The Mirror's Health , Lifestyle and Fashion
One God for Ghana
The perilous situation on the Russia-Ukraine border is tipping the international situation towards a dangerous point, but it is COVID 19 that appears to have shifted most societies into more precarious circumstances.
Advertisement
In these conditions, we tend to “accentuate the negative”, as the famous phrase goes, and imagine the worst. However, there is nothing imaginary about the difficulties we are going through partly due to the pandemic. In West Africa, these conditions have manifested in rising tensions resulting in military coups, attempted coups and rumours of coups.
One of the effects of social and economic tensions is heightened divisions across political, ethnic and religious lines. In Ghana, the political division in Parliament may drive us to exasperation, but in a sense that is where it must be contained. We are fortunate that so far, our society is holding together, which must be appreciated and celebrated.
It is in this context that a news item I chanced upon this week must not go without comment. Graphic online reported it with the headline: Vice President Bawumia is a friend of the church - Sec, Christian Council of Ghana. According to the report, the General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev. Dr Cyril Fayose, said he sometimes “got confused when attempting to place the Vice President in a religious bracket due to his appreciation, acceptance and relationship with all, especially the Christian community”.
The report said further that the clergyman “praised Vice President Bawumia for his cordial relations with practitioners of all religions in the country, despite being a strong member of the Muslim faith”.
“Sometimes I get confused, whether he is a Christian or a Muslim, but whatever the case is he is a friend of the Church,” he declared at an event organised by the Christian Council of Ghana on Tuesday. And when we invited him to this programme, he readily said ‘Yes.’ That shows his love for the Church as well, and for young people,” the Secretary-General remarked.
The report goes on: “The General Secretary of the Christian Council gave these remarks on Tuesday, February 8, 2022 at the opening ceremony of the Ghana Youth Congress, the precursor to an African Youth Congress to be organised by the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) on the theme: Ghana, My Home, My Future”.
Explaining why the Council chose Dr Bawumia as the Guest of Honour, Rev. Fayose indicated that the Vice President’s life and beliefs were well-suited for the congress, which is aimed at engaging Africa’s youth in general, and Ghanaian youth in particular, to build up moral character, explore the opportunities that exist on the continent and help disabuse their minds of supposed greener pastures elsewhere which leads to illegal migration and avoidable deaths.
“He is a father of many. It means he takes care of many many people, whether young or old. He is one person who believes in Ghana and believes that Ghana can make it. He believes that Ghana can be our future,” he added.
“Addressing the gathering, Vice President Bawumia urged the youth delegates to develop a can-do attitude and take advantage of the many opportunities for training and skill acquisition to position themselves for the possibilities that exist in the fourth industrial revolution”.
This news item probably got lost in the whirl of political debates and controversies around the budget and other matters of priority to the media, but I think it was a remarkable statement which has wider implications for our state and society. Places and spaces of existing social tensions and fragility become the flashpoints of instability when countries go through difficulties of any sort.
In many parts of the world, the powder keg of youth unemployment explodes with religious intolerance as the spark. Religious intolerance is sometimes masked by political disagreements, which is why it is important that our political leaders take the lead in exhibiting maturity and wisdom in how they conduct their religious affairs.
We are fortunate that across the political and religious divides, our leaders have shown such maturity. It is amazing that the Chief Imam, for an unforgettable example, chose to celebrate his 100th birthday in a Christian Church while Christian leaders, including President Nana Akufo-Addo and former President John Mahama, regularly share their time with our Muslim communities when required.
One is not surprised that the Secretary-General of the Christian Council gets confused by Dr Bawumia’s readiness to share time with his Christian compatriots. The man appears to be comfortable in both traditions while upholding the tenets of his own faith.
This example by our leaders must be deepened and spread among our young people because we cannot take religious tolerance for granted. We have seen what religious intolerance can do and has done in our sub-region.
As we have seen, what begins as religious disputes can be seized upon by unscrupulous politicians and turned quickly into issues of rivalry which in turn leads to exclusion, discrimination and repression. On the other hand, people use religious sentiments to mobilise people, especially the youth, into areas and issues that have little or nothing to do with religion or faith.
Religious intolerance is expressed in discrimination, repression and religious rivalry and results in or results from persecution. It leads to war and persistent hatred among people within nations.
In Ghana, the vast majority of people profess to believe in God and follow a faith of one kind or another. Essentially, most people believe in God and see His attributes as expressed in their own beliefs. Even people without faith believe that the attributes of integrity, togetherness, kindness, absence of discrimination among people and patriotism are necessary building blocks for a strong society. So, in effect, there is one God for Ghana and one path for our development, which is the path of unity among our different ethnicities and faiths.
