In almost any discussion of religion and Africa,
stereotypes recur. Depending on where they have been, outsiders portray
the continent either as an arena of looming conflict between rival
faiths--or else as a happy-go-lucky world where different beliefs can
easily co-exist, sometimes in the same person's head.
Neither notion is completely true nor completely false, according to a
survey of religion in sub-Saharan Africa by the Pew Research Centre, a
polling outfit based in Washington, DC. After interviewing 25,000 people
in 19 countries, the pollsters found that in certain ways Africa's
Christians and Muslims view one another with respect. Most Muslims saw
Christians as tolerant, honest, and decent to women; in most countries, a
majority of Christians returned the compliment. But many Christians
(among the countries surveyed, the median level was 43%) saw in Islam a
potential for violence; fewer Muslims (the median was 20%) saw
Christianity in a similar light. In almost all countries where Muslims
are at least 10% of the population they seem more concerned about
extremism among their co-religionists than among Christians. In a few
mainly Christian countries, including South Africa, people were worried
by Christian extremism.
One bit of conventional wisdom does hold water. Whatever their
affiliation, Africans have a deep sense of the spiritual. The share of
people who described religion as "very important" in their lives ranged
from 98% in Senegal to 69% in Botswana. That compares with 57% of
Americans, 25% of Germans and 8% of Swedes. In countries with a
substantial Christian presence, at least half the Christians thought
Jesus Christ would return in their lifetime. The share of Muslims hoping
to see the caliphate--a global Islamic realm--restored in their
lifetime was almost as high.
But for all the fervour that these answers suggest, belief in a world
religion does not exclude nostalgia for older ways. Many people in both
main monotheistic camps felt they could combine their faith with
elements of traditional African religions. In Mali, Senegal, South
Africa and Tanzania more than half the respondents believed that
sacrifices to ancestors or spirits could ward off harm. Meanwhile,
switching between Islam and Christianity seems rare--bar in Uganda,
where a third of respondents who were raised Muslim are now Christian.
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