Ethnic Christianity and the Nigeria-Persecution Controversy

https://www.bbc.com/audio/play/p0mx8ffc

I've been writing about the situation in Nigeria for some time and remain concerned over the way the situation is covered in Christian media.

There are definitive statements made to the effect that if you deny the reality of a Christian genocide, they you're simply 'woke' or the like.

This 30-minute podcast episode may help some come to a better understanding.

First of all, the coverage regarding attacks and killings is selective. As the mainstream media has suggested, there are plenty of Muslims being killed as well.

Are Christians being attacked and targeted? Certainly.

But here's the problem. What we're dealing with is Ethnic Christian communities and this throws everything into confusion.

When Christians exist as a community unto themselves, called out from the world - then that identity takes on a specific meaning. I will readily grant that it's very difficult in the context of a tribal village. If you break with the norms of the community, it may be virtually impossible to continue living among them. You may have to leave and give up everything. This of course is exactly what we're called to do.

Mass community conversions are often dubious - and this is true today, just as it was during the Middle Ages when you read of such things commonly taking place.

In an Ethnic Christian community, the Church has to find a modus vivendi with local custom and ethics. As everyone is Christian, the consequences of exclusion are severe and harm the whole community. As such, the bar of expectation is lowered - resulting in a kind of nominal form of Christian life and ethics.

It did not surprise me to learn that some Christians are also involved in violence - a point reiterated in this documentary. This is the kind of thing that occurs when the community and the Church are confused and that same community comes into difficulty.

All social and political questions are wed to Christian identity and thus when the village runs into difficulties or political tensions - these immediately take on a Christian element and edge.

The same is true of Muslim communities. They fall into the same sacral patterns of existence. This is to be expected with non-Christian world as this is basically how the world has always operated up until modernity - at which point nationalism has filled in the gap and functions as the primary religious organizing principle for many communities.

But with the Church of the New Testament it was not so. The vision given by Christ and the apostles is something radically different -a pilgrim people called out of the world, an eschatological community living as Last Days exiles, citizens of a heavenly Kingdom.

Ethnic Christianity undermines and subverts this basic New Testament construct and this is in part why this entire issue is confused.

The battles are over land and resources but as Fulani Muslim herders attack Christian farmers - yes, the religious element comes into play. Christians are dying but it isn't always (or exactly) the same as targeted Christian persecution. As far as the Salafists (Boko Haram and ISIS), yes they do attack Christians as Christians - but they also attack nominal Muslims they perceive as syncretistic.

We are right to be cynical with regard to Trump's military strike and now the possible deployment of troops. The areas targeted in the airstrikes were not areas in which Christians are being targeted by Salafists.

Additionally, there's a lot more to understand when it comes to Nigeria. It contains vast oil reserves and thus inhabits an important place is geo-strategic thinking. As I and others have argued - Nigeria is a demographic time bomb waiting to explode. In fact it's already exploding and this is part of the problem. But the American Right won't talk about overpopulation which they insist is a myth.

Well, Nigeria currently has over 240 million people - in an area the size of Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. That's a big area to be sure with a population of 98 million - an area of the United States that's considered to be of fairly high population density. So imagine that partial stretch of seaboard with two and a half times the population.

According to estimates, Nigeria's population is expected to be around 400 million by 2050. It will have passed the United States by then which has roughly ten times the area.

The problems Nigeria faces today are but a prelude to what's coming. And these populations fleeing the lack of resources, violence, exploitation, and despair are going to be headed toward Europe and the West. As such, the EU and the USA want to contain this migration and thus (like it or not) they are determined to become involved in these countries. From the training of militaries, to influencing who is in power - as well as the management of resources (and even paramilitaries and criminal gangs), the more powerful nations are going to play a role. And they don't want that gap filled by either Moscow or Beijing.

The fact that Nigeria has a large Christian population is being leveraged by the power players in the Trump administration and elsewhere. They are keen to use both American and Nigerian Christians for political support. Some Americans are easily manipulated as they don't want to take in the bigger picture - or (more likely) are not capable of grasping it. Others in ministry leadership, lobbying, and think-tanks respond to the money and the opportunities that open up if they are willing to become advocates. These contacts will also (and already do) facilitate contacts within Nigeria.

The situation is desperate and getting worse but it's more complicated than simply calling it a genocide. This has nothing to do with being woke - whatever that even means. This has to do with telling the truth. As the BBC documents, there are cases in which Christians and Fulani live side by side. It's simply a difficult situation in which a lot of things are happening.

I'm reminded (on a smaller scale) of the furore over Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda about fifteen years ago. It was this big crisis over kidnapped children and civilians being killed. It became an international campaign and gave the US an excuse to bolster Uganda's Museveni who was (at the time) one of the darlings of US policy in Africa - alongside Paul Kagame in Rwanda.

There was a somewhat dubious documentary, followed by some drama concerning the film-maker who had a breakdown and was institutionalised. In the meantime, Kony escaped and is still out there - but interest waned and today the story has been all but forgotten.

This is not to make light of the situation in Nigeria but rather to express a little hesitancy and scepticism with regard to timing. It's not accidental but part of a larger geopolitical calculation. And yet I don't doubt as the situation in Nigeria changes - so will the policy. The politically-connected people advocating for US military intervention in the name of stopping a Christian genocide are motivated by other reasons. The Christian leaders pushing for this are in some cases sincere but misled. The whole thing is frustrating to be sure.

And yet, there's another sad aspect to this. I know from my own website, any time I write something about Africa - it always receives the lowest numbers in terms of readership. For most Americans, Africa is a hopelessly confused situation of paramilitaries in pick-up trucks and kids in refugee camps. The names and places don't mean anything. This allows the narrative to be easily manipulated but it also means it's very hard to retain any kind of interest.

We should pray for the Christians in Nigeria - for their welfare but also for clarity. Ethnic Christianity spawns confusion and ethical chaos and I would argue that is exactly what is taking place - and making a bad situation even more confused.

For those who would help the Christians in Nigeria - by all means do so. But do not lobby the American government for either aid or intervention. That only makes the situation worse and further confuses the ethics of the situation. The Church doesn't need America in any venue. Christians in Nigeria should be careful to disavow any American contacts or appeals for help.