Christianity & Busia (August 20, 2006)

There are lots of things about religious fundamentalism that make me uncomfortable, and despite the fact that I consider myself to be fairly religious, there is something about fervent Christian piety that makes me nervous.

Busia only adds to this nervousness in that no one has a problem explaining how I'll be going to hell because I don't believe that Jesus is God, or for that matter, my savior. Even when I respond to questions regarding my religious philosophy, I find this is more to determine just how hell bound I am -- will I be driven down to the depths, or just to purgatory?

But I find the take on religion here really confusing. For example, I was asked if I go to church every Sunday. The answer is of course, no, but I don't go to the equivalent of church (i.e. gurdwara) on Sundays either. This is not because I'm some kind of heretic, but because it is fairly cost-prohibitive, requires 4 hours of commuting, and requires that I take off each weekend from work -- something generally impossible when I work 6-6.5 days/week.

When I asked about someone's church-going, they explained that they were required to support the Church, and that that's why they go. I found this puzzling; I thought the point of church was to attain some kind of spiritual harmony, or at least to reflect on God, faith, etc. However, the idea of "supporting the Church" has become more and more clear the longer I am here.

First and foremost, nearly all the religious organizations here are evangelical organizations. There is a heavy emphasis on giving to the Church, whether it is to provide a new building, or buy new furniture, or whatnot. What I find is that very few of these churches offer services or support for their congregations; they do a lot of open-air preaching and encourage efforts at prosletyzation and conversion. Busians are so poor relative to their neighbors that, to me, it seems unconscionable not to invest in social promotion or community projects. Very rarely do I see people's contributions returned to the community, or even to the church proper (this does not mean it doesn't happen -- there is notable good work done by specific congregations, but sometimes this is in spite of the formal set up of the church, although church may create a catalyst/space for a subcommunity to work together). To date, one of the best paid professions in the area is that of preacher.

Many congregations/churches here are started by Europeans or Americans, and they also sponsor speaking tours. Preachers rarely preach in Swahili -- I've been told (by expats) that this shows how "good" a preacher is; i.e., why would you want someone to preach in Swahili when anyone can do that? English shows finesse. Because the American preachers preach in English, similarly ranked African preachers also preach in English and have a member of the congregation translate into Swahili. This denotes importance as well as prestige and rank.

Now some of you may recall that oftentimes churches in the U.S. will fundraise, particularly to support African villages, congregations, etc. What may surprise you is that this money -- in Busia, at any rate -- does not go to support the local community. In fact, when American speakers come to visit they often make money through donations from local residents. This is what I find the most disgusting; that people of relative wealth would encourage and willingly take the earnings of those who make so much less and have so little to give.

This commentary should not be seen as a general attack on Christianity, or on the validity of evangelical organizations. But I do think it merits paying attention to what faith-organizations do, particularly in the name of religion. Some of the most widespread and oldest supporters of development projects have been evangelical churches. Does that destroy all the positive work they have done? No. But I think it is important to know the reality of what is happening, albeit in a local context, when deciding what to support and how to support it. There are some churches in Busia that that are very clearly invested in worship as their primary objective, but I find that these are the exception, not the rule. This situation also makes me wonder more broadly about the role of religious organizations in development policy, and in development. Some of the oldest expats were missionaries, after all. What does this say about aid, charity, and support? Who receives "aid," what are the target populations, and are these populations defined in just ways?