Our case study for today are Anye Samuel, a Seven years old class three pupil, schooling in Catholic School (C.S.) Azire (a mission school owned by the Catholic Church) and Nchang Zita, a 10 years old class six pupil schooling at Government School (G.S) Alakuma.

 Anye is a member of the Anye’s family leaving in Ntarikon a quarter in Bamenda town in the Northwest region of Cameroon. He began his primary education at the age of five and is expected to complete when he is Eleven years old. As for Nchang Zita, she is a member of the Ade’s family leaving in Ntarikon quarter too.

 Concerning the cost (fee) of Anye’s education, it cost his family 30 US dollars (15000CFA francs) yearly to educate their son in C.S. Azire. This fee includes books (worth about 8US dollars [4000CFA francs]), tuition fee, caution fee and the fee for using school properties (like playground). As for Zita, her schooling is for free except for the fact that her parents are supposed to buy her books (worth about 12 US dollars [6,000CFA francs])

On a typical day, Anye leaves the house at 7am and walks (on foot) to school, arriving approximately at about 7:30am just in time for assembly. At 8am classes begin for the entire school including Anye and from 11am to 11:30am the entire school goes out for break. For classes One and Two, learning ends at 1pm hence pupils of these classes go home; for classes Three and Four, learning ends at 1:30pam and for classes Five and Six learning ends at 2pm ( same for Zita). Since pupils of class six are preparing to write the First School Examination in order to obtain the FSLC, they return to school later on at 4pm for their evening classes till about 6pm (same for Zita). As we are concerned with Anye and Zita, we should note that Anye leaves for school in the morning at 7am and returns home at 1:30pm from Monday to Friday. As for Zita a class six pupil, she goes to school from Monday to Friday beginning 7 am to 2pm and then 4pm to 6 pm. On Saturdays from 8am to 11am.

                                             In C.S. Azire, class three is divided into class three A and class three B, same as the other classes are divided with the exception of class six. Each of these divisions of class three has 35 pupils summing the entire class population to 70 pupils. Anye is a pupil of class three B. Each class in this school is assigned two teachers, one takes the A class and the other takes the B class with the exception of Class six having a single teacher.

As for the lessons, class three pupils are taught five subjects per day, which are three subjects before break and two subjects after break. These pupils are taught seven subjects in one academic year. These subjects are: Arithmetic, English, French, Religious studies, General Knowledge, Hygiene and sports. As for a typical weekly timetable for his class, we have:

 MONDAY; Arithmetic, French, Religious Studies, Hygiene and English.

 TUESDAY; Arithmetic, French, Religious Studies, General Knowledge and English.

 WEDNESSDAY; Arithmetic, French, Religious Studies, Hygiene and English.

 THURSDAY; Arithmetic, French, Religious Studies, General Knowledge and English.

 FRIDAY; Arithmetic, French, Religious Studies, Cleaning of Classrooms by the students and sports.

At the end of a typical day, Anye is given home assignments in five subjects, which include Arithmetic, English, French, Religious Studies and One other subject taught that day.

The books he is expected to read by the end of this academic year includes;

-English text book and workbook. E.g. English Reader 3 by ANUCAM and English workbook 3 by ANUCAM

-French text book and workbook.

-Arithmetic text book and workbook.

-Our way to God (for religious studies).

-A text book for General knowledge by ANUCAM.

-Hygiene for all Book 3.

         By the end of an academic year, Anye is expected to know;

-How to calculate the area of a square and a rectangle.

-How to do basic calculations with addition, subtraction, multiplication and Division.

-How to read a clock.

-How to spell common words like man, woman, girl, country etc.

-How to draw solid figures like circles, squares, rectangles and triangles.

-How to paint.

-How to communicate to others in both French and English.

                                                     In Cameroon, each academic year is divided into three terms, which are first term, second term and third term. The first term consist of three months running from mid September to mid December, this is followedby a Christmas holiday ending in early January; The second term consist of two months running from early January to mid March, followed by a two weeks (Easter) holiday ending early April; the third term runs from early April to mid June, then the pupils go for summer holidays thus marking the end of one academic year.

Within these terms, are specific holidays known as public holidays. These holidays include

*Youth Day-11th February.

*Labor Day- 1st May.

*National/Independence Day- 20th February.

*Christian and Muslim feast days.

All of the above also included the schools of Anye and Zita, meaning they have to observe these holidays just like other pupils do.

