Foreign faiths and national renewal

Drawing on my research among foreign religious workers and young converts, I explore here the changing religious landscape in the Kyrgyz Republic. Although many people in Kyrgyzstan are aware of the material benefits enjoyed by people who convert to new faiths (money, food and professional opportunity), to understand the appeal of these faiths among young people it is important to look beyond material factors. I argue that Christianity's success must be understood in the context of the current social and economic crisis and is a result of Christian leaders' ability to link young people's spiritual lives to projects of national renewal. The story of evangelical Christianity in Kyrgyzstan speaks to an ongoing debate in the social sciences about the usefulness of studying conversion as an individual experience of changed belief versus as a response to social and political realities. The emphasis, in Kyrgyz churches, on the importance of individual converts to national renewal reveals that the individual and social dimensions of conversion must be understood together. Keywords: ChristianityyouthconversionKyrgyz Republicformer Soviet Union Notes 1. Hefner writes, 'For students of religious conversion the challenge in this controversy is to strike a balance between the two extremes of intellectualist voluntarism and structural determinism...Rather than overemphasize intrinsic or extrinsic variables in conversion, then, we should explore the way in which the two interact and expect that the relative importance of each may vary in different settings' (1993b Hefner, RobertW. 1993b. "Introduction: World building and the rationality of conversion". In Conversion to Christianity: Historical and anthropological perspectives on a great transformation, Edited by: Hefner, Robert W. 3-44. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 23-24). 2. I distinguish throughout between 'Kyrgyz', which refers to the ethnic group (Kyrgyz, ulut), and 'Kyrgyzstani', which refers to attributes and citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic. 3. In the paper I have found it easiest to use the label 'Christian' or 'evangelical Christian' when talking about these groups. This does not reflect the way my informants talked, however. Many of the converts I met distinguished between 'religion' (Kyrgyz, din) and 'faith' (Kyrgyz, yiman). 'Christianity', the religion, could be as backward and repressive as any local tradition, they told me. Preferable to 'becoming Christian', they said, was 'having faith' (in God and Jesus). See also Pelkmans (2007 Pelkmans, Mathijs. 2007. 'Culture' as a tool and an obstacle: Missionary encounters in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 13: 881-99. [Crossref], [Web of Science (R)] , [Google Scholar]). 4. I focus on the younger generations not to suggest that elders do not change their spiritual orientation - many do - but to explore the unique attraction new faiths hold for the generations who came of age after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. See Pelkmans (2009a Pelkmans, Mathijs. 2009a. "Introduction: Post-Soviet space and the unexpected turns of religious life". In Conversion after socialism: Disruptions, modernisms and technologies of faith in the former Soviet Union, Edited by: Pelkmans, Mathijs. 1-16. New York: Berghahn. [Google Scholar]) for a consideration of Christian conversion among a wider age range. 5. By 'neoliberal reforms', I refer to an economic policy that favours free markets and globalisation. In the former Soviet Union, this policy implied dismantling the government-funded social security system that existed during the Soviet era. 6. Kyrgyzstan receives the third highest level of aid (per capita) in the former Soviet republics (Aksartova 2005 Aksartova, Saadat. 2005. Civil society from abroad: U.S. donors in the former Soviet Union. PhD diss., Department of Sociology, Princeton University [Google Scholar], 93). The activities of the development sector in the post-Soviet context have been detailed extensively (e.g. Aksartova 2005 Aksartova, Saadat. 2005. Civil society from abroad: U.S. donors in the former Soviet Union. PhD diss., Department of Sociology, Princeton University [Google Scholar]; Atlani-Duault 2007 Atlani-Duault, Laëtitia. 2007. Humanitarian aid in post-Soviet countries: An anthropological perspective, London: Routledge. Andrew Wilson, trans [Google Scholar]; Borbieva 2007 Borbieva, Noor. 2007. Development in the Kyrgyz Republic: Exchange, communal networks, and the foreign presence. PhD diss., Department of Anthropology, Harvard University [Google Scholar]; Hemment 2007 Hemment, Julie. 2007. Empowering women in Russia: Activism, aid, and NGOs, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. [Google Scholar]; Phillips 2008 Phillips, Sarah D. 2008. Women's social activism in the new Ukraine: Development and the politics of differentiation, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. [Google Scholar]; Reeves 2005 Reeves, Madeleine. 