No Dialogue With Racism: Boycott A&E's "Generation KKK"

It is being reported by multiple media outlets that the TV channel A&E will next January air a docuseries on the KKK with the apparent intention of creating dialogue around the KKK. When was the last time America held a dialogue with the KKK? How can dialogue be held with racism? Racism is not a thing for dialogue; the only fitting way to respond to racism is to condemn it. Racism in America is built on White supremacy which has no better champion than the KKK. This group defended White supremacy in America with all the violence and law they could muster. Enjoying electoral victory in Donald Trump a shameful worldview that should have no place in a civilized society is now being normalized by the media.

That is why White supremacist groups and leaders are now being called alt-right or White nationalists instead of the rabid racists that they are. And so Jeff Sessions of Alabama, who was not fit to be a federal judge thirty years ago because he was judged to be a racist and in bed with the KKK, is now going to become the attorney general of America. With the support that the media gave to Donald Trump, it should now be apparent to all that the media would lend its support to any movement that would bring it money. This is about making money because racism is becoming a lucrative business in America once again. The airing of this show has nothing to do with generating discussion because the proper response to racism is to denounce it not to discuss with it. Racism is not a different opinion as White supremacists are now trying to rebrand it; it is a degenerate worldview that must be denounced. This show ought to be denounced and boycotted.

Remembering Steve Bantu Biko

At Google

How To Kiss Paul Biya's Behind aka the #BidoungChallenge

Paul Biya's Minister for Sports bows to him and creates a hashtag. Paul Biya is Cameroon's brutal dictator for 34 years.

Resisting Paul Biya's Dictatorship in Cameroon

By all means necessary . . . including a giant catapult

The Year of Shock Elections!

First there was Brexit, then there was Donald Trump, and now there is Adama Barrow, president-elect of the Gambia. The incumbent dictator, Yahya Jammeh, had promised that he would rule until the world ends. Little did he know that 2016 would be the end of his misrule. In the Gambia, the magnitude of the defeat of Jammeh is similar to combining Brexit and Donald Trump, without the xenophobia and racism, of course.

Africa Has One Less Dictator

Gambia's dictator for 22 years, Yahya Jammeh, has been defeated in a recent election, leading Africa to have one less dictator, assuming that the guy who is replacing him will not replicate his exploits. The new president of Gambia is Adama Barrow.

Voting Method In The Gambia: Marbles

A unique and cost effective method of voting in the Gambia.

1800 Days of Protesting Paul Biya's 33-Year Dictatorship in Cameroon

Paul Biya, the dictator of Cameroon, came to power November 6, 33 years ago. He is currently one of the longest serving dictators anywhere in the world. FlourishingAfrica has been protesting the misrule of Paul Biya in Cameroon since the machinations of the last election that returned him to power. The was over 1800 days ago. Each day we send out a tweet as protest against this continued misrule in the country. His years at the helm of the state in the country has not brought the medical system to a level he could entrust with his own health, that is why he keeps spending more time in Europe for medical purposes. For most Cameroonians, however, this is not an option. Whenever they suffer from a serious ailment, the option left open for them is to pray for a miracle or die. Paul Biya currently remains in power not because he has a vision for the country (in fact, he is becoming senile) but just because he could not envision  himself doing anything else. As one of the longest serving dictators in the continent, he loves maintaining a low international profile that would keep the country off the map rather than call attention to his plunder.

Even as the country  is currently fighting Boko Haram in the north of the country, with many Cameroonian soldiers losing their lives there, Paul Biya has hardly been engaged in the issue. The country apparently does not even have money to engage in the fight as citizens are being asked to donate money towards the fight. All the while, the dictator spends more time out of the country, minding his own business in Europe. There is no good reason why he should continue to remain the head of state in Cameroon, given that he is hardly present there.

This week has been especially bloody in Cameroon with violent eruption of protest, specifically in Bamenda, the nerve of the opposition in Cameroon. With all this going on, Paul Biya has characteristically been silent.

Witchcraft Discourse Comes to American Politics

When it comes to the study of witchcraft in contemporary social science, one may be forgiven for thinking that the main go-to place is Africa. All kinds of studies have been done on the role of witchcraft in African politics, religion and even economics. However, little has been heard about the applicability of the language of witchcraft in contemporary American politics - until now. This piece in The New York Times, connected to a study by the same author, shows that the language of witchcraft applies to America. If we pay attention, we are also going to see it in Europe with the rise of the ultra-right and Brexit. Anthropologists and political scientists need to get busy.

A New Slave Ship?

Who is responsible for this and why do Africans endure and tolerate it?

Credit Aris Messinis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images       

The Batteries in Your Cell Phones: See Where They Come From

An excellent report from The Washington Post.

 

A boy carries a bag used to transport cobalt-laden dirt and rock at the Musompo market (The Washington Post)

Cameroon's Brexit or Rule Breaking?

Cameroon has mounted what appears to be a daring betrayal of the central African regional block known as CEMAC, which consists of central African countries that negotiate economic deals with other partners as a single block. In doing this, Cameroon claims the Brexit precedence even though its move was to sign an individual economic agreement with the European Union (EU). Britain is moving out but Cameroon is moving in - and potentially out of CEMAC. See more here.
 
Cameroon's dictator, Paul Biya, and IMF director, Chirstine Lagarde (from African Argument)

Some Influential Cameroonians in the Diaspora

See more at Jeune Afrique.

Phiona Mutesi, The Real "Queen of Katwe"

Read more about her here. See trailer of the film below.

Free Mohamed Mkaitir!!!

Mohamed Mkaitir has been sentenced to death in Mauritania for apparently insulting the Prophet Mohammad in an anti-slavery piece he wrote. His compatriot, the anti-slavery campaigner, Biram Dah Abeid, was also being held by the government of  Mauritania, which continues to deny the festering issue of slavery and racial segregation in that country. The government of Mauritania is attempting to shift the discourse away from the repugnant treatment of human beings in that country in the name of religious piety. It is a barbaric and repugnant practice to kill someone for being critical of a religious figure or even God. It is also irresponsible to detain people for fighting for human dignity in a country that turns a blind eye to such abuses. Free Mohamed Mkhaitir!

Biram Dah Abeid has since been released but Mr. Mkaitir is still being held.

The Benefits of War: The Case of South Sudan

War has always been financially beneficial to some people and those who incur such benefits always prefer to remain anonymous. This is especially so in South Sudan where the current war time leaders are reaping the benefits of war, even as their people are dying. This is has detailed in this fascinating report. The motivation for the war is more than what meets the eye.

