Intolerance before and after the 1517 Reformation and the Kenyan context

Julius Gathogo

doi:10.17570/stj.2020.v6n1.a18

Abstract

The article sets out to demonstrate that theo-social intolerance in both colonial and post-colonial Kenya, a phenomenon which reminisces other forms of intolerance during and after the 1517 reformation and the persecutions in the early Church, can be overcome. In Kenya, theo-social intolerance was evident when both the missionaries and the colonial authorities blocked any room for dialogue with the practitioners of African religion. It reached its climax when African Instituted Churches and their founded schools were closed down in 1952 by the colonial authorities. Intolerance also manifests itself through the tensions that are evident among Christians and Muslims, afro-Pentecostals versus mainline Churches and so on. As we mark over 500 years of reformation (1517–2019), are there lessons that can inform our theo-social discourses in the 21st century, especially in regard to theo-social tolerance? How can this Ubulwane/Unyama (beastly) behaviour be avoided in our future socio-ecclesial discourses? Despite borrowing broadly in order to build the case for religious tolerance, the article has cited the case of St Andrew’s Kabare, an Anglican Mission centre that was established in 1910, where Rev. Edmund Crawford demonstrated that dialogue between African culture and the Gospel has a positive impact on the society being evangelized.

Highlights

Religion, which is perceptively regarded by Paul Tillich as the ultimate concern (Gathogo 2013), is vital for humanity, and comes first in real life situations
While religion has critical functions such as the priestly role, a buttress function, a self-identification role, a conflict resolution role, a social control function, a psychological function, an emotional function, a group-solidarity, explanation function, and an age-grading function among others, religion is undermined by intolerance that is manifested in fundamentalism and/or extremism
The article has endeavoured to explore the theo-historical realities of colonial and post-colonial Kenya

Summary

Introduction

Religion, which is perceptively regarded by Paul Tillich as the ultimate concern (Gathogo 2013), is vital for humanity, and comes first in real life situations. To this end, it has both manifest and latent functions, including dysfunctions that characteristically play out in society. In Kenya, the anti-Terrorism Bill (2003) and the debate over the inclusion of the Islamic Kadhi courts into the Kenyan constitution polarized the Christian-Muslim relations in Kenya. These contentions revealed the simmering religious tensions between the two religious faiths. The Jew-Gentile dialogue remains the way forward in addressing diverse concerns

Intolerance in the early church

Intolerance via colonial expeditions

Religious intolerance in the colonial Kenya

Conclusion