Faith Schools and Society: Civilizing the Debate (Continuum Studies in Education (Paperback))

Niger has added to the requirement of public order considerations of social tranquility and national unity Article Togo requires the practice of religious beliefs to be conducted with respect for the liberties of others, the maintenance of public order, standards established by laws and regulations, and respect for the secularity of the state Article In Namibia, the right to enjoy, practice, profess, maintain, and promote any religion must be exercised within the terms of the constitution, and subject to the further condition that the right does not impinge on the rights of others or the national interest Article Rwanda limits the free exercise of religion only in cases where punishment is imposed for infractions committed in the public exercise of that freedom Article Van der Vyver considers that Ghana has the most far-reaching general conditions for the limitation of constitutional rights and freedoms.

Their methods of propagating their religion have been seen as violating the rights and freedoms of others, notably their right to privacy. Compare this to the reflections of the late Congolese scholar, Tshikala K. He attributes this not only to the limitations clauses adumbrated above, but also to the frequency with which constitutional bills of rights are suspended or amended, 42 Van der Vyver, supra note 27, at Inefficient and poorly funded court systems may also be to blame.

Africa may be closer to Europe and Scandinavia than to the United States in its approach to religion—state relationships. Cole Durham, Perspectives on Religious Liberty: Legal Perspectives 1, 16—17 Johan D. This is not only because of Muslim suspicion of the Western underpinnings of secularism, but because of a more general conviction that morality is closely tied to religious commitment. It is true that with the development of greater democratization and rights awareness, political leaders have been keen to emphasize pluralism and freedom of choice.

They may also have elections in mind and not want to offend voters by interfering in religious affairs, especially regarding taxes for religious institutions. However, the promotion of vigilant social control by government is still paramount, and can be linked to a number of factors: Recognition and Registration of Religious and Belief Communities: Challenges to Law and Practice, supra note 4, at Likewise, many of the religious groups themselves, notably the smaller, independent ones, manage to function without gaining official recognition.

But there is a significant difference between the minimal ability to function without registration on the one hand, and the ability to engage in activities such as managing religious property as a group rather than as individuals. African states employ both legal and non-legal strategies to keep religious groups in check. Ghana and Zaire now the Democratic Republic of Congo provide examples of state use of registration to control religious interests. Quashigah, Legislating Religious Liberty: A regulatory body was created, known as the Religious Affairs Committee.

Annan, a member of the government, assured them that the purpose of the law was to regulate—not to control—religious activities. Quashigah lists the information that religious groups had to supply to the government leaders, trustees, finances, constitution, membership, outreach, location, etc. Incidentally, the Ghanaian Mormon community eventually re-established itself and built a temple in the capital, Accra—one of the three granted to Africans to date. They urged restraint in state control of religious bodies, but interestingly, went on to suggest that the government should vigorously implement existing law on immorality and noise abatement relating to religious groups, and that the attention of the churches should be drawn to any particular issues of concern for the government so that they could take corrective action.

The two Protestant and Catholic bodies essentially ignored the restriction despite the fact that the government was a military dictatorship. The ban was finally repealed at the inauguration of the Fourth Republic in Ghana now has a lively religious scene, dominated by Pentecostal and Charismatic forms of Christianity. Patterns of strict regulation of religious groups can sometimes be traced back to colonial practices or the manipulation of the status of religious groups according to the political needs of the postcolonial ruler.

In his extensive efforts to construct an ideologically integrated Zairean state from onwards, the head of state, Mobutu Sese Seko, launched various laws to restrict the activities of religious groups. The new law of December 31, , regulated public worship and the conditions for recognition as a legal religious institution in Zaire. The effect of the law was to break down the historic monopoly of the Roman Catholic Church as a partner of the state according to the agreement that had been reached between King Leopold II and Rome in The new law granted legal status to three established churches and ignored the Islamic community.

Regular censuses were also instrumental in this regard. In the early s, several local Pentecostal churches were suspended. Some resisted the law by adjusting their forms and place of worship. Eventually, some succumbed to state pressure and provided legal representatives in Both bodies were led by Mobutu allies and their activities were restricted to conversion, social welfare, public health, and education. The Islamic community in Zaire has had its own experiences of repression and manipulation. Muslims were obliged to live in isolated areas that resembled refugee camps.

They were further forbidden to participate in regional or international pan-Islamic conferences. Once the various Muslim communities and brotherhoods succumbed to state pressure and agreed to form a single community COMIZA , Islam was raised to the rank of national religion, allowing investments from Arab countries. In , however, amid fears of a rapidly growing Islamic presence, new restrictions were placed on Muslims and Arab diplomats.

