Paper short abstract:

The paper explores the intersection between Baptist Christianity, politics and identity formations in the state of Nagaland (Northeast India) by analysing how Baptist Christian understandings of engaging with the world underpin theocratic political projects among the Naga.

Paper long abstract:

The paper explains how Baptist Christian understandings of engaging with the world, together with widely shared perceptions across Nagaland that the Naga are the chosen people of God whose mission it is to spread Christianity across Asia, translate into political projects which attempt to introduce theocracy in Nagaland and, consequently, across Asia. These projects are underpinned by the tacit understanding that the world should be ideologically guided by God's law as set out in the Bible, governed by God-fearing politicians and inhabited by God-fearing and obedient Christians. While state and church, religion and politics, are officially separated in Nagaland, as in the rest of India, Naga people have limited opportunities to practise this secularism because of the explicitly religious environment in which they live. The Baptist Church in Nagaland has assumed responsibility for enforcing God's will on earth, and its moral authority pervades all aspects of private and public life. The paper suggests that the theocratic projects that the Church attempts to advance by interfering actively in Naga politics can be best understood against the backdrop of local political history and the specific configurations of Baptist theology and practice in Nagaland.