philosophy is African culture.
Europe is nowhere in the Old Testament but Egypt is mentioned 500
times.
AA.
On Nov 13, 6:58 pm, toyin adepoju <toyin.adep...@googlemail.com>
wrote:
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Osagie Odeh <osagieo...@aim.com>
> Date: 12 November 2011 20:25
> Subject: Edo_Global. A NEED TO KEEP OUR AFRICAN CULTURE AND RELIGION.
> To: Edo-Nat...@yahoogroups.com, Edo-Commun...@yahoogroups.com,
> Edo_Glo...@yahoogroups.com, ENAEXECUTIVES...@yahoogroups.com
> Cc: osagieo...@aim.com
>
> **
>
> Born Again Christians and The Destruction of African Culture
>
> - Posted by Otedo News
> Update<http://ihuanedo.ning.com/profile/uwagboeogieva>on June 30, 2011
> at 4:43pm in Religions
> News And Blogs <http://ihuanedo.ning.com/group/religiousskeptism>
> - Back to Religions News And Blogs
> Discussions<http://ihuanedo.ning.com/group/religiousskeptism/forum>
>
> *Born Again Christians and The Destruction of African Culture*
> *<http://api.ning.com/files/aTj-bNMxLIexFEEn90oTQsDXW3LuhiLVUR0eXeOiYnT...>The
> Threat*
> Too many born-again Christians in Africa, Nigeria in particular, believe
> that a good Christian must destroy the African culture. They are
> categorical in their belief that all the elements and artifacts of African
> culture are idols, and forever evil. They believe that it is not enough to
> denounce an idol and reject idol worshipping without completely destroying
> everything related to it. So, they are on rampage, demolishing all the
> elements of our culture and cultural heritage, which define us as Africans.
> Their actions are based purely on wrong interpretation of the Holy Bible.
> They have suddenly discovered the notion of born-again Christianity that
> has always existed in the Holy Bible, and now, putting it in local Nigerian
> parlance, it is *shacking them like ogogoro.* This implies that the
> new-wave Christians are getting drunk on the concept of born-again
> Christianity, and they are waging a war against all the traditions that
> make up the culture of the land.
> *
> *
> *Information Vs Ignorance*
>
> Contrary to the views of the new-wave born-again warriors, more liberal
> Christians, who we refer to as the progressives, insist that reformation,
> and not destruction, is the answer to the ongoing dispute over supremacy
> and legitimacy between Christianity and Culture in Nigeria. They insist
> that religion and Clean Culture can, and must be encouraged to coexist in
> harmony. They insist that culture is not synonymous with idols, or
> synonymous with evil. They maintain that repentance and spiritual purity
> are all in the heart of the Christian, and not in physical demolition of
> cultural artifacts, nor in the extinction of the entire African traditional
> system.
> With these opposing views, there are clearly two factions currently in the
> Nigerian Christendom. One faction is for the Christians who believe that
> Christianity and culture cannot mix, and the second faction for those who
> insist that the two can coexist in harmony. It is no exaggeration to say
> that a battle line has been drawn, quite literally. The two factions do
> wage physical war in various regions of Nigeria where Christianity thrives,
> some of which have resulted in great damages to life and property. Churches
> have been attacked in some cases, in retaliation of the damages that the
> extremist Christians are doing to the culture of the land. One of the
> notable conflicts in Igbo land degenerated to setting ablaze, and complete
> destruction of a local church building in a community known as Nsirimo
> Village in Umuahia Town, Abia State of Nigeria. Members of the Pentecostal
> church, going by the name *Charismatic Renewal Movement,* had gone on
> rampage against the culture of the land. Their casualties included a couple
> of peculiar, ancient trees, which had already been approved by the State
> government for Tourist Attraction development project. The overzealous
> born-again Christians decided and succeeded to fell the trees, along with
> the destruction of the village shrines. In retaliation, irate youths simply
> marched to the local church on December 1, 2007 and burned it down. The
> message from the youths was very clear:
> '*You destroy our culture; and we destroy what you claim to be your culture*
> .'
>
> Do remember—the youths that burned down the church were not pagans,
> anti-Christ, or anything like that, which some holier-than-thou Christians
> would want everybody to believe. Indeed, some of the youths were probably
> more Christian in behavior than many of the hypocrites among the
> un-appointed *Christian Warriors.* What the youths were saying by their
> action was that the hypocrites were going too far, and must be stopped,
> even if it meant destroying the church that they also believed in and
> respected under normal circumstances.
