My wife has a hard time with heavy metal. When I listen to Falls of Rauros or Wolves in the Throne Room, I do it through headphones. She can't take the screaming. She is quite sonically adventurous - she likes everything from classical music to an experimental genre that is called, literally, "Noise" - just not when it comes to certain extremes of the human voice. It reminds her of being yelled at.
So she has something of a hard time when the Evangelical church two houses over from us gets going. I'm not trying in any way to disparage los evangélicos by saying that they're screamers. I am just trying to be accurate. I recognize that they might prefer the word "praise" (or in español, dar oración) but when you are praising so intensely that your voice breaks, you're screaming.
I kind of dig it! And not just because I am the guy that likes screaming music.
As I grow older and become more invested in my own spiritual path the more I celebrate the spiritual expression of other people. I think it's a good thing that evangélicos pray in the way that they think is best. I also think I get why they scream. Sometimes a feeling is so powerful that it possesses the entire body and forcefully escapes through the mouth. In metal this process is cathartic - bad feelings get shouted out - but it happens to Evangelicals when they are having a good time.
This sonic similarity is one of many things that I am surprised to appreciate about Evangelical Christianity as it is practiced in the Dominican Republic. It might be a bit early to call, but I'll go on the record as a fan. Evangelicals play a surprisingly large role in society here given that they are outnumbered by Catholics by more than two to one.
Despite being extremely expressive in their praise - I've been to other Evangelical churches and even the ones where they don't scream the volume is still turned up to 11 - they serve as a moderating force in Dominican culture. Dominicans dance and drink and do the dirty deed at rates only barely exceeded tourists in Punta Cana. I don't think that drinking, dancing and doin' it are inherently bad but I do think that these stats for alcoholism and teen pregnancy suggest that Dominicans, as a whole, need to tone it down a little bit.
Which is exactly what evangélicos do. They don't drink, they don't dance (outside of church) and they (allegedly) don't do it before they're married. Yes, all human beings are capable of hypocrisy and, yes, Catholics have moral precepts too, but from my own observations it seems to me that your average evangelical en la República takes their commandments more seriously than your average católico.
I think that this is because Evangelical Protestantism is a relatively new thing here. I have met some multi-generational Evangelical families but I have met more new converts away from Catholicism. This is important not because I am an ex-Catholic myself (though I am), nor because I am a fan of Evangelical doctrine (we actually have profound disagreements) but because when you convert you are by default making a choice. And when you make a choice about a religion you necessarily have to consider your own behavior.
This isn't just a Dominican thing. It happens in other cultures, too. I, un americano, came up Christian but converted to Buddhism when I needed to make some big changes in my life. Korea, a traditionally Buddhist country, has high rates of alcoholism despite the Buddhist prohibition against abusing alcohol. What religion to Koreans convert to when they want to turn it from 11 to 7? Christianity.
I am into choosers, even if it's a choice I don't particularly agree with. It suggests a certain liberalism, not in the political sense of the word but meaning "openness to new ideas."
This surprised the heck out of me when I first realized it. Like many liberal-ish Americans who came of age during the Bush years the I associated the word "Evangelical" (meaning merely that you preach your faith to others as opposed to practicing it at home) with bad pop music and outsized influence in public policy. I had a negative conception that can only be described as prejudice. How ironic is it my biggest experience of cultural exchange in Peace Corps is a with group I already thought I knew?
The same is true for Jehovah's Witnesses. Don't worry, I won't be knocking on your door anytime soon but I now know something about their practice (as opposed to nothing) and so far I like what I have seen. My project partner is a testigo and upon visiting his house I was pleasantly surprised to discover a shelf full of books - not the most common site here. It turns out that becoming a full-fledged testigo requires a lot of study and therefore the J-dubs are seriously into literacy. The book shelf didn't bear only JW books. They were just books about the world. I am not into their doctrine but I admire the outward facing interest.
I hear that Mormons are on the upswing here, too. This doesn't surprise me. Outward facing interest aside, the RD has to be the easiest assignment in todo el mundo for missionaries, be they Mormon or any other group. The Dominican national pastime (other than baseball) is sitting on the front porch visiting with folks. They prefer folks they know but in a pinch they'll flag down a stranger and give them coffee.
I believe that these different denominations represent the introduction of religious diversity to RD. Even if it's just new flavors of Christianity right now, it's only a matter of time before it includes other religions. That's how it worked in Europe and the US, after all. As a diversity loving heathen, I approve!
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