A recent survey by the Pew Research Center has revealed that Ethiopia is the world’s most religious nation. According to this survey, nine-eight percent of Ethiopians thinks that religion is the most important part of their life. This development should not surprise anyone because Christianity and Islam are the dominant faiths in Ethiopia, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity accounts for most of the Christian population.
Though belief in God is pervasive, atheists, agnostics or freethinkers exist in Ethiopia and they are beginning to organize under different umbrella groups. Some of the atheist groups are visible online and they have face book pages, with hundreds and thousands of members, where they express themselves and socialize with people of like minds.
Recently I corresponded with two Ethiopian atheists, Yohannes and Girum, and they gave insights into the challenges and prospects of atheism in their country. Yohannes is an active member of one of the online groups. He told me that his becoming an atheist was a gradual process:
“It was rather an evolution over a couple of years. I didn’t identify as an atheist at first, nor did I know what I was becoming, lacking belief in gods, was called atheism. The main drive for my unbelief was the bible itself. I found it to be misogynist, racist, homophobic and backward”.
Girum, another atheist activist, embraced atheism after reading some books on philosophy: “Yes I’m an atheist, l became an agnostic in my teens mostly through common sense and by reading Amharic translations of different philosophical books and then after some time l began identifying myself as an atheist. I never told my parents about my disbelief in God but they knew that I had never been to Church for years and suspected that I was becoming skeptical. Yes I tell my friends about my atheism and they have no problem with it”.
Girum asserts that the deep religiosity in Ethiopia poses a big challenge to the cause of reason and free thought: “Yes, Ethiopia is a very religious nation with a large illiterate population. There is almost no space for reason and science. There is a tiny minority of atheists in the country”.
One major reason for the minority status of atheism in Ethiopia and in other African countries is because many atheists are in the closets and fear persecution by the theistic public if they go open and public with their atheism.
So, the challenge is not necessarily embracing atheism but coming out to friends and family members. Yohannes told me that he was a bit fortunate. “I guess I have been lucky with my beloved ones, they didn’t find it so much distressing. But I’ve lost some friends when I started to express my disbelief in their god or gods”. He notes that reactions to atheism vary according to family: “It depends on the particular family set up and even religious background I would say. For me, it was easy as my beloved ones are educated and accommodating. I have noticed Christian and Muslim parents and friends would react unfavorably as opposed to traditional religious people”.
Due to the socialist legacy in Ethiopia, the people are a bit more tolerant of atheism and do not find the outlook so offensive. Younger generations of Ethiopians are abandoning religion and if the trend continues, there would be a major shift in the country’s religious and theistic demography in the years ahead.
Yohannes stated that atheism could benefit Ethiopia in so many ways particularly in tackling superstition and religious extremism: “Atheism, a lack of belief in gods, could simply help the young people not to waste their energy on superstition and do something meaningful for a country riddled with poverty. Hatred amongst religious factions would diminish as many people would become irreligious”.
On that positive note, one may say that, though the present day Ethiopia may be designated as the world’s most religious nation, there are clear signs that with the flow of information, some renaissance is imminent in the country and the atheistic outlook has a great and promising future in the Horn of Africa.
Comments
3 responses to “Atheism in Ethiopia”
Confused about the article, after stating the high percentage of religious people in the country, the Author is able to only provide two examples of Atheists in the whole country. Would be nice to read more information on the status of Atheists if the article is about just that..
He could have mentioned some famous agnostic/atheist people in the country. The most famous one being BEWKETU SEYOM. he is an accomplished play writer, author and poet. His works are deeply philosophical and yet simplistic in their presentation. A lot of young people are his “fans/followers”. I use the term lightly here as these fans are well aware of his stance on religion. Regardless of that they are able to accommodate his work with their world view. The two guys mentioned here as being atheist/agnostic are no more than a confused bunch that are a true reflection of the knee-jerk reactions done by the of the so-called literate(educated) demography of the Ethiopian population. Socialism, Capitalism and Communism just like any western ideas were ushered in by the likes of those to help ease the unsettling feeling that exist within them. Analysis and investigation of an idea is not even remotely considered a smart thing to do if the idea originates from the western world. I, as a member of the ethiopian people, do not see a bright future to its future generation. Whether the country is religious or not is not an issue. The people of Ethiopia are inherently generous, “God” fearing, respectful in their daily life. Becoming atheist wont overwrite that. A good example of that being BWEKETU SEYOM. Instead what the country is headed for is a cliff of ignorance and self-defeating attitude by its academic and the literate population. Unless there comes a government that seeks to help elevate the people out of poverty using various social programs without interfering in their beliefs, I see no bright future what so ever. I am sorry to say this but Yohannes and Girum are no more than just a pop culture enthusiasts rather than knowledge seeker.
Ethiopia may be a very religious nation. But it is so culturally. All strains of ancient religions – Judaism, Christianity, Islam and animistic traditions – flourish in the country. Yet, although it is an old country, it is not a society where religion is a crushingly dominating force. Indeed all shades of faith prevail in the country. Nobody would give a hoot if you turn infidel. If you broke away from the family tradition, you cannot complain about the society. At some point one must set the boundary for where the squeeze comes from.