>
> *Constitutional Violation*
> *
> *
> It is very important to note that the Christian Warriors do violate the
> Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria when they go on their
> destruction rampage. They actually forcibly dispossess villagers of their
> cultural artifacts and burn them amidst protest by the owners. This has
> resulted in another ugly trend in Nigeria—Nigerians are selling off all the
> artifacts of our culture, the cultural heritage that we are supposed to
> pass on to the next generations for the preservation of history, the story
> of our sojourn on earth. Some people, rather than being persuaded by quack
> brainwashing pastors, or forced by their converted and zombified brethren
> in the village to destroy the artifacts, choose to sell them off to
> foreigners who have great values for them.
> There is a law against willful, wanton destruction of another man's
> property. The law does not exempt anybody, with or without a Holy Bible in
> hand. The Nigerian constitution also clearly guarantees every citizen the
> right to freely associate with other citizens of choice for whatever
> interest that they may share. This means that one also has the right not to
> belong to a church, and, nobody has the right to force another to obey the
> tenets of a religion that he or she does not agree with. This, in turn
> means, for instance, that a Christian may destroy all the cultural
> artifacts that belong to him or her personally, but he or she definitely
> has no right to destroy another citizen's property.
>
> *What Would Christ Advocate?*
>
> The situation in Nigeria's Christendom is critical, and it calls for some
> very pertinent Christian questions, and sound reflection. Some of the
> questions are posed here by *Culture Watch Africa*:
>
> - Is the destruction (on either side) really what Christ wants us to do?
> - Did he as a mortal being on earth support physical fight and
> destruction as an option to settle disputes, any dispute whatsoever?
> - Is it likely that he, now as our Lord and Savior in the spirit world
> would actually support anybody, whosoever, to fight another person for any
> reason, whatsoever?
>
> It is our humble presumption that most sane and rational Christians are
> likely to answer a capital NO to the above three questions, no matter how
> one looks at the situation. Christ would never support anybody to fight
> another person for any reason whatsoever! He did not even allow Simon Peter
> to fight in order to save his (Christ's) life just before his crucifixion.
> He asked Peter to sheath his sword, because, "He who lives by the sword
> dies by the sword." In another instance, Christ said: "If a man slaps you
> on one cheek, give him the other cheek to slap also." He did not say fight
> back! In yet another illustration of his position against violence and
> forcible approach to anything, we refer to the instances that abound in the
> Holy Bible where Christ emphasized "winning of souls" for the Christendom.
> He never asked anybody to force people to convert to Christianity.
> Violation of this all-important principle of choice in Godliness is one of
> the greatest errors perpetrated by today's born-again Christians in Nigeria
> who force citizens to burn their cultural artifacts.
> If we do agree that the above stated positions of Christ in the matter of
> Christianity are correct. And, the born-again extremists do know that there
> are people who are ready to fight in order to stop them from destroying the
> cultural artifacts. Then it makes sense, following the above stated
> Christian principles, that they seek *"peaceful," "soul-winning,"
> "non-combatant"*ways to resolve the disagreement. It does not really make
> any difference who is right, or who is wrong. Christ would never support
> non-peaceful, forcible, combatant approach to win souls for God, no matter
> what! In essence, *Culture Watch Africa* is merely asking the extremists to
> slow down their tempo and ask the question: *What Would Christ Do* in a
> situation like this? It is our opinion that if a Christian endeavors to win
> and save a soul for God through Christ, then the approach has to be
> Christian, or Christ-like in nature.
> The Almighty God Himself instituted the OPTION OF CHOICE in the world by
> allowing us the choice to either do good, or do evil; the choice to either
> follow His ways, or follow the ways of Satan. He has the power to destroy
> Satan who leads us to do evil. He can force all humans to do good at all
> times. But He does not destroy Satan because He wants to give us the chance
> to choose good or evil. We are saying, therefore, that even if they were
> correct in their view that the entire African culture is evil, the
> burn-again zealots are approaching their mission in very wrong un-Godly
> manner.
