Religion and Conflict

The other day Grace caught me humming some bible song I learned at camp... she was thrilled that I knew a Church song and made me sing it for here at least a few times through. The she started quizzing me about what other songs I knew and I ended up singing a bunch of my camp repetoire for her. Finally she asked how I knew so many Church songs since I had said I don't go to Church, I responded by saying I learned them at camp. She looked confused and asked what I was doing at a camp. I said playing and hanging out and such... this led to more confusion. It took us at least five minutes to figure out that when I said "camp" I meant a fun place to hang out and ride horses and have life changing experiencs. When she said camp, she meant a refugee camp. Quite a difference!

It is Sunday morning now and my host family is at church, which I declined to attend with them. I went the first weekend I was here, mostly out of curiosity and politeness, but I really don't think I can make it a weekly occurance. It makes me uncomfortable; to be fair though, Church in Canada also makes me uncomfortable, just in entirely different ways.

I have tried to explain the state of religion in Canada, but it doesn't seem to make any sense to most Kenyans I meet. I say that many people are religious, but that often we don't really discuss it outside of a religious group or gathering. It's not something you would ask in everyday conversation. But why not? "It's just different", I say, it's not something that's really important to know about a person. Then I try to explain that some people aren't religious at all. They really cannot grasp the idea of atheism no matter how hard I try to explain it. And the idea that some people are neither religious nor anti-religious, just that religion and God are not really important to them one way or the other, is a complete mind blower. How can God not be important?

Religion is very obvious here. As with much of Africa, Kenya has been throughly missionized and the vast majority of the country is Christian or Muslim, with a scattering of Sikhs, Hindus and those who follow their traditional beliefs. Most people seem very eager for me to declare myself as a Christian or Muslim. They don't seem to have a catagory for quasi-excommunicated Catholic, non-Christian Believer. I guess neither does Canada really, but in Canada people are much less likely to demand that you declare your religion at all. After telling many people at the hospital here that I believe in God but don't go to Church they looked at my with what looked like great suspicion. Finally one lady (a Muslim) asked if I knew how to pray. I told her that yes, I was pretty sure I did, and that seemed to satisfy everyone.

Then I went to Church with my host family, the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA). Two hours of my life ticked away while we sang hopelessly simplistic songs about the power of God. Then the praying started, led by "the evangelist" who stood at the front and prayed for nearly half an hour. This wasn't just speaking words to the air, for him it was a fully-body experience. He was shouting, whispering, gasping, raising his hands, falling to the ground, stumbling around, jumping, panting, reaching, punching. And all the while the congregation responded with shouts and amens and equal intensity. Okay, so maybe I don't know how to pray.

I am also slightly confused by the interactions between the political landscape and religion. Every weekend on the news, there are clips of various politicians, from both parties, attending services all over the country and speaking passionate sermons for peace to the congregation. Last week the news showed a clip of a mob of young men blockading a road and destroying a vehicle all the while shouting "God give us peace". Prayer here seems to be so "needs" based, which is understandable when often your basic needs are your sole daily work... but how do you sustain a faith that seems to constantly fall short. When you shout for God to give you peace and He doesn't, why keep shouting?

Perhaps I am seeing this all far too simplistically, afterall, how can I say that God is not meeting needs, when my Western idea of "needs" is so extravagant? And certainly there is something to be said for faith in spite of hardship. But still, I'm uncomfortable with religion here, with the way it was thrust onto people by missionaries, with the way it continues to be a source of hope without appearing to be a source of growth. This is absolutely a judgement on my part, and quite likely unfair, but it is what I see. It seems as though religion here is still about power being out of the hands of the people. Everyday people still need to ask to be provided for; like religion is simply the lingering effects of colonization, a colonization of peoples' spirits.

I hear that the preaching from the Church next door has stopped, people will be filing out into the grounds to talk and laugh with friends. I should probably head home to have lunch with my family.

Kelsey Aaron