Neo-Prophetism and the Commercialisation of Religion in Ghana

Abstract

Drawing on the commercialisation of religious items and services by Ghana’s neo-prophetic actors, this paper seeks to draw a relationship between existential insecurity, reliance on religion and associated abuses. The paper brings to the fore the factors that push religious followers to patronise the services of prophetic actors. It contends that a symbiotic dependence between prophetic actors and their followers in terms of what the paper identifies as religious dependence, opportunism and interdependency fuels and fans the commercialization of religion in the Ghanaian neo-prophetic Christianity. The paper also interrogates the ways in which the attempt to meet the demands of religious consumers yields itself to certain forms of violations and abuses. The paper does this via the qualitative approach to research with interviews and participant observation