> Culture Watch Africa is all about peaceful approach, with a systematic
> campaign to dispel the darkness of ignorance, armed only with the effective
> power of information about true Christianity. It is absolutely imperative
> to emphasize that this is not a war of culture against Christianity or any
> other religion. This is a campaign against misinterpretation of the
> teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. In essence, what we want to wedge in
> Africa is a war between Ignorance and Knowledge in matters of Culture and
> Religion.
> Egypt is favorably known all over the world today, and she enjoys huge
> revenues through tourism and various other culture-related avenues, all
> because ancient Egyptians had the foresight to preserve the artifacts of
> their culture. Far beyond the economic values of culture-preservation to
> Egyptians, are the scientific and historical values that benefit the entire
> world. Thanks to the ancient Egyptian artifacts, the world now knows a lot
> more about humanity, past, as well as present. Also, five thousand years
> old mummies recently exhumed in China have vastly enriched humanity and
> science in various ways. These are only a couple of many global instances
> of the benefits of protecting, preserving and celebrating one's culture.
> Museums in the western world are graced with artifacts of the African
> Culture, some of which were ignorantly given away by Africans, and others
> stolen from Africa by westerners who know their present and ultimate values
> in the history of the world. It is very ironic back home in Africa that
> misinformed new-wave born-again Christians are busy destroying what is left
> of the culture, all in the name of God.
>
> *What Is Culture*
>
> No doubt, many people that will get to read this brochure do not need a
> lecture on the definition of culture; they perfectly understand what it is
> all about. However, this campaign is not only for the intellectual elites,
> but also, indeed, mostly for the less intellectual masses. It is a campaign
> geared mainly towards the masses in the grassroots communities in Africa,
> who are the real custodians of our culture. And if we must convince the
> custodians to do a good job of nurturing, protecting and preserving our
> culture, then they must understand the essence of authentic cultural
> identity of Africa in the larger global community. It is imperative,
> therefore, to state a couple of functional definitions of culture.
>
> Culture, very simply, can be defined as *the ways of life *(otherwise known
> as traditions) *of a group of people*, which set the group apart from other
> groups in a larger society. The African Culture is comprised of sets of
> traditions and elements that are unique to Africans, which make us
> different from peoples of other regions of the world. It is instructive to
> offer a few more diverse definitions from theologians and anthropologists
> who have approached it from Christian perspectives.
> In his 1949 treatise titled* Christianity and Culture,* T. S. Eliot wrote:
> "Culture may be described simply as that which makes life worth living."
> Emil Brunner, a theologian, stated in his 1948 treatise titled *Christianity
> and Civilization:* "Culture is materialization of meaning." Another
> theologian, Donald Bloesch, had this to say: "Culture is the task appointed
> to humans to realize their destiny in the world, in service to the glory of
> God." Later, in 1966, an anthropologist, E. Adamson Hoebel wrote a
> text—*Anthropology:
> The Study of Man*—in which he said that culture "is the integrated system
> of learned behavior patterns which are characteristic of the members of a
> society, and which are not the result of biological inheritance."
> "All of these definitions can be combined to include the world views,
> actions, and products of a given community of people," summed theologian
> Jerry Solomon in his 1995 text titled*Christianity And Culture*. And,
> in *Christ
> and Culture in Dialogue,* Angus J. L. Menuge said, "It is impossible in
> practice to separate oneself from culture; as culture permeates our
> thinking and language, it is as much in us as it is around us. We may keep
> out some bad influences of culture but others will remain inside."
>
> "That the forest should meet Christian urbanism was the most natural thing
> in the world," says one of Africa's prides, Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole
> Soyinka. "And I think that there were narratives in which the priest
> himself had to confront, shall we say, the equivalent of what you might
> call the goblins of the woods. And he had to bring his own Christian powers
> and negotiate a kind of existence with them."
>
> Far back in 1913, J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937) posed the key question in
> the controversy: "Are Christianity and culture in a conflict that is to be
> settled only by the destruction of one or the other of the contending
> forces?" He followed with his own response to the question: "A third
> solution, fortunately, is possible—namely consecration. Instead of
> destroying the arts and sciences, or being indifferent to them, let us
> cultivate them with all the enthusiasm of the humanist, but at the same
> time consecrate them to the service of our God."— *The **Princeton**Theological
> Review, Vol. 11, 1913.*
>
> A recurrent tolerant and reformist notion in many of the existing
> religion-inclined definitions of culture is the need to employ culture "in
> service to the glory of God." The basis, theme, indeed, the entire essence
> of the argument of *Culture Watch Africa* is reflected in elements of such
> definitions. We campaign that the "*bad influences of culture be kept out,
> and others remain inside*" to be consecrated and employed "*in service to
> the glory of God*."
