Fred Kniss

The effect of religious orientation on international relief and development organizations

Do variations in religious orientation make a difference for the programs and policies of international relief and development organizations? We analyze data on 63 American religiously based organizations and denominational agencies that provide emergency relief and long-term economic development services to people and communities in other countries. We find that differences in religious tradition make very little difference in the size of programs or in the actual program activities. The most significant difference between religious traditions is in how they publicly legitimate their activity to their constituents. For example, analysis of mission statements and program descriptions indicates that, in the explicit justifications for their activities, evangelical groups face different ideological tasks than mainline Protestant and ecumenical organizations. More subtle legitimations occur in how tasks are defined in organizational structure and budget accounting categories. Here, mainline Protestant and ecumenical groups are the most likely to draw sharp distinctions between religious church extension programs and secular relief and development activity, while evangelical organizations are more likely to blur such boundaries.

ISKCON AND IMMIGRANTS: The Rise, Decline, and Rise Again of a New Religious Movement

This article examines the impact of Indian immigration on the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), popularly known as “Hare Krishnas.” After its emergence and initial growth as a new religious movement in the 1960s, ISKCON entered a period of decline and withdrawal in the 1980s because of second-generation problems and a series of financial and sexual scandals. A case study of the Chicago ISKCON temple shows that, since then, Indian immigration has provided ISKCON with new resources and a new target population for conversion. This has led to the reemergence of ISKCON as a religious movement, but one that differs in both its membership and its actions from the “seeker” movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The resurgence of ISKCONs movement activities is a product of congregational-level transnational interactions. The emergence of new religious movements, thus, must be seen in the context of broader historical dynamics as well as local microcosmic interactions. To the extent that these interactions are transnational in character, we should expect new religious movements to have an impact on the global “religious economy” with more rapid diffusion of religious innovations.

Immigrant Congregational Names in Chicago: Religious and Civic Considerations

Abstract Scholars have overlooked organizational names as a source of knowledge about the religious identities and civic relationships of immigrant congregations. This article draws upon ethnographic research at 16 immigrant congregations and an analysis of 110 Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim immigrant congregations in the Chicago area. Congregational name characteristics include denomination/lineage identity markers, generic religious terminology, national/ethnic identity markers, locational terms, and multiple languages. The article emphasizes the importance of religious identity in naming an immigrant congregation (a non-trivial fact), and discusses commonalities and distinctions among Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim naming patterns. On the whole; immigrant congregations with a preponderance of English and no national/ ethnic identity markers in their names are likely to be open to engagement with the larger society.