Christianity vs. the old gods of Nigeria

[Seraphim]

ACHINA, Nigeria - Born to a family of traditional priests, Ibe Nwigwe converted to Christianity as a boy. Under the sway of born-again fervor as a man, he gathered the paraphernalia of ancestral worship — a centuries-old stool, a metal staff with a wooden handle and the carved figure of a god — and burned them as his pastor watched.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070904/ap_on_re_af/new_religion_vs_old_gods

[Belial]

Always been a proponent of African heritage conservation ... as part of collections belonging to rich white men, that's where it's the safest.


Just kidding.

It's pretty interesting to see evangelists flocking to Africa as the new promised land. People having a taste for tinfoil headgear might be tempted to yell "conspiracy". It's also interesting to note certain links between those evangelists and some african leaders and their relatives (e.g. in Ivory Coast)

[Ordie]

It's pretty interesting to see evangelists flocking to Africa as the new promised land. It's also interesting to note certain links between those evangelists and some african leaders and their relatives (e.g. in Ivory Coast)

New souls to save. Most of the missionary work is done by Africans themselves. Not surprisingly many mix local beliefs with Christianity.

Its nothing new since most of the Christian ceremonies and holidays were based on pre-Christian Roman rituals.

You can see a lot of this in Mexico, Peru and Brazil where local "Christian" rituals camouflage local rituals.

[PanzerMaster]

New souls to save. Most of the missionary work is done by Africans themselves. Not surprisingly many mix local beliefs with Christianity.

Its nothing new since most of the Christian ceremonies and holidays were based on pre-Christian Roman rituals.

You can see a lot of this in Mexico, Peru and Brazil where local "Christian" rituals camouflage local rituals.

It's called assimilation. "All your tribes belong to us" p-)

BTW, here in Italy I saw some particular "Christians" rituals/festivities... one very disturbing is where they put a lot of snakes around a statue of a Saint (or was Holy Mary or Jesus? I don't remember) and then travels around the village... :cantbeli: