I have been thinking about this a lot, not just in Ghana, but in Guatemala and even at Clark. Especially after spending a Ghanaian Passover I think about it even more and this thing is RELIGION.
Ghana is a very Christian country, from Catholic to Pentecostal, and I put RELIGION in all caps because in this country, like many others, it is in all caps, always important, constant overwhelming presence. I see Christianity in the names of stores, on posters, billboards, in the words of sermon preachers on my 7am bus ride, on signs in the campus library that reads "Please be quiet. Don't forget to pray," from strangers when they greet me with "Hello, how are you? What is your name? Do you believe in Jesus Christ?" I chalk these experiences up to cultural learning. I often ignore them because, even though I don't like to admit it, all the religion stuff freaks me out because I have no context in my own life to explain so much devotion to a single ideal by so many people. I try to reason out how people can believe in Christ by relating it to something that I believe in, such as medicine. Is it not true that if someone told me Advil did not relieve headaches, I would fight them on it, listing my experiences with its success and advocating for its use, even though I have no idea how Advil works? So how is that any different from religion? Just as I assume medicine and science explain the world around me and how my body functions, isn't that how religious individuals justify God's word?
But I cannot ignore the hypocrisy, the propaganda and the hate that I see perpetrated in the name Christianity. (Now, before someone gets offended, I am talking about Christianity specifically because that is what I have been experiencing. I understand that other religions and traditional practices hold similar stances but I have not encountered them in this way. I also am talking about Christianity as it has manifested itself in my experiences, which may not represent other forms).
For example, what strikes me about Christianity in Ghana is the mix between Christianity and spirituality, which presents itself with speaking in tongues, demon possessions and over the top sermons in community spaces. In Ghana in particular, God is not a part of your personal life, but a fixture in communal life that is not open to other options. It is a stark contrast to New England, where I would be surprised to see a single billboard advertise a religious event, of which I see at least 10 on my commute into Accra.
I have been trying very hard to be open minded and culturally tolerant in my perceptions of religion in Ghana. But, if I'm being honest, it makes me annoyed and sometimes really angry. I don't like that I feel I have to avoid the topic when people ask me if I'm Christian because I feel they will judge me. I don't enjoy watching preachers on Christian television chant at people, sending them into a seizure, curing them from an obsessive eating of uncooked rice. I don't like it when a little girl tells me she doesn't like Obama because he is the anti-christ. But I have calmed these minor annoyances from become anger or elitist frustration, with some exceptions. I cannot avoid being angry when a 3 year old boy comes to the Police Hospital with a broken leg and whipping marks all over his body because his step mom had a vision at her church he was possessed by the devil, and decided to take care of it through violence.
But I understand that I cannot judge any society and the people within it from a superior lens. My way is no better than anyone else's. Because everyone perpetrates hate, but perhaps not everyone uses a book and a prophet to back it up. Everyone fears the unknown, dislikes uncertainties and is selfish, but some conceal these sentiments behind the curtain of Jesus and others don't. It was very timely that I stumbled upon this article while I was mulling over these conflicting emotions: Im Christian, unless you're gay because it captures the religion conundrum much more eloquently that I can hope to.
Despite all this - the hate, the propaganda, the violence perpetrated in the name of a belief, the is most important thing to note is that all Christians are not the same. They are not all conservative, creationist Republicans that push their Christian agenda as a vehicle for political sway and bigotry. Now written out that seems obvious, but I don't think this understanding is often put into practice. If you have ever read Half the Sky you will learn that we would have no charity and very few people traveling around the world trying to help those less fortunate, were it not for religion. There would be no Martin Luther King Jr., no Mother Theresa. What I have learned more than anything is that there are many remarkable people that do not fit the stereotype but are very devote believers in Jesus Christ. I met these people in Guatemala, I met these people at Clark and I am meeting them here in Ghana. These people defy my own conceptions that to be liberal you must be secular. That to be conservative you must be preachy. These are people that are using faith to do great things while being tolerant and culturally understanding and without imposing their beliefs upon those they do good work with. It is those people that I feel are misrepresented in our society, in the media and in highly religious countries.
This is a heavy one, I'll follow it with a light one in a few days (lets be honest, it'll probably take me over a week) where I'll share all my favorite things about Ghana!!
REALLY QUICK UPDATE:
Kumasi was great - I bought too many gifts! This weekend we celebrated my friend Rachel's birthday! This week is my last week of classes to be followed by a trip to the Volta Region where we will visit Kekeli Inc. among other things, and then I have my Traditional African Dance exam and Twi exam!! Yikes, it's like real school. Yebishiya bio! ("see you later," not the correct spelling).
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