Charlotte CLAS Speaking Event With Eric Hoenes del Pinal Sept 12
Fragmenting churches and ‘switching’ of religious alliances is a phenomenon that is not only timeless, but one that is increasing here in the US and in communities abroad. The University of North Carolina at Charlotte Associate Professor Eric Hoenes del Pinal illustrates the cultural factors that may contribute, by focusing on a Catholic parish in Cobán, Guatemala. A serious social rift emerged as some of its Q’eqchi’-Maya members began to identify with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, and members of both the mainstream and charismatic congregations began to view each other as religiously distinct and problematic “others.”
In “Guarded by Two Jaguars,” Eric Hoenes del Pinal tells the story of this dramatic split and in so doing addresses the role that language and gesture have played in the construction of religious identity.