oppressive power. References Ammerman, Nancy T. 2003. ‘Religious Identities and Religious Institutions’. Pp. 31–44 in Michelle Dillon (ed.) 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Olukoya, Daniel, et al. 1994. ‘Production of DogiK: An Improved Ogi (Nigerian Fermented Weaning Food) with Potentials for Use in Diarrhoea Control’. Journal of Tropical Pediatrics 40(2):108–13. Olukoya, Daniel. 2010. Crazy World, Crazy Faith. Power Must Change Hands program. Lagos: Battle Cry Christian Ministry. Olupona, Jacob. 1991. Kingship, Religion and Rituals in a Nigerian Community. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International. _____. 2001. African Spirituality: Forms, Meanings and Expressions. New York: Herder & Herder. Pace, Enzo. 2011. Religion as Communication. God’s Talk. Burlington, Vermont: Ashgate Pargament, Kenneth. 1997. The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research, Practice, New York: Guilford Press. Peel, John. 1995. ‘For Who Hath Despised the Days of Small Things? Missionary Narratives and Historical Anthropology in Comparative Studies’. Society and History 37(3):581–607. _____. 2003. Religious Encounter and the Making of the Yoruba. 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Swatos, William H., Jr. 1982. ‘The Power of Prayer: A Prolegomenon to an Ascetical Sociology.’ Review of Religious Research 24(2):153–163. Turner, Victor. 1969. The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-structure, Chicago: Aldine. Ukah, Asonzeh. 2011. Die Welt erobern, um das Himmelreich zu errichten. Pringstkirchen, Prayer Camps und Stadtentwicklung in Lagos./Conquering the Earth to Make Heaven: Pentecostalism, Prayer Camps and Development in Nigeria. In Jochen Becker et al. (eds.) Urban Prayers. Neu religiöse Bewegungen in der globalen Stadt. (Metrozones 10). Hamburg: Assoziation A. Weber, Max. 1969. The Sociology of Religion. Boston: Beacon Press. ESTABLISHING A ‘CULTURE OF PRAYER’: HOLISTIC SPIRITUALITY AND THE SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION OF CONTEMPORARY EVANGELICALISM Sebastian Schüler In the last decade hundreds of different prayer movements and prayer networks coming from various religious backgrounds have emerged on a global and local level. Some of them organize prayer activities across regional institutions and groups. Some became global networks or movements featuring particular topics such as health, spiritual warfare, or civic engagement, sometimes focusing on particular geographical regions or on building transnational religious communities (Schüler 2008). Even though prayer can be considered an ancient religious practice, it has recently become a popular religious activity in all sorts of faiths and religious traditions (Giordan 2012). In order to find answers to the question why prayer has become so popular in recent times and how this emphasis on prayer as a spiritual practice transforms religious communities and identities, I will examine a particular Christian prayer movement called 24-7 Prayer. The 24-7 Prayer movement was founded in England in 1999 and has since become one of the most popular and perhaps most influential prayer movements in the Evangelical Christian world. Thanks to its great emphasis on prayer as an everyday activity as well as its emphasis on social justice and community life, the movement can be characterized as part of an emerging post-modern Evangelicalism with an interdenominational perspective (Bielo 2011). These ‘New Evangelicals’ (Pally 2011) search for a more moderate Evangelical identity, a fresh ‘story’ (Markham 2010) that no longer identifies Evangelicals with the Christian Right or with a conservative religious tradition that fights against the devil materialized in same sex marriage, abortion, or Islam. Rather these emerging ‘New Evangelicals’ turn towards such issues as social engagement, climate change, interreligious dialogue, and ‘spiritual holism’. This general trend towards the political left can be understood as part of a broader transformation within Evangelical and charismatic Christianity, including diverse but overlapping organizations and movements such as the ‘Red Letter Christians’ or ‘Sojourners’. Marcia Pally assumes that already about 25 per cent of American Evangelicals are part of this new expression (Pally 2011). 264 sebastian schüler Certainly, these ‘New Evangelicals’ – to take this as a more general descriptive term – neither represent a homogeneous movement, nor do they all call for prayer as a directing spiritual practice. Yet, for some particular movements among these New Evangelicals, prayer has become a social and spiritual practice to communicate, establish, and incorporate this new identity. Especially in the 24-7 Prayer movement, prayer is seen as a way to integrate spirituality, creativity, social engagement, and missionary efforts holistically into everyday life. While the term ‘New Evangelicals’ can only be used to indicate a broader transformation in contemporary Evangelicalism, I want to focus on the 24-7 Prayer movement in order to demonstrate how central aspects of a ‘holistic spirituality’ are merged with the practice of prayer in order to create this new identity. The term ‘holistic spirituality’ is more typical in the so-called ‘esoteric milieus’ and among New Agers, but can also be found among Evangelical Christians, as this investigation will demonstrate. By drawing on my own fieldwork, I want to discuss how this particular prayer movement aims for ‘holistic spirituality’, what the understanding of holism is, and how this concept is put into practice. I will argue that prayer is conceived as a tool for negotiating religious identities in post-modern societies, which helps believers to simultaneously focus on their own subjective life as well as on their role in society. Hence, prayer in this movement is understood as holistic because it connects subjective experiences with social actions as well as the spiritual with everyday life. This article aims for a deeper look into the question of how prayer became so popular as a form of ‘holistic spirituality’ and how it is now used to indicate religious transformations. In this investigation prayer is therefore understood primarily as a social practice that shapes both religious organizations as well as individual spirituality. The exploration of this particular prayer movement aims to contribute to a better sociological understanding of the transformations and dynamics of religious ritual life and identity at the dawn of the twenty first century, and promises new empirical and theoretical insights for the study of ‘holistic spirituality’ and prayer as an instance of it. Researching Holistic Spirituality and Prayer as an Instance of It Although a hundred years ago the famous French sociologist of religion Marcel Mauss (2003) described prayer as a social core principle of religion establishing a ‘culture of prayer’: contemporary 265 that links thinking with action and rites with myths, scholars of religion have neglected prayer as an object in its own right for a long time. For the last several decades, prayer as an object of research was left to psychologists who were basically interested in the efficacy of prayer in relation to healing processes. These questions dominated the field for many years and had a strong impact on the broader understanding of prayer in the public sphere since the 1960s, as American sociologist of religion Wendy Cadge (2009) pointed out. Nowadays, we are witnessing a revival of sociological and other research on prayer. The recent popularity of prayer in many religious movements has also attracted the interest of scholars from various disciplines who now search for new scientific insights concerning the function and role of prayer in modern societies and as an anthropological condition (Wuthnow 2008; Schjoedt et al. 2009; Giordan 2012). Even though this development can be considered a prerequisite towards the study of prayer in and of itself, more qualitative research is necessary in order to understand better the current popularity of prayer and its impact on the social transformations of religion and spirituality. This new interest in prayer is expanding the range of research methods. Surveys, for instance, were used in the sociology of religion for a long time to measure the frequency and quantity of prayers.1 From today’s perspective, ethnographic works on religions have become more and more valuable in order to get a bigger picture of how believers negotiate their subjective experiences and social interactions in specific social and cultural settings. And still more qualitative and ethnographical work is needed in order to gain further insights on how the social and subjective dimensions of prayer are linked. The practice of prayer is therefore a suitable object of research as it consists of subjective as well as social forms of belief, and also shapes the way believers interact and communicate with each other. As Mauss (2003:36) further pointed out: ‘Instead in seeing in individual prayer the principle behind collective prayer, we are making the latter the principle behind the former’. He already noticed how deeply the configuration of the social group in which the prayer is taking place and its social context shape the practice itself and its representations. Accordingly, research on prayer needs to take both sides into account: the impact of prayer on the social and on the individual. Similarly, Giuseppe Giordan recently emphasized that praying cannot be observed separately from power, relationships, and institutions (2012:83). While the contents 1 National Opinion Research Center, October 2009. Pew Research Center, 2007. 266 sebastian schüler of prayers had been the focus of attention of most prior studies, more research is needed that highlights its functions as a cultural symbol, social capital, embodying practice, or identity marker. My own research objective follows this perspective and asks how the idea of prayer rooms, continual prayer chains, and the foundation of prayer communities – as promoted in the 24-7 Prayer movement – have transformed the identity of the believers, their interactions with each other and non-believers, and their ways of religiously organizing and networking. For my research on prayer I conducted ethnographic fieldwork in various places between 2009 and 2011. This sort of multi-sited ethnography is owed to the fact that the 24-7 Prayer movement is a globally-linked network with small local prayer communities particularly across Europe and the US. The data were collected during several short-term field expeditions in England, Germany, Macedonia, and the Isle of Ibiza (Spain). The data consist of open-structured, narrative interviews, participatory observation, books published by one of the main founders of the movement, as well as an abundance of online-texts and videos posted on the movement’s website.2 This research included observations of small-group prayer meetings, activities of social engagement, and Sunday services with guest speakers, community-meals, and social activities. I was also present at the annual European and International gathering of the movement. Let me add a brief personal note that I approached this movement as a researcher in the field of religious studies and have no personal affiliation with the movement whatsoever. Members of the movement were fully informed about my research and my role in the field, and they were very open to my questions and my attendance at different events. On-site observation revealed, in particular, that the 24-7 Prayer movement not only represents a form of popular religious culture but is also part of a broader religious transformation often referred to as ‘emerging church’ or ‘New Evangelicalism’. These ‘New Evangelicals’ search for a third way between conservative Evangelicalism and Christian liberalism. They see God’s Kingdom as already present on earth and as materializing through their actions. Accordingly, they emphasize social engagement and care for the poor, the homeless, and other issues of social justice; they are further concerned about climate change and support the purchase of fair trade products. They want to participate in societies and therefore adjust themselves to local cultures. They understand church as ‘emerging’ 2 See: http://www.24-7prayer.com. establishing a ‘culture of prayer’: contemporary 267 or ‘organic’3 in order to emphasize that church should not be an institution but rather a constantly changing organism. They embrace cultural pluralism and reject religious fundamentalism and yet still see themselves as Evangelicals who take the Bible as the Word of God. Mission is usually understood as exemplifying one’s faith to other people through one’s own life and actions. In order to combine all these aspects, they often call for a ‘balanced’ religious attitude, a ‘holistic’ spirituality that is neither too extreme nor too liberal. In the 24-7 Prayer movement, prayer became a tool to achieve this balance between mission and justice, between subjective experiences and social action, and between religious commitment and everyday life. On the basis of the findings that I have sketched out briefly thus far, I asked myself how we should understand ‘holistic spirituality’ and why we find it in an Evangelical movement? How did prayer become such a core spiritual practice for many emerging Evangelical movements? Certainly spirituality has become a widespread term and practice among religious believers as well as a concept in the sociology of religion (Tacey 2004; Flanagan and Jupp 2007). Interestingly enough, it is sometimes not clear whether ‘spirituality’ is to be treated as a term used by believers or as a scientific concept; more clarification on this would be helpful (Wood 2009). However, many believers prefer to call themselves spiritual rather than religious (Fuller 2001). This tendency usually expresses a critique of institutionalized forms of religion and at the same time highlights the role of feelings and experiences in expressing subjective forms of religiosity, as sociologist Linda Woodhead pointed out: It is this general subjective turn, we suggest, which can help explain the more particular shift within the sphere of the sacred which has seen forms of religion which appeal to the higher authority of a transcendent God decline relative to forms of spirituality which offer to put people in touch with the spiritual dimension of their own unique lives. Thus we view the growth of holistic spirituality since the 1960s as the sacralisation of the wider cultural turn to subjective life. (Woodhead 2007:116) Accordingly, Woodhead speaks of a ‘holistic milieu’ that has become dominant since the 1960s and which now represents a very popular version of spirituality. Typically, in this holistic milieu we can find individuals who practice Yoga, Reiki, forms of spiritual healing, astrology, or shamanism, and who usually reject the term religious but embrace terms like holism 3 During my fieldworks many members of the 24-7 Prayer movement referred to Neil Cole’s book Organic Church (Cole 2005). 