Thursday, June 17, 2010

Africa and African Traditional Religions at EGREGORES

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Alive and Well: African Traditional Religion in the 21st Century:

Angelique Kidjo on Voodoo and Catholicism
"Such is the relationship between Africans and foreign religions"

"African Traditional Religion Allows Syncretism"
"What exactly is it about traditional religion that we fear?"
"The Destruction of Christianity" (On the situation in Kenya in 1955)
"Why not leave them in peace?"
"Witchcraft holds out against modern age"
200 Million African Pagans
"Togo's Voodoo Fetish Markets Do Brisk Trade"
"Africa became Christian by Submission not by Conversion"
"The first thing Christianity did in Africa . . . ."
You might be Pagan if .... (Part Deux)
You might be a Pagan if ....
Every picture tells a story
More On Traditional African Religions
Traditional African Religions Continue To Thrive
Fela Kuti and Traditional African Religion
Secret Knowledge, Sacred Knowledge (on Candomble)

The Christian Roots of the "Witch Children" Phenomenon in Africa:

April, 2010 UNICEF Report on "Children Accused of Witchcraft"
Human Rights Watch report on "Children Accused of Sorcery" in DR Congo
"A new Frankenstein religion"??

Christianity and the Invention of Witch Children in Africa
Overview, plus a timeline of events, sources, and media coverage

Heart of Darkness: Christianity, Colonialism & Africa:
Part Five: Preparing the Way for Genocide in Rwanda
Part Four: Conflict and Genocide: Lessons from Rwanda
Part Three: Doing the Lord's Work In Rwanda
Part Two: Christian Demographics Fun Facts
Part One: "By This Sign We Prosper"

The Early History of Monotheism in Africa:
Muhammad (A brief history of Revolutionary Monotheism, Part Four)
Constantine (A brief history of Revolutionary Monotheism, Part Three)

Moses (A Brief History of Revolutionary Monotheism, Part Two)

Akhenaten (A Brief History of Revolutionary Monotheism, Part One)

Attacks on African Traditional Religion and Afro-Caribbean Religions
Blood Libel, Witchcraft, & Ratzinger's 2011 Visit to Africa
White Explorers versus Black Magic (And Black Jesus versus White Jesus)
"Wierd Negro Order Raided": Human Sacrifice In The News
Blood Libel Against African Traditional Religions: "Child Sacrifice" Accusations Surface Again in Uganda
Dear Paul Krugman: Voodoo is a religion, not another name for evil irrational bullshit.
Vodou Priestesses & Priests Being Lynched in Haiti
Blood Libel Against Africans & African Traditional Religion
Al Jazeera's New Racist Documentary: "Magic & Murder"

2 comments:

Steve Hayes said...

I recently posted something that mentions this phenomenon. You might like to have a look at it at The new face of African Christianity.

Apuleius Platonicus said...

A very interesting post, Steve! Thanks for letting me know about it.

I would say, though, that there is more to the traditional African view of witchcraft. In particular, witchcraft/sorcery/magic are themselves neutral concepts which can be used for good or for harm.

There can be a problem with translation, here, since the English terms "witch" and "witchcraft" carry a harmful connotation for many people (although not for me, since I am a Wiccan). But when we look at the African terms (and there are usually multiple terms in any given African language) these terms, in their traditional use, are generally neutral. The "spiritual power" involved in cursing is usually the same as that to which the power to heal is also attributed.