fireworks set off by Prof. Farooq Kperogi’s article that claim that Yoruba Christians oppress Yoruba Muslims are a reminder of the misplaced position of religion in Nigeria and elsewhere. It is quite ironic that religious fervour is intensifying in these parts of the world even as it is steeply declining in the prosperous others.
Among some Christians, it is no longer good enough to be a practising Christian. One has to be Pentecostalist, with all the rituals and protestations appertaining thereto. A write-up by an aide to a magistrate provides a stark illustration. His boss often lambasted pastors and prophets for being phony or hypocritical. So, one day he asked her, “Madam, if you feel this way, why do you still go to church?” Her response is something that a lot of people can relate to: She had to attend to remain socially and professionally viable. If she didn’t attend even her court judgments would be dismissed as coming from an unbeliever, she said.
These are great examples of what in a recent book I refer to as “cultural chauvinism,” a universal tendency of groups to claim distinction or superiority. The first two examples are obvious cases of stereotypes and the third indicate the speakers’ narrow vista on reality. In any case, all three are actually back-handed compliments, though they seem to denigrate the religion.
“The University of Ilorin was an exclusivist enclave of extremist Pentecostal Yoruba Christians who intentionally shut out Muslims from studentships and from the professoriate,” Kperogi blogged in response to critics of his original article. “The school was run from churches and Christian fellowships, and only few Muslims were admitted as students and employed as lecturers, mostly as token gestures of paternalistic accommodation.
The doctrine of separation of church and state has been central to the stability of the politics of North America and Western Europe in the past two centuries or so. In the US, it is implicitly mandated by the constitution. Elsewhere, it has evolved through practice or common law.
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