New College Modern Latin American History

This article from the Latin American Perspectives journal talks about the disenfranchised youth in Honduras, who are typically young males. Due to Neoliberal policies in the Americas since the 1980s, there has been an increase in the number of violent deaths of young men in many countries, especially Honduras, where gang violence has increased with depleted social spending. "When combined, the paltry amount budgeted for education and health care spending and a faltering GDP create an environment of economic uncertainty for the working poor in Honduras, who constitute three-quarters of the nation's households (78)." . . . "Evangelical faiths in Latin America offer youth a form of public life that contends with other forms of public affiliation. In Honduras, youth participating in "privatized" forms of religious practice such as evangelical Protestantism do so in response to the "private" cliques of youth gangs. In the face of the social suffering caused by neoliberal economies, evangelical Christian faiths have offered disenfranchised youth in Honduras a spiritual response to individual pain while gangs have offered self-empowerment predicated on interpersonal violence." Max Weber says that 'Salvific religions' offer a chance for a better future, salvation from the evil that exists in the world (suffering, social exploitation), so the 'nonpriveledged class' is attracted to this sentiment, especiallly in the social devistation of neoliberalism. As the article states, "In the neoliberal era in Latin America, a time when hunger, disease, and violence are causing acute bodily suffering, salvific religions have gained many new followers by promising an end to suffering." Also, an alternative to the social order is offered by the ethnic and social equality "in the eyes of God."