2005. Locating danger: Konfliktologiia and the search for fixity in the Ferghana Valley borderlands. Central Asian Survey, no. 1: 67-81. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]; Rivkin-Fish 2005 Rivkin-Fish, Michele. 2005. Women's health in post-Soviet Russia: The politics of intervention, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. [Google Scholar]; Sievers 2003 Sievers, Eric W. 2003. The post-Soviet decline of Central Asia: Sustainable development and comprehensive capital, London: Routledge. [Google Scholar]). 7. Non-volunteer, 'professional' missionaries collect salaries from international missionary agencies (Bonk 2006 Bonk, Jonathan J. 2006. Missions and money: Affluence as a western missionary problem...revisited, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis. [Google Scholar], 8). The relative wealth of missionaries and their communities is a problem that has been noted within the missionary community (Bonk 2006 Bonk, Jonathan J. 2006. Missions and money: Affluence as a western missionary problem...revisited, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis. [Google Scholar]). 8. Also, 'Jalal-Abad'. 9. When I asked embassy personnel, who had decided that the media centre should occupy that space, if the arrangement did not represent a possible conflict of interest, they disagreed. They told me that the building had been chosen because the facilities were new and the building had reliable utilities and an internet connection. 10. When I was a PCV in Kyrgyzstan (1997-1999), the religious workers kept a lower profile, and did not mix conspicuously with PCVs. When I was doing fieldwork, however, there appeared to be more interaction. As for my own involvements, I was friendly with a number of American Christians in Jalalabat, including the manager of Erkindik. In Bishkek, I was sometimes approached by representatives of Christian organisations with requests that I teach English classes for them, even though I was careful to clarify that I was not an evangelical Christian (I did not end up teaching for them). Not all my contacts with missionaries were positive. A few foreign religious workers were hostile. One German missionary told me that he did not trust anthropologists, and mentioned that anthropologists had caused problems for missionaries in South America. 11. Global Involvement Through Education, 'About Us: Purpose,' http://www.globalie.org/ (accessed 27 December 2011). 12. Aslan Alliance, 'About Us,' http://www.aslan4all.com/eng.html (accessed 27 December 2011). 13. Throughout the world, evangelicals use secular work as a way to enter hostile areas. In religious parlance, this is called working as a 'tentmaker' (a reference to Acts 18:3) and is promoted at Bible schools across the USA (Johnstone et al. 2001, 705). According to reports from the evangelical community, there are hundreds of 'tentmakers' in Kyrgyzstan (Mandryk 2010 Mandryk, Jason. 2010. Operation world, Seventh edition, Colorado Springs, CO: Biblica Publishing. [Google Scholar], 519). Doing 'secular' work allows them to enter the country and work undisturbed by the authorities. Many faith-based NGOs register as charitable or educational organisations rather than as religious organisations. 14. This is a common criticism of the development sector (Abramson 1999 Abramson, David M. 1999. A critical look at NGOs and civil society as means to an end in Uzbekistan. Human Organization, 58(3): 240-50. [Web of Science (R)] , [Google Scholar]; Aksartova 2005 Aksartova, Saadat. 2005. Civil society from abroad: U.S. donors in the former Soviet Union. PhD diss., Department of Sociology, Princeton University [Google Scholar], 39; Hemment 2007 Hemment, Julie. 2007. Empowering women in Russia: Activism, aid, and NGOs, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. [Google Scholar], 48; Uvin 1998 Uvin, Peter. 1998. Aiding violence: The development enterprise in Rwanda, West Hartford, CT: Kumarian. [Google Scholar]). 15. Tengrism is a revival movement based on the ancient Turkic cult of the sky god, 'Tengir'. The revival is promoted by a number of elite Kyrgyz nationalists (Laruelle 2007 Laruelle, Marlène. 2007. Religious revival, nationalism and the 'invention of tradition': Political Tengrism in Central Asia and Tatarstan. Central Asian Survey, 26(2): 203-16. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]; Ömüraly uulu 1994 Ömüraly uulu, Choyun. 1994. Tengirchilik (Uluttuk filosofiyanyn unggusuna chalgyn), Bishkek: Kron. [Tengrism: A survey of the roots of a nation's philosophy] [Google Scholar]; Sarygulov 2001a Sarygulov, Dastan. 2001a. Tengirdin jolunan adashkan adam [The human being who has strayed from the way of Tengir], Bishkek: Suröt-Basma-Salonu. [Google Scholar]). 16. This is the Kyrgyz spelling of the word. It is spelled in a variety of ways throughout the Islamic world. 