Opinion/By Abdurahman JunediConsuming the propaganda of international religious watchdogs that are mostly coming to Ethiopia from America and Europe, one would feel like our country is in a terrible position of religious tolerance and co-existence. They tell us that religious freedom and equality does not exist among us and they tell us they are the champions of religious equality in their countries in America and Europe.
Unfortunately, such propaganda is accepted by some Ethiopians (and other Africans) as true and consumed enough that some have actually made these western organizations their guardians from religious persecution in Ethiopia. This and other mistakes made by Ethiopians result from the belief that the westerners are in a better position to lecture Ethiopia and other poor countries about religious tolerance and equality, when the fact shows they are not.
What prompted me to write this article today is the latest shameful act of religious intolerance the world has witnessed coming from America itself, a country where equal rights were supposed to be exported out to the world. This American intolerance is not even between the usual Muslim vs. Christian. But one of the United States presidential candidates named Romney happens to be from the religion of Mormon, one of the numerous denominations of the Protestant Christianity. It seems like he is already doomed to failure because the American Protestant leaders and competing politicians have already made Mr. Romney unqualified to be voted for U.S. President due to his choice of religion. Going thru the American media, it is hard to miss the endless amount of hate Americans are launching against the Mormonism religion and how minimal religious tolerance and equality exist in the America. Mr. Romney has now realized that choice of religion was another factor to be successful at the highest level in America.
In Europe, Muslims are treated as second class citizens and excluded from the society. Many restrictions are placed on practicing Islam. In America, the separation of state and Church appears only on paper and the separation of religion and politics do not even exist anymore. Persecution of Muslims occurs everywhere in the WEST, even physically in many areas especially in some South American countries. There is also a western tendency to associate crime done by a Muslim person to the religion and magnify the crime to be that of the Muslim COMMUNITY as an act of religious extremism. Meanwhile crime done by a non-Muslims person, even
massacres , are minimized as an act by an INDIVIDUAL who has mental issues. In addition, the employment and treatment of Muslims in the west remains to be a matter of controversy as Muslims face the realities of western persecution and religious inequality. So what value is there for us to learn from the WEST? It is hard to understand why some Ethiopians, who are living in a country that is home to the oldest Islam-Christian co-existence, feel the need to disinfect and then glorify western values on religious tolerance and equality.
All of this injustice in the West is happening even while the percentage of Muslims is usually less than 4% of their population. Meanwhile, Ethiopia is one of the rare countries in the whole world were the Muslim to Christian ratio is almost equal and more than 30 million people belong to each of these two big religions. Once again, who is more qualified to lecture others on religious tolerance and equality?
I believe Ethiopians should oppose western and Middle Eastern religious politics. What is happening is clear. Having successfully defeated the voice of Muslims in America and seeing no challenge to the Protestant hegemony in American politics, these Protestant politicians disguised as international “Watchdogs” of religious persecution are extending their religious politics into Ethiopia and other poor nations. What Ethiopians need to do is re-dedicate themselves to the value of religious co-existence that have been lacking around the world and that has been the cause of so many international wars in world history. We should make ourselves aware of the western and Middle Eastern religious politics preying on the third world like Ethiopia, without us being against any religion or sect. All "new" religions in Ethiopia should have as much right to worship as the once new religions of Sunni Islam and Orthodox Christianity. However, the imported politics by some fundamentalist Christian and Muslim organizations should be resisted by Ethiopia.
Looking at the history of intercontinental wars in Europe in the name of religion and looking at the current deteriorating status of religious tolerance in the WEST, Ethiopians should not take for granted the history of religious co-existence in Ethiopia. Despite one or two dark periods in Ethiopian history, we are the people who accepted and protected the two biggest religions before anyone else in the world. Long before coffee and livestock, Ethiopia’s oldest export product was religious co-existence and tolerance. And it is time to proud of our heritage and culture. Or else, we will become the victims of western and Middle Eastern religious politics.
-------------------------------------------------------------------The writer of this article can be reached by abdurahj2 [at] yahoo.com-------------------------------------------------------------------
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