Shared Hope as the Key to Communal Ties among Protestants in the Kathmandu Valley

• In Event: Hope, Desire and the Work of Becoming: Transcending Marginalization in Bangladesh, India and Nepal

Abstract

Protestants have been marginalized religiously, economically, socially and politically for decades in Nepal due to the predominantly Hindu conception of the nation. While the restoration of a multiparty democracy in 1990 induced new opportunities for Protestants to transcend their historical disadvantages, it also divided them. One can observe three major social divisions. The more educated Protestants following a classical notion of political activism demand equality and legal rights and desire political recognition from the state. The entrepreneur-inclined members of the community seek to raise funds in order to proselytize and provide social services. Their desire is expressed through pursuing economic advantages. These political and entrepreneurial Protestants are, however, often regarded negatively by the most economically and socially disadvantaged members of the community because they believe business and politics involve dishonesty. According to their perspective becoming a true Protestant can only be achieved through total reliance on and obedience to God. Their desire manifests in the cultivation of pious selves and is directed less towards the society but more towards God. The three social categories of Protestants follow different aspirations and simultaneously embody different types of agency deeply rooted within religion itself.
In my paper I wish to take a closer look at these various desires and religious becomings among Protestants in the Kathmandu Valley. I will argue that despite differences these Protestants nevertheless share hope, which rests in this context on the vision of constructing the world according to ‘God’s Will’ and thus helps maintain the communal ties between them.

Author

• Mitsuru Niwa, Hitotsubashi University