Separating church and state - which means separating religious from political authority - is a critical foundation to the modern western state and society. It took a long time for this separation to be achieved and it wasn't easy, but it has been critical to the West's success. Now other regions are facing the prospecting of trying to do something similar and they are balking.

The Christian Post reports on a meeting of African religious leaders with the U.S. Congressional Human Rights Caucus:

“In the African tradition, religion is a very integral part of our culture. So it is not easy to simply place things in compartments; ‘this is the religious part [and] this is the secular part,’” said South Africa’s Professor Maake Jonathan S. Masango. “Some scholars have said that Africans are incurably religious. You cannot separate him from his religion; he carries it in his heart, he carries it in his walkman, he carries it even to his examination room.”

The first thing to note is that this is a meeting with religious leaders and that should be kept in mind. These religious leaders are arguing against the idea of separating religious from civil or political authority — in other words, they are arguing against the idea that their positions as religious leaders shouldn’t also mean that they don’t have civil and political authority. They didn’t have to be elected to obtain political power and they aren’t answerable to the people for their power. Of course they don’t want to give it up.

The second thing to note is how Professor Maake Jonathan S. Masango completely misrepresents the situation. Separating church and state doesn’t entail separating a person from their religion, but that’s how he describes the situation. Separating church from state doesn’t mean that a person has to stop being religious, it just means that a person’s political leaders can’t instruct them in religion while their religious leaders don’t have political authority over them.

The only valid point Professor Maake Jonathan S. Masango makes is the fact that when a culture is deeply religious, separating religious from non-religious issues is difficult. Not everyone will agree on what belongs in the sphere of religious authority and what belongs in the sphere of civil authority. The first step, though, is to acknowledge that a civil, secular sphere of action or authority exists in the first place. Without that, a person is ultimately arguing on behalf of a theocracy — but that appears to be precisely where Masango stands. None of his comments suggest that he acknowledges hat any such separation exists in principle.

Masango, who represents the United Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa, continued to explain the intricate history of the importance of faith in African history and culture. “In traditional African society, the village traditional ruler is also the chief priest of the community and leads the village in religious ceremony,” said the professor. “For us, it is difficult to talk about a separation between the secular man and the religious person.

Here Professor Maake Jonathan S. Masango acknowledges that separating church from state is, in fact, separating religious from political authority because he is describing how both types of authority are traditionally invested in the same person. Is Masango defending such a situation, though? Is he defending the idea that the same people should rule over both the political and the religious aspects of everyone’s lives? This is precisely how dictators acquire more power for themselves. It may be that Africa’s history of totalitarian dictatorships is, in part, tied up with African traditions about so much power and authority being invested in one or few people. If that’s the case, then Masango should be doing all he can to change those traditions.

“Religion is used to bring the community together; religion becomes the judicial system of the people; and religion becomes the basis instilling discipline in the community. That was the structure even before modern civilization came in…and so for us, [we think it is] quite a disservice to the growth and development of the community when we hear about these very strict separations.”

Here Professor Maake Jonathan S. Masango is assuming that all members of the community belong to the same religion and wish to follow that religion in the same way — after all, if people differ much in their beliefs, then a single religion cannot readily bring them together. What about those who dissent and have their own ideas about how to live, though? Well, it sounds like they don’t count and will be treated as inferiors — that’s precisely how theocracy works and it’s how dictatorships function. That, in the end, is what Masango sounds like he is defending.

Professor Maake Jonathan S. Masango is defending a type of system where the community is made more important than the individual and where there is little or no room for dissent. Communities like that cannot develop vibrant democratic characters, liberal traditions, and progressive values. African countries which retain the sorts of attitudes which Masango advocates will never be able compete in technology, science, scholarship, arts, or politics with nations that give more room to individual development and dissent.

“And we have realized, unfortunately, when we have traveled to the West where this has been fully applied, that it has led more to the decline of modern person and we don’t think it is something good for us to imitate,” [Masango] said to the applause and laughter of the African religious leaders and U.S. Human Rights Caucus members.

Does Professor Maake Jonathan S. Masango live in the same world as the rest of us? Granted, there are any number of legitimate criticisms which can be made about the West, but is there any measure by which Africa doesn’t far fall behind not only the West, but most of the rest world? Even though many of Africa’s problems can be laid at the feet of European colonialism and Western racism, it’s still the case that African religious leaders are in no position to presume to tell others that the “modern person” of the West is somehow inferior and unworthy of learning from.

One of the reasons for this is the fact that the “modern person” of the West isn’t willing to subsume all their own interests to the interests of the community — interests which are, not coincidentally, usually defined the religious and political authorities like Masango himself. It’s easy for people to insist on the need to suppress dissent when people like him get to define what does and does not qualify as dissent.

Unfortunately, the suppression of dissent is almost inevitable when religious and civil authority are invested in the same people or organizations. This isn’t just because of the need to avoid a theocracy, but also for the simple fact that the more widely dispersed power and authority are in general, the more difficult it is for political or social oppression to develop. Power corrupts, so spreading power around reduces the amount of corruption in any individual case. Religious and civil authority need to be separated for a great many reasons, not just the ones typically cited in American debates about the separation of church and state.

Mohammed Mahdi Shehu, national secretary of the Bridge Builders Association of Nigeria, voiced his support of the South African professor’s response to a question posed by a member of the Human Rights Caucus.

“In Africa, there is a direct nexus between government and religion and that cannot be wished away,” proclaimed Shehu. “Anybody wishing that away should go and read the history of religion and read the history of Africa and read the history of humanity.”

I’m not aware of anyone seeking to simply “wish away” the blending of religious and political authority in African nations. That would indeed be absurd — not just because of the long traditions of such blending, but also because it takes work to change a culture. Mohammed Mahdi Shehu is creating a straw man here by criticizing a position that probably isn’t actually advocated by anyone.

The real question which Shehu must address is whether he supports separating religious from civil authority and, if so, what he thinks should be done to achieve this. It will surely take time and effort, but the long-term benefits to Africa cannot be underestimated. Dispersing authority across more institutions throughout society will help give the people themselves more power and more control over their own lives. This, in turn, will make it easier for African communities to move forward and make the developments necessary for their future.

 

Separation of Church & State:

• Separation of Church and State 101
• Secularism 101
• What is the Separation of Church and State?
• Religion's Place in the Public Square
• Myths About Church/State Separation
• Church and State News
• Church & State Polls

 

Secularism & Secularization:

• What is Secularism?
• Religious Origins of Secularism
• Secularism as Philosophy
• Secularism as a Political & Social Movement
• Secularism vs. Secularization
• Religion in a Secular Society
• Critiques of Secularism