Making Saints and Making Ancestors

While the indigenous religious traditions of Africa appear far removed from Roman Catholicism, an important similarity between them is how they memorialize certain dead people. For Roman Catholicism and many indigenous traditions of Africa, not all the dead are worthy of special memory. Special memory is received for those whose lives have been proven worthy to receive such recognition. In Roman Catholicism such special memory is reserved for the saints while in many indigenous African traditions such memory is reserved for the ancestors. Ancestors, like saints, are not people whose lives have been found to be blameless but rather those whose lives are worthy of emulation in spite of their shortcomings. And just as in the case of the saints, people do not just become ancestors when they die - they are made ancestors. The processes of making ancestors and making saints are vastly different but the fact remains that both saints and ancestors are creations of their communities. Both saints and ancestors are seen to mediate between the physical and spiritual worlds. However, a major difference between ancestors and saints is that while most saints appear to be childless people, childless ancestors are an anomaly in many African societies. Today, one more childless person, Mother Teresa of Kolkata, was made a saint. The people called Roman Catholics made it so. If she were from an African society, she might have been made an ancestor also. In this case, she would become both a saint and an ancestor.

Migration and the Abrahamic Religions

There has been a recent rise in reflections on migration in the Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This has especially been made urgent by the recent rise in migrant deaths as desperate people from Africa and the Middle East attempt to reach Europe. But are these reflections on migration necessary? The short answer to this question is that they are not quite necessary. They are however made necessary because most followers of these religions often do not reflect on the genesis of their religions. The genesis of these religions show that they are religions that require migration and so making any theology of migration in these religions tautological. In fact, these religions see migration as necessary and sometimes create the conditions that require migration. They require both physical and spiritual migration, that is, they require people to move from one place to another both physically and spiritually.

Judaism began with the migration of Abram and continues in the life of Israel as a whole. Christianity began with the migration of Christians beyond Jerusalem and it requires that Christians move from one place to another to spread the gospel. Islam had its genesis from Muhammad's migration from Mecca to Medina and back again and followers are tasked to migrate to spread the message of Islam. Spiritually, those who become part of these religions are required to change their inner dispositions and hopes. The surface structure of these religions is therefore migratory, making a theology of migration in these religions only an exercise in the retrieval of memory. Followers of these religions only need to be reminded that migration is at the very center of their faiths. In fact, they need to be reminded that their religions require migration. They should be encouraging migration rather than seeing it as an alien phenomenon.

That these religions require migration and also create conditions that make it necessary for migration to happen should make adherents of these religions to embrace migration rather than treat it with fear and loathing, as they now do.

The Trump Evangelicals

Evangelicals are a diverse lot and scholars expend much effort in trying to mark the distinctions. Some of them support Donald Trump and others do not. One more way to mark the distinction among Evangelicals is to note the difference between those who support Donald Trump and those who do not. Those who support Donald Trump shall henceforth be known as the Trump Evangelicals. These are the Evangelicals who embrace white supremacy, conspiracy theories, the bullying of women and the disabled, rejection of a multi-ethnic state and science, and promote violence so that their candidate can shoot people but still retain their support. These are the Trump Evangelicals.

What Are Evangelical Pastors Learning From Donald Trump?

Donald J. Trump has recently been meeting with many Evangelical groups, including Evangelical pastors, for reasons which are not clear to me. What exactly do these Evangelical leaders plan to learn from Donald Trump in private meetings which they cannot learn from his public life so far? Why is it that these Evangelical leaders invite Donald Trump to address them but not Hillary Clinton? It says so much about Evangelical leaders that they are prepared to cozy up to a man who refuses invitations to speak to many minority groups in the United States, groups that are also made up of many active Christians. It will not be long before the damage which Trump is now doing to the Republican Party crosses over to Evangelicalism in America.

1700 Days of Protesting Paul Biya's 33-Year Dictatorship in Cameroon

Paul Biya, the dictator of Cameroon, came to power November 6, 33 years ago. He is currently one of the longest serving dictators anywhere in the world. FlourishingAfrica has been protesting the misrule of Paul Biya in Cameroon since the machinations of the last election that returned him to power. The was over 1700 days ago. Each day we send out a tweet as protest against this continued misrule in the country. His years at the helm of the state in the country has not brought the medical system to a level he could entrust with his own health, that is why he keeps spending more time in Europe for medical purposes. For most Cameroonians, however, this is not an option. Whenever they suffer from a serious ailment, the option left open for them is to pray for a miracle or die. Paul Biya currently remains in power not because he has a vision for the country (in fact, he is becoming senile) but just because he could not envision  himself doing anything else. As one of the longest serving dictators in the continent, he loves maintaining a low international profile that would keep the country off the map rather than call attention to his plunder.

Even as the country  is currently fighting Boko Haram in the north of the country, with many Cameroonian soldiers losing their lives there, Paul Biya has hardly been engaged in the issue. The country apparently does not even have money to engage in the fight as citizens are being asked to donate money towards the fight. All the while, the dictator spends more time out of the country, minding his own business in Europe. There is no good reason why he should continue to remain the head of state in Cameroon, given that he is hardly present there.

Why I Am Voting For Hillary Clinton

I have in the past written about why it is problematic for a Christian to support Donald J. Trump's candidacy for president of the United States of America. I have however not disclosed that I do in fact support Hillary Clinton. In this election many have spoken as if it makes no difference, especially if one is a Christian, whether they support Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. I this brief post, I want to suggest that it makes a great difference who we support.

Christians who support Donald Trump, especially those Evangelicals who throw their weight behind him, should know that they are doing so not only as Americans but also as Christians. From my experience in the church in the United States, I have noticed that most Christians I have met are first Americans before they are Christians. This means that being Christian ranks lower for them than being American. Many would of course deny that this is the case but their actions often prove otherwise. For example, decisions about who to support for president or other elected offices is often based not on Christian beliefs but rather on some other thing - such as the desire to "make American great again." There is nothing particularly Christian about this and there is nothing particularly Christian in supporting Donald Trump. I challenge any Evangelical supporting Donald Trum to explain the Christian basis on which their decision is made.

A similar challenge may be thrown to me - that I should explain the Christian basis on which I support Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton is said to be just as detestable as Donald Trump. She is said to be a corrupt liar whose incompetence brought about the events of Bengazi. To evade the normal governmental process she used a private email system when she was Secretary of State, deleting those that may incriminate her. She is said to be in the pocket of big business, giving speeches to Goldman Sachs and refusing to provide the transcripts so that we may see what is in them. On the whole, it is said, people do not trust her. I am not going to defend any of these, even though we must admit that there are many layers to the Bengazi affair about which she has not be found to be directly responsible. As Secretary of State, however, the buck stopped with her.

