Christian Nationalism Is Tearing Ethiopia Apart

 Foreign Policy published on 18 June 2022 a commentary titled "Christian Nationalism Is Tearing Ethiopia Apart" by Andrew DeCort.

Evangelicalism is exploding in Ethiopia today.  The Evangelicals see Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as the 7th King or at least a useful tool for their ambitions.  The author concluded that in his two decades studying and working in Ethiopia he has "never seen such bitter hatred and raw hopelessness."  He fears that violence on the scale of Rwanda could erupt.  

Video of Ethiopia's Lalibela Churches

 CBS News 60 Minute program ran a 13 minute video titled "Lalibela: 11 Churches, Each Sculpted Out of a Single Block of Stone 800 Years Ago" with Scot Pelley.  

This is a wonderful tribute during the Christmas season to Ethiopia during a particularly troubled time.  

Ethiopia: Making Room for Muslims

 Ethiopia Insight posted on 16 September 2020 a commentary titled "Proclamation Finally Decrees Equality for Ethiopian Muslims" by Endris Mekonnen, University of Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Ethiopia's lower house of parliament approved in June a bill to legally establish the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council. Ethiopia has a large Muslim minority.  The author spells out why this seemingly modest step is significant.  

An Egyptian Perspective on Nile Water

Pambazuka News published on 7 September 2017 a commentary titled "Egypt and Controlling the Nile: From Mythologies to Real Politics" by Hamdy A. Hassan, Zayed University and Cairo University.

While the author analyzes the Nile water question from an Egyptian point of view, he concludes there is a dire need for a strategic dialogue between Egypt and Ethiopia where all issues of common concern are discussed. He added this may necessitate a conciliatory political and media discourse vis-a-vis Ethiopia and the Nile Basin countries as the language of escalation and threats has always proven counterproductive.

Violent Extremism in Kenya

The Rift Valley Institute published in February 2017 a summary discussion titled "Violent Extremism in Kenya: Risk and Resilience." It concluded that key mechanisms determining resilience or increasing risk within communities are relationships between social groups, between government and communities, and between different generations.

Kenya 2014 Religious Freedom Report

The State Department has released the Kenya 2014 International Religious Freedom Report.  According to the Kenyan government, Kenya is about 82 percent Christian and 11 percent Muslim.  There are also small minorities of Hindus, Sikhs, and Bahais. 

Religious tensions were high in some areas of the country, usually following attacks by the Somali-based terrorist group al-Shabaab.  Some Muslims, especially ethnic Somalis, stated their communities were the target of government-directed extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrest and detention, and deportation, charges the government denied.  Muslim leaders and human rights organizations stated "Operation Usalama Watch" unfairly targeted Somali and some other Muslim communities.

Sudan 2014 Religious Freedom Report

The State Department has released the Sudan 2014 International Religious Freedom Report.  The Sudan government estimates that approximately 97 percent of the population is Muslim and 3 percent is Christian.  Some religious advocacy groups estimate non-Muslims make up between 15 to 20 percent of the population.

There was a general consensus among religious leaders that Muslim and Christian communities generally co-existed peacefully.  Muslim citizens sometimes harassed and intimidated non-Muslims, however, and pressured them to convert to Islam.  Because of the overlap between ethnicity and religion, it was often difficult to determine whether reported abuses were specifically due to religious intolerance.

The Secretary of State redesignated Sudan a country of particular concern under the International Religious Freedom Act for having engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom.

South Sudan 2014 Religious Freedom Report

The State Department has released the South Sudan 2014 International Religious Freedom Report.  South Sudan is nominally majority Christian although there are significant numbers of persons who follow indigenous religious beliefs.  There is also a minority Muslim population, although there are no reliable estimates on the percentage. 

Christian and Muslim leaders regularly consult with each other.  The government demolished a mosque built on government property by northern Muslims during the war for independence and discussed compensation with Muslim leaders for this and two other mosques demolished in previous years.

Djibouti 2014 Religious Freedom Report

The State Department has released the Djibouti 2014 International Religious Freedom Report.  Djibouti is 94 percent Sunni Muslim.  There were reports of physical abuse against converts to Christianity by members of the converts' communities and discrimination in employment and education against converts to Christianity. 

Eritrea 2014 Religious Freedom Report

The State Department has released the Eritrea 2014 International Religious Freedom Report.  The government continued to detain or harass members of certain religious groups, including large numbers of Jehovah's Witnesses.  There were no reports of significant societal actions affecting religious freedom.  The Secretary of State designated Eritrea as a country of particular concern under the International Religious Freedom Act in 2004 and renewed the designation in 2014. 

Ethiopia 2014 Religious Freedom Report

The State Department has released the Ethiopia 2014 International Religious Freedom Report.  Unlike previous years, there were no reports of religiously motivated societal violence.  There were lingering tensions between Christians and Muslims.  Some Ethiopian Orthodox and Protestant groups engaged in mutual recriminations over conversions and charges of heresy.

Ethiopia: Muslim-Christian Relations

This posting constitutes a summary of my remarks titled "Ethiopia: Muslim-Christian Relations" made on 16 January 2014 to a group at Bolling Air Force Base in Maryland.

Christianity and Islam in Africa

The highly respected Pew Research Center has published a series of reports on religion that add to our knowledge about the subject in Africa. In 2010, it published a study titled "Tolerance and Tension: Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa." The study noted that while sub-Saharan Africa has almost twice as many Christians as Muslims, on the entire African continent the two faiths are roughly balanced with 400 to 500 million followers each. Since northern Africa is heavily Muslim and southern Africa is heavily Christian, the great meeting place is in the middle, a 4,500-mile swath from Somalia in the east to Senegal in the west. Click here to read the study on sub-Saharan Africa.

In 2011, the Pew Research Center published a report titled "Global Christianity: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population." Click here to read the report.

The Pew Research Center's most recent contribution appeared on 9 August 2012 and is titled "The World's Muslims: Unity and Diversity." Click here to read the executive summary.

Fascinating study on Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, an organization with a strong track record for polling and surveys, published in April 2010 an informative study titled "Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa". It is based on survey results in 16 different countries that represent all geographical areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. The Pew Forum interviewed at least 1,000 Africans in each of the 16 countries. Anyone who reads this report will find some surprises.

Views of Southern Sudanese on the 2010 elections

The National Democratic Institute has released another in a series of focus group studies that report and analyze the views of residents in East Africa and the Horn. The most recent account, titled "Imagining the Election: A Look at What Citizens Know and Expect of Sudan’s 2010 Vote" and authored by Traci D. Cook and Dan Vexler, is based on wide-ranging discussions with men and women throughout southern Sudan. The study is full of fascinating conclusions. This series provides important insights into the views of the people who actually live in the affected region. Most of the persons interviewed were Christian, although there were some Muslims. The study seemed to interview very few persons who follow traditional religions, an important group in southern Sudan.