Neither Tolerance nor Forbearance: The Social Dynamics in the Face of the New Religiosity in Wollo Society

Abstract

Wollo society has long been traditionally known for its unique case of dignified-symbiotic-religiosity (DSR) that characterized Ethiopia as the model of peaceful religious coexistence. After nearly 40 years of secular experience, the tremor of reformist and revivalist religious groups has begun to introduce new religiosity that pose grave challenge and at times intolerance against the traditional religiosity. Tragically, Wollo has come to bear the blunt of the revivalist intolerance, although it has not been the rare case of DSR in the mixed history of religious coexistence, accommodation, and repression. The new religiosity has appeared as a potent force defining social relations and shared experiences of Wollo society: both the public and the private lives. The shared history of the people too is not spared of revivalist victimization narratives and counter narratives: tolerance and forbearance. The demystification of religious tolerance and accommodation has tarnished the DSR of Wollo society and the 40-year-old secular establishment. The historical, social, and physical spaces have come to be symbolic embattled spaces of religious exclusivity projected to the future of new religiosity threatening to end the era of DSR of Wollo Society and the legitimacy of the secular establishment.