Ghana is a very pious country. Islam is growing, as is demonstrated by the call to prayer that blares from mosque speakers throughout the country five times a day, but overwhelmingly the country is Christian. Sunday I traveled to Kumasi, Ghana’s second largest city, and reputed to be one of the busiest cities in West Africa. The Kumasi I arrived to on Sunday felt abandoned. I disembarked from the bus and had the freedom to slalom through the streets without even so much as a tro tro or street vendor to impede my way. As I walked up one of Kumasi’s many hills I came upon the reason for this beautiful and unusual quiet. The city’s residents, dressed in their best clothes, smart and neat, packed Church after Church listening to men scream the day’s prayer and lesson out of raspy microphones. When the service ended, after 4 or 5 hours in the Ghanaian heat, everyone poured out onto the streets to socialize and then car pool home.
The degree to which Christianity is embedded into Ghanaian society is apparent everywhere. Tro tros and taxis are named, “Genesis I” and “The Eucharist”; chop shops are called, “The Lord Commeth Diner”; and stalls bare the name, “God is Faithful Store” and “Jesus is Alive Vocational Training Center”. On my return bus trip from Bolga to Accra the driver proceeded to lead the bus in prayer, only to be halted by a man, who, speaking on behalf of those minority Muslims, Animists, and Agnostics on board, yelled, “stop preaching and drive the bus”! Televangelism dominates cable channels, and on all days of the week you can find someone with a microphone and an amp preaching somewhere in the city centre.
Outside of asking me my name or where I’m from, one of the most popular questions I’m asked is, ‘what is my religion’. The series of questions typically goes something like this.
-What religion are you?
I was baptized Catholic, never confirmed, and don’t practice.
-Oh. But what Church do you go to?
I actually don’t go to any Church.
-But then where do you pray?
I don’t actually pray.
-Ok. But then how do you communicate with God?
Ummmmm. Well, I don’t actually believe in a god.
(pause)
-I don’t understand.
I have no antipathy towards organized religion in Ghana, nor do I take any pride in expressing that I do not believe in God. However, it is the truth. I believe in a lot of things. I believe in karma. I believe that humans are always evolving and are not all knowing. I even believe that there could be life on other planets. But I do not believe in a god that is all knowing, all good, and all powerful. I’m currently reading Michael Ignatieff’s biography of Isaiah Berlin. Berlin, Jewish, describes, in reference to a Hassidic ritual, his religious skepticism;
"I wish I could lay claim to having similar religious feelings or experiences- ever since I persuaded myself that a personal God- an old man with a beard- the Ancient of Days- or anyway some kind of individual conceivable in human terms-was unlikely to exist, I have never known the meaning of the word God; and I cannot even claim to be an atheist or an agnostic- I am somewhat like a tone-deaf person in relation to music- I realize that others are deeply inspired by it, and I respect that, and I have great sympathy for religious ceremonies and works of poetry: but God?"
Yet in Ghana, as I’m frequently required to answer the question, saying the phrase, “I do not believe in God”, has stopped people in their tracks. People are very kind with their follow up questions, more curious than self-righteous, but disbelieving nonetheless. The other common question that results is, “if not religion, where do you get your morals from”? I also do not believe that being religious makes you more virtuous than those who do not practice. Just like believing in democracy doesn’t grant you authority on rights and justice, being religious does not make you the arbiter of what is moral. History has been the judge of this as often the most pious countries have been the most violent. Regardless, these questions are testament to the degree to which many in Ghana look toward the Church for leadership.
It’s remarkable to me the time and energy that so many here put into religious acts. Good deeds are constantly justified in the name of God and chance encounters are often declared to be “God’s will”. I’ve been toured around town at no cost, even been given bus fare by a stranger when all I did was ask directions, all in the name of brotherhood. Perhaps it’s this argument, religion as a good conscience, which gives the impression that morals are derived from religious devotion. I’m not sure, yet I tend to believe, perhaps more controversially, that for so many religious observance never began as a formal choice. Not necessarily an imposition, but children certainly seem heavily influenced by family and culture to participate in religion at their earliest age. In any case, Christianity is engrained in the Ghanaian culture to an extent that I have not witnessed in another country. I have yet to meet anyone who has spoken ill of the religious influence, and it would be only cynical to assume that this was for any other reason than because of its relatively benign affect. In time this may become clearer, but as is commonly stated in Ghana, “only God knows”.
2 comments:
Hello Brian, another well written article. First a short comment on your last posting. It was a bit too detached for me, unlike your other blogs. I'm not sure why this topic or this experience forced you up into the bleachers to simply observe versus get onto the field of play and get dirty with a summary opinion or recommendation.
This article is also well written and a joy to read. Religion is a fascinating aspect of humanity and one which deserves greater study than simply amazement and wonder. I remember my late father-in-law speaking to me about it in Florida one year. He was not one for conversations but on this day he was remarking to me how happy they had been renting a condo in this particular complex for so many years. He talked about how many of the renters were Canadian, how so many went to the same church and how it gave them a powerful sense of community. That stuck with me and I think that simple human need is behind the global popularity of religion. Religious fervor might be the amplitude that is driven by the need of the people. What do we seek, a sense of community, answers to questions as simple as why, a platform to share these questions and to accept what is clearly unfair in our personal situation. Perhaps that explains the emergence of the new religions, the church of myspace, and facebook. What are these, but congregations of like-minded people gathering together to discuss what is right and what is wrong, why is this so unfair and why this is so right, so cool. So the next time someone asks you what religion you are, try responding facebook. Then spend time getting a deeper understanding (as you are) of the particular local and personal issues that are driving these people to their particular social network.
Glenn! Sorry it's taken me forever to respond- and the inaugural comment on my blog too- quite tardy on my part. To your first comment. It's true, the experience was more detached than some of the others have been. The camp was undergoing a 'crisis' and the manager would not let me wander around like I would have wanted. Yet, there are still creative ways to make any experience interesting- and I can see how this entry may not have been as interesting to read.
As for your second comment. Religion is a fascinating topic- and one of which I have a very limited understanding. But yes, this idea of these new social networking mediums- the power of them to bring people together- I think shares similarities with organized religions. Certainly there's much disagreement between people on facebook- there's a group for just about every diverging point of view out there- but, as you say, this idea of human need- particularly to belong- I think shares much similarity.
On another note: I'm incredibly excited to steal Em away for a month. She doesn't know it yet, but I plan on pretending that there are all sorts of Ghanaian initiations that newcomers are supposed to take part in. 'Everybody eats the kola nut when they first arrive. And Em, you must try the local rice wine, it's a rite of passage!'
I'll update you on that as we travel. Hope all's well in Ott. Talk to you soon.
ps. you picking us up in mtl?
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