Latinos have historically had strong religious ties. This dates back to when Indigenous communities were forced to change or mask their faiths and has morphed into the growing and diverse evangelical movements of today. Yesterday the Pew Hispanic Center and the Forum on Religion & Public Life released a study which looked at Latinos, their relationship with religion, and how that relationship impacts their politics. So what’s so unique about our relationship with faith? According to the report, Latinos across faiths view their relationships with God as very personal, with God playing an active roll in our day to day lives.

Renewalist Christianity, which places special emphasis on God’s ongoing, day-to-day intervention in human affairs through the person of the Holy Spirit, appears to be much more prevalent among Hispanics than among their non-Latino counterparts.
More than half of Hispanic Catholics identify themselves as charismatics, compared with only an eighth of non-Hispanic Catholics. While remaining committed to the church and its traditional teachings, many of these Latino Catholics report familiarity with supernatural experiences, such as divine healings and speaking in tongues, that are more typical of Protestant renewalist movements.

Latinos also like our religion in our native language or at least like to see people that look like us up on the altar regardless of if we pray in English or Spanish. The study also states that among the Latinos surveyed, most felt that there wasn’t enough religion in politics and that our faith plays a big role in determining what political party we fall in line with.

The bilingual study was conducted using over 4,600 interviews with Latinos throughout the U.S.

I haven’t read the entire study (I will) but because of the historical relationship Latinos have with Christianity, the study seems to be a reflection on Christian Latinos as opposed to a deeper reflection of the religious diversity and nuances that exist within the Latino community especially among second and third generation Latinos. While this Latina was raised in the Catholic Church with strong spriritualist and Afro-Indigenous influences, what I’ve read so far didn’t feel like a reflection of my faith. But like I said – I need to read more.

What about your faith? Is it strong? Does it play a role in your politics?

Via / Pew Hispanic Research Center

Image Via / MSNBC.com