Articles and other publications in this section were written by authors or organisations independent of Atheist Alliance International. The views contained in such articles and other publications are the views of the authors and may not reflect the views of Atheist Alliance International.
Atheist Alliance International is pleased to see that the Organizacion Colombiana de Ateos is establishing itself as an active atheist organisation! Atheist Alliance International sees one of its roles as supporting the development of new atheist organisations around the world and is proud that ORCA is an AAI Associate Member.
As a lifelong resident of Uganda and Africa as well as president of the Atheist Association of Uganda, I have a good idea of the conditions and challenges that Africans face to live.
Africa
Africa
is perhaps the most miserable place the world has ever known. This fact is all
but ignored by the media in western countries. Most of the governments here,
although calling themselves promoters of democracy, are ruthless dictatorships,
ruled by greed and callous disregard for human life and dignity. They are
supported by religious institutions that desire a share in the power, and they
are supported by the "Western World" because they can still exploit
them for profit.
Written by Leo Igwe, Nigerian Humanist Movement
|
22 July 2011
Nigeria is often described as a deeply religious society where most, if not all persons, profess religious beliefs without qualification. Nigeria is often portrayed as a country where the religious demography is static- everybody is religious, everybody belongs to one faith or the other. Everybody professes religion, nobody renounces religion. Nobody is critical or skeptical about religious dogmas. Non religious and freethinking Nigerians are purportedly so insignificant. For me this is a misrepresentation of the religious demography and dynamics in the country. And the time has come for us to rectify this misrepresentation.
Kenya is not a unique country in Africa. We all share in the colonial histories that the European civilization embedded on our orientation, thereby changing reality through industrialization. Kenya, like many other nations in the world, had resisted subjugation by its colonizers, the British. However, the colonialists’ need for emancipating us from the traditional dark past resulted to establishment of protectorates, concentration camps and ultimately, a settler population. They brought the constitution, introduced a social contract and made morality a key debate in any leadership. Even now, Kenya still uses its colonial constitution, which was planned in Lanchester House (Britain) decades before independence.
