Is religion holding Africa back?

Lazarus Sauti

According to a study ‘Tension and Tolerance: Islam and Christmas in Sub-Saharan Africa’ conducted by the Washington-based Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, Africans are among the most religious people on earth.

The study states that at least half of all Christians in Sub-Saharan Africa believe Jesus will return in their lifetime; one in three Muslims in the region expect to see the re-establishment of the caliphate – the Islamic golden age – before they die; and at least three out of 10 people across much of Africa said they have experienced divine healing, seen the devil being driven out of a person, or received a direct revelation from God.

More so, about a quarter believe that sacrifices to ancestors can protect them from bad things happening; sizeable percentages believe in charms and amulets and many consult traditional religious healers (n’angas or sangomas), and sizeable minorities keep animal skins and skulls in their homes.

This study triggers some questions: “Is there a relationship between Africanism and Christianity? Is religion holding back Africa in terms of development?

To have a clear picture of Africanism and Christianity, it is important to define the terms.

Africanism refers to something that is characteristic of African culture or tradition; and Christianity refers to the religion based on the person and teachings of Jesus Christ, or its beliefs and practices.

Religion, according to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, is the belief in the life of the spirit and usually in one or more gods, especially the belief that it/they made the world and can control it.

In one of his opinion pieces, Kenyan Cliff Kodero – a social democrat and a believer in the concept of democracy and social free will – said countries that owned their religion are doing better than Africa.

“It is fascinating that countries that owned their culture and practised their own religion and culture are doing relatively better than Africa. A good example is China, Japan and the rest of South Asia. While Asia and Africa were both colonised, Asia retained a whole lot of its culture, Africa did not. Asia is now growing because of high self-esteem and a belief in the supernatural that it best understands.”

This means Kodero believes that neglecting Africanism in pursuit of Christianity is holding Africa back.

To clarify his point, he added: “I do not think Christianity understands Africa that well. This explains why it has failed to settle all the moral decadence in this continent. As a matter of fact, Europe, from which the church came from, is left with empty cathedrals and the whole society is swallowed in ‘sin’.”

Unless Africa changes its overzealous religious nature and advocate for a religion that best serves its interest, he added, Africans will never see peace and development.

In a blog titled “So it begins… Religion is holding us back”, Dante Cifuni said that religion is poisonous and is holding the progress of humanity.

“I believe that religion is a poisonous effect on the progress of humanity. Religion has been the cause of countless wars, and many avoidable conflicts. It has dictated the way that our country should be run, and has interfered long enough. I believe that religion is a method for intellectual slave holders to control the masses,” Cifuni said.

Wilmore Choto, a Zimbabwean based in South Africa, believes that religion is holding Africa back – in terms of development because it is used by greedy people to enrich themselves.

“Religion is being treated as a business avenue. Thus, it is benefiting few individuals and there is no way Africa can benefit from it,” he said.

Was it not Karl Marx, German economist, who said: “Religion is the opium of the people?”

According to Marx, religion is an expression of material realities and economic injustice. Thus, problems in religion are ultimately problems in society. Religion is not the disease, but merely a symptom. It is used by oppressors to make people feel better about the distress they experience due to being poor and exploited.

What do you think?