Although many consider Central America a thoroughly Catholic region, Protestant organizations based in the United States began in the 1970s to send missionaries to Latin America in a concerted effort to convert Catholics to Protestantism. In this penetrating analysis of the social and political implications of Protestantism, focusing particularly on the fast-growing Pentecostal groups, Hallum provides a thorough overview of this complex phenomenon.

While the Christian Right has been the subject of a good deal of scholarly analysis, it has not been adequately studied within a comparative context -- across time, across different institutional systems, or across different religious communities. In Sojourners in the Wilderness, a host of distinguished scholars examine these dimensions of the Christian Right. The contributors analyze the Christian Right historically -- what is its relationship today with earlier manifestations? How have its organizational structures and strategies changed over time? Sociologically -- what are the current opportunities for Christian Right inroads within African-American, Catholic, and Jewish communities?; and politically -- what accounts for the affinity between many evangelical Protestants and the Christian Right within the American political context, while such an affinity appears to be lacking in other political contexts? All of those interested in religion's role in politics and history will find this book valuable.