On the side of Donald Trump, he has given legitimacy to racists, insulted women, the disabled, and people who fought to defend America. He has criminalized whole groups of people like Latino and Muslims and refused to pay people who have worked for him. He has refused to show us his taxes so that we may get a better picture of his business activity, saying that it is none of our business. He has lied over and over, such as when he repeatedly said that he saw thousands of Muslims celebrating the 9/11 attack. I am going to leave aside his recent call for Russia to hack the computers of his opponent, Hillary Clinton, which some are describing as treasonous. I am not going to talk about his divorces because they are no longer seen as sinful these days.

On what basis should a Christian then support the one and not the other? There is no Christian principle that may be used here to decide who to vote for.  No principle of love or forgiveness or the fact that we are all fallible will work here. Some have claimed that you need to see it as a binary choice of two bad candidates. That is however not true. One may decide not to choose at all! On the whole, however, Donald Trump has said and done things that are worse than Hillary. In fact, on the whole, Donald Trump is ethically worse than Hillary. In the end, it needs to come down to the kind of formation Christians have received. What kind of people has the church in America formed? Has the church in America formed people who are comfortable with racism, bullying, insult of women and the disabled, etc.? Voting for Donald Trump is voting to accept these things as the lesser evil. I do not see what Hillary has done as even close to all to the heineous things Trump has said and done. She has not humiliated people and divided society as Donald Trump is doing. She has been far open, especially with her taxes, than Donald Trump. More especially, she is appealing to the better angels of our being rather than to our fears. She is calling us to come together rather than driving us apart, as Donald Trump is doing.

I would rather vote for one who inspires a better dream for humankind than for one who inspires racists and bullies. I will be voting for Hillary Clinton.

With Donald J. Trump Evangelicals Choose Situation Ethics

Many Evangelical leaders say that they are in a quandary in terms of whether or not they should choose between Donald Trump or Hilary Clinton in the ongoing presidential campaign in the United States. Borrowing from an idea first voiced by Paul Ryan, the Republican Speaker of the House, they now say that what they are faced with is a "binary choice" that calls for a decision to be made. What this means is that in their moral odyssey, they have come to a fork on the road and have to decide which way to go. The decision however does not appear to be based on any moral formation or transformation but on a coin toss. One may take one way or the other but, by all means, one needs to take one way if there is going to be any continuation of the journey. Not to pick one side is irresponsible. Here we see a cobbling of situation ethics and atheistic existentialism brought together to address an apparent ethical dilemma.

Apart from the fact that this statement of the issue creates a false dilemma (there are in fact many other morally appropriate actions to take), the gospel call for Christian actions to be based on a moral formation that transforms the mind is jettisoned for an amorality that is solely based on political calculation judged by proximity to power. One of the flimsiest display of this is the claim that with Donald Trump there is going to be protection of religious freedom in America. This is a claim that blows the mind of anyone who is aware of the actual lack of religious freedom in other places around the world compared to the dominance of the Christian faith in the United States. This leads one to wonder whether this claim is merely a front to cast a vote for a person whose morality is more Nietzschean than Christian, given that it lacks the pretense of discernment. What kind of religious freedom are Evangelicals seeking in America? Is it the freedom to practice Christianity in the public sphere to the exclusion of all other worldviews or is it to give equal voice to all religions in America? The hypocrisy of the call to religious freedom in America would make Coptic Christians in Egypt think that they have it really good. Instead of claiming a persecution that does not exist, American Evangelical Christians would do well to form Christians whose spirituality are mature enough to discern the signs of the times and to identify an oppressed people when they see one.

Evangelical Theology After Donald J. Trump

There has to be an Evangelical theology after Donald Trump for Evangelical theologians have a lot to reflect upon in the wake of their constituency's endorsement of Donald J. Trump, the Republican nominee for President of the United States. Evangelical theologians need to evaluate what it is in Evangelical theology that makes the people they theologize for to be enthusiastic supporters of a man who does not demonstrate any clear Christian character and policy. Polls show that at least 90% of Evangelicals are throwing their support behind this man, whose arrogance is unmarched, who insults the weak, and shows profound lack of compassion.

The wholesale endorsement of Donald Trump by most Evangelicals and their leaders may mean several things, none of which is good for Evangelical theology. First, it may mean that the work of Evangelical theologians cannot adequately form discerning Christians who are capable of discerning salutary human character. Second, it may mean that the work of Evangelical theologians are ignored by the churches for which they write, in which case there is no point to what they are doing. Third, it may be that the work of Evangelical theologians is actually aimed at forming people who would actively want people like Donald Trump to be President of the United States of America. Whatever the case may be, Evangelical theology has significant soul searching to do for most of those who have been rooting for Donald Trump in this election cycle have been Evangelical leaders and their followers.

A significant turning point in the life of the Swiss theologian, Karl Barth, was his realization that those he had followed, his teachers, were in fact enablers and supporters of what has come to be known as the First World War. This realization was so traumatic for him that he broke with the theological training they had given him, setting off a paradigm shift for twentieth century theology. The dictatorial tendencies Donald Trump has demonstrated in this election cycle, may leave one in little doubt that he may throw the world into disorder if he becomes President of the United States.  If this were to happen, we would have Evangelical Christians to thank. Evangelicalism should be harboring an uneasy conscience now and that conscience needs some reflection. There needs to be an Evangelical theology after Donald Trump.

Boris Johnson Is A Racist II: More Evidence

The BBC has cataloged statements that painfully show that the new British foreign minister, Boris John is a racist. It is amazing that a person like that is considered honorable enough to be the foreign minister of Britain. With Boris Johnson and Donald Trump, racism is becoming fashionable again.

Below are some of the statements the BBC attributes to Boris Johnson:

Boris on Africa

On Tony Blair visiting Africa, in 2002: "What a relief it must be for Blair to get out of England. It is said that the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies...
"They say he is shortly off to the Congo. No doubt the AK47s will fall silent, and the pangas will stop their hacking of human flesh, and the tribal warriors will all break out in watermelon smiles to see the big white chief touch down in his big white British taxpayer-funded bird."
Mr Johnson apologised for the comments in 2008, during his successful campaign to be mayor of London.
But it's not the only time he has used the term "piccaninnies", a derogatory word for black children.
On the effects of colonialism in Uganda (in 2002): "If left to their own devices, the natives would rely on nothing but the instant carbohydrate gratification of the plantain."

The Prosperity Gospel Does Not Explain Donald J. Trump

There is a post over at The Washington Post claiming that the prosperity gospel helps explain some Evangelical support for Donald J. Trump. Chris Lehman, the author of the piece, connects Donald Trump to the views of Joel Osteen of Houston and claims that the message of Mr. Osteen may explain how followers of his gospel views Donald J. Trump. I am no fan of the prosperity gospel, which claims that wealth could be seen as a blessing from God. There is just so much that is wrong with this gospel, the least of which is its failure to interrogate ill-gotten wealth.