>
> *Did Christ Preach Against Culture?*
>
> The source of the apparent confusion about culture (traditions) in the
> Christendom is the Holy Bible itself, which was built on parables. The
> biblical parables beget ambiguity, which means that one single line in the
> bible may be interpreted to mean so many different things, depending on who
> is doing the interpreting, and what his or her motive is. Progressive
> interpretations of relevant passages in the bible posit that Christ never
> preached against culture or traditions. He preached the coexistence of
> culture and Christianity, recognizing that religion may not exist in a
> society without a set of traditions. Indeed, Christianity itself becomes
> part of the traditions of any society that adopts it. Passages abound in
> the Holy Bible, which affirm this position. Christ actually encouraged and
> attended a good number of cultural events. He also partook in a number of
> cultural traditions/ activities, such as Jewish weddings, and the annual
> Passover festival. He went as far as making contributions to support some
> of the events. For instance, when wines were exhausted during a marriage
> ceremony at Cana in Galilee (John Chapter 2), Christ did contribute kegs of
> wine, which he made available through his very first miracle of turning
> water into wine. Christ also attended the funeral of his friend, Lazarus,
> where he performed his greatest miracle of raising the dead (John Chapter
> 11).
>
> *The Misinterpretation*
>
> Christ, of course, did preach against hypocrisy amongst the people that
> make/ made up a culture. His teaching in the book of Mark chapter 7 verses
> 1 to 13 (New Living Translation version) is appropriately titled "Jesus
> Teaches About Inner Purity," and his very first statement in verse 6 is,
> "You hypocrites!" Before this response, verses 1 to 5 condemn 'window
> dressing' within the culture, and not the culture itself. Pharisees and
> Teachers of religious laws were making a fuss about the violation of their
> tradition of dipping hands in water for "cleansing" before any meal, and
> Christ chastised them for hypocrisy (window-dressing), because they cleaned
> their hands whereas their minds and souls were dirty. He lamented that they
> still hated their neighbors; they still showed no respect to their parents,
> and still violated all the other components of the Ten Commandments. In
> other words, they were pretenders who were putting up a show of being pure,
> whereas they were actually evil at heart. This is absolutely true of many
> of today's new-wave born-again Christians who are destroying the African
> Culture.
>
> In the scripture (Mark 7), it is said that Christ quoted Prophet Isaiah,
> who had written earlier saying, "*These people honor me with their lips,
> but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce (a lie), for
> they teach man-made ideas as command from God*." Some new-wave born-again
> Christians choose to interpret the above-cited passage (Mark 7: 1 – 13) to
> mean that Christ taught against culture and traditions. Their strongest
> argument seems to be drawn from the line:
> "For you ignore God's law and substitute your own traditions."
> Surely, when misinterpreted, or interpreted out of context, this line might
> support the view that Christ preached against traditions (culture). The
> fact, however, is that he was only condemning hypocrisy. In so doing, he
> pointed at the fact that the Pharisees were adamant in sticking to their
> sinful traditions, at the expense of the Ten Commandments. Certainly, no
> commandment asks anybody to destroy his or her culture. Emphasis is on *
> sinful* traditions, and not the entire culture. The passage says nothing
> against any of the good traditions that the Pharisees and Teachers in
> question were practicing within their culture. "I did not come to abolish
> the Law of Moses or the writings of the prophets," said Christ, according
> to the Book of Mathew, chapter 5, verse 17. "…No, I came to accomplish
> their purpose."
>
> *Reform It; Don't Destroy It*
>
> It is recognized that some of the African cultural artifacts were actually
> symbols of deities that were worshiped by our forefathers. The reformists
> also admit that there are cultural traditions that are obviously
> unwholesome, whether viewed religiously, or from any other perspective
> whatsoever. For example, human sacrifice and killing of twins are clearly
> wrong, bad and condemnable any day, no matter what perspective they are
> considered from. Naturally, the reformists insist that such archaic and bad
> cultural traditions must be eliminated, but definitely not by completely
> condemning our entire culture. They also argue that violated artifacts can
> be demystified, sanctified, reduced to mere objects of cultural identity,
> and preserved for the history of the land. In other words, the reformists
> are saying: Let's reform it, and not destroy it! Essentially, this argument
> strongly upholds the wisdom behind the adage: *Do not throw away a baby
> along with dirty bath water*. We must rinse our baby up with clean water,
> keep the baby, and then throw away the dirty water. In other words, we must
> protect and celebrate a purified form of our cultural identity.
