Christians in Nigeria

Information on World Christians

Nigeria

Bullet points

1.       Out of nearly 175 million people, 40% or 80 million are Christians. The rest are Muslim

2.       Most Christians are in South

3.       Christianity arrived in the late 19^th century, from European and American missionaries

4.       The nation has potential to be economically strong, but over 60% live in  poverty.

5.       The violence is between Muslims and Christians, but has roots in colonialism

6.       Boko Haram, the main terrorist group means “Western education is a sin”. They are based in Nigeria.

 

 

Nigeria is one of the most important nations in Africa.  With a population estimated at 175 million, approximately one out of four Africans is Nigerian. Based largely on petroleum, the nation has the second largest economy on the continent, behind only South Africa. It is one of the top ten oil producing nations, and, therefore a large trade partner with the West including the United States.  Although independent since 1960 – an early date for most of the nations of Africa—Nigeria has retained cultural ties to the United Kingdom, its former colonial power. English remains one of the official languages. 

Despite impressive oil revenues many Nigerians remain impoverished. According to the US Government, over 62% of the nation lives in extreme poverty. Corruption and graft are high. Typical of African nations, a large number of tribes and ethnic groups contest for space and power in Nigeria. Economic and cultural inequality is largely dependent on historical affiliations and geographical location.  Culturally there is a stark difference between the southern port cities that prospered under the British and those groups in the interior that were largely overlooked. This geographical divide can be seen in religion.

In regards to religion, Nigeria is evenly divided between Christians (48%) and Muslims (50%).  Over 75 million Nigerians are Muslim. Islam entered Nigeria from the north as early as the 9th century, as a result of conquest from invading tribes and inter-regional trade. Over time it spread west and south throughout the region, usurping local customs as it developed strong cultural ties.

Today the majority of Muslims in Nigeria reside in the north where economic and cultural inequality is greater. Partially as a result of long held hostilities between northern and southern tribes, Islam has become more polemical.   Nine northern states have recently incorporated Sharia Law into their legal system.  The terrorist group Boko Haram, which means, “Western Education is a sin”, was founded and is located in Borno, the northwestern most state.

Countering this are the more than 80 million Nigerian Christians of which nearly 18 million or 40% are Roman Catholic. The remainder is Protestant or adherents of new indigenous denominations such as the African Church.  Because Christianity was introduced by  colonial missionaries arriving  within the past century, it has been viewed by its critics as imported and no part of the traditional African experience. However, the church has thrived as nearly every denomination is present in the country, with Baptist and Anglican among the largest. Lutherans though on their 100^th year remain a relatively small denomination, although they are expanding and are building a seminary.

Currently there is much strife in Nigeria. The reasons are complex but seem to be largely based on past colonial associations and an historical animosity between ethnic groups. Politics and religion have become the interwoven into these old arguments that occur throughout the region. Africa, as Nigeria shows, is at a crossroads between Islam in the North and Christianity in the South. It is also struggling as a continent to recognize its place in the world, and to that end, determining if Westernization provides the best path for success, or whether it needs to shed the cultural traits of its past colonial oppressors. African Christianity then for some is seen as vital and a unifying force, while for others it remains a symbol of the cultural West.

Brave. ( A poem for all of us)

 

I know someone who is really quite brave;

Someone who has withstood a lot, who underwent pain.

Others would have complained more.  But often alone, this one endured.

 

Brave does not seek fame, yet neither does it coward away.

It takes what life has to offer with an open palm.

 

Brave does not give up. It muddles through, somehow, someway.

It never admits that “it can’t”, but neither does it boast that it needs no help.

 

Brave !

 

Like a buggy driver

Like a buggy driver.

For Eight years I have worked as a toll collector. That job is ending this week. Technological advances in the form of high-speed cameras and computers, are making my job obsolete. The new toll roads do not need humans to record transactions.  People either pre-pay with a little device mounted on their cars, or they are sent a bill in the mail. This bill comes from information gleaned from the car’s license plate.