17. Those who came of age during the Soviet era tend to remember it as a time of prosperity, stability and opportunity, while members of the younger generations identify the Soviet Union and its ideologies as failed projects. Recent scholarship has documented and explored the profound differences between generations in the post-socialist context (e.g. ICG 2003b International Crisis Group (ICG). 2003b. Youth in Central Asia: Losing the new generation. Asia Report No. 66. October 31. http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/asia/central-asia/066-youth-in-central-asia-losing-the-new-generation.aspx (accessed 27 December 2011) [Google Scholar]; Kuehnast 1997 Kuehnast, Kathleen Rae. 1997. Let the stone lie where it has fallen: Dilemmas of gender and generation in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. PhD diss., Graduate School, University of Minnesota [Google Scholar], 1998 Kuehnast, KathleenRae. 1998. From pioneers to entrepreneurs: Young women, consumerism, and the 'world picture' in Kyrgyzstan. Central Asian Survey, 17(4): 639-54. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]; Markowitz 2000 Markowitz, Fran. 2000. Coming of age in post-Soviet Russia, Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. [Google Scholar]; McBrien 2009 McBrien, Julie. 2009. Mukadas's struggle: Veils and modernity in Kyrgyzstan. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 15: S127-44. [Crossref], [Web of Science (R)] , [Google Scholar], S133; Yurchak 2006 Yurchak, Alexei. 2006. Everything was forever, until it was no more: The last Soviet generation, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 30-32). 18. I have changed the names of the people and organisations I discuss in the ethnographic sections. 19. I often heard non-Christian Kyrgyz call Kyrgyz Christians 'satkyndar' (sell outs). 20. Another common criticism I heard, however, was that churches steal money from the poor. It does appear that some Kyrgyz churches expect congregants to pay a tithe (Pelkmans 2009b Pelkmans, Mathijs. 2009b. "Temporary conversions: Encounters with Pentecostalism in Muslim Kyrgyzstan". In Conversion after socialism: Disruptions, modernisms and technologies of faith in the former Soviet Union, Edited by: Pelkmans, Mathijs. 143-62. New York: Berghahn. [Google Scholar], 146). All the services I attended included an opportunity to give an offering. 21. This appears to be commonly preached in the Church of Jesus Christ, a popular denomination founded and led by ethnic Russians (see Pelkmans 2009b Pelkmans, Mathijs. 2009b. "Temporary conversions: Encounters with Pentecostalism in Muslim Kyrgyzstan". In Conversion after socialism: Disruptions, modernisms and technologies of faith in the former Soviet Union, Edited by: Pelkmans, Mathijs. 143-62. New York: Berghahn. [Google Scholar]). 22. In many of these stories, religion emerged as a way to address what Weber called 'the problem of meaning'. This refers to the inadequacies of common sense to explain human experience, or in Geertz's words, the fact that 'life continually overflows the categories of practical reason' (Geertz 1968 Geertz, Clifford. 1968. Islam observed: Religious development in Morocco and Indonesia, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. [Google Scholar], 101). 23. Foreign religious workers emphasise the freedom of conscience discourse in part to mobilise national and international support for the religious tolerance agenda, a political movement in the USA that was largely led by conservative Christians and is partly responsible for the International Religious Freedom Act in 1998 (Hertzke 2004 Hertzke, Allen D. 2004. Freeing God's children: The unlikely alliance for global human rights, Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield. [Google Scholar]). Although there is much to admire about this movement, such as its concern for minority rights, it is also necessary to acknowledge that many of the movement's leaders were motivated by the narrow intention of supporting the global evangelical Christian cause. 24. In the words of a local reporter, when a community member converts, 'neighbors feel personally rebuked' (Ismanov 2003 Ismanov, Almaz. 2003. Protestants in Kyrgyzstan face hostile reception. Eurasianet.org. December 7. http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/rights/articles/eav120803.shtml (accessed 27 December 2011) [Google Scholar]). 'Most of my fellow ethnic kin drink alcohol and don't observe Muslims [sic] rituals, but nominally they consider themselves Muslims. They see those who have converted to Christianity as traitors who have rejected national customs', said one villager (Rotar 2006a RotarIgor. 