> For instance, masquerade is a cultural entertainment concept, which
> actually exists in various cultures of the world besides Africa; but
> Africans, particularly Nigerians have suddenly redefined the concept as
> evil. We do recognize that *some* masquerades have been associated with
> deities in non-Christian ways in the past. However, the reformist argument
> insists that we may not condemn every masquerade as being evil. If indeed
> our fathers and forefathers dedicated some of their masquerades to deities
> in negative ways in the past, the reformists insist that they can all be
> demystified, purified or sanctified, then retained as elements of art and
> entertainment in our culture. As a compromise, we can put our fathers'
> masquerades aside as artifacts, and make new 'clean' replicas for
> ourselves. One way or the other, the tradition must not be allowed to go
> the extinction-way of some other traditions that we have lost due to
> ignorance, simply because they had flaws. By comparison, there are so many
> bad people among the anti-culture crusaders, and also among Christians all
> over the world, but nobody goes around campaigning for the abolition of
> Christianity for the sake of the bad Christians.
>
> *The Power Of Infotainment*
> *
> *
> When we speak of reform, we speak of reforming everything that makes up the
> culture, including the human minds. The aim is to have all things made by
> God to glorify Him. The important message in this segment is on the power
> of infotainment and subliminal education in spreading the word of God. We
> emphasize subliminal education as the preferable Christ-like alternative to
> the current approach of extremist Christians. The infotainment approach is
> founded on the proven fact that people learn better, and they are amenable
> to changes when they are informed while being entertained.
>
> On the matter of culture, Christians should learn to design their
> soul-winning programs and gospel with cultural elements in a manner that
> venerates Christ and glorifies God. They should effectively utilize the
> concept of subliminal learning. For instance, many youngsters have nothing
> against church revivals, but they would rather see some masquerades
> sometimes as well. This is where reformation can work hand in hand with the
> concept of Infotainment to achieve maximum result that cannot be attained
> otherwise. Give the young group some masquerades, but ensure that the
> masquerades incorporate the Christian scripture in their entertainment
> songs and music, and not foul lyrics. The expected result is actually very
> obvious. They would learn about Christ and God without making any effort.
> Indeed, they would not even quite realize that they are learning important
> messages about God, until the messages start to manifest in them. That is
> the proven power of subliminal education through infotainment!
>
> *Reforming The Masquerade For God*
>
> It is always advisable to proffer solutions when one condemns an existing
> policy or practice. Hence, *Culture Watch Africa* proffers the following as
> preliminary alternatives to the extremist approach of some Christians in
> Nigeria:
>
> - Reforming the Mindset Of The Masqueraders: We believe that we have
> sufficiently argued the need to change the mindset of the people inside the
> masquerade to be good people, rather than abolish the entire concept due to
> the evil deeds of some people who would do evil whether or not they are
> masquerading.
> - Changing The Looks Of Evil-Looking Masquerades: There are masquerades
> in Nigeria that do look evil enough to suggest that they are actually evil.
> On the other hand, there are some masquerades that look so fanciful that
> even little children admire their beauty and relate with them. Our
> reformation agenda advocates that the ugly, evil-looking masquerades be
> modified to achieve less sinister appearances.
> - Changing The Demeanor Of The Masquerades: As a matter of consistency,
> the beautiful masquerades in Nigeria are usually of approachable demeanor.
> They are friendly, amiable, playful, and generally convey the message that
> they are not harmful. Women and children troupe around and interact with
> such masquerades, which often entertain them with beautiful songs and
> dances.
> - Christian Songs: With good looking, well-behaved masquerades, all we
> now need to complete the reformation in the name of God, is to apply the
> same approach of the progressives who started the idea of turning reggae
> music into God's music. It was hitherto dubbed *ganja music* because
> some reggae musicians smoke marijuana, alias*ganja*. Now more people
> know that reggae rhythm does not smoke ganja, and therefore should not be
> committed to the devil. The devil does not make or own any music, God does!
