Why Study Southern Christianity?

Nelson Mandela, a hero of cross-cultural understanding, once said, “There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.” I cannot be certain what these words meant to Mandela, but they hold truth for me. From February through June 2008, I lived and studied in Melbourne, Victoria, in the beautiful country of Australia. This weekend I will have been back in the United States for three months, and back at Wofford in South Carolina for one month. The reverse culture shock that I experienced upon returning home was in many ways more difficult to deal with and understand than the culture shock I experienced during my life on foreign soil. You can imagine my surprise and disbelief when this reverse culture shock was actually magnified by coming back to school. Students at Wofford and people in South Carolina in general were saying and doing things that baffled me, but why? I have spent three years at Wofford, and truthfully it has felt like just as much of a “home” as my hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. There was something about the people here, the culture here, that was drastically different from what I experienced in Melbourne and even what I readjusted to at home during the summer. I feel that being from the American South has shaped much of my study abroad experience, and framed my cultural perceptions. I think that Southern culture, especially in South Carolina, is drastically different from other cultures that I have experienced. The things people believe, what guides their actions, and why they live the way they live in South Carolina are based in entirely different conceptions of the world and one’s role in it than those characteristics of other peoples. I hope to illustrate how Christianity in the South is a large part of what makes southern culture different, what makes southern people and southern life different from the rest of the world.

“So, is everyone in Southern America a Christian?” Giselle, my Australian roommate, asked when I had tried to explain why being “southern” was different than just being “American.” I had told her that southerners were typically more socially and politically conservative than most Americans, that southern people in general hold a special sense of place and value being ‘southern’ as a part of their identity, and that within the United States being ‘southern’ connoted a differentiation from the larger American society. She was curious, I believe, because Australia is a very secular country. It intrigued her that for me, part of being from the south was being Christian. I stumbled over my words in an effort to present to her the truth as it was without being biased or giving her any negative impressions. Her question, however, was a valid one. Most earnest attempts to define what it means to be southern include some exploration of the ways in which Christianity has defined southern life over the years. This conversation with Giselle, as well as many others I had with Australians as well as Americans from other regions have led me to seek a definition of what it means to be southern, what it means to be Christian in the south, and whether or not any line can be drawn between the two.

Over the course of the semester, I will be exploring what it means to be southern and how Christianity has shaped South Carolina's culture and people, especially in the Spartanburg area. I will attempt to discover how Christianity in the south is changing by observing where it has been and currently is, as well as where it is headed. I will be looking for Christianity in southern culture; in politics, education, social life and public morality. I feel that these things are pertinent to the lives of not only those who live in the south, not only Christians, but all Americans and even all people.