However, it does not sound proper to claim that this gospel explains Donald Trump. What the prosperity gospel does not do is to explain how people who do not honor God may become wealthy. Donald Trump is clearly a man who does not honor God, demonstrated through his various bombastic statements and his screwing of small businesses. The claim of the prosperity gospel is clear - God blesses those who strain to maintain a pure lifestyle. Such lifestyle of purity is one with which Donald Trump could hardly be associated. Most followers of the prosperity gospel would not agree that all wealthy people should be seen as people who have been blessed by God. Thus, even though Mr. Osteen may speak well of Donald Trump, this may only be in line with his view that he is compelled to speak only positive things about people, that he is no prophet - however this self-understanding may skew the gospel.

This post is not a defense of the prosperity gospel (with which I have no affinity) or Joel Osteen (with whom I have no personal relationship) but a rejection of the claim that this gospel may help evangelicals understand Trump better. This claim forces the available evidence and the belief this gospel promotes.

Brexit Fallout From Africa: Tanzania Quits Trade Negotiations

Tanzania has decided to quit trade negotiations between the European Union and an East Africa block because of what its describes as the "turmoil" in the European Union.

Brexit Is British Retreat Not Independence

Some, especially those who campaigned for Britain to leave the European Union, are saying that the vote to leave the EU should be seen as marking Britain's independence. In fact, Nigel Farage, the loquacious leader of UKIP whose recent resignation after the vote to leave shows that he could not stand to defend the lies he told during the campaign, declared the day of the vote to be British Independence Day. It is now being reported that other groups, especially in the United States, are taking inspiration from this to call for their own independence.

Before the falsehood that Brexit marks British independence takes further root, it is important to reject this narrative. Brexit does not mark British independence; it is rather the latest stage of British retreat. It marks Britain's retreat as a fallen empire. There was a time when Britain controlled the world from Asia to Polynesia, Africa and the Americas. Beginning with America's war of independence in the eighteenth century and stretching to the independence of Hong Kong in the late twentieth century, British influence in the world has been declining. Brexit marks the latest stage of this decline and retreat rather than a quest for independence. Normally only oppressed people fight for independence, as the history of the global South tells us. Calling Brexit British independence is an insult to those who have had to fight to extricate themselves from the tyranny of Britain. Brexit should be properly called what it is - British retreat.

King Sunny Ade To Bring Down The House at Harvard

See more here.

Brexit and the Power of Stupid

One of my instructors once urged me to see the scores I received in his courses as showing what I could do well and some of the ghastly mistakes I could make in real life, that is, life outside of taking tests in school. His point was that the scores I received included some of the smart decisions that I could make in real life and some of the decisions that would be quite harmful if I made them in real life. Those were the days when education was not just about earning a letter grade but also about forming the person.

I bring this up not just to help us think about what grades might imply but also to raise the issue of the recent Brexit election that pulled Britain out of the European Union and whose consequences we are still to fully grasp. I understand that many people in Britain voted without knowing what they were voting for and are now regretting their votes. Imagine that the following question was asked in a civics test at school:
Which of the following will be the most appropriate thing to do before you cast a ballot for or against a particular issue?
a) Study the issue carefully before casting the ballot
b) Casting the ballot before studying the issue
c) Casting the ballot whether or not you know about the issue
d) All of the above
A student who selects b) would obviously be making a poor choice. This poor choice would only be reflected in the student's score that may or may not affect the student's overall performance in the course. However, when we raise enough people who would choose b) in real life, like it just happened in Britain, the value of the pound declines, stock markets tumble, and the whole of Europe and other parts of the world begin to live in fear. And this is not the first time the power of stupid is being manifested in international affairs. The sad thing is that it will not be the last.

Marco Rubio's Reversal Justifies African Dictators

It was revealed today that Sen. Marco Rubio, the failed 2016 Republican Presidential candidate from Florida, would be running for re-election to fill a seat which he had promised to vacate. Before his formal declaration today that he would after all not vacate the seat, as he had promised, there had been insinuations for a while now. But the final straw that seems to have convinced him not to vacate the seat (outside private pleas from the Republican establishment) is the recent mass murder at a gay nigh club in Orlando, Florida. It was suggested then that the event had alerted him to the fact that there is something serious to accomplish in the US Senate, which he apparently did not know about when he made the promise that he would vacate the seat.

Well, he is not vacating the seat, after all. So how does this justify African dictators? It reminds me of many African leaders who had sworn that they would vacate the presidency at a particular time only to renege when the time came for them to keep their promise. The list is long - from Ellene Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia to Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Paul Biya of Cameroon. When it came time for them to leave power, they engineered the process and re-installed themselves. It is a new trend now in Africa. Looking at the African situation in isolation may lead one to think that such political engineering is an anomaly, an African situation. Marco Rubio, however, reminds us that it is not. Politicians are the same everywhere. There is something very addictive with power - once it is tasted, it is very difficult to walk away from it. Perhaps someone should come up with a political detoxification program.

Donald J. Trump and the Evangelical Doctrine of Imperfection

Growing up as a Baptist in Cameroon, it was drilled into us that a Christian ought to manifest certain moral attributes. While the grace of God was central in understanding the nature of salvation, it was also important that Christians lived the lives befitting their calling as followers of Christ. Drawing from many places in the New Testament, including the Book of Revelation, we were taught that our Christian Character has something to do with our ultimate salvation. That was about thirty years ago but that teaching is still significant to Cameroon Baptist life today.

When I came to America I realized that Baptists belong to that group of people called Evangelicals. While Evangelicalism is diverse in America, as in many other places in the world, I noticed that the people called Baptists have a very ambiguous attitude towards the importance of morality in the Christian life. (This may surprise some given that Baptists in America are seen as morally legalistic.) More especially, I noticed that the people called Baptists do not only belong to Evangelicalism, they are also part of the broader Protestant movement and Protestantism, I came to learn, is made up of people for whom Christian morality is not central. In fact, I came to read that it was a Roman Catholic thing to claim that morality has any significant role to play in the salvific process. For Protestants, however, emphasizing morality is being legalistic, focusing on the law rather than grace in the salvific process. While Roman Catholics have saints who are seen as people who had lived commendable Christian lives, Protestants scorned at saints. After all, Martin Luther had taught that we are saved by faith alone through grace alone not by what we do.

This undermining of morality in the salvific process congealed in a fatalistic view that we cannot expect perfection from anybody. In fact, does not the Bible itself say that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God? How then can we expect anyone to be good? Thus developed a doctrine that hides behind the impossibility of perfection to promote license, as if the impossibility of perfection implies license. This doctrine of imperfection has become the hallmark of Evangelicalism in America where focus is now placed on what Christians are unable to do rather than what they can do.

