Muscular Christianity in Latin America:
Attempted Liberations through the Myth of Modernity

Talk by Kimberly Diaz (UCR, Religious Studies)

Muscular Christianity, “a Christian commitment to health and manliness” (Putney, 12), was not an organized religion but a general disposition toward virtuous masculinity that originated in the Global West near the end of the long nineteenth century. In their peculiar adoptions of muscular Christianity, certain evangelical men in Puerto Rico and Mexico perceived a global unfolding of liberal democracies through the seemingly collective effort of muscular Christians around the world. As these Latin American muscular Christians combated against hegemonic forces related to the Roman Catholic Church and Mexican Revolution, they understood their own efforts and the missionary efforts of American muscular Christians as a universal attempt to foster the sovereignty of marginalized people. Yet, the framing of liberation and modern regimes at a universal scale also created and sustained incognizant compliances to a larger hegemonic force that was U.S. imperialism. This project explores the history of muscular Christianity in Latin America as a way to examine the complex overlap between power and empowerment.

Sponsored by the Global 19th Century Working Group at the UCR Center for Ideas and Society

Register: https://bit.ly/G19C_Diaz