268 sebastian schüler and spirituality. ‘Holistic spirituality’ is often characterized as a practice or worldview that aims to integrate culturally determined dichotomous concepts such as the opposition between body and mind, nature and culture, or the rational and irrational. These felt dichotomies are then thought to be overcome through holistic practices in order to ‘heal’ or ‘balance’ the inner-selves of the practitioners (Heelas 2008). In addition, members of the diffuse holistic milieu search for an authentic personality and higher consciousness (Höllinger and Tripold 2012:26). In order to achieve these goals, believers make use of bodily and experiential practices such as meditation, prayer, yoga, the laying on of hands, and therapeutic exercises or massage. Furthermore, ‘holistic spirituality’ is often considered as ‘happening’ outside of churches and traditional religions. Paul Heelas (2008:27) even states ‘spiritualities of life can readily be distinguished from spiritualities associated with the God of transcendent theism’. Taking the emerging ‘New Evangelicals’ into account, we get a different picture of a transforming religious landscape in which ‘holistic spiritualities’ cannot be reduced to the New Age phenomenon anymore. Gordon Lynch (2007), for instance, speaks of a broader emerging phenomenon that he calls ‘progressive spirituality’. He sees this progressive spirituality represented in a ‘progressive milieu’ to which he refers as a diffuse collection of individuals, organizations and networks across and beyond a range of religious traditions that are defined by a liberal or radical approach to religious belief and/or a green or left-of-centre set of political attitudes and commitments (Lynch 2007:10). According to Lynch, ‘progressive or holistic spirituality’ is a ‘cluster of related ideas and values (…) which should not be seen as a monolithic world view to which all those sympathetic to this spirituality necessarily subscribe in every detail’ (2007:41). Those values and ideas can contain different ideologies such as the sacralisation of the self, or of nature, the immanent divine or forms of mysticism, but also the goal of social change. However, members of the 24-7 Prayer movement should not be confused with Christians who are sympathetic to esotericism. The 24-7 Prayer movement can indeed be called a charismatic-Evangelical Christian movement that at the same time incorporated some aspects of so-called ‘holistic spirituality’. In due course, this does not mean that spirituality is also replacing traditional religion. Rather, we can suppose that these ‘new spiritualities’ are making an impact on traditional religions. Some sociologists of religion establishing a ‘culture of prayer’: contemporary 269 such as Linda Woodhead, Paul Heelas, or Hubert Knoblauch already assumed that certain forms of ‘holistic spirituality’ could be found in the Christian milieu, particularly in the Evangelical context (Heelas and Woodhead 2005; Knoblauch 2009). And I will argue that this is particularly true for the European context where Evangelical Christianity is increasing while traditional churches loose members. At the same time, these ‘New Evangelicals’ undergo a dramatic institutional change, with new networks and loose movements emerging. The 24-7 Prayer movement can be understood as a case study of this broader transformation. Members and affiliates of this movement often remain in their church or congregation while taking over some core principles promoted by the movement such as prayer, hospitality, or social engagement. Those who find a new spiritual home at 24-7 Prayer may not stay forever in or cooperate with other local Christian parishes and charities. This field certainly needs more empirical research in order to show what kind of ‘holistic spirituality’ we can find there, how it is understood, and why it became so attractive to Christian believers.4 It is likely – as I will suggest here – that ‘holistic spirituality’ particularly can be found in the emerging new Evangelical context and that it is closely tied to the practice of prayer and the idea of social activism. Not only do we find a shift from institutionalized religion to more subjective spirituality in the 24-7 Prayer movement but also the use of prayer as a resource for taking up personal responsibility for the needy and the environment, for experiencing one’s self in the here and now, and for structuring one’s everyday life. Prayer in this movement is therefore treated and referred to as a ‘holistic’ practice. In order to demonstrate the role and understanding of prayer in this particular movement and how prayer is used to transform everyday life, I will now turn to a more detailed description of the movement itself. Prayer as Spiritual Practice and Popular Culture: Introducing the 24-7 Prayer Movement as a Case Study Shortly after Pete Greig, one of the founders of the 24-7 Prayer movement, launched the first prayer room in 1999 where young people could experiment with prayer, a new movement was born. The initial idea was to set up a prayer room in a local church in Chichester in order to have young 4 For an investigation on holistic spirituality in the Catholic Church see Giordan 2009. 270 sebastian schüler Christians pray inside the room and express their prayers creatively. The goal was to keep up a prayer chain that runs 24 hours a day and seven days a week for two months. The idea was so successful that other churches adopted the concept in order to carry on the chain, and in this way they formed a network of prayer rooms. The network grew into an international organization in no time, connecting thousands of local prayer rooms in dozens of nations via the internet. This way the network also formed an imagined global prayer-community, as we can read from the international website: At this very moment someone, somewhere is praying; maybe through word, thought, flowing through a pen or painted on a wall, they’re speaking to their creator. In 24-7 Prayer Rooms in any number of countries, from different streams of the Church, Christians are learning to pray by praying.5 The movement sees itself as a catalyst or prayer-hub, a platform that connects like-minded Christians, regardless of their denominational background, who have a passion for prayer. In addition, 24-7 Prayer became itself a brand for prayer in the Christian milieu and is now shaping and promoting a ‘culture of prayer’ through establishing local prayer communities, prayer events, international 24-7 gatherings, and just recently also prayer and discipleship courses. This way the movement aims to promote prayer as an all-purpose tool and an easy-to-access practice that can change personal lives as well as whole societies. Particularly the aspect of expressing prayers creatively takes on a key role in popularizing the concept of prayer rooms and prayer as a spiritual practice. Prayer rooms are usually designed in a way that allows people to get creative in their prayers. The so-called ‘Center for Spiritual Life Development’ organized by the Salvation Army offers in cooperation with 24-7 Prayer an online manual on how to make up a prayer room, in which several prerequisites are listed. The manual tells that it is essential that a room be set aside for prayer throughout the week in order to keep the momentum moving forward. The prayer room needs to be large enough to have about ten people in there at any given time. People will need plenty of room to move around and to be creative.6 Besides the Bible, other essential items listed on the manual that need to be in a prayer room are daily newspapers, a prayer room journal, cosy 5 http://www.24-7prayer.com/prayer 25/5/2012. 6 Online document ‘how to’ guide. See http://www.salvationarmy.org/csld/ 247prayerhowto establishing a ‘culture of prayer’: contemporary 271 seating, a music-player and instruments, symbolic items such as a cross or a candle, and a prayer-wall which is a wall covered in paper in order to write down prayers, poems, verses from the Bible, prayer topics, answered prayers, and so forth. This way, believers actively create the prayer rooms with their paintings and drawings and leave traces for others to catch up on their prayers. By promoting prayer as creativity all senses are addressed and the practice of praying becomes extended beyond the aspect of communication to the aspect of performing spirituality. Engaging one’s own spirituality through creative performance simultaneously makes the believer part of a whole prayer movement. The believer can cultivate subjective experiences without belonging to a certain denomination and even without belonging to the 24-7 Prayer movement. The movement promotes prayer as a practice everyone is capable of without any religious knowledge required. They popularize prayer as a starting point from where unexpected and impossible things could become real. Everyone is thought to be able to start something big from praying. This way, the movement places the individual person at center stage and at the same time the individual creates and drives the movement’s dynamic. Soon after this self-accelerating network started, some local prayer communities were founded where people organize their daily lives around prayer. Today about a dozen of these so-called ‘Boiler-Rooms’ exist primarily in Europe and the U.S.A. These prayer communities are similar to house churches with a small leadership team but no full time pastor. In their book PunkMonk: New Monasticism and the Ancient Art of Breathing, Andy Freeman and Pete Greig (2007), two of the founding members of the movement, not only try to attach the idea of the ‘Boiler-Rooms’ to historic predecessors such as the Celtic monastic tradition but also unfold certain spiritual and practical principles for such post-modern communities. Meetings are to be held mostly during the week in private houses in small groups or pairs to share meals and to pray. Rather than identifying with a certain religious congregation or parish, prayer becomes a vehicle that escorts and navigates the believer through the everyday. To do so, ‘BoilerRooms’ share a set of values and practices such as prayer, mission, hospitality, creativity, learning, and justice. In addition, pilgrimage receives new attention as a possible way to experience spirituality. Besides prayer, justice and mission play a major role for creating a religious identity. The communities strive to adapt themselves to local needs in order to become part of the local culture. To them, prayer became an applicable spiritual practice, a cornerstone in everyday life from which every activity starts and every decision is made or, as one member of a community in Germany 272 sebastian schüler fittingly said, ‘At 24-7 Prayer we say: ‘become the answer to your own prayers’’.7 This statement already characteristically indicates how prayers are used to organize everyday activities. Accordingly, a basic axiom of the movement is that prayer shall not be restricted to talk to God but always result in social actions, whether missional or charitable. Subsequently, the movement’s full name is ‘24-7 Prayer: Prayer, Mission and Justice’. Prayer as a spiritual practice thus functions as a way to bridge the subjective experience and the social dimension. ‘Boiler-Rooms’ therefore strive for cultivating a daily ‘rhythm of prayer’ (Freeman and Greig 2007:117–36) and thereby to sustain personal relationships between members of the prayer communities. In order to fit the practice of prayer with local culture prayer gets promoted as a way of doing culture. Early in the 2000s one of the first 24-7 Prayer missionary activities was organized on the Isle of Ibiza (Campbell 2004; Lau 2006). The island is famous for its club culture, particularly among British tourists, but also for tourists from all around Europe. This way Ibiza represented a perfect spot for the 24-7 Prayer movement to meet a lot of different people in a holiday environment where most people speak enough English to start a conversation. Ibiza also represented a fitting place for missionary activities because of the lively club culture, which turned out to be a way to approach people. Mission teams sent out by 24-7 Prayer went to nightclubs in order to meet clubbers and converse with them about spiritual experiences on the dance floor. During these encounters, the spiritual experience of praying was equated with the spiritual experience of dancing and clubbing. Moreover, members of the mission teams were themselves enthusiastic clubbers who took clubbing and dancing as a way to pray. Whether they were praising God through dancing or praying for people on the dance floor while dancing themselves, or talking to clubbers afterwards, the practice of prayer was turned into a part of this specific sub-culture. Prayer is therefore seen as a core spiritual practice to stay in the presence of God and to act in the world simultaneously, regardless of the action or location. Prayer as Socially-Engaged Spirituality Most religions have always had close ties with social issues and social engagement, often referred to as the ethical dimension of religion. Taking the aspects of the changing role of religion in modern societies, the public 7 Interview No. 7, 27/9/2010 (translation mine). establishing a ‘culture of prayer’: contemporary 273 discourses on religious fundamentalism, as well as the dynamics of social diffusion into account, there seems to be – as a reaction to these processes – a broader shift in many religions today towards social engagement; at least more scholars have of late highlighted this aspect of religions in the modern world (Safi 2003; Miller and Yamamori 2007; King 2009; Ebaugh 2010; Davis and Robinson 2012). However, social engagement seems to offer believers a way to engage in changing the world actively as well as changing their religious identity and thereby subjectively experiencing their religiosity. It remains difficult to state whether or not this development can be seen as a broader transformation of religion on a global scale, but at least we can assume that some forms of post-modern religiosity seem to be undergoing a shift not only towards subjectivity but also towards the social at the very same time. This turn towards social engagement and subjective forms of spirituality can also be found in contemporary Evangelicalism and can be considered as a new effort to produce alternative identities and Evangelical public images (Markham 2010:8). Topics concerning social issues such as hunger, homelessness, human trafficking, sustainability, or engaged neighborhoods have become new markers of identity whereas homosexuality, abortion, or health and wealth have fallen back into the second row. This does not mean that ‘New Evangelicals’ do not take these things seriously anymore, but they seem to look for another way to deal with them. Taking the increasing influence of the Evangelical Right in the U.S.A. on politics and social life since the 1980s, this development certainly marks a new era for Evangelicals in recent years. One turning point for this can be seen in the so-called ‘Evangelical Manifesto: A Declaration of Evangelical Identity and Public Commitment’ set up in 2008 and signed by dozens of Evangelical leaders in America and hundreds of sympathizers with this approach from around the world.8 This manifesto sets out a new direction for Evangelicals not to save souls through political agendas, which too often have led into culture wars, but to save souls by personal and civic engagement, by transforming society through direct participation. Yet, this focus on social engagement is not restricted to traditional religious groups but also plays a major role in the realm of spirituality. Gregory Stanczak, for instance, speaks of ‘engaged spirituality’ and points out that spirituality rather than being restricted to subjectivity plays an important social role (2006). While demonstrating how believers cultivate social 8 http://www.anEvangelicalmanifesto.com/. 