Politics of Prayer
Politics of Prayer
Christianity and the Decriminalization of Cocaine in Guatemala
This chapter analyzes formations of citizenship among Guatemalan Pentecostals, notably in relation to a particular cause—the decriminalization of drugs. It recounts how this cause was championed by Harold Caballeros, a former foreign minister and one of Guatemala's leading Pentecostal politicians. This was an extension of the prayer campaigns he had led against drug trafficking in Guatemala. In this connection, churches such as the Guatemala City megachurch El Shaddai provide a body of literature that instructs members on how to win back the capital as well as the country from the Devil. Through field research, this chapter illustrates how interceding in a spiritual war was primarily enacted as a private and personal activity, with prayer sheets kept at bedsides and workplaces and in individual Bibles, rather than used in public spaces.
Keywords: Guatemala, citizenship, Pentecostal politics, decriminalization of drugs, drug trafficking, Harold Caballeros, El Shaddai, individual political action, citizenship participation
NYU Press Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
