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African Religion African Religion JACOB OLUPONA he global dimensions of African religion sweep across the Tplains of the African continent and into the African diaspora. Contemporary “African religion” is itself a product of globaliza- tion, for it is less a single tradition than a sociological context in which the elements of a variety of indigenous religious experiences are combined with Islam and Christianity. All three of these di- mensions—indigenous religion, Africanized Islam, and Africanized Christianity—are part of the interactive, globalized African reli- gious experience. Some of the products of this growing interconnectedness of African and Africanized religions are new religions. But as Max Weber has observed, the charismatic becomes routinized, and new faiths eventually become accepted as established traditions. Follow- ing Ernst Troeltsch’s categories, a breakaway sect can be character- ized by the presence of doctrinal or ritual differences among the church’s membership, and the new African religions have elements of both. These new religious structures reflect emerging values and the adoption of new practices in a changing social context. In the case of the African religions, this process reflects a growing plu- Copyright © 2003. Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Press. All rights © 2003. Oxford University Copyright ralism among African religious institutions. | Juergensmeyer, Mark. Global Religions : An Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2003. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/socal/detail.action?docID=316375. Created from socal on 2018-07-02 11:04:24. As globalization affects African religion both within Africa and throughout the African diaspora, new identities emerge. In the Afri- can Christian church, the Islamic mosque, and the Santeria temple, a new pluralism in African identity links the values, memories, and civil associations of a variety of African worldviews and moral sys- tems. These are affected by their interactions with each other and with the cultures of the Western world. The very language we use to describe the diverse religious expe- riences of people of African origin and descent is not only recent but also heavily dependent on non-African paradigms and Euro- centric views. Terms such as Africa, Black, and Pan-Africa all derive from recent conceptual periods in history, where parts of the geo- graphic area we now so readily call Africa interacted with Europe. It is this interaction, beginning with trade and followed by the latter horrors of slavery and colonialism, that led to the Eurocentric idea of African religious cultures and worldviews. As a consequence, it is difficult to come up with a distinct notion of African religion that is independent of the shaping tendencies of the paradigms and terms of the Western world. A truly indigenous understanding must include not only the history of Africa before colonialism but also aspects of living African communities that have derived from diverse heritages. Although the effort to define African religion can be challenging, a number of scholars, writers, and theologians have made the attempt. Writers associated with the Pan-African movement, for instance, which dates back for over three centuries, have sought to refine their sense of common being by looking at the totality of African religions within the global environment. Globalization In looking at the relationship between African religion and global- ization, we should not assume that globalization is an inevitable force that will one day replace all traditional values within the world with one common consumerist mass culture. In Africa globali- zation has had a significant impact on traditions and cultural values, but at the same time African traditionalism retains a resiliency Copyright © 2003. Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Press. All rights © 2003. Oxford University Copyright and adaptability that enables it to maintain cohesion both in non- African Religion | Juergensmeyer, Mark. Global Religions : An Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2003. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/socal/detail.action?docID=316375. Created from socal on 2018-07-02 11:04:24. Western environments and in the context of faiths such as Chris- tianity and Islam. African traditions are adaptable. Instead of offering inflexible dogmatic beliefs, often they provide frameworks for viewing and processing information. If a new piece of information does not fit an existing framework, it can be modified but not necessarily re- jected from the framework. For example, a form of taboo observed by an African people can be maintained until the old framework adapts, and it changes. What is interesting to ask about African im- migrant religions is not so much what aspects of their traditions have been abandoned but how the frameworks of the traditions have adapted. An interesting case in point is the changing role of women within African religious communities. Such women are commonly ex- pected to preserve culture and traditions. As a consequence, a sig- nificant proportion of African church members are women. Yet these largely female congregations demonstrate a wide variety of attitudes toward the participation of women, from very limited to active leadership roles. Another impact of globalization on African religion affects the nature of African civil societies. Both within Africa and worldwide, African religious institutions serve as a source of identity and legit- imacy. Across Africa, religious leaders have challenged authoritar- ian and dictatorial political and military leaders such as the Abacha military dictatorship in Nigeria and in Moi’s Kenya. During South Africa’s apartheid era, the church played a critical role in racial rec- onciliation, and more recently Bishop Desmond Tutu chaired a committee on reconciliation. Within the African diaspora, African religious communities have actively participated in the social life of their communities as well. African Christianity In describing African religion, we have to include the versions of Christianity and Islam that interact with traditional forms of Afri- can religion. Christianity in Africa is authentically African, but it is also global in that it is found in various forms in African communi- Copyright © 2003. Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Press. All rights © 2003. Oxford University Copyright ties in Africa, Europe, and the Americas. It is diverse not only in its geography but also in its three main strands: the African independ- | GLOBAL RELIGIONS Juergensmeyer, Mark. Global Religions : An Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2003. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/socal/detail.action?docID=316375. Created from socal on 2018-07-02 11:04:24. ent church movement, charismatic or Pentecostal churches, and the mission or mainline churches. African Independent Churches African independent churches include the Celestial Church of Christ, Christ Apostic Church, and Cherubim and Seraphim in West Africa, Zulu Zionist churches in South Africa, and the Simon Kimbanque church in Zaire. These churches reflect the nexus between African indigenous beliefs and Christianity. Con- verts to Christianity in Africa, like those in Latin America, retain significant aspects of indigenous culture. Many of the first mis- sion converts were socially marginal members of their commu- nities who, with the rise of colonialism, became the new local elites. The social dominance of these African Christian elites led to the emergence of new religious rebels: new spiritual leaders who claimed they had been called by God to begin authentic African churches. These new African leaders relied on both Christian and indige- nous traditions as the source of truth and authority. Thus the African independent church retained aspects of indigenous tradi- tion and belief. Christian images of divine leadership, the Holy Spirit, and faith healing, for example, were integrated into African ideas of community, ancestor worship, and revelation. Moreover, individuals could engage in a form of religious pluralism by par- ticipating in Christian and indigenous traditions at the same time, combining aspects of both. A naming ceremony, for example, could be utilized to incorporate significant aspects of indigenous and traditional beliefs. Hymns in African languages incorporated indigenous sayings and values. Special Africanized church services were created to supplement existing English sermons. These syncretic processes, however, were not coordinated with one another, and the African independent church movement was often divided. To some extent these churches were separated from other African churches. They had difficulty in expanding their ef- forts beyond their original ethnic base. They were plagued with many of the same ethnic and political divisions that have separated Copyright © 2003. Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Press. All rights © 2003. Oxford University Copyright the wider African society and created a series of contemporary po- litical crises. African Religion | Juergensmeyer, Mark. Global Religions : An Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2003. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/socal/detail.action?docID=316375. Created from socal on 2018-07-02 11:04:24. African Pentecostal or Charismatic Churches African Pentecostal or charismatic churches are a rapidly growing sector of the African Christian communities. Unlike the African independent churches, which
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