> Our responsibility to God is to use His music called reggae to praise Him,
> not to surrender it to some people who happen to smoke ganja. By the same
> token we say let's give the masquerades good Christian songs to replace
> some of the shoot-them-up-and-bang-them-up songs that *some* of the
> masquerades are currently singing.
>
> *The Role Of Traditional Rulers*
> It is ironic that the struggle to destroy African culture is often led by
> some traditional rulers who are actually supposed to be the custodians of
> the culture. Primarily, our traditional leaders swear to protect and
> promote the culture of the land as they take their oath of office when they
> ascend their thrones. Now the new-wave born-again Christianity has changed
> some of them, negatively affecting the way that they look at the culture of
> the land. In their newfound mission to purify and sanctify the land, they
> have gone against their oath of office by aiding the destruction of the
> same culture that they swore to protect and promote. Again, sanctification,
> of course, is great. The problem is that they have bought the new
> born-again idea that the only way to do it is by destroying the culture of
> the villages that they preside over. The genesis is that they blame all the
> mishaps in business, professional and social lives of all the members of
> the communities on the pagan ways of our forefathers, as well as the
> witchcraft of the contemporary generations. If anybody's business suddenly
> goes sour due to conditions that have easy-to-understand scientific
> explanations, they find it easier to blame it on our culture and witchcraft.
> As they obliterate, rather than seek to purify key elements of our culture,
> the traditional rulers must realize the fact that an assault on the culture
> ultimately means an assault on their traditional thrones. They must
> recognize that if the culture goes down, then the thrones will, sooner than
> later, go down with it. The logic is very simple: The thrones derive their
> powers of influence over the subjects from the culture, and they cannot
> survive without the culture, or the traditions of the people. *Culture
> Watch Africa* wishes to remind our beloved chiefs and kings in Nigeria that
> they cannot eat their cake and still retain it in their possessions. They
> should not continue to keep custody of the culture if they are bent on
> destroying it. They should decide either to protect the culture that has
> been placed in their custody, or give up the thrones.
>
> *The High Points*
>
> - Museums in the western world are graced with artifacts of the African
> Culture, back home in Africa, ignorant New-Wave Born-Again Christians are
> busy destroying what is left of the culture, all in the name of Christ.
> - True anointed "men of God" battle *principalities* in the spiritual
> realm. When Prophet Elijah battled Baal and the prophets of Baal for
> supremacy, all he did was summon the power of God to do the fighting.
> - Christ never did, and is ever unlikely to support the level of
> violence that Nigerian born-again warriors often perpetrate when they
> encounter resistance as they go on their culture-destruction rampage. Very
> often, they claim to be more Catholic than the Pope, as they defend their
> ignorant new-wave born-again Christian practices, such as destruction of
> masquerades and other elements of the African Culture.
> - If we destroy the subject or the abode of an evil spirit, the spirit
> simply finds another abode nearby, period! If you destroy a masquerade, for
> instance, the guy inside the masquerade, if evil, simply changes his method
> of doing evil, period.
> - "Instead of destroying the arts and sciences or being indifferent to
> them, let us cultivate them with all the enthusiasm of the humanist, but at
> the same time consecrate them to the service of our God." (J. Gresham
> Machen, for *The Princeton Theological Review, Vol. 11,1913).*
> - The Reformist Theory, which this campaign upholds, maintains that
> Reformation, and not Destruction, is the answer to the ongoing dispute over
> supremacy and legitimacy between Christianity and Culture in Nigeria.
> - Christ never preached against culture; he partook in cultural
> traditions. "I did not come to abolish the Law of Moses or the writings of
> the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose." (Mathew, chapter 5,
> verse 17)
> - "Engaging in secular (worldly, material) activities does not make
> anyone a `secularist' (worldly person), an exponent or adherent of
> 'secularism'. Secularism as a philosophy, a worldview, is a different
> matter." (Harry Blamires, *Recovering The Christian Mind.* 1988)
> - "That the forest should meet Christian urbanism was the most natural
> thing in the world, "…And I think that there were narratives in which the
> priest himself had to confront, shall we say, the equivalent of what you
> might call the goblins of the woods. And he had to bring his own Christian
> powers and negotiate a kind of existence with them."—Nobel Laureate, Wole
> Soyinka.
> - This is certainly not a campaign against Christianity, rather, a
> campaign against ignorant, misinformed Christianity.
>
> *Campaign Methods*
> Far beyond the protection of African masquerades, the following are some of
> the objectives of*Culture Watch Africa*, and the methods through which we
> aim to achieve them:
>
> - CultureWatchAfrica.org: This website is up and running, comprising:
> - Video clips of unique and significant Cultural events and traditions,
> such as masquerades and festivities, rituals and rites, short documentaries
> and discourses on cultural events.
> - Gallery of Still photos of artifacts, with background information on
> each.
> - Print Information, such as:
> - Articles and stories.
> - African names and their meanings. The website is operated like a
> weekly television magazine program, to be updated every week.
> - Seminars: As we organize seminars, two key issues are constantly
> emphasized: (a) Reformation, which emphasizes consecration, rather than
> destruction of cultural artifacts that are perceived to be violated, and
> (b) Employing cultural elements in service to the glory of God. For
> instance, the masquerades that sing songs are encouraged to include
> Christian lyrics in their songs.
> - Broadcast Media Campaign: The media campaign includes Radio and
> Television Talk Shows where stakeholders are brought together to discuss
> the culture-annihilation problem and its causes. This will happen on
> various existing popular weekly television programs, such as Channels
> Television morning show, "Sunrise," AIT's "Kakaaki" Breakfast Show, and
> other primetime programs on various stations. Campaign jingles will be
> regular features on Television and Radio.
> - Print Medium Campaign: Newspapers articles, newspaper ads, posters,
> and flyers to be distributed in the streets and university campuses.
> - Billboards: Culture Awareness Billboards will be raised at strategic
> locations around the country, and our sponsors will be visibly carried
> along.
> - Cultural Events: Festivities to promote and celebrate the Africa
> Culture. Stage branding— Sponsor's Logo and slogan on Back Drops on stage
> at all the venues of our cultural events. Our festivities will be carried
> on national television.
> - Road Shows: Road Shows are getting very popular in Nigeria as an
> effective means of reaching the people.
> - Collating And Warehousing Artifacts: All rejected and abandoned
> cultural artifacts will be collated for preservation, in collaboration with
> relevant government and non-governmental agencies, such as museums, the
> National Commission for Museums and Monuments, and the Federal Ministry of
> Culture.
> - Promoting African Languages: E.g.— encourage establishment of
> curricular for ethnic language studies in institutions of learning in
> Africa, and kindle parental interest in teaching ethnic languages to their
> children no matter where they reside. The catalogue of African names, along
> with their meanings on our website, is designed to encourage the use of
> African names around the world.
> - Constitutional Awareness Campaign: To counsel, and provide legal
> support system for victims of the rampaging anti-culture crusaders in
> Nigeria. Clearly, the crusaders do often violate the Nigerian constitution
> when they go on their destruction rampage. Most often, however, neither the
> culprits, nor the victims are aware of this fact. Culture Watch Africa
> strives to bridge this information gap. A good example of areas of interest
> to Culture Watch Africa, which calls for constructive intervention, is the
> role of the Nigeria Police in the entire conflict. It is very important
> that the police officers know exactly what the Nigeria constitution says
> about certain issues involved in the conflict. Presently, some of the
> officers apparently do not understand that there is no religious sentiment
> in law. They have to understand that the law does say that wanton and
> willful destruction of another citizen's property is illegal, and
> punishable no matter who does it, clergyman, or pagan. It is the
> observation of Culture Watch Africa that Nigeria police officers often get
> caught in the emotional dilemma of whether or not to enforce the law
> against a "man of God." Hence, they often let the so-called "men of God" go
> unpunished after forcibly dispossessing a man of his cultural artifacts and
> setting them ablaze amidst the owner's protest, all in the name of Christ.
> More grievously, the police officers often further victimize (oppress) the
> protesting owners of the artifacts, and in defense of the erring
> "born-again Christians." In a case in study, the police in Nsirimo village
> near Umuahia Town, Abia State, arrested the protesters, and, reportedly,
> extorted money from them in an unconstitutional, illegal bail scam.
> Newspaper report had it that the villagers had to pay large sums of money
> to the police officers in order to secure their releases from jail.
>
> <http://ihuanedo.ning.com/>
> *Stakeholders*
> The struggle to protect and promote the African Culture in Nigeria can
> easily be won through concerted efforts of various relevant institutions.