274 sebastian schüler activism through spiritual practices, Stanczak calls into question whether the sociological divide between religion as a social phenomenon and spirituality in terms of a more subjective religious attitude is still valid. Without going into deeper theoretical discussions here it is important to emphasize that to better understand our case study we have to focus on how spiritual practices get combined with social activism and why this ‘engaged’ spirituality arises. In the 24-7 Prayer movement prayer provides a foundation for social engagement and activism. Many Evangelicals believe that the more people are praying the more God will bring about change in the world through those who pray. Accordingly, Evangelicals aim for social transformation not only through praying, but social engagement itself is often seen as a way of praying. This is why in the 24-7 Prayer movement prayer is understood as closely linked to justice and mission; they are treated as inseparable as they ‘holistically’ form a way of living the Christian faith in everyday-life. Brian Heasley, a former leader of ‘24-7 Prayer Ibiza’ stresses: We at 24-7 Prayer whether it be in Ibiza, a justice project, a council estate in England, a university campus in America, or some small church in Finland, believe that we will only see true transformation of the world through prayer. All our efforts in mission and justice will be futile unless they are born out of prayer and sustained by prayer.9 Justice and mission therefore look differently depending on the social and cultural environment and on the decisions made by believers through praying. The small community on Ibiza for instance has extended its focus over the years from mainly approaching club culture to taking care of drunken tourists. The movement runs a prayer room in downtown San Antonio next to one of the most famous bar-areas. During the summer several long-term and short-term mission teams support the 24-7 Prayer community. Four to five nights a week they walk around the bar-area and watch out for tourists who had too much to drink and probably are left alone somewhere sitting or lying in the street. Each night, the 24-7-team usually separates into two groups, one staying at the prayer room praying for the other group members who walk the streets in pairs of two’s. After one hour they change and those who prayed now enter the street. Usually they start their tour at about 11p.m. and continue until 4 or 5 o’clock in the morning. Once they find someone who appears to be in need of help, they 9 See: Heasley, Brian: Living on a Prayer, published online June 20th, 2011. Online resource: http://24-7prayer.com/features/1539. establishing a ‘culture of prayer’: contemporary 275 approach the person and ask how he or she is doing, offering water and handkerchiefs. If it turns out that the person is unable to find a way home alone, they offer a free ride with the ‘vomit van’, a mini-bus specially purchased for this purpose. If no one needs to be taken care of, teammembers walk around the bars, get into contact with tourists and barworkers, and sometimes give out free Bibles or ask for prayer requests. Those prayer-requests then get written down on prepared prayer-cards and brought back to the prayer room where they then pray for the person and the person’s request. This brief description shows how prayer is used as an all-sustaining practice and as a way to balance spiritual experiences and social activism. Prayer and social engagement are mutually attuned to each other in order to not let social engagement turn into another church-program that is run for the sake of religious activity. The overall goal of the 24-7 Prayer movement is to turn to social needs that a single person can accomplish pragmatically and not to start a social program or organization in order to solve a global problem. The idea of ‘holistic spirituality’ in this particular movement is thus to act as a whole person and not as a rack-wheel in some organization. They aim for personal spiritual development through taking up personal responsibility and relationships. Accordingly, prayer did not only become popularized by 24-7 Prayer through establishing prayer rooms but also through cultivating a ‘culture of prayer’ that works as a holistically engaged spiritual practice. This brief demonstration of how prayer is used as a socially engaged spirituality in the 24-7 Prayer movement now brings us to the question whether this can be considered as a broader transformation in contemporary Evangelicalism. Establishing a ‘Culture of Prayer’ as Holistic Spirituality? – Transformations of Contemporary Evangelicalism The question why prayer became so popular – and popularized – over the last decade is not an easy one to answer. One reason might be a broader transformation of Evangelicalism towards subjective spirituality and a political left-wing attitude that we already termed the ‘New Evangelicals’. Another reason might be found in a broader tendency to mistrust institutions and organisations, whether they are religious, national, or economic. Alongside these, a desire for authenticity and responsibility can also be presumed, as I want to sketch out briefly in the following. 276 sebastian schüler In the last twenty to thirty years many Evangelical churches and congregations developed and offered particular programs to attract non-believers and to motivate believers whose spiritual lives have flagged. In this particular Christian milieu church became an all-round faith-supporting agency with specially developed courses for all life-stages and situations. New forms of worship, music, and media-usage designed for a younger audience accompanied this modernization of church. The current Evangelical generation of thirty-somethings were brought up in churches with special youth programs and activities for everyone: a religious world that was separated from the mundane world and allowed believers to navigate through life in a secure religious environment. The establishment of Mega-Churches in the U.S. can be seen as a typical example of this development. Just like the ‘Christian Yellow Pages’10 enabled Evangelicals to call an Evangelical plumber, this religious world completely covered all aspects of life. At the same time, it is this generation that also experiences the fast-changing world, where people do not work at the same company for more than three to five years anymore and where marriage and starting a family typically takes place in one’s thirties rather than in one’s twenties. As Robert Wuthnow emphasized, it is also this generation that was missing more specialized church programmes: ‘Were the congregation to gear its programs to the interests of the majority, it would logically have programs for married people and for young adults with children, rather than for unmarried adults (2007:68). I want to argue that it is exactly this generation that now criticizes at least certain aspects of institutionalized forms of religion and aims for more authentic and experimental ways of living religiously. It is also this generation that seems to feel the urge to break free of a safe Christian environment to experience life with all its contradictions in order to ‘grow spiritually’. This tendency in Evangelicalism also expresses an attempt to overcome the contradictions between conservative and liberal values that have led to so-called ‘culture wars’ as it developed in the last thirty years (Hunter 1992). The currently emerging forms of religiosity inside and outside of Evangelicalism can therefore be characterized as post-modern forms of religiosity that put forward a strong scepticism against religious institutions and programs. Taking this development as a blueprint for Evangelicalism in the last decade, we get a clearer picture why the ‘New Evangelicals’ aim for an 10 See: www.christianyellowpages.com. establishing a ‘culture of prayer’: contemporary 277 alternative spiritual approach and why we can read the following confession in the ‘Evangelical Manifesto’: We confess that we Evangelicals have betrayed our beliefs by our behavior…. We have replaced biblical truths with therapeutic techniques, worship with entertainment, discipleship with growth in human potential, church growth with business entrepreneurialism, concern for the church and for the local congregation with expressions of the faith that are churchless and little better than a vapid spirituality, meeting real needs with pandering to felt needs, and mission principles with marketing precepts. In the process we have become known for commercial, diluted, and feel-good gospels of health, wealth, human potential, and religious happy talk, each of which is indistinguishable from the passing fashions of the surrounding world (2008:11). In a similar manner, the 24-7 Prayer movement offers believers a way to personally engage themselves through the practice of prayer without making confessions for a particular congregation. Prayer rather serves as a spiritual practice to create a certain structure in everyday-life that at the same time allows them to get creative in their actions. This way, the movement helps believers to negotiate their religious biographies between personal needs and social deeds. Prayer thus shapes the awareness of the believers’ subjectivity and offers orientation in everyday-life. Giuseppe Giordan highlights a similar aspect when he writes: ‘Prayer can become a kind of continual process so that even daily activities become transformed and are seen in a different way’ (Giordan 2012:82). At 24-7 Prayer we can therefore find both a critique of religious programs that are too narrow and an emphasis on prayer as a way to structure everyday-life through continuity in prayer. As one 24-7 member from Germany pointed out: The structure or organization must always serve the goals and not the other way around. We do not want to become slaves of our own structures, or programmes, or organizations, but we reach out for freedom and for structures that truly serve who we are and who we encounter.… At the moment we’re focusing on sharing our lives with the community, very organically. Most of us work or are parenting and we aim to combine all these things into our daily lives and to integrate other people into it, or to integrate ourselves into the lives of others, so it is less about programmes and more about people, and to live a relationship with God and with people and to see where to do one’s bit.11 11 Interview No. 7, 27/9/2010, p. 15–16 (Interview translation mine). 278 sebastian schüler Other Evangelical churches developed similar strategies by making use of prayer. Billy Humphrey for instance, pastor at the International House of Prayer in Atlanta, wrote that ‘efforts to cultivate prayer through sermon series or special events only inspire for a short time. After a month or two, interest wanes and we return to the place we began, desiring and needing more prayer.’12 Humphrey is aware of the popularity prayer has received in recent times, even though he explains this phenomenon as due to the Holy Spirit. He then raises the intuitive question: ‘How then shall we heed the Spirit’s call to really engage with God’s heart?’ His answer represents not only a pragmatic but also sociologically informative solution: ‘Perhaps the answer is not adding additional prayer meetings or doing special events for prayer. Perhaps the answer can be found by shifting the culture of our church so that we don’t simply have prayer meetings, but rather we develop a prayer-based culture.’ This is a striking statement to which every sociologist of religion or religious studies scholar should pay extra attention. The suggested strategy presented here is not to add another religious program in order to enhance religiosity in terms of prayer. Rather, prayer should become the centre of all other activities. It should become a form of everyday ‘culture’. Interestingly enough, the International House of Prayer initiative, which aims also for nonstop-prayer and worship, was founded in the same year as the 24-7 Prayer movement, and also emphasizes a strong emphasis on issues of justice. Accordingly, both movements seem to aim at actively changing the church and cultivating prayer in similar ways. Taking these aspects into account, prayer movements such as 24-7 Prayer cannot only be explained in terms of charismatic awakenings such as the ‘Toronto blessing’ but as a form of social and religious protest against the institutionalization of religion and as an expression of a religious Zeitgeist. This protest against routinized forms of religions is implemented with the routinization of a spiritual practice, namely the cultivation of prayer. Rather than adding up prayer quantitatively through prayer-events, prayer indicates a new religious attitude that shapes a new religious identity. Conclusion Summarizing this analysis, the question why prayer has become so popular may be answered at least in part for some recent Evangelical and charismatic Christian movements. We have gained initial insights into 12 http://billyhumphrey.com/2011/03/22/developing-a-culture-of-prayer/. establishing a ‘culture of prayer’: contemporary 279 why religious agents propose to establish what they call a ‘culture of prayer’. This empirical evidence also indicates a transformation in and of religious organizations. Believers aim for new ways to combine and entangle religious activities, spiritual experiences, everyday culture, social life, and modern media into some form of existential feeling, of a purposeful life, authentic lifestyles, or what some believers call a ‘holistic spirituality’. Particularly the so-called ‘New Evangelicals’ seem to share the idea that to achieve this goal yet another religious program will not suffice. Rather they aim for a fundamental transformation of both religious identities and lifestyles, and religious organizations. Some movements that can be seen as part of these ‘New Evangelicals’ or at least as an expression of this wider emerging transformation turned to prayer in order to achieve these goals. The aim for ‘holistic spirituality’ can also be understood sociologically as a reaction to public discourses on religious fundamentalism and as an attempt to offer new ways to live a fully committed religious life without coming under the light of religious extremism. The main focus of the 24-7 Prayer movement is thus to indicate a shift away from institutionalized forms of religious practices such as emotionally laden Sunday church services toward a ‘daily rhythm of prayer’. Prayer in this case serves as a creative expression and embodiment of individual spirituality that simultaneously shapes the social form of religious interaction, organization, and civic engagement. According to these movements’ participants, prayer is not a program to run churches but a ‘lifestyle’ that changes society through taking up personal responsibility. The establishment of a culture of prayer as a ‘holistic spirituality’ can therefore be understood as an embodied orientation toward the world, a cultural architecture of direction that fundamentally engenders change in one’s everyday religious practices and identity. Prayer thus generates distinctive patterns of thought, language, and social orientation and enables Evangelicals to adapt themselves to a changing society. References Bielo, James. 2011. Emerging Evangelicals: Faith, Modernity, and the Desire for Authenticity. New York: New York University Press. Cadge, Wendy. 2009. ‘Saying Your Prayers, Constructing Your Religions: Medical Studies of Intercessory Prayer.’ Journal of Religion 89:299–327. Campbell, Heidi. 2004. ‘‘This Is My church’: Seeing the Internet and Club Culture as Spiritual Spaces.’ Pp. 107–21 in Lorne L. Dawson and Douglas E. Cowan (eds.) Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet. New York: Routledge. Cole, Neil. 2005. Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Live Happens. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 280 sebastian schüler Davis, Nancy J., and Robert V. Robinson. 2012. Claiming Society for God: Religious Movements and Social Welfare. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Ebaugh, Helen Rose. 2010. The Gülen Movement: A Sociological Analysis of a Civic Movement rooted in moderate Islam. Dordrecht: Springer. Flanagan, Kieran, and Peter C. Jupp, ed. 2007. A Sociology of Spirituality. Aldershot: Ashgate. Freeman, Andy, and Pete Greig. 2007. PunkMonk: New Monasticism and the Ancient Art of Breathing. Ventura, California: Regal Books. Fuller, Robert C. 2001. Spiritual but not Religious: Understanding Unchurched America. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Giordan, Giuseppe. 2009. ‘The Body between Religion and Spirituality.’ Social Compass 56(2):226–36. _____. 2012. ‘Toward a Sociology of Prayer.’ Pp. 77–88 in Giuseppe Giordan and William H. Swatos, Jr. (eds.) Religion, Spirituality and Everyday Practice. Heidelberg: Springer. Heelas, Paul. 2008. Spiritualities of Life: New Age Romanticism and Consumptive Capitalism. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. _____, and Linda Woodhead. 2005. The Spiritual Revolution: Why Religion is Giving Way to Spirituality. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Höllinger, Franz, and Thomas Tripold. 2012. Ganzheitliches Leben: Das holistische Milieu zwischen neuer Spiritualität und postmoderner Wellness-Kultur. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag. Hunter, James Davison. 1992. Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America. New York: Basic Books. King, Sally B. 2009. Socially Engaged Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Knoblauch, Hubert. 2009. Populäre Religion. Auf dem Weg in eine spirituelle Gesellschaft. Frankfurt: Campus Verlag. Lau, Stella Sai-Chun. 2006. ‘Churched Ibiza: Evangelical Christianity and Club Culture.’ Culture and Religion 7(1):77–92. Lynch, Gordon. 2007. The New Spirituality: An Introduction to Progressive Belief in the Twenty-first Century. London: I.B. Tauris. Markham, Paul M. 2010. ‘Searching for a New Story: The Possibility of a New Evangelical Movement in the U.S.’ Journal of Religion and Society 12:1–22. Mauss, Marcel. 2003. On Prayer. Edited and with and Introduction by W.S.F. Pickering. Oxford: Berghahn Books. Miller, Donald E., and Tetsunao Yamamori. 2007. Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pally, Marcia. 2011. The New Evangelicals: Expanding the Vision of the Common Good. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans. Safi, Omid (ed.) 2003. Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. Schüler, Sebastian. 2008. ‘Unmapped Territories: Discursive Networks and the Making of Transnational Religious Landscapes in Global Pentecostalism.’ PentecoStudies 7(1): 46–62. Schjoedt, Uffe, Hans Stødkilde-Jørgensen, Armin W. Geertz, and Andreas Roepstorff. 2009. ‘Highly Religious Participants Recruit Areas of Social Cognition in Personal Prayer.’ Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience: 1–9. Stanczak, Gregory C. 2006. Engaged Spirituality: Social Change and American Religion. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. Tacey, David. 2004. The Spirituality Revolution: The Emergence of Contemporary Spirituality. Hove: Brunner-Routledge. Wood, Matthew. 2009. ‘The Nonformative Elements of Religious Life: Questioning the ‘Sociology of Spirituality’ Paradigm.’ Social Compass 56(2):237–48. Woodhead, Linda. 2007. ‘Why So Many Women in Holistic Spirituality? A Puzzle Revisited.’ Pp. 115–25 in Kieran Flanagan and Peter C. Jupp (eds.) A Sociology of Spirituality, Aldershot: Ashgate. Wuthnow, Robert. 2008. ‘Prayer, Cognition, and Culture.’ Poetics 36: 333–37. DOES IT MATTER WHETHER THE HOLY SPIRIT SPOKE TO FATIMA? Oleg Dik1 Prayer disrupts. While researching the emergence of Charismatic/ Pentecostal (C/P) groups/churches in Beirut, I found myself living and thinking within seemingly incommensurable life worlds. On the one hand, I was a research fellow at the German research institute, which embodied a sober, rationalized world order. On the other hand, I spent my evenings with the C/P believers who met in former bars, shopping malls, in church basements, and private houses; they danced, sweated, and shouted enthusiastically, and their prayers called down divine interventions into the immanent sphere, thereby questioning the definition of the real world my colleagues at the institute took for granted. This experience served as a trigger to the following article. The European conception of rationality has been advanced through the construction of religion as the other. Thus religious practices seemed to serve as a mirror by which rationality would become aware of itself. Plato criticized the gods and contrasted poets and philosophers. Only philosophers contributed to the real conception of the world, thereby leading toward progress through controlling the world by means of rational analysis. Similarly, approximately 2000 years later, Descartes sought to lay a firm rational foundation with the intent of somehow uniting a divided Europe plagued by contradicting religious claims that reinforced political strife and fueled wars waged in the name of God. Western rational discourse was forged through various stances towards religion. This history forms the background of understanding prayer today. C/P prayer can be seen as a creative act that calls down divine intervention, thus intruding upon the autonomous immanent human sphere. Conditioned by a historically circumscribed spatio-temporal immanence, this assertion creates a challenge in how to think and theorize C/P prayer. The strong historical tradition claiming the problematic nature between 1 I would like to thank my advisor, Prof. Dr. Andreas Feldtkeller, and participants of the research colloquium at the Department for Intercultural Theology and Religious Studies, Humboldt University, Berlin, who commented on my first draft of this paper and stimulated further reflection. 282 oleg dik the immanent and the transcendent serves as the major paradigm about any understanding of prayer. Reflection arises at the point when something appears as strange and discomforting. Prayer can be seen as such an interrupting reason, thus triggering reflection. It is understandable that people would create stark dichotomies in a situation of crisis. However, a deeper understanding must be forged beyond historically conditioned dichotomies. The following article is a modest attempt to follow this trajectory of discourse. I began to wonder if in fact, a C/P preacher who speaks divine action into being and a German scholar have more in common than what appears at first glance. I suggest that the relation between the ontology of the researcher and the research methodology on the one hand and the phenomena of prayer on the other is more intricate than what is often assumed, due to our historic background of understanding. My intention is not to argue for a certain ontological presupposition and method per se in studying prayer, but to show how certain ontological and methodological angles will sketch out the horizon of representing C/P prayer. Thus it is a hermeneutical view in outlining possible horizons in approaching and theorizing prayer. However, while presenting possible views on prayer, I will also conclude by outlining several reasons as to why a dialogical hermeneutical approach to prayer lends deeper insights into prayer phenomena than do other approaches. C/P prayers are uttered on different occasions. It is useful to focus on prayers that are intended to cause change. These prayers are referred to as petition or intercessory prayers (Harris 2010:217). The change invoked by these prayers can be material, such as for example, God intervening and changing the course of events, even miraculously repairing a damaged car. The change can also be perceived as mental and immaterial. Pentecostals believe that prayers lead to change of human attitudes towards an event or people. Moreover, God would intervene in the spiritual realm through various modes of relations to the evil spirits who threaten and attack the well-being of C/P believers. The C/P prayer can be performed in various ways and on different occasions. For example, a charismatic preacher lays his hands on the forehead of a kneeling person and exclaims, “In the name of Jesus I command you x (mentions a specific name of the evil spirit) to come out”. The person falls on her back and her tense facial muscles relax. She seems to transfer into a peaceful, trancelike state. Similarly, a prayer can be spoken against illness, civil unrest, or marriage problems. In all these cases, C/P believers attribute to their words a power that comes from the co-agency of the Holy Spirit. does it matter whether the holy spirit spoke to fatima? 283 According to the strong positivist verification criteria for meaning (Ayer 1936:15–40), the C/P claim about either God’s intervention or God speaking to the believers during prayer would be a meaningless assertion. Although positivists themselves criticized this strong version as too restrictive and self-contradictory, that perspective still influences the view of sociologists. Perhaps this strong form of positivism has been responsible for enduring blind eye of sociologists to the phenomenal global rise of the C/P Christianity and the prevalence of the secularization theory (On Euro secularity see Berger 2008:9–23). During my time as a research fellow at the German research institute in Beirut, on several occasions I was presented a surprising question: “Why are you investigating these weirdos?” This question implied that my research questions addressed a culture not worth studying, thus devoid of meaning. Daniel Dennet rejects the prayers of his friends for his physical recovery on the grounds of empirical verification criteria while at the same time contradicting these criteria by applying non-empirical, ethical criteria to his conception of science and religion (Dennett 2007). Today, these blatantly self-contradictory rejections of prayer as meaningless talk are rare to find after the decreased influence of positivist philosophy in the 1950’s. The question itself precedes and sketches out the nature and the horizons of the answer (Gadamer 1995:162). Therefore, the question has first to be believed as meaningful before time and energy is spent pondering it. One anthropologist friend told me that his research interest in the C/P movement stemmed from his interest in that kind of mass phenomenon. Due to the numerical growth of the C/P movements (Robbins 2004) it has become harder to dismiss their religious practices as insignificant. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that the philosophical critique of positivism emerged simultaneously with the numerical growth of the C/P movement, which emphasized God’s direct agency through the Holy Spirit. The definition of C/P prayer as meaningless random sounds was obviously contradicted by millions of C/P believers for whom prayer was meaningful. Thus a theoretical adjustment to this empirical finding was made in order to broaden the definition of meaning by describing the psychological, evolutionary, and social function of religious activities within their particular socio-cultural context. This adjustment allowed the researchers to see true reasons behind the surface phenomena, while maintaining their view of prayer as meaningless talk at best or concealment and manipulation at worst. Defining religion as “social systems whose participants avow belief in a supernatural agent or agents whose approval is to be sought” (Dennett 284 oleg dik 2006:9), Dennett seeks to explore why and how religious activities shape the lives of people. Accordingly, prayer has its roots in the divination practices of human ancestors as they were pressed to make decisions in order to survive in harsh natural conditions (Dennett 2006:132–35). A bio-evolutionary approach attempts to explain prayer as constructed in relation to the biological material context and cultural practices. However, Dennett commits a genetic fallacy by drawing a conclusion about the truth or falsity of religion from his genealogical account. A bio-evolutionary approach oversteps its disciplinary boundaries if it seeks to use a particular narration for bolstering a naturalist paradigm in interpreting religious phenomena. At this point, a dialogue must occur as to whether a naturalist methodology in sciences must presuppose a naturalist ontology. As researchers encounter harder presuppositions, the initial disciplinary approach to prayer will inevitably lead to deeper philosophical presuppositions. Karl Marx defines religion as an illusion which prevents people from facing the real world and effecting change in their lives (Marx 1982:171). Accordingly, the C/P prayer would be interpreted as an illusory practice concealing socio-economic injustices. The task of sociology would be to describe these processes in order to free the people from their illusionary practice and lead them on to true emancipation and autonomy (Marx 1982:178). Understanding the socio-cultural and evolutionary function of prayer broadens our understanding of why and how prayer works if the scholar is aware of his/her particular disciplinary angle, thus inviting complementary views in order to draw a fuller picture beyond just one particular predetermined definition. An ideological approach does not allow new and fresh perspectives to emerge as circularity and tautology is reaffirmed in the following way of reasoning: Religion is -p in contrast to the claim of theists/naturalists for whom religion is p. Prayer has the function x. This function refers to -p. Thus, while the theists/naturalists claim that religion is px, the function x of religion refers to – p. An anthropologist friend shared with me his experience while carrying out his field research. During the C/P worship and prayer time he began to feel some warm itching in his legs, which is usually interpreted by C/P believers as a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. He went on to interpret this experience as a bodily manipulation by the Pentecostal authority into a certain Pentecostal habitus. The rich empirical observation could have served as an opener for various possible conclusions. Instead, this experience cemented his prior ideological commitment, thus leading to the does it matter whether the holy spirit spoke to fatima? 285 reinforcement of a self-referential culture. The failure to engage and imagine a plurality of life worlds and truth claims leads therefore to the sterilization of the academic sphere and ultimately its irrelevance in the broader culture. Similarly, a C/P believer would instantly relate the feeling of warmth in his/her body to the activity of the Holy Spirit, excluding other causal-material explanations such as for example her neighbor spilling a warm drink in her lap while waving her hands during an ecstatic prayer. The juxtaposition of the material as primary cause or the immaterial such as ideas or superhuman agents depends on the particular ontology of the interpreter. Both views are arbitrary and more or less cohesive within their own framework of reference. An example from my fieldwork illustrates well the self-referential arbitrary nature of either materialist or spiritual ontological reduction of social phenomena. During the war between Hizb’allah and the Israeli military, some C/P believers claimed that the physical force and destruction is just a surface event pointing to the true an underlying spiritual battle that happens as evil forces battle over supremacy of Lebanon. In order to resolve the true causes for the war one should employ spiritual means, which is termed “spiritual warfare” by believers. Prayer therefore has a direct causal impact on the outcome of the war as prayer moves divine agents to defeat the evil superhuman agents who are causing destruction and suffering. This example follows the same scheme in the interpretation of social reality as the Marxist/materialist circular reduction. All material stuff is seen as a surface expression of an underlying spiritual reality. Therefore, representation of the other serves only with the intent to cement his/her own materialist/spiritualist commitment. While reasoning between these two positions is possible as both inhabit a common world, it is not as straightforward and obvious as both would like to believe. The cultural practice of reflection is embedded in a particular life world. Therefore, the arguments about what is real also involves lifestyles and existential commitments. The human body makes a purely rational debate impossible as our mind is embodied. The question of representation, epistemology, and power arises even when the researcher is transparent about these dynamics and is aware of his or her own point of departure. A pure representation and understanding cannot be achieved as language functions within a certain form of life, which is by its nature, particular. Following Austin, I would describe most C/P petitions or intercessory prayers as a speech act. The power which is felt by the believers when the preacher lays his hands and utters a proclamation can be attributed to his 286 oleg dik charismatic authority (employing Weber’s description). However, the preacher himself believes that he is a mediator and that the power and the efficacy of his action depend on the divine agent who co-acts with the human agent. By calling the performative prayer of the C/P preacher “a speech act”, a question might be raised as to whether the phenomena of the prayer is understood on its own terms or instead translates into a completely different form of reference (Clifford and Marcus 1986). While this dilemma cannot be completely resolved due to the alterity of understanding, this question can serve as a trigger for a self-reflexive sociology of prayer. This dilemma of representation can be avoided by separating ontology from epistemology, the “what” from “how”, assigning the former to philosophers/theologians and the latter to sociologists/anthropologists. Phenomenology attempts to arrive at the thing in itself by bracketing a priori truth claims, thus describing the essence of prayer (Westphal 2005:15). Similarly, Kant defines religion as containing moral laws that are accessible by pure reason alone (Kant 2003:226). Accordingly, he would classify the C/P prayer described above as a form of mental delusion (Kant 2003:227). Although, prayer can serve as an aid for moral improvement ideally the human reason must arrive autonomously at universal moral laws without some childlike reliance on sources outside of itself. While generalizing is a goal of any theoretical inquiry in order to arrive at a description that applies to the majority of events, theoretical abstraction without careful empirical consideration makes the mistake of reducing social phenomena into narrow theoretical concepts. Kant seems to rationalize a particular pietistic moralistic version of religion. Talal Asad points out that the Kantian essentialized idea of religion cannot be comprehended without a particular embedding of the historical process within the Christian tradition (Asad 1993:42). Although prayer can be found within all world religions, how prayer is theorized must begin with empirical observation in order to determine whether, for example, to focus the inquiry on the body, ritual, or the mental state. The researcher must consider the emic perspective before conceptualizing prayer. However, researchers can also err on the other side by setting out to study prayer without deeper theoretical reflection. Assad points out how the Protestant definition of religion as a mental assent to the propositional truth has influenced European theorizing about religion, thereby preventing European sociologists from engaging with other, non-Protestant conceptions of religion (Asad 1993:40–54). Researchers setting out to study lived practices such as prayer are not able to understand any social phenomenon without a prior theoretical does it matter whether the holy spirit spoke to fatima? 287 concept about it. Thus, as Gadamer pointed out, any understanding begins with a prejudice (German: Vorurteil). While a Vorurteil stands at the beginning of any understanding, it can also prevent a person from moving beyond a preconceived understanding of something like prayer. D.Z. Phillips applies the Wittgensteinian insight to describing the meaning of prayer by focusing on the use of the language and arriving at the deeper grammar. However, his incursion into empirical cases seems only to confirm his prior theological and philosophical conviction of prayer as “dependence on God”, although he does intend “to try to say what people are doing when they pray” ( Phillips 1981:28). A naïve empiricist separates empirical inquiry from theoretical reflection and approaches prayer, often through quantitative methodology, without hermeneutical reflection about the discourse and life world within which the research questions and method are meaningful. Such an approach is used by both the proponents and critics of the efficacy of prayer (for example Baesler 2003 vs. Benson 2006). The efficacy or inefficacy of prayer cannot be established based on empirical tests (Harris 2010:229). At most, quantitative testing could weaken or strengthen a prior research question and paradigm which is not solely determined by the social phenomena. The motivation behind either the metaphysical analytical or the empiricist version in conceptualizing prayer seems to be the goal of objectivity and impartiality. Quantitative research seems to represent prayer “as it is”, and analytical reduction seems to expose the core of prayer, thus getting rid of empirical random factors. While reflecting on these academic values, a genealogical research into the beginnings of European academic institutions in ancient Greece and medieval monasteries would be fruitful in order to discover common roots of prayer and academic values. Perhaps then the sacred roots of the secular academic values such as objectivity and impartiality would be traced back to the performance of prayer intending to transcend the partial randomness of every – day life in order to obtain a God-like view from outside the spatio-temporal confinement. Such a historic sociology may uncover possible parallels between the medieval contemplative lifestyle of monks reaching out to the objective divine reality on one hand and the secular ascetic scholars looking at a practice that perhaps contributed to the beginnings of European academic institutions on the other. A Marxist analysis could also be employed in order to illuminate the relation between the value of objectivity, power, and socio-economic conditions. While studying various C/P groups in Beirut, I observed that the 288 oleg dik socio-economic status of the people correlates with their preference in prayer style (confirming Bourdieu 1979). While economically disadvantaged peoples’ prayers were more direct and related in a causal way to concrete life events, higher socio-economic class believers preferred a more detached/contemplative style of worship and prayer. Once the relation between the attitude towards life, power, and socio-economic standing is realized by the researcher, he or she will be able to understand more clearly the prayers of the poor in the global cities in contrast to the absence of prayer within academic culture. The interconnectedness between an ontological commitment and a form of life led some scholars to posit multiple ontologies and life styles, each seemingly coherent and true within itself. One of my anthropologist colleagues remarked that his advisor, while conducting research among an African tribe, began to perceive reality in like manner to that of the shaman of the tribe. However, when this advisor returned to New York, he continued living his life as a secular academic. The academic secular culture seems to function well globally without the sacred reference. However, this seclusion is getting harder to maintain, as Peter Berger tells a story about his German colleague who was surprised by Texan religiosity when he stepped off the university campus on Sunday morning (Berger 2008:10). In the current spatially and temporally shrunk world, any self-enclosed form of life or prior rationalized container for prayer is not possible to sustain. Friedrich Schleiermacher, accepting the Kantian dictum about the impossibility of transcending the spatio-temporal categories, reduced religion to some human symbolic-psychological function, such as “the feeling of dependence”. Consequently, prayer could only be comprehended through the psychological description of the believers’ conversation with him/herself (Schleiermacher 1991:130). However, while this immunization strategy may work within the academic context, it obscures the use of prayer by people in the real world. In contrast to this merely psychological and affective definition of prayer, the C/P lifestyle is attractive to people because prayer allows them to break free from restrictions imposed on them by modernity as a process of rationalization. For the impoverished masses in the global cities with their enclosed segments and socio-economic restrictions, C/P prayer offers a means of liberation and opening up of a larger world beyond immanent deterministic factors. The process of rationalization as described by Weber triggers human desires to “break free” from immanent socio-economic, racial, and gender boundaries. For example, I have observed C/P women in Beirut praying for Muslim men as they believe does it matter whether the holy spirit spoke to fatima? 