      At the end of each term, examinations are written. Hence Anye is to write an Examination at the end of each term thus evaluating him. The third term examination carries the highest weight in deciding if  he should be promoted or not. These examinations are set by the school. For pupils of class six like Zita, the first and second term examination prepares them for their end of year examination known as the First school Examination. This Exam is set by specific individuals selected by the government and is written by class six pupils over the entire country. Those who succeed in this exam get a certificate known as the First School Leaving Certificate (FSLC). Those who succeed with excellent results have their names published in List A and those who succeeded averagely/good have their names published in List B. As for those who fail this exam, their names are not published in any list. The subjects tested in this exam are; Arithmetic, English, French, Rural Science, Geography, History, Moral studies, Civics and Domestic Science. Examples of questions in this exam include;

1)       Who discover the sea route to India? (History)  

2)       Write an essay describing your best journey ever.(English)

3)       Do the following calculations;1/2 + ¼,1/5-1/8 (Arithmetic)

4)       What is the meaning of UNO, UNESCO and OAU? (Civics)

5)       What is the capital of Cameroon, USA and Iraq?(Geography)

6)       Draw a leaf and name its parts.(Rural Science)

7)       A task in Domestic science could be to prepare a meal (E.g. Rice and stew) under the supervision of a teacher.

Hence at the end of this academic year, Zita is expected to know;

-How to prepare common meals.

- How to sell in small shops since they can do the necessary calculations.

-How to browse the internet and have basic computer skills like typing and painting/drawing.

-Be able to read small booklets and summarize them.

-Be able to translate words from French to English and Vice versa and she will be able to communicate with others in both English and French.

One in five babies are aborted in the UK. Why does this happen? Let me tell you. Some people are very selfish and forget the fundamental notion that every child is precious from conception. Would they like to have been aborted and never existed? The answer is no! If your parents had decided that you were conceived at the wrong time or you would affect their career or spoil the woman’s figure, you would not be here now. Why support this easy option when there are others to consider. The Human Rights Act 1998, Article 2, informs us that ‘Everyone’s right to life shall be protected by law ‘and that should include babies. Even our own legislation tells us that abortion should be illegal.

So what is the African view of Witchcraft? Is witchcraft a positive or negative phenomenon to an African? This is a tricky subject. Abraham Akrong writes that the problem with the concept of witchcraft is that in popular usage, witchcraft could be either good or evil. In talking specifically about the people of Ghana, Akrong says that witchcraft is often associated with negativity but also states there is an equally strong view that it can be used for positive action. Akrong comes to the conclusion that among the peoples of Ghana, witchcraft is a force that is neutral in nature; it is neither bad nor good but depends completely on the individual manipulating this force to his or her will.

In the work of Henrietta L. Moore and Todd Sanders, these scholars seem to agree with what Akrong says; that witchcraft can not truly be defined as good or evil in the African context, but they also point out that when witchcraft is spoken of one is usually referring to something of a “nefarious sort”.

Evans-Pritchard’s work on Witchcraft among the Azande is considered to the most important and extensive work about African Witchcraft ever. In fact Moore and Sanders refer to it as an “anthropological benchmark”.

If one was to look at Evans-Pritchard’s work to answer whether witchcraft is a positive or negative force one would find it best stated in the way he defines witchcraft. He states that witchcraft is a “supposed psychic emanation from witchcraft-substance which is believed to cause injury to health and property”.

Mbamo writes that among the Vagciriku people “The aim of this practice is harmful. There is nothing good in urodi (witchcraft). Everything about it is evil. People tend to look down on urodi.”

Yet, Mbambo and Evans-Pritchard’s work was about those individual cultures, not all of the African people. Bongmba’s writings on the concept of witchcraft power (tfu) in Cameroon states quite clearly that this power can be used in a positive or negative manner.

On the subject of mystical forces (of which Witchcraft is one type) among the Mupun people, Danfulani writes that “mystical forces are conceived according to their utility, that is whether they are seen as positive or negative agents. This duality depends on who is handling or feeling the impact of the particular magical force being manipulated”. 7 Later, Danfali writes that the Mupun consider Sot (as witchcraft is known among the Mupun) to be inherently evil.

Whatever the case, one must then come to the conclusion that the nature of whether or not witchcraft is inherently evil is one of ambiguity. It is a question in which its answer depends on where one is in Africa and the African society one is viewing the question from. To some it is a force that can be used for evil and good, for others it is plain and simply evil. One thing is clear though, no where in Africa is it something that is plain and simply good. There is always some negative aspect to witchcraft.

