The Unfication of Religion and State in Sub-Saharan Africa

on June 19, 2014

Violence rampages throughout sub-Saharan Africa. From the Boko Haram in Nigeria to the Al-Shabaab in Somalia and Kenya, Islamist groups have perpetuated religious violence in order to advance their agendas, namely the creation of Islamist states. Scholars presenting at the Wilson Center on Tuesday, June 17, argue that a fundamental lack of understanding of the notion of a secular state also contributes to religious violence in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

The Africa Program at the Wilson Center hosted the event, “Religious Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Future of the Secular State,” in order to shed some light on the current situation in SSA. Ludovic Lado, Wilson Center Southern Voices African Research Scholar and Director of the Institute of Human Rights and Dignity at the Center for Research and Action for Peace in Ivory Coast, presented with Tiffany Lynch, Senior Policy Analyst with the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, on their individual analyses of the rampant religious violence in SSA.

The majority of religious violence in Africa occurs in a relatively small region extending around the Southern border of the Sahara desert. Both Lado and Lynch specify two types of religious violence in this region: violence inflicted by religious extremist groups and violence inflicted by communities. Of these two types, the former is the most well-known; militant Islamist groups are often the most publicized in Western media outlets, but Christian extremist groups exist as well (Lado pointed to the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda and other parts of East and Central Africa as an example). Community based religious violence occurs more subtly and often flies under the radar of the media through ostracism or prolonged periods of oppressive violent acts.

Lynch contends extremist groups not only target people outside of their religious affiliation, but they also target members of their own faith that do not hold as firmly the viewpoints they affirm. She also expressed concern over the developing trend of militant Islamists using communal violence to justify acts of terrorism, such as Boko Haram’s open appeal to historical community violence to justify responding with terrorism in 2012.

Lado additionally presented religious demographic data of SSA. The majority of the population (63 percent) claims Christian faith, followed by a significant portion of Muslims (30 percent). The remaining 7 percent associate either with African Traditional Religion or other minority religions. This information should immediately cause questions: how does less than one-third of the population in SSA cause so much unrest? Even though our perceptions of SSA are at least partially based on our media exposure (which focuses on militant Islamists more than the peaceful norm), the amount of violence inflicted by militant Islamists is still shocking. Both Lado and Lynch attribute this trend to the lack of a rule of law and a lack of understanding over the nature of a secular state.

Lado provided another intriguing data set; 60% of Christians in SSA want the Bible to be the official law of their country, and 63% of Muslims want Sharia law. The notion of the separation of church and state as we understand it in the West does not resonate with the majority of the population of the SSA. Lynch contends that government corruption has made stability, whether it comes through religion or violent military rule of law, extremely attractive in the minds of the people of SSA. Religious violence has caused over 3000 recent deaths in SSA. According to Lynch, only 22 people have been convicted of crimes for these 3000 deaths. The lack of a firm rule of law makes even a militant Islamist regime attractive to a majority of the population simply for stability’s sake.

Responses to religious violence in SSA fall under one of two categories, according to Lynch. An overly aggressive response from the nation’s government or another foreign entity further radicalizes the population, while an “underresponse” reveals the state’s lack of either authority or means to respond. In an attempt to suggest a middle ground level of response, both Lado and Lynch advocated for firmer implementation of the rule of law with an emphasis on strengthening law enforcement, increased employment opportunities for young men who are often tempted to join radical groups for financial gain, and stronger regulations on the international arms trade.

Soli Deo Gloria

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