289 that their spiritual position, which is manifested through the activity of prayer, transcends gender. Similarly, C/P prayer defies rationally circumscribed boundaries. C/P prayer aims at the humanly impossible. The C/P believers narrated to me how prayer empowers them to break free from various restrictions. They feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in their bodies. They believe that this bodily reality is not confined to spatio-temporal categories. Understanding presupposes closure and therefore a specific clarity of definition. In contrast, the language game of prayer thrives because of fuzzy boundaries and a desire to open up new possibilities of understanding. Thus, a convergence in sociological analysis and C/P prayer may be achieved if new horizons and possibilities of understanding were opened up by stretching academic linguistic conventions. As D.Z. Phillips rightly remarks, the meaning of everyday language cannot be outlined philosophically. Instead, the meaning is constantly negotiated within the everyday interaction. A member of a C/P church picked me up in his taxi. His car was very old, and it appeared that it could fall apart at any moment. Suddenly, the engine started to smoke. The driver stopped the car, ran to the next store, got tools and started to repair the car. After approximately 15 minutes he turned the key and the engine started. He smiled and told me: “Halleluja, I prayed for the car and Jesus fixed it.” From a simple causal naturalistic point of view this statement seems to be complete nonsense as it was obvious the driver had caused change through his agency. However, if the broader C/P worldview is considered, within which this statement makes sense, then human agency is not exclusive of divine agency. The deeper grammar to the drivers’ sentence lies in the understanding of human and divine agency. Prayer marks a constant struggle of the believer between the seemingly self-enclosed world and God’s continuous intervention and relation to it. C/P prayer defies any neat delineation between the immanent and transcendent such as that attempted for example by Immanuel Kant. Once the praying man or woman has glanced at the limit of space and time, he or she gets a foretaste of something beyond. Paradoxically, Kant also must be able to look beyond space and time in order to outline a space for reason within the spatio-temporal realm. Perhaps a C/P praying believer and Immanuel Kant have more in common than both would believe at first sight. Globalization and the worldwide web have shrunk the world and caused multiple ways of life to intersect, each struggling for the authoritative interpretation of reality. Language is constantly negotiated through 290 oleg dik many actors. When I interviewed a C/P believer, who is also a professor for philosophy, he seemed to easily move between analytic rational discourse and prayerful communications with God. In fact, these seemingly incompatible life worlds were sometimes meshed together in one sentence. Understanding requires a common language. Words can be put together in a sentence and used in various contexts in the most unusual and unexpected way thus creating new life forms that lead to yet new uses of language. The C/P prayer as a practice invents new possibilities of speaking and living. I asked several C/P group leaders whether I could conduct a research about them. One of the leaders inquired: “Did you pray about it and did you receive God’s answer?” I could translate her question, if I exclude causal relation in prayer either on theological or philosophical grounds as not possible, to something like: “Are you eligible to conduct this research? Did you get permission from your advisor and receive your institutional credentials?” However, this translation would create a gap between of the two life worlds. From the angle of the C/P leader, God also intervenes in my academic affairs through prayer. My translation would maintain the difference. Yet my answer had also a practical implication whether I would get access or not to the specific C/P form of life. So while the relativist approach seems to be practical, it does not reflect the complex pluralist interpenetrating world. I have observed people who converted to the C/P groups. Their prayers were a gradual reinvention and bricolage of words from their immediate contexts stretching them towards new life forms. Language is a fluid mass that can be formed according to the human imagination. Another version of the relativist paradigm is the going native approach in understanding prayer. C/P believers claim that prayer is not primarily about understanding God, but about the person giving himself to God like a lover’s self-giving into a love relationship; as one charismatic leader summarized, “Worship is like having sex with your wife”. The question arises as to whether the existential-experiential dimension of prayer can be captured by academic reflection from within a different context. Stretching the picture from above, it seems plausible that talking about sex and having sex are two different forms of understanding. A similar distinction is made in epistemology between “knowing that” and “knowing how” as two distinct forms of knowledge. The question then arises as to whether the first form of knowledge encompasses the second. Secular anthropologists investigatinging C/P culture report on the strong attraction toward engagement they perceive from the C/P rituals. This pull comes from C/P does it matter whether the holy spirit spoke to fatima? 291 believers attempting to draw the researchers into their lifestyle as they believe that there is no neutral ground within the spiritual reality. The researchers are stretched by the tension between the immediate C/P performance and the distant and non-engaging gaze of an academic observer. In order to avoid this tension and to arrive at the look from within, an anthropologist could “go native”, as some anthropologists have done, in order to understand a specific form of life from within. The anthropologists could open themselves up to the experiential dimension of the Holy Spirit without rationalizing this experience away. This opening up could pave a way to a fuller, as more senses involved, understanding from the C/P perspective. The expression “going native” has its roots in the English colonial times and makes a relativist assumption about the complete other, thereby maintaining the dichotomy about the exotic, spontaneous religious other and the reflective secular scholar. However, I have found in my field research that a professor of philosophy can as easily teach logic as he can speak in tongues during his prayer time, uttering, what appears to the outsider as meaningless sounds. A second order reflexivity seems to be a capacity of all humans under certain socio-economic and cultural conditions. Thus C/P believers who did not have the time and money, which allows a certain leisure and therefore distance toward life, had a much lesser capacity to reflect on their specific form of life and prayer. Perhaps a more fitting metaphor for the alterity of understanding would be a continuous “crossing of borders”. In particular, globalization with its flow of pictures, people, and ideas does not allow the individual to maintain hardened borders and identities. Despite the intensification of a desire to have a home, people do not find themselves completely native in any form of life as other alternatives are continuously presented and are pressed upon them as an option. Moreover, the academic desire to understand and therefore somehow to control through rationalizing contradicts the C/P motivation for prayer, which is to love and to give oneself into the relationships of self-abandonment. A C/P preacher described philosophers as lazy people who speak but do not act, whose words do not carry power. C/P prayer is not primarily about understanding the world but rather the giving up of oneself in order to enter into a love relationship with God, which in turn leads to an enlarged understanding. Thus, both a C/P praying believer and a Marxist would agree that while philosophers only interpret the world, they intend to change it. The disagreement would arise about the means of change. The success of Pentecostals over liberation theology in Latin America seems to confirm the Pentecostal actions 292 oleg dik for change, with prayer being at the core of Pentecostal engagement for social justice. C/P believers are convinced that the words they utter in prayer have the force to change the world. From a C/P view, scholarly activity which also aims at changing the world is merely secondary as prayer is the primary means to confronting the world directly. A scholar who does not want to change the world, but still desires to enter the C/P form of life with the primary motivation to understand it, would be interpreted as a “free rider” and therefore somehow not a real believer. So perhaps the best way to understand the phenomenon of prayer would be a “border crossing” inquiry. I would like to call this form of approaching C/P prayer a dialogical hermeneutics, which has its own normative presuppositions about ontology and allows for a plurality in methodology. A sociology of prayer must contribute to the understanding of prayer, which will transform both the praying believer and the scholar alike. Only then will academic reflection benefit religious and nonreligious people alike. This goal presupposes two seemingly contradicting factors: On the one hand it admits difference and plurality between peoples’ lifestyles and worldviews. However, the ideal of a common reflexivity and understanding assumes a universal human nature and shared language. Due to this tension, all too often paradigms split between the objectivist and relativist approaches. However, in order to arrive at a dialogical hermeneutics a more nuanced ontology must be embraced. A universal human nature must be assumed without fully being able to justify this presupposition. This assumption rests merely upon ethical and pragmatic considerations. Moreover, this approach requires a humble epistemology which is, I believe, espoused within critical realism (Eckstrom 2002). We do know the social world based on our everyday experience without being able to fully justify our knowledge of it. While researchers begin from their own presuppositions, they do not remain there, but hope to move beyond the immediate beginning point. To use a biblical metaphor, we see as “but a poor reflection as in a mirror”, needing other perspectives for a fuller account of the real world. From this humble epistemological stance I would affirm all the previous views I espoused. However, dialogical hermeneutics can only work if all the other perspectives also remain open toward different perspectives. Thus any absolute ideological closure of understanding isolates itself from this common dialogical enterprise and thereby necessarily excludes itself. If the criteria for meaning is not determined a priori, a fruitful engagement with the C/P prayer from the perspective of liminality of talk and does it matter whether the holy spirit spoke to fatima? 293 meaning may be possible (e.g. Engelke and Tomlinson 2006). C/P believers have told me that in the beginning they were encouraged to move their tongues during their prayers and make meaningless sounds before they were able to “speak in tongues”. The C/P believers admit that certain exercises in prayer are meaningless. At this point, an exciting research question could be posed: How is meaning negotiated within C/P performance of prayer and in comparison to other religious traditions? In particular, under which cultural conditions and how does a meaningless moving of the tongue transform into a meaningful prayer? This question arises from the field research and is not dictated by any prior definition of meaning. Similarly, a functional approach to prayer can also contribute to a fuller understanding of C/P prayer. Thus, prayer must not be defined as manipulation and an exercise of charismatic authority per se. However, I did observe how prayer can be used in order to exercise authority and discipline. When a disagreement arose between two C/P groups, prayers were uttered evoking divine authority. This strategy allowed the speaker to avoid direct confronation and at the same time bolster his indirect critique with divine authority. This microanalysis leads to a macro study of a larger socio-economic field within which prayer works. Thus various social networks must be addressed in order to understand the social nature of prayer within a particular culture. Additionally, theoretical and empirical research on prayer must be viewed as complementary. A sociologist entering a field must perform a thorough analysis and genealogical tracing of certain theoretical concepts that color his or her pre-understanding in order to progress beyond the prior theoretical concepts. Also, someone who studies prayer empirically will encounter ontological statements about what constitutes reality. At this point the researcher will be confronted with his/her own ontology. European theologians and philosophers, when conceptualizing and theorizing prayer, must consider empirical observations. Only then will they arrive at new questions and challenges to the already established paradigms. D.Z. Phillips excludes causal relations in prayer by branding this type of prayer as magic. However, a fuller engagement with empirical evidence would perhaps lead him to reconsider his theoretical paradigm, which does not allow him to appreciate certain empirical evidence. In my field observation, a prayer was seen by C/P believers as causal and yet relational in establishing dependence on God. A relativist approach in understanding prayer could also be helpful not as an ontological commitment, but rather in making a prior analytical distinction as understanding requires discrimination between concepts. 294 oleg dik Thus relativism as such is helpful in the first step of dissecting before having a closer look at interrelatedness. The question as to why the praying believer and a writing scholar are tempted to see the other as complete other with sharp boundaries between them would lead to an enlightening genealogical uncovering of interconnected and competing paradigms over the interpretation of reality. If a C/P believer emphasizes the priority of praying to God over talking about God, what does it mean for his/her view on how humans are situated within and relate to the world? A dialogical hermeneutics does not propagate a distinct research paradigm. Instead, it seeks to establish a certain dialogical ontology and values that allow particular views on prayer to enter into a fruitful conversation. This is an ethical goal. An ethical stance towards life is both a mark of a scholar and a praying believer. Questions must challenge preconceived definitions on what a prayer is and does. Through this process the researcher will develop a reflexive curiosity and discover new horizons, leaving the well-trodden paths behind. As in my case in Beirut, I was not content to inhabit two seemingly incommensurable worlds and speak their separate languages. Instead, I tried to pursue possible conclusions and imagine how these two life worlds could relate beyond my initial preconceptions. Sociology of prayer, if pursued in a reflexive dialogical manner, will disrupt both worlds. On the one hand, the religious practice will become selfaware and therefore change in the course of reflexive distancing, and the sociologist will also be changed in the process of entering a different life form and practice. This ideal of a relational change of both actors is also what a good prayer accomplishes. Just as the believer moves God through his/her words, so God acts through God’s own words in people and in nature. Perhaps through this dialogical hermeneutics, the researcher will get away from all too comfortable dichotomies and engage in a more thorough analysis, thereby discovering surprising parallels between a praying C/P believer and an ascetic, monk like scholar, who also paints a larger world beyond the immediate material everyday life. Perhaps then a charismatic sermon exclamation, “Your prayer moves God”, will not appear as strange to a scholar who, like many great scholars, wanted to move the world through their words. Then the established Platonic gulf between poets, who bring the world into existence through their words, and the analytic philosophers, who lay bare the real foundations, will diminish. Philip Goodchild goes as far as to equate the nature of thinking and prayer: “And I understood that … thinking, directed toward the outside, toward a does it matter whether the holy spirit spoke to fatima? 