Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2020/Fall/105/Section059/Luther Comer

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Luther Comer

Biography: 

    Luther lived in North Carolina and (Luke) is an aspiring preacher that doesn’t have much time for his family or everyday takes of life. Luke moved to a farmhouse when he was younger and used to spend his days working in the field that caused him to grow up faster than the rest of his peers. Luke started to have a hard life since his wife had a miscarriage. Luke started to get sick, having ailments like paralysis and frequent fevers but no form of support from the government. Luke decided to find more meaning in his life and started taking his preaching talents to the local prisons to spread the Word of God to convicts. The lack of health care and proper treatment in America is highlighted. Also, how alcohol dependence in our nation can cause broken families and broken children having to grow up faster than they should. The individual discusses these issues just by explaining their life story and the cause and effect of this naturally provide dialogue on these issues. Therefore, they have completely shaped her personal life. Luke’s experiences relate to political issues in the era because he is the poster child for broken families and hardship from this.

Social Context: 

    Changing the Concept of Religious Preaching:

During the Great Depression, Christian missionaries were forced to leave China following a communist takeover. Many of these missionaries were Chinese speaking individuals and the changing power of religion in politics throughout the region. The profession of religion was compromised as people were forced to stop being freelance preachers just as how they were forced to stop preaching in China. Although they are separate reasons, you can see the issues involving being forced to stop practicing religion. This concept causes a change in other aspects of society as religious practitioners had to leave their line of work. These newcomers not only brought new faiths to America’s cities but also contributed to the innovation of several new, distinctly urban religious movements. However, it also led to tension and conflict as religious communities busied themselves with carving out spaces of their own through tight-knit urban enclaves or new suburban locales 

    Furthermore, members of other nations were going through the same thing. For example in Africa, "Mphagi' s (missionary in Africa) contribution to the growth and expansion of African indigenous Christianity should receive more attention...his contribution to the growth and expansion of African indigenous Christianity in Vendaland remains obscured...At this juncture, foreign missionaries were forced to leave China following the communist takeover in October 1949...Many of these missionaries were Chinese-speaking with medical or teaching experience.” (Mafukata, 2017, 2)

This shift in ideology caused a major change in the mindset of many. For example, BBC published a statement saying, "While much of the scientific study of religion is on theology-based doctrinal religions, the evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar thinks this is a narrow way of studying the phenomenon because it “completely ignores the fact that for most of human history religions have had a very different shamanic-like form that lacks gods and moral codes" (Ambrosino, 2019, 1).

The Scapegoat of Medicine: 

    One of the bigger aspects of this shift in religion is how medicine was altered as religion became less prominent in everyday society. With this, religion can be a disguise for detrimental activities through medicine. For example, during the Spanish Flu, highly religious people did not take the proper precautions to prevent the spread of the virus just as individuals during The Great Depression relied on a higher-order when they were struggling to find any excess money while the economy crashed. According to CNN: "Jesus is my vaccine." Well, OK, I can be respectful of that, but at the same time you need to not congregate with hundreds of people in a room....the way you write about the relationship between religion and medicine -- how close they were at first and how far apart they seem now -- made me think of a bitter divorce."(Burke, 2020, pg. 3). Individuals developed medical complications as they tried to continue practicing faith while their health degraded.

Works Cited

Cantwell, Christopher D. “Religion in the American City, 1900–2000.” Oxford Research

Encyclopedia of American History, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.013.355.


Mafukata, Mavhungu Abel. “(Vho) Abel Mphagi – The Barefooted Native 'Prophet' And 'Evangelist' Of Vendaland: A Transition Of Indigenous Belief Systems

      And Christianity.” Scriptura 116, no. 1 (2017). https://doi.org/10.7833/116-1-1203.


HING, LEE KAM. “A Neglected Story: Christian Missionaries, Chinese New Villagers, and Communists in the Battle for the ‘Hearts and Minds’ in

      Malaya, 1948–1960.” UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries. Accessed October 2, 2020. https://doi-org.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/10.1017/S0026749X12000741

         

Ambrosino, Brandon. “How and Why Did Religion Evolve?” BBC News. BBC. Accessed. October 2, 2020.                                                                                                                                                     https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190418-how-and-why-did-religion-evolve.

           

Burke, Daniel. “When Religion Is Dangerous for Your Health.” CNN. Cable News Network, May 1, 2020. https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/01/world/religion-

      medicine-coronavirus-wellness-levin/index.html.

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