> The following are some of the obvious stakeholders:
>
> - The National Commission for Museums and Monuments: This is the
> Nigerian agency responsible for protecting the country's cultural
> antiquities. It has already responded to the problem with a sensitization
> campaign. "We are ... telling the Christians that they can't detach
> themselves from their past, that there is a beginning to their history,'
> said Omotosho Eluyemi, a senior official of the commission. "The commission
> urges those who do not want to keep sacred objects to take them to local
> chiefs. It also seeks stricter enforcement of the law prohibiting export of
> artifacts."
> - UNESCO: Culture Watch Africa aims to partner with the United Nations
> Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in achieving the
> Educational and Cultural portions of its overall mandate.
> - NICO: By its name, the role expected of the Nigerian Institute of
> Cultural Orientation in this campaign is obvious.
> - Federal Ministry of Culture: Naturally, Nigeria's Federal Ministry of
> Culture is a clear stakeholder in the promotion of the culture of the land.
> - Traditional Rulers: They have a major role to play in the promotion of
> the African Culture. Indeed, they are the custodians of the culture, and it
> is their sworn duty to protect the culture.
>
> Beyond the above listed bodies, we call on corporate bodies and
> philanthropist everywhere to support this very, very important campaign to
> halt the extinction of the African Culture. We consider this a call to
> civic duty and cultural patriotism.
> Trustees
>
> - Harry Agina: Communications & Human Relations Consultant; Broadcast
> Producer/ Filmmaker; Texas, USA. BA, Theatre Cinema; BA, Telecommunication;
> MA, Mass Communication.
> - Ahmed Yerima, PhD: Director General of Nigeria's National Arts
> Theatre, and the Director of the National Performing Troup, Lagos, Nigeria.
> - Jide Oluwaseyi: Pastor of a Parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of
> God in Lagos.
>
> The Invasion Of The Funky Pastors
> The convener of the Culture Watch Africa Movement, Harry N Agina, has
> written a book on this subject, which is titled *The Invasion Of The Funky
> Pastors: Church Business At War With The African Culture*. Published by
> AuthorHouse USA, the electronic version of the book is ready for purchase
> throughwww.funkypastors.com.The hard copy debuts in the global book
> market on March 31, 2010.
> *Preview*
>
> When I left Nigeria as a youngster for the USA in search of the
> proverbial *greener
> pastures*, there was Christianity, and, there was the African Culture; I
> had grown up in both. Christianity fed me the word of God, while my African
> Culture made me desirably and proudly different from a white man, an
> Indian, Mexican, or Asian. That was many years ago in the mid-1900s.
>
> Today, when I miss my culture and visit my African village, my brethren say
> the culture is no more. Indeed, the entire Nigerian Christian community
> seems to be heading towards the ugly notion that the African Culture is
> suddenly out of fashion. The people's excuse as they annihilate our culture
> is that they have seen *The Light* in a new-wave born-again Christianity;
> the truth is that they grossly misinterpret the Holy Bible. Some
> traditionalists are not taking this lightly, and, with their
> "fire-for-fire" response to the born-again zealotry, there is truly a war
> of cultures in Nigeria.
>
> In my primary case scenario, anti-culture crusaders put a ban on
> masquerades in my village, insisting that masquerades are evil, and must be
> destroyed. Another group, all Christian, too, said no to the ban, and…bang,
> a war broke out in the village, and I was right in the middle of it. This
> is my story, which is not limited to my village *Akamiri*. It is a story of
> Religion in the context of Culture, or should I say, Culture in the context
> of Religion, in Nigeria. It is generally a story of a raging war between
> Christianity and Culture in contemporary Africa.
> I must prepare my reader's mind for my hardnosed criticism of "Commercial
> Christianity."
>
> However, I am a Christian, and would never advertently say one bad word
> against Christianity, or any religion for that matter. My grouse is with
> the growing number of mischievous wealth-seeking pastors, their zombie-like
> followers, their gross misinterpretation of the Holy Bible, and the war
> that they have all declared against the African Culture. One might call my
> criticism venomous, but I prefer to call it brutally frank, or frankly
> brutal.
>
> httpwww.culturewatchafrica.org/aboutus.html
> Tags: Religion<http://ihuanedo.ning.com/group/religiousskeptism/forum/topic/listForT...>
> Views: *136*
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