295 potential future, toward a higher understanding, characterized by charity, by hope, and by faith, is prayer” (Goodchild 2005:243). Sociology of prayer must consider theoretical concepts and draw an interchange between metaphysical statements and meta-narratives on the one hand and their particular socio-cultural embededness on the other. The point of departure will depend on the ideological preference of the researcher. However, if both a C/P praying believer and a sociologist are open to enter and learn each other’s life forms, then a stimulating encounter with fresh questions will occur. By gaining deeper insights into the phenomenon of prayer, sociologists conducting research on prayer will also discover their own presuppositions and gain deeper understanding into their own ontology and method. While looking at the seeming other, their look will be reverted back at themselves, thereby spinning further the hermeneutical spiral of understanding. The praying believer speaks from within a personal immediate life world and seeks to transcend a particular situation by gaining a God-like perspective through interaction with the God-person Jesus or the Holy Spirit. He or she seeks to view a personal immediate real world and daily interaction through what is perceived as an ideal divine reality that establishes itself through prayer. A scholar also seeks to transcend the mundane and theorize a larger conceptual world that is seen as somehow hidden to the every day common view and revealed to a contemplative scholar. Similarly to a praying C/P believer, a scholar believes that despite seeming inconsistencies, the ideal type reduction does capture the essence of what a random and complex reality must be like. Projected scientific paradigms seem to shape the perception on the everyday life and what reality must be like. What is the world like and what must it be like? Prayer brings these two inseparable questions together just as good scholarship does. People embody their imaginations through their actions and imagine their actions within larger guiding meta-narratives. C/P praying believers see themselves as active mediators between God and their life world. Through the embodying of the Holy Spirit they are able to actively transform the world by evoking God’s power and acting out the meta-story they narrate through prayer. Similarly, scholars are also embedded within the larger historic discourse, which is beyond their particular life world. Thus both the praying believer and the scholar enter as mediums into a service of a bigger discourse. Merold Westphal sees the de-centered self as the core essence of prayer. Thus the subject does not constitute its own origin. “It does not make itself, but rather receives itself in receiving what is given to it…. It is the gift that makes the response 296 oleg dik possible.” Within this reasoning, both the praying believer and the scholar alike could be seen as de-centered selves that “must abandon the project of being the center in terms of which meaning, truth, and goodness are defined” (Westphal 2005:31). Dialogical hermeneutics seeks to transcend disciplinary and ontological particularity. Self-conscious inquiry, which invites the other into a shared understanding, maps out a larger world beyond the particular beginnings of the researcher. This transcending act is similar to the act of C/P prayer, which also seeks to transcend the particular life circumstances by inviting the divine other into everyday life. Enlarging of understanding presupposes incompleteness and a desire to speak a world into being. Within this process, both a praying believer and a scholar are struggling for words in order to utter the yet unseen that lies underneath and beyond our everyday experience. The title of my article is taken from former Muslims I interviewed who converted to the C/P expression of Christianity. They claimed to have heard and felt Jesus or the Holy Spirit, either in dreams or during their prayers. This experience, as claimed by these converts, triggered their decision to enter the C/P form of life. So it obviously matters to Fatima2 whether the Holy Spirit spoke to her. Sociologists are going to make exciting discoveries and lay out new and fresh trajectories in the sociology of prayer if they consciously address Fatima’s truth claims and elucidate possible relations between ontology, methodology, and the social phenomenon. Sociology of prayer must map out various socio-cultural spheres and create a dialogical encounter of various views on how prayer, whether the views be religious or secular, functions. This fuller understanding of the social phenomenon will lead to a broader theoretical conception of prayer within the common world which both praying and non-praying people inhabit. Understanding will hopefully lead to a respect of various life forms, which is crucial to the building of pluralistic peaceful societies. This ethical quest can be either formulated as an academic agenda within the sociology of prayer or be addressed to God as a prayer. Both move toward a common goal while employing different language games. 2 The name has been changed to protect her identity. does it matter whether the holy spirit spoke to fatima? 297 References Ayer, Alfred J. 1936. Language, Truth and Logic, London: Victor Gollancz. Asad, Talal 1993. Genealogies of Religion. Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Baesler, James E. 2003. Theoretical Explorations and Empirical Investigations of Communication and Prayer. Studies in Religion and Society, Volume 64, Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press. Benson, Herbert, et al. 2006. “Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer (STEP) in Cardiac Bypass Patients: A Multicenter Randomized Trial of Uncertainty and Certainty of Receiving Intercessory Prayer”. American Heart Journal 151(4):932–42. Berger, Peter L, Grace Davie, and Effie Fokas. 2008. Religious America, Secular Europe? A Theme and Variations. Hampshire, U.K.: Ashgate. Bourdieu, Pierre. 1979. La distinction. Critique sociale du jugement. Paris: Ed. de Minuit. Clifford, James, and George E. Marcus (eds.). 1986. Writing Culture. The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography. Berkeley: University of California Press. Dennett, Daniel C. 2006. Breaking the Spell. Religion as a Natural Phenomenon. New York: Viking/Penguin. ——. 2007. “Thank Goodness!” In Louise M. Antony (ed.) Philosophers without Gods. Meditations on Atheism and the Secular Life. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, pp. 113–21. Eckstrom, Mats, et al. 2002. Explaining Society: Critical Realism in the Social Sciences. New York: Routledge. Engelke, Matthew, and Matt Tomlinson (eds.). 2006. The Limits of Meaning – Case Studies in the Anthropology of Christianity, Oxford: Berghahn Books. Gadamer, Hans-Georg. 1995. Hermeneutik im Rückblick, Gesammelte Werke, Band 10. Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr. Goodchild, Philip. 2005. “Proslogion.” In Bruce Ellis Benson and Norman Wirzba (eds.) The Phenomenology of Prayer. Perspectives in Continental Philosophy. New York: Fordham University Press, pp. 232–45. Harris, Harriet. 2010. “Prayer.” In Charles Taliaferro and Chad Meister (eds.) Christian Philosophical Theology. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 216–38. Kant, Immanuel. 2003. Die Religion innerhalb der Grenzen der blossen Vernunft, ed. Bettina Stangneth. Hamburg: Felix Meiner Verlag. Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. 1982. Gesamtausgabe (MEGA), Erste Abteilung, Band 2. Berlin: Dietz Verlag. Phillips, Dewi Zephaniah. 1981. The Concept of Prayer. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Robbins, Joel. 2004. “The Globalization of Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity.” Annual Review of Anthropology 33:117–43. Schleiermacher, F.D.E. 1991. “Über die Religion,” 7. Aufl. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. Westphal, Merold. 2005. “Prayer as the Posture of the Decentered Self.” In Bruce Ellis Benson and Norman Wirzba (eds.) The Phenomenology of Prayer. Perspectives in Continental Philosophy. New York: Fordham University Press, pp. 13–32. LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS Peter Althouse (PhD, University of St Michael’s College at the University of Toronto) is Associate Professor of Religion and Theology at Southeastern University, Florida. He has authored or co-edited Spirit of the Last Days: Pentecostal Eschatology in Conversation with Jürgen Moltmann (2003); The Ideological Development of Power in Early American Pentecostalism (2010); Winds from the North: Canadian Contributions to the Pentecostal Movement (2010); and Perspectives in Pentecostal Eschatologies (2010). Annalisa Butticci is a Marie Curie Fellow at Utrecht University and Harvard Divinity school. Her research interests include Religion, with a special focus on Catholicism, Charismatic Christianity and Pentecostalism, Material and visual culture of Religions, West African cultures and societies and African diasporas in Southern Europe. She has published several articles, co-authored a book and directed a film on African Pentecostalism in Italy entitled Enlarging the Kingdom: African Pentecostals in Italy (2013). Shun-hing Chan is Associate Professor in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Hong Kong Baptist University. His research focuses on the sociology of religion, church-state relations, religion and social movements, and religions in Hong Kong and mainland China. He is the editor of A Carnival of Gods: Studies of Religions in Hong Kong (Oxford University Press, 2002) and author of Changing Church and State Relations in Hong Kong, 1950–2000 (with Beatrice Leung, Hong Kong University Press, 2003). He has published articles to academic periodicals, including The China Quarterly, Chinese Sociological Review and Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion. Marie Cochrane, MSN, RN, is a Clinical Nursing Instructor and a Research Coordinator in the School of Nursing at Trinity Western University, Canada. Her research interests include experiences of embodiment in nursing practice and sacred spaces in healthcare. She has co-authored articles published in Journal of Nursing Management, Nursing Inquiry and Qualitative Health Research. 300 list of contributors Sylvia Collins-Mayo is Principal Lecturer in Sociology at Kingston University. Her research focuses on the sociology of religion and young people’s faith. Among other publications, she is co-editor of Religion and Youth (Ashgate, 2010), and co-author of Making Sense of Generation Y (CHP, 2006) and The Faith of Generation Y (CHP 2010). She has recently undertaken work on the relationship between religion and civic participation. Her most recent study is on the work of Street Pastors and their involvement in the reduction of crime and disorder in urban areas. Oleg Dik has studied Theology, Religious Studies, Cultural Anthropology and Philosophy. He holds a MA in Biblical and Theological Studies from the University of Gloucestershire, UK and a MA in Religion and Culture from the Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. From January 2010 until January 2011 Oleg was a research fellow at the Orient Institute in Beirut, Lebanon. Currently, Oleg is finishing his PhD at the Humboldt University in the department of Religious Studies and Intercultural Theology. His dissertation describes the emergence of the post-war charismatic/Pentecostal movement in Beirut and aims at providing a hermeneutical model for analyzing life worlds. Franco Garelli is Full Professor of Sociology of Culture and Sociology of Religion at the University of Turin. He has carried out an intense program of researches, organized at both national and international levels, concerning two prevailing themes: the life styles and behavior models of the young; and the contemporary religious phenomenon. Some of his most important books and papers published include Catholicism in Italy in the Age of Pluralism (Lexington, 2010), Religione all’italiana. L’anima del paese messa a nudo (Il Mulino, 2011), Flexible Catholicism, Religion and the Church: The Italian Case (Religions, 2012). Jane Garnett is Fellow and Tutor in History at Wadham College, Oxford. She has published widely in intellectual, cultural and religious history, including her most recent study of gender and visual culture (with Gervase Rosser) entitled Spectacular Miracles: Transforming Images in Italy from the Renaissance to the Present (Reaktion Books, 2013). Giuseppe Giordan is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Padua. From 2009 he has served as General Secretary of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion (ISSR/SISR). With Enzo Pace and Luigi Berzano he edits the Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion. list of contributors 301 His books in English include Identity and Pluralism: The Values of the PostModern Time (2004) and the edited volumes Vocation and Social Context (2007), Conversion in the Age of Pluralism (2009), Youth and Religion (2010), Religion, Spirituality and Everyday Practice (with William H. Swatos, 2011) and Mapping Religion and Spirituality in a Postsecular World (with Enzo Pace, 2012). Alana Harris is the Darby Fellow in History at Lincoln College, Oxford. Her research interests span the history of religion, gender and migration. Recent publications include Faith in the Family: A Lived Religious History of English Catholicism, 1945–82 (Manchester University Press, 2013) and ‘Lourdes and Holistic Spirituality: Contemporary Catholicism, the Therapeutic and Religious Thermalism’, 14(1) (2013) Culture and Religion, 23–43. Ashok Kumar M. is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi. He received his doctorate from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. His areas of research interests include sociology of religion, caste, Christianity in India, Dalit Christians, and questions pertaining to religious and ethnic minority rights. Wing-leung Law is a research assistant in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Hong Kong Baptist University. His research mainly focuses on the development of civil society, religious freedom and church-state relations in Hong Kong and mainland China. His research interests include social change, state-society relations, social movements, sociology of religion, sociology of law, religion and law, and religion and politics. Josiane Le Gall, an anthropologist, is a researcher with the Health and Social Services Centre of la Montagne and an associate professor with the Department of anthropology of the Université de Montréal. Her focus is on family relationships (local and transnational) in the migratory context and on issues related to the interface between immigrant families and the health network. She is also conducting studies on religious diversity and on Muslim populations in Quebec. She is a member of the Groupe de recherche diversité urbaine of the Université de Montréal (GRDU) and of the axe Religious plurality: social, political and legal issues of the Centre d’études ethniques des universités montréalaises (CEETUM). 