The study of religion among Latinos and Latinas has often suffered from unstated sociological premises. Sometimes it was approached as an anachronistic religious expression doomed to assimilation; at other times, it was viewed in a romantic light as folk customs without importance to religion in the United States. This article views religion among Latinos and Latinas as part of a more general social history of the United States. The acceptance of Latino religious expression as a uniquely American one entails a rejection of manifest destiny and other key premises of U.S. culture, including assimilation. Explained here are the internal migration of Latinos to urban centers in the 1950s and how the response of churches prepared for the emergence of autonomous forms of Latino religion within the major denominations. Current population trends are described, and three key areas for further research are profiled.
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