Independence Day in a would-be Christian nation: Agency and morality in Ghanaian debates over public rituals
When the West African nation of Ghana attained its independence from colonial rule in 1957, its traditional culture was to be promoted in all sectors of public life. Similarly, what was construed as Ghanaian traditional religion was to be treated equally with Christianity and Islam. The ritual offer...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
[publisher not identified]
2022
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| In: |
Approaching religion
Year: 2022, Volume: 12, Issue: 3, Pages: 32-47 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Ghana
/ Folk religion
/ Libation
/ Secularism
/ Pentecostal churches
/ Criticism
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| RelBib Classification: | AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism AD Sociology of religion; religious policy AG Religious life; material religion AX Inter-religious relations BS Traditional African religions CC Christianity and Non-Christian religion; Inter-religious relations KBN Sub-Saharan Africa KDG Free church RC Liturgy |
| Further subjects: | B
Ritual
B Ghana B Politics B Christianity |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | When the West African nation of Ghana attained its independence from colonial rule in 1957, its traditional culture was to be promoted in all sectors of public life. Similarly, what was construed as Ghanaian traditional religion was to be treated equally with Christianity and Islam. The ritual offering of libations to ancestral spirits and deities was considered the Ghanaian equivalent to Christian and Muslim prayers, and it has been performed side by side with them in all sorts of national events. Later on, the libation ritual became a symbol of both Ghana’s religious diversity and its national culture, transcending religious divisions. Many Christian groups, especially from the Pentecostal-charismatic movement, have refused to accept the public status of the libation ritual in view of its alleged immoral ‘pagan’ associations. When the pouring of libations was removed from the Independence Day ceremonies held at the state capital in 2011, the public debate soon turned to the relationship between the government and Pentecostal churches, and accusations of religious intolerance were levelled. This article discusses how the arguments about the status of the ritual boil down to differences in semiotic ideology and notions about proper agency - namely, how forms of agency pertaining to words, objects, persons and spiritual beings involved in the ritual are understood differently by the disputants. |
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| ISSN: | 1799-3121 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Approaching religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.30664/ar.112833 |