2006a. Kyrgyzstan: Intolerance against Christians highlighted by murder. Forum 18 News Service. February 17. http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id = 729 (accessed 27 December 2011) [Google Scholar]). After Saktinbai Usmanov, an elderly convert, was murdered in his village, allegedly by a mob angered by his religious activity, neighbours told reporters, '[He] was a good, kind man. He used to help the poor. But people could not forgive him for rejecting the faith of his ancestors.' He was called a 'traitor to the faith of his ancestors' (Rotar 2006a RotarIgor. 2006a. Kyrgyzstan: Intolerance against Christians highlighted by murder. Forum 18 News Service. February 17. http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id = 729 (accessed 27 December 2011) [Google Scholar]). 25. Bellah (1964 Bellah, Robert N. 1964. Religious evolution. American Sociological Review, 29(3): 358-74. [Crossref], [Web of Science (R)] , [Google Scholar], 373) argued that traditional religions and modern religions differ in that the former encourage conformity whereas the latter give adherents freedom to determine their own spiritual path (see also Hefner 1993b Hefner, RobertW. 1993b. "Introduction: World building and the rationality of conversion". In Conversion to Christianity: Historical and anthropological perspectives on a great transformation, Edited by: Hefner, Robert W. 3-44. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 9; Meyer 1999 Meyer, Birgit. 1999. "Commodities and the power of prayer: Pentecostalist attitudes towards consumption in contemporary Ghana". In Globalization and identity: Dialectics of flow and closure, Edited by: Meyer, Birgit and Geschiere, Peter. 151-76. Oxford: Blackwell. [Google Scholar], cited by Marshall-Fratani 1998 Marshall-Fratani, Ruth. 1998. Mediating the global and local in Nigerian Pentecostalism. Journal of Religion in Africa, 28(3): 278-315. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 286). 26. In Kyrgyzstan, says Pelkmans, the 'freedom of choice' discourse spoken by evangelicals 'serves to delegitimize the ties of belonging and interdependence that embed persons in social and cultural fields' (Pelkmans 2009c Pelkmans, Mathijs. 2009c. The 'transparency' of Christian proselytizing in Kyrgyzstan. Anthropological Quarterly, 82(2): 423-46. [Crossref], [Web of Science (R)] , [Google Scholar], 430). 27. Christianity offers 'a supremely relational gospel', writes one Christian commentator (Bonk 2006 Bonk, Jonathan J. 2006. Missions and money: Affluence as a western missionary problem...revisited, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis. [Google Scholar], 56). According to Pelkmans's descriptions, Kyrgyzstani churches have become particularly important social networks for marginal individuals such as urban migrants and single mothers (Pelkmans 2009b Pelkmans, Mathijs. 2009b. "Temporary conversions: Encounters with Pentecostalism in Muslim Kyrgyzstan". In Conversion after socialism: Disruptions, modernisms and technologies of faith in the former Soviet Union, Edited by: Pelkmans, Mathijs. 143-62. New York: Berghahn. [Google Scholar]). 28. Some Kyrgyzstani churches expect converts to distance themselves from their communities, but other groups, such as NTW, encourage integration. Unfortunately, many young converts also face rejection from their families and communities. A young Christian woman I met in Bishkek had several sisters in Bishkek but lived alone because her parents feared she would convert her sisters if they lived together. Melis, whose immediate family is also Christian, said his family is excluded from many social events in his village. 'When I go to the village, people don't talk to me normally', he said. 29. A Muslim leader I knew acknowledged the power this discourse had to attract Kyrgyz young people. She agreed that in Kyrgyz communities, young people were taught an authoritarian version of Islam that lacked much discussion of love. 'You learn nothing more, nothing deeper than, "Do this because God said so." And then the Christians come and say, "God loves you," and of course those sweet words are more attractive.' She pointed out that Islam also teaches love. 'Of course God loves you. God loves all of us, no matter who we are or what we believe.' 30. Although the service was in English, the congregation was a mixture of expats and Kyrgyzstani citizens. At each service, a summary of the sermon was passed out, which included the main points of the sermon in English and Russian. 31. These concerns were also expressed by members of other spiritual communities. One devout Muslim I knew told me, 'The problem in Kyrgyzstan is that our leaders don't fear God. It's because we had seventy years of socialism.' Similarly, Sarygulov (2001b Sarygulov, Dastan. 2001b. Turmush köchü, Bishkek: Suröt-Basma-Salonu. [Google Scholar], 31), a proponent of Tengrism, warns that economic development cannot occur without a morally strong populace. 32. Aslan Alliance, Projects, 'Who is my neighbor?' http://www.aslan4all.com/eng.html (accessed 27 December 2011

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