Building of National Cathedral and how US Christian Nationalism is creeping into Ghana
Ghanaians are largely religious, and about 70 per cent of the population profess Christianity. However, what is known as Christian Nationalism, common in the United States (US) is creeping into Ghana, and the decision of the President, Nana Akufo-Addo to turn his personal pledge to God into a national burden to build a cathedral has been cited as an example of the influence of Christian Nationalism in the country.
Prof Jeffrey Haynes who was in Ghana recently to launch a book on Jerry Rawlings, spoke to Ghana Business News in an exclusive interview.
He said, he believes that Christian Nationalism, which is a huge issue in the US, also divisive, and one that characterises the Republican Party, especially the Donald Trump wing, as was seen in how deeply in bed he was with a lot of Pentecostal people who are culturally and socially conservatives is creeping into Ghana.
Prof Haynes, who has been studying and writing about religion and politics for 30 years, and wrote his first book on the subjects in 1993 and a second book, religion and politics in Africa in 1996 – said while he was thinking about his next project, he thought about religion and politics in Ghana.
“What struck me was very much what I call the rise of Pentecostal churches. Jerry Rawlings himself was seen to be in favour of those churches more than the mainline churches. I began to see somewhat something like an ideological development in Ghana that was drawing on what I saw in the US. Which is broadly a section of the church which is the Christian leadership seeking to develop a political agenda which would conform to their values,” he said.
Prof Haynes said he saw the link between what is happening in the US and the goings on in Ghana.
“The values are what I call Christian fundamentalism. A kind of Christian fundamentalist approach to life. What does the Bible say and what can the Bible tell us about what to do or what not to do. There seems to be this notion that for some of them, the Bible has all the answers. All they have to do is follow the Bible and pray. The social and political arguments of their counterparts in America are being brought to Ghana to monger a political agenda.
What brought it into focus for me is the national cathedral when Akufo-Addo said it is his personal pledge to God. The people he gathered for the national cathedral committee, some of them are Pentecostal leaders – not all of them, some of them are prominent Pentecostal people,” he said.
Which is basically that, to change the world by prayer which some would argue is not enough when it’s nothing to do with what government does and the policies they have and the cleanliness of their governments and corruption and so on.
He added that in the US among such people, there is what is called ‘dominionism’. Which is basically saying the political realm, should be God’s dominion. That God takes over the political realm.
“It does appear that Duncan-Williams has Dominion University College, which is suggestive of where he was coming from theologically,” he said, adding that, “I wouldn’t suggest that Christian Nationalism is the only game in town at all, but I will suggest that in recent years, the influence of some of the Pentecostal churches, and particularly the leadership, some of them and their closeness to those in power, and indeed those out of power, leaves me to think that one of the ways that Christian Nationalism is expressed here is, the desire to encourage Ghanaians to see the world in a certain way.
Which is basically that, to change the world by prayer which some would argue is not enough when it’s nothing to do with what government does and the policies they have and the cleanliness of their governments and corruption and so on,” he said.
He states: “So it seems to me that if you push the idea of what the country needs is more prayer, more prayer, more prayer, then that’s not going to tackle the burning socioeconomic concerns. So the argument, for me is going to be that, the way that Christian Nationalism is expressed here, is largely about trying to deny and put on the back burner some of the key socioeconomic problems to say incompetent, often corrupt and self-serving governments, who are not ruling in a way to rise, or rule in a way too well for people.”
He explained that he is not suggesting that Akufo-Addo is a Christian Nationalist in the sense that he wants to impose this agenda. He however, suggests that he finds it useful to have this kind of thought, because it somehow reduces the pressure of the necessary reforms that the government must make.
“Relationship between politicians and Pentecostal leaders is a marriage of convenience – for votes. But what is significant here for me is the national cathedral. It’s a personal pledge to God made by Akufo-Addo. Building the house of the Christian God in a multi-faith country – a conflict decision,” he said.
Prof Haynes acknowledges that Christians make up 70 per cent of Ghanaians, and that gives Akufo-Addo a safety net, and a possibility of some Christians seeing criticism of building the cathedral, as attacks on their faith.
“There is also the flawed argument that Muslims have a national mosque and so there should be a national cathedral. But the national mosque isn’t built on prime land at the center of Accra, and it wasn’t built with State money.
The government anticipated that people would donate, but they are not. Some churches are saying we have multiple needs for financing, social issues, and we don’t need a cathedral, we don’t need a national church – we need to fix things,” he added.
To the extent that even Duncan-Williams is saying the cathedral shouldn’t be built, it’s like he is going where the wind is blowing, he noted.
Asked if he thinks Christian Nationalism has the potential to grow into full-blown ideology, Prof Haynes said there is no such potential.
“In Ghana there have always been two strands – Nkrumah and Busia strands. One more socially concerned, one more capitalist. These ideologies are very roughly articulated. They are very incoherent in many ways. I don’t see an ideology developing out of the US strand.
I think it’s something that is going to control policies – I think the LGBTQ issue for example, and the potential for disruption of Christian Moslem relations.
There are a few things that have got the imprint of Christian nationalism on them, but whether that amounts to a full-blown ideology, I doubt that,” he said.
By Emmanuel K Dogbevi
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