It is this theology that brought us to yesterday, when an Evangelical group gathered to endorse Donald Trump, the racist Republican nominee for President of the United States of America. Evangelical leaders who have been endorsing Trump have been arguing that they may do so in spite of his grossly unchristian life style because they are not voting for a pastor but a president - as if the morality of a pastor is supposed to be superior to that of a lay person. Then yesterday one of their own argued that they are not voting for a perfect candidate, as if the opposite of a decent candidate is a perfect one. And so Evangelicalism wallows in moral incongruity in which in becomes difficult to hold anyone accountable for anything. (This has not stopped Evangelicals for choosing sides, though.)

If it is true that no one is perfect - by the way this is a claim that has to be tested - what then would be the difference between voting for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton? Does the fact that no one is perfect not apply to both of them? What this does is that Christian morality becomes a coin toss. Do Evangelicals then have any good grounds for voting for Hillary Clinton rather than Donald Trump? Not quite. This situation is even compounded by the fact that Evangelicals teach that all sins are the same - whether one shoplifts from WalMart or murders someone there is no difference. Where Roman Catholicism has created a gradation of sins to help Christians put things into perspective, for Evangelicals, no sin is greater than the other.

It is in this state of moral confusion in which Evangelicals find themselves that they can't tell the difference between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. In this state of moral confusion, one even wonders how they may defend their protest against abortion, a sin that seems to be more than divorce to Evangelicals. It is this state of moral confusion that may be seen to be leading Evangelicals to defend racism and deceit in Donald Trump. This moral confusion is leading Evangelicals to amorality. It will take a long time for Evangelicals to recover from descent into moral wilderness.

Boxers Who Changed the World

Do you know them? This was when boxers were more than just celebrities; they were fighting for a cause, the cause of human dignity.

South African Firefighters Have Fun in Canada

Gone to fight the blaze in Canada, they added some game.

Protesting Donald J. Trump

We here at Flourishingafrica will be protesting the GOP nomination of Donald J. Trump as their 2016 presidential candidate by sending out a tweet to this effect each day until he loses the election in November. Our reason for doing this is legion and have been catalogued in many other sources. However, our primary reason for opposing him here is that he is a racist who promotes violence as an instrument of leadership.

Donald Trump, Racism, and Economic Interest

Even though racism has often been unmasked as motivated by economic interests rather than various claims to superiority, it has at the same time not been popularly seen as an essentially economic phenomenon. It has often been presented as based in cultural distinction, as has been the case in South Africa, or in something called "races", as has been the case in the USA. With Donald Trump, however, the mask has been taken off and racism has clearly been shown to be based in economic interest. His desire to ban Muslims from the United States, his "rapist" and "wall" remarks about Mexicans, point to the group of people he would like to exclude from the United States so that his people may be "great again". Now the KKK is pointing to Donald Trump as the one who has a similar vision as the group, a vision which, it can hardly be denied, is based in the economic stress which their constituency in the United States has been experiencing. Other presidential candidates in the United States have run on economic issues but hardly has the economic message been so openly racist. What makes Trump different is that his economic message has been clearly tied to racism. Those, like Howard Fineman of Huffington Post, who think that Trump's economic message may lead him to victory, fail to see that this economic message is laced with racism and may only lead to victory if Americans also generally buy into his racist vision. Are Americans not better than this racist vision?

1600 Days of Protesting Paul Biya's 33-Year Dictatorship in Cameroon

Paul Biya, the dictator of Cameroon, came to power November 6, 33 years ago. He is currently one of the longest serving dictators anywhere in the world. FlourishingAfrica has been protesting the misrule of Paul Biya in Cameroon since the machinations of the last election that returned him to power. The was over 1599 days ago. Each day we send out a tweet as protest against this continued misrule in the country. His years at the helm of the state in the country has not brought the medical system to a level he could entrust with his own health, that is why he keeps spending more time in Europe for medical purposes. For most Cameroonians, however, this is not an option. Whenever they suffer from a serious ailment, the option left open for them is to pray for a miracle or die. Paul Biya currently remains in power not because he has a vision for the country (in fact, he is becoming senile) but just because he could not envision  himself doing anything else. As one of the longest serving dictators in the continent, he loves maintaining a low international profile that would keep the country off the map rather than call attention to his plunder.

Even as the country  is currently fighting Boko Haram in the north of the country, with many Cameroonian soldiers losing their lives there, Paul Biya has hardly been engaged in the issue. The country apparently does not even have money to engage in the fight as citizens are being asked to donate money towards the fight. All the while, the dictator spends more time out of the country, minding his own business in Europe. There is no good reason why he should continue to remain the head of state in Cameroon, given that he is hardly present there.

The World's Unfree People as Defined By . . .

By the way, who defines who is free and who is not? That would be the debate regarding the map below:

Why Are Musicians Not the Happiest People in the World?

Another way to read the title of this post is to read it as stating that musicians should be the happiest people in the world because I do not see any good reason why they should not be. I am not a musician but I think being a musician is perhaps the happiest thing that one can be. Some of the best moments in my own life are often moments when I listen to music, especially good music. It seems to me that when God speaks to humans, God does so in music. Perhaps this is why music is central to the worship of God or in connecting with spiritual entities in many religious traditions. There are some forms of music I do not like but I have seen many others who are ecstatic about them. The dexterity with which the fingers caress the keys of the piano, the sound of the stretching of the strings of the cello or guitar, the calling of the trumpet, the piercing of the air of the tenor or the baritone - all calling for reconciled attention and moments of cheerfulness. Music can make the heart leap out of one's chest. I love reading, and I love reading carefully woven phrases or lines, but none delights as much as the stanza put into song or the stretched string of the guitar. I have hardly met people who totally do not care about music. I have met people who do not care about football, hockey or baseball but I have hardly met people who totally reject music. Music has a way of connecting people to the sublime. I would imagine that those actually making the music (the musicians) should themselves be intimately connected to the sublime. Yet, some of the crappiest people I have met or been aquuainted to are musicians, especially teachers of music! Why is this so? Why are musicians not the happiest people in the world? Because they should be!
Ladies and Gentlemen, for your edification and enchantment, I bring you "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" whose acquaintance I made through The New York Times.

Matador: Voice of the Voiceless in Senegal

See more here and here.

Why Boris Johnson, London's Mayor, Is A Racist

Irked by President Obama's opposition to this view that Britain should quite the European Union, the current mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has borrowed a leaf off Donald Trump's book and is calling Obama names instead of arguing his case on its merits. What he said of president Obama is clearly pulled out of the racist pot brewed in America. His suggestion that President Obama may be opposing Brexit because he is "part-Kenyan" is an argument that the Republicans used to discredit Obama even when he was running for President. Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House and one of the 2012 presidential candidates, is among the first to float the idea that Obama's Kenyan background may lead him to have an aversion to American imperialism. That was however a racist code for saying that Obama should not be taken seriously because he is not one of us. Today, Boris Johnson pulled a trick out of that hat. The fact that Obama has an Irish background carries no consequence for Boris Johnson; the thing to fear is his Kenyan background. Racism has a way of making people not to think straight. Such is the case of Mr. Boris John of London.

Two Years of #BringBackOurGirls: A Disappearing Act

Two years ago a disappearing and almost magical act happened in Nigeria: a group of girls was syphoned from their school - never to be seen again! Well, we see some of them in a recent CNN video. That is the closest the world has gotten them, in spite of all the big talk in the wake of this dastardly event. In a world where we proclaim the acceleration of technology, where a single individual can be targeted from the air and bombed, we have been unable to find a group of 219 girls carted away by a group of ragtag bandits. Something is not quite right with this picture.

Where Women Give Birth in Churches

It is a very significant development when churches begin to compete with hospitals as venues where women prefer to give birth. This significant development is currently happening in Nigeria where some women prefer to deliver their babies in churches with the help of traditional midwives than at hospitals which they see as a godless place. Why churches have come to be competing with hospitals is a story that is still to be properly told. What can be said, for now, is that this state of affairs need not be so. Churches are not places intended for delivery. This is what hospitals are meant for. Churches should be building hospitals if they want to help women deliver in a safe and godly way.

Image caption Dr Linda Ayade is trying to persuade people to go to clinics to give birth (From the BBC)

This Is What 8 Years of Hard Labor Gets a Governor In Nigeria

Read more here.

 

Why Do Men Lead the Church When More Women than Men Are Christians?

A recent Pew Research survey of 129 countries reveals what has always been known to be the case - that there are more women who are Christians than men (53% women and 47% men). The difference is staggering. Yet, Christianity is a religion that is led by men, especially in the case of Roman Catholicism. What rationale can possibly justify this injustice? The only thing I can think of right now is a statement I read somewhere, which was attributed to a Nigerian preacher: the church is not a democracy. Could it then be that the church is a dictatorship? Or is the opposite of democracy not dictatorship?

Friedrich Nietzsche and the Triumph of the Christianity of the Powerful

The African American philosopher Cornel West has noted that before the development of liberation theology in Latin America the German atheistic philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche had described Christianity as a religion of the poor.[1] While Nietzsche did not evolve the method which Latin American liberation theology would be famous or infamous for (depending on your perception of the matter) he was right to read the Christian faith as a religion of the weak. Because the Christian faith is a religion of the weak, Nietzsche saw it as having evolved a morality that is rooted in resentment, the resentment which the weak have for the prosperity of the strong in society.

In Nietzsche’s telling, morality was originally not something that needed to be justified. It was simply the way of nature manifested in society. Naturally, being strong and powerful is good because it enables human survival. In nature, the strong are naturally those who lord it over the weak. This is not a question of morality but just the way things are. It does not need justification. Because some are strong, it is only natural that they lord it over those who are weak. In this state of affairs, being strong was the same thing as being good. Here one does not have to justify or explain why they are strong because being strong is not a moral choice; it is rather the way things are. This way of being is what Nietzsche called master morality.[2]

Out of resentment for the strong, however, the weak sought to undermine this definition of goodness by seeking moral justification for the term and this justification was done through inversion of terms.  The inversion of terms was done through the creation of the categories of good and evil where a good person became one who demonstrated certain moral characteristics and the evil one was the person who did not manifest those characteristics. Goodness was redefined to include elements of Christian morality such as mercy, humility, meekness, etc., and these were characteristics often possessed by the weak. Here was a moral and social coup d’etats where in order to be good the master had to embrace the morality of the weak (what Nietzsche called slave morality).  Master morality therefore became slave morality and this slave morality Nietzsche saw as harboring the potential to ruin the West.

While Nietzsche’s genealogy of Christian morality is quite speculative, it touches on an important dynamic of the emergence of Christianity and how it has come to be put at the service of the powerful in our time. Christianity began with Jesus whom, as far as we can tell, was a non-entity in the Israel of his time. Even though the Gospels connect him to the priestly and royal lines of Israel, it is clear that the attempt to do so, found in the Gospels of Matthew (chapter 1) and Luke (chapter 3), are problematic at best. In the historical context of his time, Jesus was quite a none-entity, neither connected to the aristocratic or scribal class in Israel. One of the reasons why he was repeatedly seen as an impostor was due to the fact that his connection to the various respectable groups of his time, such as the Pharisees and the Sadducees, was at best tenuous. In other words, he was a man without power. As a man without power, he evolved a morality for people without power – the need to care for one another in a community of equals. As Nietzsche rightly saw, the morality of Jesus is a morality for people who belonged to the lower class of the society of their time. Jesus taught them that they were not to split themselves into masters and servants – all were to be servants of all, as the German Reformer, Martin Luther, would later opine.

But this will not be the future of Christianity. The future of Christianity would be marked by the power of the strong against the weak, characterized by racism, classism, sexism, and other nefarious isms.

How did we get to this point?

The history of how we got to this point is a long one and books on the history of Christianity have charted it well.[3] This began right after Jesus himself when some of his followers began accommodating his teachings to their various societies – societies that were characterized by hierarchies. Soon Christianity became the religion of empire –the Roman Empire – and Jesus became King of the Empire. The lowly man who was killed as a common criminal began wearing the crown, sanctioning wars and defending societal inequalities.

When this religion came to America it became entangled with American perception of itself as a power for good planted in the world by Jesus himself (a city on a hill). An army of scholars and preachers arose to argue that following Jesus is compatible with the exploitation that develops obscene wealth for the few even as the many scrape by. Jesus’ teaching involving a community of care and grace where people are treated with dignity was transformed into one where a few hoard the wealth, hoping that it would trickle down to the many.

And so a religion which Nietzsche rightly saw as the religion of the weak, became an instrument of oppression in the hands of the powerful. Here the morality of Jesus has been replaced by the master morality of Nietzsche. Thus, we now live at a time when the masters have put down the moral coup d’etats which the slaves (Jesus) began.

---

[1] Cornel West, “Race and Modernity,” in The Cornel West Reader (NY, New York: Basic Books, 1999), 62.

[2] See Frithjof Bergmann, “Nietzsche’s Critique of Morality,” in Reading Nietzsche, Robert C. Solomon and Kathleen M. Higgins, eds. (NY, New York: Oxford University Press,, 1988), 29-45.