The upside for the consumer is that they do not stop and pay toll. Everything is automated, so the toll road becomes like an interstate highway, with high speeds and no stopping. People, in theory, should arrive at their destination sooner.

This is similar to what occurred nearly 100 years ago. In the early twentieth century the horse and buggy which had been the dominant mode of local transportation for more than 100 years, began to lose its status. The automobile was taking over. It was faster and more efficient. People involved in the horse and buggy business saw their opportunities dwindle. Customers wanted to travel in the new transports, electric streetcars, and automobiles—“horseless carriages”. They were fancy and cool. Horse and buggies on the other hand were old and boring.

Such it is in life. New technologies replace older ones. History books and popular culture embrace these changes as a signs of progress and advancement. Left out however, is the disruption that these new advancements create in the lives of those who were invested in the older technologies. Buggy drivers in 1915 would have seen “the writing on the wall” and, if able, would have tried to get out of that profession. Some would remain for a few more years, especially if they lived in certain areas. But all would know that eventually they would need to learn a new skill for the days of listening to the clomp, clomp, clomp of shoed-horses were quickly ending.

So, here I am 100 years later. My job is obsolete. Luckily tolls were not my passion. I can move to something else. Yet some of my co-workers are not as willing or able. They are driving over forty miles to work at one of the still-open toll plazas, hoping to continue making a living in this job.

 I understand that. I would have liked to have kept my job, for the liked the interaction with the people. But, that is not to be, so like the buggy driver of 1915, I must move on. Progress awaits.

This global desert- - - Lenten Poem

The world is dark

We stumble and fall

Into a deep pit

There we sit and wait, until

 A faint light is seen. . .

 

The world is sad

We hide and lament

Inside lonely rooms,

There we sit and wait, until

A happy sound is heard. . .

 

The world is numb

We ignore and withdraw

Within our own cocoons

There we sit and wait, until

The rush of beauty is felt. . .

 

 

It is the season of Lenten angst

When the world in darkened hues revealed:

A Global Desert full of want,

A place of fear and hurt.

 

Inwardly Questioning,

Yet Outwardly Observing

A Discipline of Sacrifice ensues.

For. . .

A life forsaken helps us know

The Grace that gently eases pain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reflections on New Years Day-- though a little late. . .

Reflections on New Year’s Day

Two aspects of NWD that I find interesting is the relational nature of the day—in that it is experienced across the globe at different times—and that it is largely arbitrary. These aspects make the day special and unique.

   First: the relational nature of the NWD. Most people do not seem to pay much attention to the fact that the world covers 24 time zones, for they are focused on their specific locale. Rarely is much thought given to the fact that people in other parts of the world experience the day at different times. Perhaps this is most apparent when we watch sports from the west coast and wonder why they are occurring so late in the evening though it is still “prime time” in their local area.

   New Years Day and New Years Eve then allows us to recognize this phenomenon, for we notice that places like New Zealand and Australia have already “brought in the New Year” before we even get up, and that when “the ball drops in New York City”, it is still several hours away in Los Angeles or Honolulu. In fact, these are among the last major cities to welcome the New Year. Thus for the many, New Years Day allows us to feel connected to the wider world, for like our counterparts in Asia and Europe, we are waiting our turn to greet the New Year. A sense of community even if short-lived and largely obligatory exists, for we all celebrate the arrival of a new year.   

The second issue—the arbitrariness of this date—is likewise intriguing. January the 1^st was chosen by decree from Pope Gregory, who sought to modernize the church – and by extension the calendar. Over time the world accepted the Pontiff’s new reckoning and began using the Gregorian calendar for religious as well as civil matters. Centuries have passed. So, that today even civilizations using older calendars than Europe, such as China, embraced the Gregorian calendar at least for commercial purposes. The same likewise is true for Eastern Rite Christians who unlike their Western counterparts, failed to recognize Papal authority, and kept as part of their religion the older Julian calendar. Like modern Chinese however, contemporary Old Russian Believers celebrate New Year’s Day, from a civil standpoint as January the 1^st. It has become standard.