Eventually the state severed its support for Islam once it resumed diplomatic ties with Israel. That notwithstanding, Islam has continued its expansion. Stringent conditions were to be met for founders and leaders of religious and nonprofit organizations. In his analysis of these legal developments, Ndombasi Ludiongo observes that, in the end, very few groups that were not Catholic or Protestant ECZ were registered, despite the touting by the government of the benefits of official recognition.

Many also managed to circumvent the restrictions and continue functioning. Zaire, before it became the Democratic Republic of Congo in under Laurent Kabila, provides an instructive example of the need to understand historical patterns of religious regulation within broader patterns of political repression and human rights abuse.

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There are numerous examples from other African states of how restrictions on religious freedom may be reactivated and tightened so that fragile states may bolster their authority. Sometimes state officials target particular types of religious organization. It may be the real or imagined overseas connections of a movement that can provoke government fears or suspicions, and resultant clampdowns. In , Idi Amin proscribed many smaller Pentecostal churches in Uganda for having foreign, rather than nationalist, loyalties. Hearing Before the Subcomm.

On November 28, , the Kenyan Parliament passed a similar motion seeking to cut back on and restrict non-mainstream religious groups in the interests of public security and morality. Standard Nairobi , Dec. Yet in other settings, Pentecostal and Charismatic churches and para-church movements—with or without American connections—have effectively penetrated several African countries, including their leadership structures.

Their upwardly mobile image, promises of blessings and miracles, and popular gospel music production are nothing short of seductive across the board. This means that almost within two decades, these once-marginalized groups are now enjoying less discrimination and in some cases, considerable political influence. The Pentecostal Revolution in Nigeria 1—3 Closely connected to questions of official recognition and the ability of religious groups to function is land allocation. This constitutes a strategic way for local and national governments to control both the expansion and activities of minority religious groups.

A number of important examples of this strategy comes from contemporary Nigeria. In the north, where Islam is the majority religion and many states have recently imposed full Sharia law, thereby claiming it as state law, Christian groups complain of the discriminatory treatment they receive in trying to obtain land for church or school expansion.

Faith Schools and Society: Civilizing the Debate (Continuum Studies in Education (Paperback))

In some cases, preexisting buildings are displaced or destroyed if they are deemed to be too numerous or too close to Muslim places of worship. Under restrictive or inequitable conditions for land use, it is not uncommon for religious groups to creatively utilize school and university buildings, private homes, hotels, and cinemas.

As a less stringent measure than registration or deregistration, or restrictions on land use, a common tactic is to control the freedom of association of religious groups. In this way, authorities can operate not only a process of selective control, but also surveillance. If done with obvious bias, there can be violent public backlash.

This occurred in the northern Nigerian city of Kano in when authorities banned a visit from the controversial South African Muslim preacher, Ahmed Deedat, but allowed Reinhard Bonnke, the equally controversial German Pentecostal evangelist, to come and lead a crusade.

He never actually made it on to the stage because Muslim youths launched a violent attack on the Christians and several hundreds were killed. Charges of illegal activities, such as drug smuggling or human trafficking, can create the leeway for the authorities to harass particular groups and disrupt their activities—raising public doubts and concerns about the integrity of a movement.

Milder forms of perceived harassment and restrictions on religious practice may come also from laws that privilege the majority religion. For example, Muslims frequently complain about the choice of Sunday as the work-free day as this privileges the Christian community except for Sabbatarians. Quashigah, supra note For many religious groups, prayer constitutes an important element of their activities, which may include public intercessions for presidents and politicians.

Depending on whether public leaders see themselves as neutral and as representing all religious traditions in their constituency or as defenders of one in particular, access may be limited. Outside of Nigeria, scholars have also noted the creation of monitoring groups to restrict religious freedom. It is believed to account for the child kidnapping and killings that continue to plague Kenya and other African countries. It is also linked to serious corruption and illegal land transactions.

Any organization that is remotely secretive can become linked to these accusations, as in the case of the Freemasons. Information on the Practise of Devil Worship in Kenya, containing an overview of press reports. Its report was presented to Parliament in August The stigmatization of minority religions in this report arguably restricts their ability to expand and function in the public sphere. The excellent section on this Kenyan initiative in the U.

Education is another area that has the potential for including or excluding minority religious groups. Within the context of Christian fears of the Islamization of Nigeria because of the moves to strengthen the implementation of Sharia law in several states, education has become a very sensitive issue, even leading to conflict. Hackett, Conflict in the Classroom: In contrast, South Africa has moved from teaching Christianity as the sole faith in schools to working out the best way to accommodate the religious needs of students.

Several states recognize the right of parents to develop private, religiously based schools, although, as in the case of Nigeria, these may be subject to conditions and even takeovers by the state. Space precludes any detailed discussion of the various disabilities imposed on women in the African context that violate their rights to express and practice their religion, as determined by international human rights documents.

There are many examples of segregation and exclusion notably in Islam and traditional religious systems as well as limitations on their ability to exercise leadership roles in their respective religious traditions. Hackett, Power and Periphery: There may also be imposition of styles of dress and behavior. The rapid growth of information and communication technologies in Africa and the appropriation of the new media by many religious organizations for the purposes of self-representation and propagation 88 Rosalind I. Hackett, Mediated Religion in South Africa: Research has shown that government and legal authorities can be influenced by negative portrayals of non-mainstream groups.

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Bias and misinformation affect whether recognition or resources may be granted to minority groups. With the growth of commercial media in the context of liberalization, there is also ample opportunity for inequities in media ownership, production, transmission, and program content. South African legal scholars J. Heyns emphasize the particular importance of avoiding discrimination in the media sector. They suggest that the government must exercise care in balancing competing claims among religious groups for airtime, and also take popular demands into account.

Fighting over Religion , 25 Hist. Reflections , discussing the debate over the inclusion of a reference to God in the preamble to the new South African constitution. Popular Nigerian as well as some Ghanaian videos that depict cosmic battles between the forces of good Christian and evil traditional, ancestral, and occasionally Muslim now circulate widely in Africa with titles such as Witches and The Lost Bible. These films—often graphic and violent in nature—play heavily on popular fears of bewitchment and other nefarious, occult forces, and the salvific powers of Christianity are never in doubt.

It is hard to envisage someone daring to redeem the image of traditional religions portrayed by these local filmmakers for they would be going against the grain of both market forces and popular culture. Furthermore, the majority of African heads of state and government officials are Muslims or Christians, and generally only acknowledge or recognize traditional ritual experts away from the public eye. The case of traditional African religions adds additional ambiguity to the state of protection of religious rights in Africa.

Makau Mutua traces the current lowly, marginalized state of traditional religious heritage in Kenya to the relentless campaign of the African state to delegitimize African religions. South African scholar D. Legal Perspectives, supra note 44, at Mutua notes that the same protection for proselytization, which is central to both Islam and Christianity, appears in the constitutions of Malawi, Nigeria, Zambia, and Congo. Some African states have gone further in proclaiming state religions.

Mutua cites the case of Kenya, where colonial rulers abolished the recognition of Kamba shrines, the consultation of medicine men, work on Sundays, beer and tobacco consumption, dancing, polygamy, bride wealth, and use of the oath. In Ghana, British colonial rule effectively derogated the religious liberties of the native population who practiced traditional religions through various forms of legislation.

According to Ghanaian legal scholar E.

Regulating Religious Freedom in Africa |

He notes that as early as an ordinance was promulgated that allowed the Colonial Governor in Council to suppress the celebration or practice of any native custom, rite, ceremony, or worship that appeared to him to tend toward a breach of the peace. There are some signs of an increasing willingness to recognize the value of traditional African religions and to provide institutional protections for their practitioners.

For discussions regarding references to God in the Preamble to the South African Constitution, see van der Vyver, supra note 27, at See also Lease, supra note 96, at The only state to officially recognize traditional religion is the Republic of Benin, which declared a National Voodoo Day on January 10, In keeping with international documents, it prohibits discrimination based on religion, Id.

While he acknowledges that there may be interpretations of tradition and culture, Mutua considers that the African Charter sends a powerful and radical message: While Mutua may possess an overly negative portrayal of African Christian initiatives to incorporate or be integrated into local culture, his analysis of the erasure or omission of traditional African religions from the key texts and institutions of nation-building is highly significant. So, too, is his emphasis on the need for political space and institutional recognition for these indigenous forms of religious expression.

Freedom of Religion and Belief: Faith schools and society: Published London ; New York: Language English View all editions Prev Next edition 1 of 3. Check copyright status Cite this Title Faith schools and society: Series Continuum studies in education Continuum studies in education. Contents The urgent need for a civilized conversation about faith schools and society A reassessment of the place of faith schools in state-supported education in plural democratic societies To what extent can plural societies which encompass a spectrum of world views and cultural perspectives sustain a common schooling for all?

The role of faith in the schools of civic societies Towards the establishment of an evidence base for use in a civic conversation about faith schools in a plural society Faith school profiles Four Catholic schools and their cultures The student voice and its significance in the study of school cultures Building a meta-narrative of school cultures from a composite profile of four faith schools Practice informing policy: Includes bibliographical references p.

Other Form Cairns, Jo.

Faith Schools and Society: Civilizing the Debate: Jo Cairns: Continuum

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