[3] See, for example Rodney Stark, The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World’s Largest Religion (NY, New York: HarperCollins, 2011)

Evangelicalism and the Danger of Bad Theology

Increasingly Evangelicals have tended to regard Christian theology with suspicion because Christian theology often takes a broader view of things, drawing from sources other than the Bible. When theologians come to read the Bible, they focus not on individual texts selected from here and there but rather on looking at basic or fundamental themes in Christian life such as: Who is Jesus Christ? Who is the Trinity? What does it mean to be a creature? What is the Bible? What does it mean to be a or disciple of Christ? What is sin? What politics or economics best approximate a Christian view of things? Questions like these are addressed drawing from the Bible and other sources that inform our thinking about these things, such as philosophy, science, economics, anthropology, etc.

For many Evangelicals, however, engaging issues in this way is a symptom of the heretical mind. For many evangelicals, all Christian thinking needs to come from the Bible. The Bible, however, is often read in very selective ways. Evangelicals often display profound ignorance of the Christian tradition, seeing biblical interpretation and the Bible itself as a book that simply leapt from the ancient world to the present, completely written in English. Such ignorance of the Bible is even surprising given that many evangelical seminaries and Bible schools lay much emphasis on hiring teachers of the Bible. As the Bible has become a fetish for many Evangelicals, it has paradoxically led to bad biblical interpretation because for the Bible to adequately inform the Christian life it ought to be read from a Christian theological perspective. Suspicion of Christian theology has therefore resulted in what the Notre Dame Church historian, Mark A. Noll, has described as The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, a mind that is theologically impoverished.

This is the context that gives birth to Evangelical leaders such as Jerry Falwell, Jr., and Rev. Franklin Graham. This is the context that leads to claims such as that made by Mr. Falwell, that Jesus Christ offers no guide as to what kind of politics a Christian might engage in.

It Pays - Cash - To Be A Virgin in South Africa

While in some places around the world girls dispense of their virginity for cash, in South Africa, girls are paid to keep theirs. The payment is described as a scholarship intended to help girls who are virgins attain higher education. The reason for doing this appears to be the need to curb the spread of HIV and AIDS in the country. It is thought that if the girls are encouraged to remain virgins through such scholarship schemes, the spread of the virus will be arrested. It is however not clear what is done to the men who are responsible for taking away the virginity of these young girls. The assumption here seems to be that the girls are responsible for the spread of HIV and AIDS in South Africa but the history of the spread of the virus in that country appears to suggest otherwise.

It is a tough world for women out there. The sale of the female body for cash happens whether one remains or virgin or embarks on the oldest profession.

The African Roots of Southern Cooking

See this article from The Washington Post.

Oxford University: Defending Racism and Inequality Since 1096

Oxford University has lately been on the news not for some significant scholarly output as one might expect but because of its desire to defend the rabid colonialist, Cecile Rhodes. Instead of recognizing that what Rhodes stood for should not be honored in the 21st century, the Oxford leadership has decided that it is better to part company with prospective students than to dispose of the statue of Rhodes which is gracing its campus. It was an eminent historian from the famed university, Hugh Trevor-Roper, who declared in the early 1960s that Africa has no history worth noting, because African history began with Europe. When the Prime Minister of Britain, David Cameron, recently called out the University for privileging well to do students over the disadvantaged in its admissions policy, the University responded that it is just keeping up with the nature of society itself. Society is already unequal and so it is simply maintaining the societal inequality in Britain. Oxford University can therefore not go against the grain. It simply has to reflect society, maintaining societal racism and inequality. There is a long history of this at Oxford.

Donald J. Trump: Claiming Christ, Living Mammon

It is apparently the case that a sizeable part of American Christians, especially those who fall under the banner of Evangelicalism, are throwing their support behind Donald Trump, the bombastic Republican billionaire seeking the presidency of the United States. It is also apparent that these Christians are supporting Mr. Trump not only on pragmatic grounds but also on grounds that he is a good Christian. Witness the spectacle of the endorsement given him by the President of Liberty University. It is also known that one of the places that has remained especially silent in the face of the insults which Mr. Trump has heaped on many groups of people in America and around the world has been the church. It could be that the church is no longer clear about what it means to be a Christian. However, the church has held for a very long time that the character which Mr. Trump is displaying on the campaign trail can hardly be called Christian by any stretch of the imagination. Listen to what he said in an interview with Maureen Dowd of The New York Times: "I am really rich and successful . . . . I don't have to make up with everyone." This was in response to his anger that Megyn Kelly of Fox News asked him questions with which he was not comfortable. Granted that we can hardly talk of morality in the context of politics, one may however wonder about the universe which such absurd claims reflects Christian character. Granted that Christians have already baptized obscene accumulation of wealth, under which universe is it Christian to use such wealth as pretext for enmity? Could it be that Donald Trump is a symptom of what ails American Christianity - speaking Christian but living Mammon.

There are many reasons those who support Mr. Trump may give for offering him their support. However, giving him support under the pretext that he is Christian is a travesty. What Mr. Trump is doing to American Christianity is that he is exposing the hypocrisy of much of what passes for Christianity in America. I have been told by many of my students that Christians are not supposed to judge. However, this has not stopped many Christians to judge other things which they do not find appealing, such as homosexuality and abortion, while turning a blind eye to what may amount to hate speech, rabid sexism and cruelty towards the disabled coming from Mr. Trump. A victory for Mr. Trump in Iowa will be based on the votes of many Christians, especially evangelical Christians. It would be interesting to hear how these evangelicals justify their votes. Would they be able to do so on Christian grounds? Or is it Mammon calling?

1500 Days of Protesting Paul Biya's 33-Year Dictatorship in Cameroon

Paul Biya, the dictator of Cameroon, came to power November 6, 33 years ago. He is currently one of the longest serving dictators anywhere in the world. FlourishingAfrica has been protesting the misrule of Paul Biya in Cameroon since the machinations of the last election that returned him to power. The was over 1499 days ago. Each day we send out a tweet as protest against this continued misrule in the country. His years at the helm of the state in the country has not brought the medical system to a level he could entrust with his own health, that is why he keeps spending more time in Europe for medical purposes. For most Cameroonians, however, this is not an option. Whenever they suffer from a serious ailment, the option left open for them is to pray for a miracle or die.

Even as the country  is currently fighting Boko Haram in the north of the country, with many Cameroonian soldiers losing their lives there, Paul Biya has hardly been engaged in the issue. The country apparently does not even have money to engage in the fight as citizens are being asked to donate money towards the fight. All the while, the dictator spends more time out of the country, minding his own business in Europe. There is no good reason why he should continue to remain the head of state in Cameroon, given that he is hardly present there.

French Military as First Responders in Burkina Faso

What would you say is the condition that made it possible for French soldiers to be first responders in the West African country of Burkina Faso? Imagine Burkinabe soldiers as first responders in Paris. Can you imagine that scenario? Images below are from the BBC.
Image copyright AFP/Getty Images

Image caption French police officers helped tend to the wounded 

French forces operating in Burkina Faso.

