Related to cultural fathers, descendants of a natural God. The traditionalization of Pentecostal Roma through the ideology of family
2013
Abstract
In the first part of my paper I review the literature on conversions of Roma and find out that both missionaires and scholars have used quite unproblematically kinship in relation to conversions as one of the factors which are in the play. There are accounts of succesful conversions of whole kin groups, or unsuccesful conversions, because the converts family was not sympathetic to the conversion.
However kinship is surprisingly taken for granted. My fieldwork showed me this approach was not sustainable empirically, first when the conversion of the kin group became an obstacle to sincerity of the convert, and secondly when I observed some controversions of kinship and leadership in the congregation where I did my fieldwork.