In Africa, Islam and Christianity are Growing- and blending

[FVZA_Colonel]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20060126/ts_csm/ochrislam



In Africa, Islam and Christianity are growing - and blending
By Abraham McLaughlin, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Thu Jan 26, 3:00 AM ET

LAGOS, NIGERIA - At first, it seems a surprising sight: inside a two-story mosque in sub-Saharan Africa's largest metropolis hangs a life-size portrait of Jesus Christ.

Yet worshipers at "The True Message of God Mission" say it's entirely natural for Christianity and Islam to cexist, even overlap. They begin their worship by praying at the Jesus alcove and then "running their deliverance" - sprinting laps around the mosque's mosaic-tiled courtyard, praying to the one God for forgiveness and help. They say it's akin to Israelites circling the walls of Jericho - and Muslims swirling around the Ka'ba shrine in Mecca.

This group - originally called "Chris-lam-herb" for its mix-and-match approach to Christianity, Islam, and traditional medicine - is a window on an ongoing religious ferment in Africa. It's still up for debate whether this group, and others like it, could become models for Muslim-Christian unity worldwide or whether they're uniquely African. But either way, they are "part of a trend," says Dana Robert, a Boston University religion professor.

Amid intense sectarian violence in this half- Muslim, half-Christian country, these groups serve as tolerant peacemakers. Also, with widespread poverty and health concerns here, people are seeking practical, profitable religion more than rigid doctrine.

[mike_c]

1. further proof that people NEED drugs for a happy, healthy life....

Otherwise they make up yet another opiate of the masses.

[demnan]

2. You can't do that

you're taking away all the fun of killing the other fellow for his religion! :sarcasm:

[EST]

3. Hmmmm

Either a really nifty development or an invitation to be hated by everybody.

[SoCalDem]

4. Just people finally shrugging off a forced belief system

In countries/cultures that value oral tradition, the "ancient stories" are still passed down. Lots of people are illiterate, but they can remember and retell the stories and songs.

Missionaries may force Christianity of indigenous people, but whnever the missionaries weren't looking, the locals practiced whatever they had always done before..

[Hestia]

5. How in the heck to they reconcile that??

The Koran clearly states that pretty much anything Peter says is a lie. I can see if they are Gnostic or Manadean, but Peter's vision? Strange...