Friday, April 25, 2014

On Helen Ukpabio, Christianity, and African Traditions

The words and deeds of the execrable Helen Ukpabio have nothing whatsoever to do with the survival of ancient African spiritual traditions and everything to do with Christian notions about spiritual warfare imported to Africa from Europe and America during the modern era.

Ukpabio represents a spiritual tradition, if it can be called that, that has it's roots not in ancient African traditions, but in the modern history of Protestant Christianity in England, Scotland and the United States of America.

Anyone with even the slightest familiarity with the writings of John Knox, King James, John Wesley, William Perkins, and Cotton Mather on the subjects of spiritual warfare, demonology and Witchcraft, will immediately recognize the ravings of the likes of Helen Ukpabio, and will have no doubt as to their true origins.

Those, like Kenaz Filan, who believe that they see in Ukpabio the regrettable "mixing" of Christianity with African traditions only reveal their own complete ignorance of both.

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