   Yet for most people the decision to begin the New Year on January the 1^st is unknown and unimportant. Gregory could just have well placed the beginning of the New Year in March or April, when the plants and animals are reborn. Additionally for the vast majority New Years Day seems to have no religious or spiritual significance. It is a time to celebrate and reflect, but not necessarily in any dogmatic way.

   Thus January 1^st is New Years Day because years ago—and far away- a Pope decided that it would be so. As  if on cue, people throughout the world celebrate. The fact that this day begins on January 1^st, which for many is in the middle of winter (for others it is in the middle of summer), appears to have no significance.  Stores and restaurants are open. Airplanes fly. White collar professionals and students are off. The world does pause—but not stop—and celebrates without context, a day that could have been picked other than in the middle of one of the four seasons. At its core, as practiced today, New Years Day is arbitrary and ordinary. Somehow though, it still becomes special. Maybe it’s the floats.

  

 

Distractions (poem)

Distractions

 

One of the hardest things, it seems, is to focus. Life today has too many distractions. Here is something to watch. There is something to do. Everywhere is something different.

 

The mind goes off in all kinds of ways. Checking in on this, worrying about that. The task at hand moves out of the away.

 

Just one quick look that is all. Then right back to what I am want to do.

 

But, one look, like one freshly made cookie on a plate, quickly leads to another, and one more besides. And soon, the task with no aim falls away.

 

Distractions are interesting and strong. They pull away, they keep work at bay. They lead to guilt and loathing contempt; regret about work that no longer holds sway.

 

And in the end, after all is amiss, distractions leave as a vapor, removed as a gas. Nothing remains of the day they have spent, just the void of loss and the pain of regret.

Three purposes of religion

Three Purposes of Religion

 

Even though I consider myself a scholar and a scientist, religion still plays an important role in my life. Often however, there is an underlying message within popular culture that belief in God is of less importance for the intellectually endowed. Atheist critics’ mock religious devotion as something that is comical or dangerous, arguing that followers are unquestioning sycophants blindly led into false or at best irrelevant claims. Religion therefore has become relegated to the private sphere.

In answering these critics I therefore present my conviction that, far from being irrelevant, religion serves three purposes. I further argue that these are uniquely present within religion, that although each may appear as components of human philosophy and ethics, that apart from a religious framework, these components themselves become ineffective, irrelevant and potentially dangerous.

The first purpose of religion is that it fosters humility. This becomes obvious for me when I walk along a tree-lined path. I hear and see birds, flowers and trees in all their beauty and glory. Surely there must be something else out there—a Creator, if you will—of whom humans are not necessarily the only thing of value. However recognizing that we are not the center of the universe, without a belief in God, can lead, to either narcissism, where one asserts their importance, or nihilism where nothing is deemed valuable.

      This leads to the second purpose of religion, the belief that because something bigger is in charge we are not “left to decide things on our own.” In other words, the bigness of God triggers a type of humility leading not into despair, but instead by  placing   my problems within this larger context, I have hope that these concerns will also be addressed. Religion states that we are not alone, and that God works like a guide, giving directions that help us through the vastness of life.

      But not just any type of guide, but a personal and concerned guide tailor-made for our concerns and frustrations. Thus religion does not, as the critics allege, merely offer antiquated moral sayings that are either contradictory or inappropriate. Instead it is more like a spotlight that brightens the path allowing for safer travel through life’s difficulties.

The third purpose of religion is in teaching interconnectedness. Religion does not just show how small we are in the midst of the wide world (humility), nor how to guide through this vast terrain (guidance) but it also teaches us to share with others, by advocating that we are all a part of this creation and are all therefore, logically, connected. The goal then becomes not nihilism or narcissism but communitarianism. The idea is that because there is a God, we are not to be selfish or unkind, but instead helpful and supportive for others are small like us and in need of guidance.  I am sure that there is more that can be expanded, but I feel that these three characteristics simplify the necessity of religion and show that even though one is a scholar and a scientist, I can still recognize the importance of religious participation.