Participation Type
Paper
Presentation #1 Title
Progressive Religion in Appalachia - NOT an Oxymoron!
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Religion in Appalachia carries to this day the stigma of social and theological backwardness. (One may merely think "Appalachian Religion" and perhaps snakes, shouting preachers, or river baptisms still emerge as strong images in many minds.) However, can the word "Christian" and the word "progressive" co-exist in Appalachia? This presentation seeks to demonstrate a long though largely ignored tradition of progressive Christian religion in the Southern Highlands. It was a vision that included meetings that treated genders, races and other religions as equals. I shall highlight as examples two professors of religion, Walter N. Johnson, and Martin England, at a Southern Highlands college (Mars Hill University) in the 1920s and 1930s. Their writing, work, and gatherings of like-minded people changed minds, an institution, and perhaps the nation. Because of this tradition and these two professors’ work, more famous social justice movements, especially the Civil Rights activities of the 1940s-1960s, became more possible. Indeed, one of the most famous documents of the Civil Rights Movement has a connection to this story of progressive religion in Appalachia.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Marc Mullinax is a Professor of Religion at Mars Hill University, and faculty Liaison at the Listton B. Ramsey Center for Regional Studies at Mars Hill University.
Progressive Religion in Appalachia - NOT an Oxymoron!
Religion in Appalachia carries to this day the stigma of social and theological backwardness. (One may merely think "Appalachian Religion" and perhaps snakes, shouting preachers, or river baptisms still emerge as strong images in many minds.) However, can the word "Christian" and the word "progressive" co-exist in Appalachia? This presentation seeks to demonstrate a long though largely ignored tradition of progressive Christian religion in the Southern Highlands. It was a vision that included meetings that treated genders, races and other religions as equals. I shall highlight as examples two professors of religion, Walter N. Johnson, and Martin England, at a Southern Highlands college (Mars Hill University) in the 1920s and 1930s. Their writing, work, and gatherings of like-minded people changed minds, an institution, and perhaps the nation. Because of this tradition and these two professors’ work, more famous social justice movements, especially the Civil Rights activities of the 1940s-1960s, became more possible. Indeed, one of the most famous documents of the Civil Rights Movement has a connection to this story of progressive religion in Appalachia.
