Religious and ethnic intolerance : The path to ruin
It is troubling in this day and age, that a plea for religious tolerance from the President of the country has unleashed a veritable storm, with men of God leading the charge for intolerance.
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The controversy erupted after President John Dramani Mahama spoke out for Muslims who feel that their right to freedom of religion is being undermined in schools where they are forced to attend church. Most surprising was the vehement reaction of a number of prominent church leaders, and the silence of the media on such a fundamental human rights issue. Instead of a calm and measured response, some church leaders reacted with incendiary statements, fanning the flames of division. Not only did they slam the President for standing up for minority rights, they dug in and vowed not to give a quarter to those calling for tolerance.
“When people decide to go to particular schools, they do so because of the culture and beliefs of that school. And, therefore, they agree to abide by those regulations; but if they don’t like the regulations, they can go somewhere else,” Bishop Joseph Osei-Bonsu, the President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference is quoted as saying. Why the venom? Where is the charity, the generosity and the compassion?
The lack of moderation in the response of the Catholic leaders is particularly disappointing because most of us would have expected compassion and generosity from such community leaders. I dare say that faced with a similar situation, Pope Francis, who has led the church with remarkable tolerance and forbearance, would have reached for reason and moderation. Not to be outdone, a leader of the Methodist Church blazed in, asserting the right to religious discrimination. “Why do we say ‘if you go to Rome, do as the Romans do?’” Bishop Stephen Richard Bosomtwe-Ayensu reportedly asked, implying that Muslims in Christian schools should shut up and conform to Christian practice.
Pertinent questions
Here’s the more pertinent question: Why would men whose calling is to foster tolerance, peace and heal wounds of discord and division in society embrace intolerance so cavalierly? And while we are at it, let’s ponder this: What is really gained from forcing a Muslim student in say, a Catholic school, to go to church? Or to prevent such a student from praying or reading the Koran privately? How does such forced worship enhance the church or its teachings? How are Catholics diminished, or their religion threatened, if a Muslim student engages in private prayer? How, in a country where Muslims, Christians and non-believers have lived in peace and harmony for generations, do we now think it is acceptable to discriminate against a minority? What is freedom if the strong and mighty can take it away from those perceived to be weak when it suits them?
The controversy has much resonance for me because it brings back decades-old memories of my days in elementary school in a small town in the Eastern Region. Mine was a Presbyterian school, where the headmaster insisted, on pain of corporal punishment, that all students, no matter their faith, attend church on Sunday. I was about 14, in Form 2 or 3, and at every Monday morning assembly, the headmaster would line up the recalcitrants and give each one of us six to 12 lashes, depending on his mood. It was a horrible experience and some children quit school. A few like me endured. Even then as a child, I wondered what God was so harsh that pain had to be visited on children in his name. Years later, I attended Ahmadiyya Secondary School (AMASS), where a good many of the students, including friends of mine, were Christians. In my seven years at the school, I never saw one student forced to attend any Muslim prayer. Students were free to practise their own religion, and we even had some who belonged to Christian fellowships. Indeed, two successive Moderators of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana – Dr Sam Prempeh and Dr Yaw Frimpong Manso - were students at Ahmadiyya. It is mind-boggling why the presence of Muslim students on some campuses is causing such a stir.
Words can hurt like daggers, and religious leaders who carry significant weight in the community should be careful of what they say. Condoning intolerance could have damaging consequences. If bishops are drawing lines in the sand, insisting that it is their way or the highway, how does one expect their flock to react? What is particularly unfortunate is Rev. Bosomtwe-Ayensu’s remarks. Let us remember that in the Deep South in the United States (US) at the height of slavery, it was the norm, the accepted practice, the way of life to sell and enslave Africans. That was their Rome, but the world didn’t sit back and invoke the adage of doing what the Romans do. Good men and women of conscience opposed slavery because it was morally wrong and Americans fought a civil war to end the horrible abuse. In apartheid South Africa, the mantra of the white minority was that in their country blacks were inferior and had no right to equal treatment. The world, the apartheid regime insisted, had to accept that South African reality. That was their Rome, but the world knew better and mobilised to defeat the injustice that was apartheid. When it comes to discrimination, enlightened society doesn’t do what the Romans do. It takes a moral stand and does what is right and just.
Advocating segregation?
Condoning or enabling discrimination is not the way to build a tolerant and civil society. Discrimination of any kind cannot, and should not be tolerated under any guise or circumstance. Asking Muslim students who cannot live by the strictures of some of the Christian schools to leave and seek their education elsewhere will take us nowhere but down the slippery slope of segregated schools. Catholics will school with only Catholics; Methodist children will only mix with their kind as will Muslims. What country would we be building, what future would we be constructing, if we divide our children, our future leaders into religious ghettos in their formative years? What seeds would we be sowing if we deny them the opportunity to grow up together, mix with one another, learn to accommodate one another and understand the sensitivities of one another? We are at our best as a nation if we pull together, and we will all be the poorer for it if we build religious and ethnic walls between us. For all its socio-economic woes, Ghana remains an oasis of peace and tranquility in a continent riven by religious and ethnic strife. Many people look at Ghana with envy, and we didn’t get where we are today because we divided ourselves into ‘them and us,’ and built walls of intolerance between us. Our strength lies in our diversity and shared purpose. We have a good thing going, let us keep it that way. Religious and ethnic intolerance can only lead us down the road to ruin.
The writer is a former editor of the Pioneer and Press Secretary to President Hilla Limann. He is now a journalist and columnist for the Ottawa Citizen in Canada.