God and Caesar at the Rio Grande

God and Caesar at the Rio Grande

Sanctuary and the Politics of Religion

Hilary Cunningham

Table of Contents

$23.50 Paper
ISBN: 0-8166-2457-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-8166-2457-7

The Sanctuary Movement began in 1981 when a collection of mostly church-related people decided to assist the wave of Central Americans migrating to the United States. The movement was transformed in the following years into a highly volatile church-state confrontation. It established an underground railroad to help Central Americans enter the United States and then provided sanctuary for them within churches and synagogues.

In God and Caesar at the Rio Grande, Hilary Cunningham offers a fascinating account of the history and growth of the Sanctuary Movement, as she demonstrates how religion shapes and is shaped by political culture. Focusing on the Sanctuary located in Tucson, Arizona, Cunningham explores the movement primarily through the experiences of everyday participants conveyed through interviews with Sanctuary workers as well as reproductions of documents from her stays in Arizona, Mexico, and Guatemala. She includes a discussion of the role of sanctuaries within the Judeo-Christian tradition in ancient times, and elaborates on the prominence of women in the Sanctuary network today.

One of few books to document the culture of the religious left in the United States, God and Caesar at the Rio Grande illustrates how a particular group of people used religious beliefs and practices to interpret and respond to state authority. Cunningham looks at such diverse subjects as U.S. church-state relations, the social construction of power, and international refugee policy. This book will be of interest to individuals wishing to explore the relationship of religion to power and social change.

“Cunningham’s writing combines fluid prose and chiseled insights. She emerges as a participant, storyteller and wise observer of the sanctuary movement which emerged in Tucson Arizona in the ‘80s.” —Catholic New Times

“Cunningham presents the Sanctuary movement as a series of individual, national, and global strategies of resistance to a hegemonic vision of global integration. The book is a street-smart ethnographic account of church-state relations.” —Religious Studies Review

Hilary Cunningham is assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

Selected as a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book for 1996

288 pages | 5 7/8 x 9 | 1995

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements
Introduction. On the Steps of Sanctuary: Religion and Politics in the United States

1. Sanctuary and Theoretical Frameworks: Anthropology, Religion, and Power
2. Local History, Part 1: Declaring Sanctuary for Central Americans (July 1980 to December 1982)
3. Local History, Part 2: The U.S. Sanctuary Movement on Trial (January 1983 to July 1986)
4. Sanctuary and the Judeo-Christian Tradition
5. Separation and Covenant: Church Sanctuary in the U.S. Tradition
6. Creating “Social Space”: Sanctuary and the Reconstitution of “Church”
7. Sanctuary and the Central American Odyssey
8. Anatomy of an “Underground” Church
9. Reconstructing Religious Identity and Practice: Churches, States, and the “Global Order”

Notes
Bibliography
Index



God and Caesar at the Rio Grande *Sanctuary and the Politics of Religion* Hilary Cunningham Table of Contents		$23.50 Paper ISBN: 0-8166-2457-7 ISBN-13: 978-0-8166-2457-7
The Sanctuary Movement began in 1981 when a collection of mostly church-related people decided to assist the wave of Central Americans migrating to the United States. The movement was transformed in the following years into a highly volatile church-state confrontation. It established an underground railroad to help Central Americans enter the United States and then provided sanctuary for them within churches and synagogues. In God and Caesar at the Rio Grande, Hilary Cunningham offers a fascinating account of the history and growth of the Sanctuary Movement, as she demonstrates how religion shapes and is shaped by political culture. Focusing on the Sanctuary located in Tucson, Arizona, Cunningham explores the movement primarily through the experiences of everyday participants conveyed through interviews with Sanctuary workers as well as reproductions of documents from her stays in Arizona, Mexico, and Guatemala. She includes a discussion of the role of sanctuaries within the Judeo-Christian tradition in ancient times, and elaborates on the prominence of women in the Sanctuary network today. One of few books to document the culture of the religious left in the United States, God and Caesar at the Rio Grande illustrates how a particular group of people used religious beliefs and practices to interpret and respond to state authority. Cunningham looks at such diverse subjects as U.S. church-state relations, the social construction of power, and international refugee policy. This book will be of interest to individuals wishing to explore the relationship of religion to power and social change. “Cunningham’s writing combines fluid prose and chiseled insights. She emerges as a participant, storyteller and wise observer of the sanctuary movement which emerged in Tucson Arizona in the ‘80s.” —Catholic New Times “Cunningham presents the Sanctuary movement as a series of individual, national, and global strategies of resistance to a hegemonic vision of global integration. The book is a street-smart ethnographic account of church-state relations.” —Religious Studies Review Hilary Cunningham is assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. Selected as a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book for 1996 288 pages \| 5 7/8 x 9 \| 1995 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements Introduction. On the Steps of Sanctuary: Religion and Politics in the United States 1. Sanctuary and Theoretical Frameworks: Anthropology, Religion, and Power 2. Local History, Part 1: Declaring Sanctuary for Central Americans (July 1980 to December 1982) 3. Local History, Part 2: The U.S. Sanctuary Movement on Trial (January 1983 to July 1986) 4. Sanctuary and the Judeo-Christian Tradition 5. Separation and Covenant: Church Sanctuary in the U.S. Tradition 6. Creating “Social Space”: Sanctuary and the Reconstitution of “Church” 7. Sanctuary and the Central American Odyssey 8. Anatomy of an “Underground” Church 9. Reconstructing Religious Identity and Practice: Churches, States, and the “Global Order” Notes Bibliography Index