The European missionaries have done their job well, and Africans – at least the Kenyans and Tanzanians I’ve encountered – are much more religious than westerners. Churches are always packed even though ceremonies last twice as long as they do in America. Christians are more self- righteous than Muslims, and Protestants more so than Catholics; in Kenya I met a member of a new African sect, Joseph Barnabas I think, who had a red cross stitched to every piece of clothing he owned. On one of my first nights at my new site he was arguing with my host, in a language I didn’t understand, about excessive priestly salaries; he tried half-heartedly to convert me (“you will be the first white member of our Church!”) but as a Catholic in a Catholic area such practices were frowned upon.
Africa has been cursed with a plague of televangelists, who sermonize 24/7 on a third of the channels available with a satellite dish. Sadly many of these persons come from America. In Kenya a televangelist ran –unsuccessfully, thank God – for president. I saw him on television in front of a mass rally trying to faith heal people, shouting religious gibberish at his congregation. My mama laughed at him.
As a measure of spirituality let’s look at the people I’ve known. I’ve been pretty close with three African families; my homestay family in Kitui, my host and his extended family in Ndalat and now my next-door neighbors. All three fathers were associated with the Christian clergy at one point in their lives. Justus in Kitui was a Reverend of the Africa Inland Church, William Cheruyiot had been a Catholic priest before he left to start a family, and Cleophas next door badly wanted to be a priest and had studied in a seminary, but he was rejected, allegedly because of tribalism. Three fathers, three padres.
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