The Danger of Going to Church (8/1/10)

During my two years in Senegal, I never attended church services. There are many reasons for this, but, basically, I never got around to making the effort. And nor did I know others who went, so there was no social pull for me to go. However, here in Mali, one of the guys that I work with at Trickle Up, named Kodjo, invited me to go along with him and his family. So, I did.

The services last about 2 hours. Part of this is due to culture, and part is due to the fact that they conduct the service in both French and Bambara (the local language). The preacher will speak in French and then his assistant will translate into Bambara. Well, I don’t know about you all, but I can’t pay attention for 2 hours straight- especially when half of what is being said (the Bambara half) is completely unintelligible to me, and the other half requires strict concentration in order to fully understand. I’ll admit, my mind begins to wander. I can say “Amen” at the appropriate times, smile when a joke is made, etc. But, admittedly, I don’t always know what was just said to incite said response- I just follow the lead of everyone else in the church.

Well, I’ve been going to these services for the majority of my time here in Mali. And part of me has always wondered what if I’m nodding my head and saying “Amen” to something that to me, as a modern Western woman, would be insulting or otherwise morally inappropriate (this is still Africa, where gender roles, for the most part, still go unchallenged, and some cultural practices are not such that I would want to through my full-fledged support behind them)?

Well, it just so happens that I had my fears confirmed this week. After church, I had gone to spend time with Kodjo and his family, and they began debating one of the preacher’s messages. He had started out by talking about the (in his words) “two child” policy in China (in fact, it was the one child policy, but no one corrected him). He talked about how any children beyond that would be killed. Now, this part, I had understood as it was happening- it was the point in telling this story that I had missed. Apparently, he was using the immorality of killing excess children as a way to help support his message against birth control. Apparently, the preachers message was not just to go forth and prosper, but to procreate, as this was the will of God.

Well, that’s not something I would like to support. I am in full support of the freedom to use birth control when and if people wish to use it. And, in a country that already has problems supporting its burgeoning population on the land and natural resources that it has, telling people to go out and have as many babies as possible, because that’s what God wants, isn’t, in my mind, helpful. But, nonetheless, this was probably one of those times during the sermon when I nodded or said Amen along with the rest of the congregation. What else have I been “praising” or nodding my assent to, however unwittingly?

As it turns out, that was my last visit to that church. The following Sunday, my friend was to be out of town, so I didn’t have anyone to accompany me, thus I didn’t go. It does really make me wonder what other “holy messages” have been preached to my ears that would, in fact, be wholly against my own moral compass…