With God on Our Side

Chapter 9 Conclusion

We reflected on this question: How does God want us to organize?1

I use this question, posed by a peasant activist in El Salvador (Ascoli n. d., 21), as the epigraph to this book because it captures the aspirations and imaginings of many religious activists. They are driven by both religious commitments and the desire to improve their communities, and they sometimes struggle to combine the two motivations harmoniously. They experience tensions and disappointments, but many persist nonetheless – and they have participated in some of the most momentous social and political transformations of the past century.

In this concluding chapter, I highlight some of the main lessons that I have learned from examining the ...