302 list of contributors Rebecca Lynch is currently completing her PhD in Anthropology at University College London, which focuses on cosmological worldview and notions of self and agency in a Trinidadian village. Her research interests relate mainly to the social and cultural aspects of health and illness, particularly cosmological frameworks, dealing with risk and anxiety, morality, and other intersections between religion and medicine. She is also a Research Associate in Medical Anthropology at the University of Cambridge and has contributed to research in public health, mental health and health inequalities in the UK at a number of different universities. Michael C. Mason is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Arts and Sciences at Australian Catholic University in Melbourne, Australia. He works across the fields of sociology, religion studies and theology, using multidisciplinary and mixed-method approaches in research. He has been a principal investigator in several national sociological surveys of religion and spirituality. With Ruth Webber of ACU and Andrew Singleton of Monash University, he authored The Spirit of Generation Y: Young People’s Spirituality in a Changing Australia, analysing a large national survey. With the same co-workers, he also undertook an extensive study of the spirituality of youth from many nations who attended World Youth Day in Sydney in 2008. Sheryl Reimer-Kirkham is Professor of Nursing at Trinity Western University, Canada. Her research is in the area of plurality and equity in healthcare, focusing on the intersections of religion, spirituality, race, class, and gender. Currently, she is examining the relevance of religion and spirituality to health and healthcare services in the context of a palliative approach for people with chronic life-limiting conditions (www .ipanel.ca). She has published extensively on critical perspectives such as postcolonial theory, and is co-editor of Religion, Religious Ethics, and Nursing (Springer 2012). She is co-Director of Trinity Western University’s Centre for Equity and Global Engagement, and a founding member of the Religion in Canada Institute. Roberta Ricucci is Assistant Professor at the University of Turin where she teaches Sociology of Inter-ethnic relations and Sociology of Islam. She is also senior researcher at FIERI (www.fieri.it) and a member of the international networks IMISCOE and ISSR. She has been visiting researcher at the universities of Princeton (US), Monash and Western Australia (Australia). list of contributors 303 She has carried out an intense program of studies and researches organized at both national and international levels investigating, especially among Muslims, their identity-building process and religiousness. Her main findings have been already published in books and international journals (e.g. Contemporary Journal of Religion; Intercultural Education). Rowena Robinson is Professor at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai and currently Visiting Professor at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati. She is author of Tremors of Violence: Muslim survivors of ethnic strife in western India (Sage, 2005) and Christians of India (Sage, 2003) and editor (with Sathianathan Clarke) of Religious conversion in India: modes, motivations and meanings (Oxford University Press, 2003) and (with Marianus Kujur) of Margins of Faith: Dalit and tribal Christianity in India (Sage, 2010). She also edited Minority Studies (Oxford University Press, 2012). Sebastian Schüler is Assistant Professor for the study of religions at Leipzig University. His main research areas include charismatic and Evangelical Christianity, religion and the body, religion and evolution, religion and cognition, aesthetics of religion as well as social transformations of modern religiosity and alternative spiritualities. His main publications include Religion, Kognition, Evolution: Eine religionswissenschaftliche Auseinandersetzung mit der Cognitive Science of Religion, Stuttgart: Kohlhammer 2012; “Synchronized Ritual Behavior: Religion, Cognition and the Dynamics of Embodiment,” in David Cave and Rebecca Sachs Norris (eds.): The Body and Religion: Modern Science and the Construction of Religious Meaning, Leiden: Brill 2012. Sonya Sharma’s research has focused on women’s experiences of church life and sexuality, the negotiation of religion and spirituality in Canadian home health and the religious lives of young people at English universities. Her current research explores religion and intimacy between sisters. She is co-editor of Women and Religion in the West: Challenging Secularization (Ashgate 2008), author of Good Girls Good Sex: Women Talk about Church and Sexuality (Fernwood 2011) and co-author of Christian and the University Experience: Understanding Student Faith (Bloomsbury 2013). Helen J. Waterhouse is senior lecturer and staff tutor in the Arts Faculty of The Open University, in the South-west of England. She is responsible for 304 list of contributors the delivery of humanities modules to adult learners and contributes to the development of interdisciplinary and religious studies distance learning courses. She has a longstanding research interest in Buddhism in Britain and in the ways in which the adaptation of Buddhist practices and ideas can shed light on more general changes to the religious landscape. Soka Gakkai International and, in particular, the ways in which prayer is used in this movement is the focus of her current research. Michael Wilkinson, Ph.D. (University of Ottawa), is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Religion in Canada Institute at Trinity Western University. He has published extensively on Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity, including The Spirit Said Go: Pentecostal Immigrants in Canada (2006), Canadian Pentecostalism: Transition and Transformation (2009), A Liberating Spirit: Pentecostals and Social Action (2010), Winds from the North: Canadian Contributions to the Pentecostal Movement (2010) and Global Pentecostal Movements: Migration, Mission, and Public Religion (2012). Patricia Wittberg SC received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Chicago in 1982, and is currently Professor of Sociology at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis. She has written numerous books and articles on various aspects of Catholicism, especially “From Piety to Professionalism” (2006) on religious orders and “Building Strong Church Communities” (2012) on parishes. She is co-author on a book forthcoming from Oxford University Press on generational changes in American women who enter religious orders. Linda Woodhead MBE DD is Professor of Sociology of Religion at Lancaster University, UK. She studies religious change in modern societies, especially rapid change since the late 1980s. Between 2007 and 2013 she was Director of the “Religion and Society” research programme in Britain, which involved 240 academics from 29 different disciplines. Her books include Everyday Lived Islam in Europe (2013), A Sociology of Religious Emotions (2011), Religions in the Modern World (2009), The Spiritual Revolution (2005) and A Very Short Introduction to Christianity (2004). She is a regular commentator and broadcaster on religion and society in the media. INDEX Altruism, benevolence 235 Andhra 123, 124, 127, 128, 131–133, 136, 137 Anxiety 81, 151, 159, 168, 169, 243, 244, 302 Asking in prayer 164–165 Back to Christ 103, 104, 109, 114, 115 Bad prayers 166–167 Believing 4, 61–63, 185, 212, 235 Belonging 4, 27, 34, 56, 58–63, 65, 66, 69, 70, 134, 142, 152, 183, 271 Bereavement 32, 96, 207, 214 Bless Hong Kong at 8 A.M. Everyday 109, 110, 115, 118 Boundaries 41, 43, 108, 119, 120, 186, 189, 195, 200, 201, 284, 288, 289, 294 British 53, 97, 160, 173, 186, 205, 207, 211–213, 218, 272 Canada 6, 110, 141–153, 161, 190, 200, 201, 226, 228, 299, 302, 304 Caste 5, 123, 124, 126–128, 130–134, 136–138, 301 Caste discrimination 124, 127, 130 Catch the Fire (CTF) 7, 221, 222, 226, 227, 238–240 Categories of prayer 27 Catholic 3, 5, 31, 34, 40, 41, 57–60, 62–64, 68, 70–73, 77, 78, 88, 90, 98–100, 114, 137, 160, 162, 163, 165, 190, 195, 221, 225, 269, 302 Chanting 125, 206, 207, 214–216 China 104, 105, 107, 109, 110, 113, 117–121, 299, 301 Chinese government 5, 111, 115, 117, 119, 120 Christianity 5–7, 58, 59, 120, 125–128, 130, 132, 133, 135, 137, 138, 158, 205, 221, 227, 236, 239, 263, 269, 283, 296, 299, 301, 303, 304 City Renewal in Hong Kong 109 Civil society 30, 104, 105, 108, 120, 121, 301 CTF. See Catch the Fire (CTF) Dalit Christians 123, 124, 126, 127, 129–137, 301 Dalits 5, 123, 124, 126–138, 301, 303 Dead 6, 72, 205–219 Difference 5, 36, 39, 44, 57, 59, 64, 65, 69, 73, 91, 117, 125, 142, 143, 162, 171, 179, 189, 193–197, 201, 216, 228, 233, 290, 292 Divine Mercy hour 80 Doctrine 11, 206, 213, 215, 256 Effectiveness of prayers 37, 192 Emerging church 266 Europe 57–60, 62–70, 143, 144, 266, 271, 281, 299, 304 Evangelical Manifesto 273, 277 Faustina, Saint 78, 92, 100 Forgiveness 2, 7, 12, 28, 32, 56, 98, 223, 224, 226, 232, 238, 240 Gender 29, 30, 35, 37, 43, 69, 106, 169, 194, 197, 199, 201, 288, 289, 301, 302 Global Day of Prayer 103, 104, 109, 114, 115 Glossolalia, Speaking in Tongues 221 Graces 74, 78, 80, 82, 84, 88, 97–99, 130, 134, 163 Gratitude 20, 149, 153, 208, 209 Griefwork 214, 218 Healing 2, 31, 37, 44, 97, 98, 100, 160, 165, 178, 195, 201, 221, 223–226, 237–239, 246, 248, 255, 265, 267 Health 12, 29, 30, 32, 33, 50, 109, 149, 162, 168, 189, 191–196, 199–201, 211, 224, 238, 244, 247, 263, 273, 277, 299, 301–303 Healthcare 189, 191–201, 299, 302 Hinduism 58, 125–128, 132, 136, 190 Holistic spirituality 263–279, 301 Hong Kong 5, 103–121, 299, 301 Hong Kong Christian Council 114 Ibiza 266, 272, 274 Illness 2, 32, 158, 162, 166, 170, 191–195, 198, 199, 201, 245, 248, 253, 282, 302 Image 77–100, 228, 254 Impartation 226, 239 Intercession 72, 73, 157, 221, 230 International House of Prayer 278 Islam 58, 59, 127, 143–147, 150, 152, 153, 190, 263, 302, 304 Japan 110, 207–214, 218 Jireh Fund 5, 109–111, 115–120 June 4 (4 June) 112 Just world hypothesis 159 306 index Lay 5, 6, 78, 91, 92, 100, 109, 174, 183, 210, 226, 281, 282, 285, 294, 296 Liberal Protestant groups 105, 114, 115, 117, 120 Liturgy 39, 45, 80, 129, 132, 160, 206–213, 218 Liu Xiaobo 103 Mantra 17, 125, 207–209, 213, 214 Marcel Mauss 1, 4, 13, 24, 55, 157, 194, 212, 254, 264 Meaning 2–5, 15, 16, 19, 22, 23, 54, 56, 62, 67–69, 73, 83, 104, 107, 112, 136, 137, 141–153, 158–160, 169, 171, 173, 174, 180–184, 186, 189, 199, 201, 208, 213, 214, 235, 238, 252, 253, 256, 283, 287, 289, 292, 293, 296, 303 Meditation 12, 17, 30, 53, 55, 63, 65, 67, 68, 74, 207, 208, 236, 237, 268 Meditative Prayer 105, 157, 223, 224, 226, 237 Mercy 5, 22, 77–100, 245 Migration 81, 141, 144, 190, 249, 251, 301, 304 Multiple 18, 23, 54, 69, 73, 74, 150, 157, 206, 208, 211, 250, 288, 289 Mystical 79, 224, 227, 237 New Evangelicals 263, 264, 266, 268, 269, 273, 275, 276, 279 New monasticism 271 Pilgrimages 2, 3, 37, 45, 81, 82, 257, 271 Pope John Paul II 78, 81, 85 Power 1–3, 11, 13, 22, 23, 34, 42, 53, 67, 71, 80, 95, 98, 101, 108, 115–119, 124, 130, 131, 134, 135, 137, 138, 159, 160, 161, 163–165, 167, 169, 170, 183–186, 189, 190, 194, 195, 197–201, 206, 213, 225, 235, 243–259, 265, 282, 285–288, 291, 295, 299 Practice 2, 3, 6, 9, 24, 31, 44, 53–57, 64, 65, 69–71, 73, 78, 92, 95, 100, 104, 105, 108, 126, 127, 132, 142, 144–146, 148–150, 152, 153, 160, 161, 166, 171, 185, 186, 191, 195, 206, 207, 209–212, 215, 218, 219, 222, 224–226, 228–231, 236, 250, 258, 263–272, 275, 277, 278, 284, 285, 287, 290, 294, 299, 301 Praise 2, 21, 56, 74, 135, 149, 157, 208, 209, 226, 228 24-7 Prayer 263, 264, 266–272, 275, 277–279, 274, 279 Prayer and coping 6, 30, 31, 97, 107, 108, 158, 159, 193, 200, 201, 243, 224, 246 group cohesion 41, 43 group identity 41, 43 hope 2, 14, 27, 123, 149, 158, 170, 181, 182, 227, 232, 292, 295 mental health 30, 55, 109, 191, 192 physical health 30 protection 6, 11, 163, 165, 166, 168, 169, 171, 176, 209, 231 Prayer as communication, relationship 12, 15, 121 non-conceptual elements of petition 4, 14–15 social rather than individual 44 Prayer frequency 222 Prayer in daily life 162, 168 pro-China Protestant groups 105, 117 Prophesy 231 Protest 103, 107, 114, 117, 123–138, 278 Province 19 Racism 143, 201 Reality 1, 3, 4, 10, 14–22, 24, 34, 39, 54, 69, 97, 108, 135, 158, 161, 168, 243, 285, 287–289, 291, 293–295 Relationship with God 6, 12, 14, 16, 72, 152, 163, 169, 184, 227, 277, 290, 291 Religious accommodation 199 Religious affiliation 57–61, 65, 66, 71, 99, 173, 229 Religious nationalism 129 Religious pluralism 58, 59 Renewal 103, 109, 119, 120, 152, 221, 226, 228, 231, 234, 236 Resistance 5, 45, 107, 137, 152, 194, 196, 199, 239 Responses to prayer 167–168, 196 Sacraments 78, 88, 89, 94, 97, 99 Sacred Heart of Jesus 93 Salvation army 93, 130, 190, 270 Second Vatican Council 100 Secularity in healthcare 195 Secularization 62, 283, 303 Sense of coherence 159, 170 Sikhism 190 Silent 2, 73, 180, 209, 210, 213 Slain in the spirit 225 Soaking prayer 7, 222, 225–231, 236–240 Social engagement 108, 221–240, 263, 264, 266, 269, 272–275 Sodality 95 Soka gakkai 6, 205–219, 304 Spiritual Warfare 221, 244, 250, 254, 258, 263, 285 Supplication 2, 55, 74, 157, 208 index Tiananmen mother 103 Transgression 189–199, 201 Trinidad 6, 159–169, 171, 302 Trust 45, 72, 74, 78, 80, 84, 90, 91, 97, 100, 169, 173, 175, 176, 182, 186, 213, 226 Use of prayer 74, 159, 162, 173–187, 224, 269, 278, 288 307 Vision 20, 54, 77–80, 82, 84, 100, 167, 222, 240, 244, 247, 256–258 Voice of God 168 Witchcraft and prayer 171 Worship 2, 12, 13, 15, 38–41, 103, 106, 109, 125, 130, 161, 165, 174, 210, 226, 228, 276–278, 284, 288, 290