Anyone who has been following the war in Cameroon, either on Facebook or Twitter, should have seen many photos, including those of dead people, fighting between the so-called Ambazonian fighters and Cameroon's military, houses that are being burnt or already burnt, refugees who in Nigeria or in the forests of Cameroon, wounded people in hospitals, and others. In her work Picturing Pity, Marianne Gullestad shows how some European missionaries in Cameroon use pictures to appeal for help for their work in the mission field. Pictures were one of the ways missionaries from Europe helped the sending churches to see what they were doing in the mission fields so that they may continue to support the work there. However, in order to show that the mission was worth supporting, the pictures sent were those that showed the most miserable conditions to justify why missionaries should continue in the mission fields. In a sense, the pictures we see coming from the war in Cameroon is used for the same purpose - to show that the Ambazonian fighters are doing their work and that the Biya regime is responding in barbarous ways. We see that most of the gruesome pictures are coming from Ambazonia people, the sent ones, (not from the government of Cameroon) and circulated on social media mostly accessed by those in the diaspora. These pictures are therefore ways of motivating those in the diaspora and to ask for more financial help in waging the war. The pictures are often accompanied by brief messages explaining them, as missionaries often did.
The war in Cameroon is therefore a missionary enterprise. Some people have been sent to fight for what they see as the soul of their land, converting others to their cause in the process. Those who do not believe in the cause are demonized, as missionaries sometimes did to those who did not become Christian. Those who are not in favor of the war or the call for separation are the new heathens who are destined to hell. These are sometimes killed or their homes burnt down by Ambazonia people. Those who believe are added to the fold and the process of proselytization continues. The goal is to found a new kingdom. Those who sent the missionaries, as was often the case in the 19th and 20th centuries, are in Europe and the United States. In order to prove that the work for which they were sent is being done, the missionaries/fighters take pictures/films and post them online for all to see. The pictures, as missionaries often did, are always those situated in the middle of the combat, where worse things are happening. Such pictures drew pity for the poor, benighted people of Africa and opened the wallets of parishioners. The pictures Ambazonia fighters post online are often intended to for the same purpose - to open the wallets of those who sent them.
One difference with this war is that both the senders and those sent are Cameroonians (Africans) and the purpose is war. The fight is, however, still for the soul of a people and the senders are still in Europe and America. The pictures are still needed to prove the point of the war. Poor us!
The war in Cameroon is therefore a missionary enterprise. Some people have been sent to fight for what they see as the soul of their land, converting others to their cause in the process. Those who do not believe in the cause are demonized, as missionaries sometimes did to those who did not become Christian. Those who are not in favor of the war or the call for separation are the new heathens who are destined to hell. These are sometimes killed or their homes burnt down by Ambazonia people. Those who believe are added to the fold and the process of proselytization continues. The goal is to found a new kingdom. Those who sent the missionaries, as was often the case in the 19th and 20th centuries, are in Europe and the United States. In order to prove that the work for which they were sent is being done, the missionaries/fighters take pictures/films and post them online for all to see. The pictures, as missionaries often did, are always those situated in the middle of the combat, where worse things are happening. Such pictures drew pity for the poor, benighted people of Africa and opened the wallets of parishioners. The pictures Ambazonia fighters post online are often intended to for the same purpose - to open the wallets of those who sent them.
One difference with this war is that both the senders and those sent are Cameroonians (Africans) and the purpose is war. The fight is, however, still for the soul of a people and the senders are still in Europe and America. The pictures are still needed to prove the point of the war. Poor us!
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