So, to begin an evaluation of religion in the Southern United States we must find who and what is Southern Religion.
The "mythical norm", as Audre Lorde might say, is Protestant, but specifically Conservative Evangelical Protestantism. They are often described as the conservative right in political forums. Those persons that proudly 'cling' to their religion and guns.
It is not enough to discuss the faith alone, but as we strive to study religion in culture we can add some other qualities to our "mythical norm".One of those include 'white', but the south tends to be unique with its' Black Belt. I would also add: middle class, male, and able bodied. Education level is an area that I will unpack later. The South is a unique region in the education level respect, see again Black Belt.
I am getting a bit ahead of myself, as we have not yet established "The South". The Census Regions and are not what most persons, both insiders and outsiders, consider the South. Do we count the states that cesceeded, or just the 13 states represented on the "Confederate Battle Flag". So, my first goal will be to define, "my South", or something like it.
"my South" or something like it is about the best any of us can do, don't you think? Problems abound in platitudes referencing "the Southern notion of....", "the Southern idea that....", etc., etc. THE South as a stand-alone category is rife with assumptions and expectations. There are Souths, it seems to me. And yep, YOUR particular South is in the mix for sure...I wonder what all will be involved in your own process of coming to a distinction/definition of "the South" that works for you...?
ReplyDeletehow are your paper thoughts shaping up? Andie and I were talking this morning about hermeneutics and interpretation theory, and made me want to remind you: may be easier to think IDEA/theory/approach first and THEN context/data set......
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