Why do Africans love foreign religions?
“People fight over religion, because they don’t understand religion. They think reading a few Bibles, Qurans and Vedas makes them religious. Books are not religion my friend. Real religion is realization of the Self.”
― Abhijit Naskar
The irony is not lost that the poorest continent in the world is also the location of the largest church in the world and the top 3 biggest church auditorium in the world. Interestingly, Africans are most likely to kill or be killed for a borrowed religion than from their indigenous religion. How did the continent of Queen of Sheba become so religious centric?
Disclaimer: This article is not an attack on organized religion as I am also a proud member of one.
So how was the concept of a Monolithic belief begin and why are Africans crazy passionate about it? In his publication wittily titled Six impossible things before breakfast : the evolutionary origins of belief Wolpert Lewis posited that as mankind began advancing in making of tools that were previously only left in the imagination, same imagination inspired man to belief in something greater than them. He argued that the manufacture of complex tools requires creating a mental image of an object which does not exist naturally before actually making the artifact.
However, historically, Africans have always believed in different gods as the rest of the world. The ancient Greek revered Zeus the sky and thunder god, who rules as king of the gods of Mount Olympus. Its sister gods can be found in Southeastern Nigeria as Amadioha and Southwestern Nigeria as Sango who also doubles as god of fertility. If both the Europeans and Africans already have similar gods operating at equivalent distinctive degree, why did Africa throw its religion away and embrace a foreign religion?
Colonialism: Welcome colonialism! The beloved tool of King Leopold II, and darling of the Old British Empire. With colonialism, not only was Africa shared between Europeans, Europeans brought along their monolithic foreign religion and as the conqueror came, it also conquered African belief in several gods. The downfall of Ancient Greece also meant they lost their belief in several gods, while the Ottoman empire also brought Islam to modern day Middle East. The conqueror comes along with his lifestyle including religion to dominate the conquered
The ‘white man’ has left Africa and all countries are now independent, but why is Africa still tied to the religion of her colonialist?
Power: The power of being the anointed one, the “G.O” of a congregation makes Africans intoxicated. We love the power that comes with being bowed to, this explains why Africa has elected officials who refuse to leave power because of the worship they receive. In South Africa, a pastor instructed his members to eat grass and they did! The belief in a god that may solve their problems, problems caused by their kinsmen whom they elected to represent them is what leads many Africans to hold onto that ‘One god’ that is powerful and miraculous in his ways.
How did a poor continent end up spending billions of dollars to erect religious places of worship for the foreign religion and fail in providing food and shelter for her population?
Poverty: The poverty capital of the world , Nigeria, also houses 7 out of 10 largest church auditoriums in the world. The level of poverty in the developing world seems so insurmountable that only a belief in a higher power can solve it. But if Africa is so poor, where did they get the money to build such edifices?
15 million people donating a dollar each, gives you 15million dollars to buy a private jet and build a fancy auditorium while inspiring your members that if they pray hard, one day they too can say Kumbaya!
