conversion by affiliation: the history of the Karo Batak Protestant Church

1995/11/01 by Rita Smith Kipp · 39 citations
Social Sciences · #Asian Studies and History #Anthropological Studies and Insights #Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies #Protestantism #Declaration #Identity (music) #Politics #Element (criminal law) #Christianity #Sociology #Ethnic group #Religious studies #Philosophy #Law #Anthropology #Political science #Aesthetics

paper · doi:10.1525/ae.1995.22.4.02a00110

published in American Ethnologist 22(4), 868-882 (Wiley)

openalex publication_date 1995/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/01

Abstract

Theories of conversion have often stressed either psychological or sociological factors, but viewing conversion as the public declaration of a new identity and incorporating the element of time afford a way to synthesize these approaches. Although conversions to Christianity in the Karo Protestant Church, legacy of a Dutch Reformed mission, were often prompted by political or pragmatic considerations and reinforced an ethnic identity in contrast to a Muslim majority, religious life for many Karo has been transformed over the long run.

Citations

• Theory in Anthropology since the Sixties
• the Virgin of Guadalupe in New Spain: an inquiry into the social history of Marian devotion
• The Active vs. Passive Convert: Paradigm Conflict in Conversion/Recruitment Research
• The Early Years of a Dutch Colonial Mission
• Outline of a Theory of Practice
• Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion.

Cited by

• Protestantism in Indonesia [wikipedia]