What would Thomas Sankara say?

600 Days of #BringBackOurGirls

While most of the world has fallen silent on the fate of the missing Chibok Girls, one group of people who could not fall silent because the pain is too close to them is the parents of the girls. Today they mark 600 days since the girls were kidnapped by taking their case to the capital of Nigeria, Abuja. They cannot forget and cannot be silent even if the rest of the world forgets and falls silent.

Donald J. Trump and the Flatulence of "Making America Great Again"

Donald J. Trumps' presidential aspiration is based on the claim that he intends to make America great again. What seems to be happening with his campaign, however, is that he is increasingly bringing America into disrepute. This is no where more glaring than the fact that the British parliament is going to be debating a petition intended to keep Trump out of that country. America probably has a closer relationship with no other nation than it does with Britain. If  Britain is debating the possibility of not admitting one who aspires to be the President of the United States into the country, it shows that Trump's aspirations are already beginning to isolate America. Granted that the debate in the British parliament will not result in barring Trump from Britain, the very fact that it is being carried out is enough rebuke to his aspirations and a sign that his idea of making America great is toxic.

Contrast that with the wave of enthusiasm that was at play when Barack Obama was running for President. Compare the waves of crowd he drew during his visit to Europe and the fact that he has succeeded in reversing an economy that was going into the doldrums when he came to power, and you would see that Trump's claim that he would make America great again will actually regress America's status - first around the world and then at home. It is perhaps only in Trump's dictionary that being great clearly means being reviled.

The Three New Bad Men of Africa

Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Joseph Kabila of The Democratic Republic of Congo, and Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi. I name these three as the new bad men of Africa not because they are doing anything that is new in the continent but rather because they are a younger generation of African leaders (they are in their 50s!) who are perpetrating older stereotypes of African leaders as Presidents for Life. They have taken over a technique recently perfected by dictators like Paul Biya of Cameroon where they create the impression of running a democracy by giving a semblance of presidential term limits only to turn around and change the constitution to prolong their stay in power. In the past, African presidents did not care for such niceties. They simply declared themselves Emperors and Presidents of Life and then proceeded to kill anyone who disagreed, conducting elections and winning 99.99 percent of the vote. Given that democracy seems to be something that is cherished today, some of these African presidents have updated their bag of tricks with a façade of term limits. They still kill their opponents, like these three men under consideration do.

Paul Kagame seems to think that you may be President for Life only if the people want you be and if you still have much to accomplish for your people - apparently oblivious of the fact that this is a very old excuse many African dictators have used to perpetuate their misrule. These three men are the newest kids in the block to create an atmosphere that is very inhospitable for an opposition in their country, guaranteeing that only their voices would be heard. They interpret opposition as treason and treat the country as if it were their personal property. Like many African Presidents they have a savior complex - the country cannot succeed without them. We are in dire need of ordinary people, non-saviors, who simply want to play their part in improving the lives of their people in Africa, and then move on. I think President Barack Obama put it best when he stated that a President who does not create the atmosphere in which she or he can peacefully hand over power has done a bad job of being President. But again, Obama is the President of the United States and he even expressed the desire to continue to be President. Who knows what he would have done if he were a President in an African country like Burundi?

On the Fear of Witches and Terrorists

Terrorists are our new witches - at least in the West. Growing up in the village in Cameroon, one of the things we were scared of was witches. Witches, we were told, we very stealthy and one may never be sure of when they would strike. They were always plotting, waiting for the opportune moment to do in the unwary. People who were known witches or associated with witches were at best treated with suspicion or at worst exiled from the village. Witches, like terrorists, were dangerous to  the body politic. Witches were seen as the greatest threat to the village. Even though witches have bodies, they are often amorphous because it was not clear when and how one might strike. In fact, witches are spiritual in nature not only because they enlist unseen means to carry out their unholy activities but also because they could hardly be detected. In some African villages, there are witch-finders who are in charge of sniffing out those who are witches and neutralizing their malicious powers.

In a sense, the fear of witches found in some African villages is the same as the fear of terrorists in the context of the modern West. I encountered this fear when I first arrived in the United States. I came to this country when a person alleging to be planning terrorist activities was arrested on the border between the United States an Canada. I do not remember the name of this person but his picture was all over the TV and I could feel the fear of terrorism in the air. Since then, 9/11 has happened and there have been many other terrorist acts all over the world. However, one thing that has remained constant with all these activities is fear. Terrorists in the West are like witches in many African villages because these terrorists are seen as waiting to pounce at any moment, taking limb or life, paralyzing, maiming or killing. Terrorists are spoken of as if they are spirits - they appear to be hovering around waiting for the unguarded moment. Those associated with terroristic activities, like those associated with witches, are at best treated with suspicion. Right now, much is being expended on the equivalence of witch-finders but we call them counter-terrorism experts.

In many African villages, however, the fear of witches has not gone away but there has been evolution of witch-finders from traditional to Christian witch-finders. One wonders whether the fear of terrorism will go away in the West or whether, like the fear of witches in many African villages, it will continue to rule our lives.

ISIS As 21st Century Colonialist

Africans have often thought of colonialism as a nineteenth and twentieth centuries phenomenon that emanated from the West to Africa. Neocolonialism is often thought to be the remnant of colonial politics that is manifested in Africa, like the fact that France still has a very large military force stationed in many of it former African colonies to this day and dictate the nature of politics at the highest level there. There is however a new colonialist emerging today and that colonialist is coming from the Middle East. This new colonialist is the so-called Islamic State or ISIS which is spreading its control in many parts of Africa today, especially in North and Central Africa. It has bases in Libya, and, by pledging allegiance to the group, Boko Haram has extended the reach of ISIS in Central Africa.

Understanding the activities of ISIS in terms of colonialism is more helpful because it brings out the pernicious power play and exploitation that is characteristic of the colonial enterprise. ISIS speaks in religious terms and attempts to shroud its rapacity in holiness. This is not unlike Western colonial enterprises that were also couch in the religious language of spreading the Christian understanding of salvation. Just like colonialists enlisted Africans to do their bidding in dehumanizing their own people, so too is ISIS enlisting the help of Africans from North to Central Africa to do their bidding. ISIS has clearly declared its intention of establishing a caliphate, which means colonizing Africa as well. With groups like Boko Haram, this will easily come to pass, moving Africans from the shadow of Western colonialism to the that of the so-called Islamic State. It appears that there will always be people in Africa who are willing to hand us over to every new colonialist. It behooves us to be vigilant in order not to fall into the cruel hands of our various new colonial conquerors and suitors. Perhaps the place to start is to ask ourselves how we are enlisted to work against our own interests.