One then has to ask what then witchcraft is to Africans? Once again we are left with a complicated answer that depends on where in Africa one is referring to. An entire chapter in Evans-Pritchard’s book is dedicated to what witchcraft is. He states that “witchcraft is a substance in the bodies of witches…it has been described to me as an oval blackish swelling or bag in which various small objects are found.”

Evans-Pritchard goes on to describe the different theories and ideas about where exactly this substance is found in the body, but it is quite clear from these statements that to the Azande people: witchcraft is a literal physical substance that can be viewed with the five senses. Is this true among all African peoples? Bongmba stated that “People believe in good and evil spirits, and that the latter can provide people with negative power.”

Bongmba implies that witchcraft is not something that comes from within the human body, but something that comes from an external source; an evil spirit. Among the Mupun people, witchcraft is a mystical force, one of many that make up the cosmos.

One can conclude then that some Africans may see it as a physical object, a mystical force, or an evil spirit. There is no African consensus on what exactly witchcraft is.

Now one would ask how someone becomes a witch? Once again one finds that the answer depends on which African peoples one asks the question of. Among the Azande, witchcraft is passed down genetically. A witch is born a witch. A female witch passes witchcraft down to her daughters, and a male witch passes it to his sons.

This does not mean that just because one is born a witch, they will perform witchcraft. According to Evans-Pritchard, “Zande doctrine includes the notion that even if a man is the son of a witch and has witchcraft-substance in his body, he may not use it. It may remain inoperative.”

Among the peoples of Ghana, witchcraft can also be passed down genetically. Although there is no mention of a father giving witchcraft to the child; it is always the mother. Even if the mother is not a witch herself, she can contaminate her unborn child with witchcraft if she bathes in the river immediately after witches have bathed in it. But it is also said that witchcraft can be obtained through gifts or purchased from a wizard.

Among the Vagciruku, one also becomes a witch through genetics. Uniquely, the Vagciruku say one may become a witch as a “side-effect” of certain medications. In this case, it was never their intention to become a witch.

Among the Mupon, witchcraft can be obtained in seemingly the most ways. It can be inherited genetically, purchased, and can be unconsciously taken from one’s spouse if one’s spouse is a witch. In this way, it passes from one to another like a disease. One also can become a witch if one is overly greedy and selfish. Completely unique to the Mupon though is the idea that everyone has the potential to become a witch, if they want to.

The one factor that is observed in all of these cultures is that each has an understanding of witchcraft as a genetic phenomenon, something given from another family member. If one had to boil it down, one can make the generalizations that all Africans believe that witchcraft comes from within the family.

Now one has to ask what exactly witches do. How is witchcraft performed? And what do Africans mean when they speak of the harm done by witches. The harm done by witches is not a physical action. Most often Africans speak of witches leaving their bodies to perform their evil. Everything is done in the spiritual world, not the physical world. Evans-Pritchard writes that “while witchcraft itself is part of the human organism its action is psychic”.

The Azande describe a witchcraft-soul which leaves the physical body of the witch to do its harm. At night, it can be seen as a bright light. This explains how a witch can be in one place physically, while still doing harm to someone that is not near them. Not only does the witch travel in a spiritual or psychic way, all of its harm is done in the spiritual domain. The Azande believe that a witch will consume the soul of the victim’s organs, not the physical organs. Since the spiritual world and the physical world are eternally linked, the damage done to the spiritual organs of the victim will eventually show itself in the physical organs. 

Unlike the Azande, the Ghana witches travel as animals, not as lights. Albeit, in both cases the witch does not bring its physical body along for the ride. Akrong writes, “The witchcraft spirit is believed to leave the body while the witch is asleep: the operation of the witch is believed to be done in the spiritual real through the soul of the witch.”

The Vagcirku have many different ideas about how witches carry out their evil deeds. In a way, the Vagcirku seem to be the most powerful of the African witches. They have been known to employ Goblins and bewitch others to do their bidding. They may turn into animals and eat the livestock of their victims. They can call upon lightning to strike their victims. Female witches in particular seem to have incredible power over their spouses. They are able to cause their husband to not gain an erection; they may control his every move, and even make him follow his wife around wherever he goes.

Among the peoples of Botswana, witchcraft is classified into four categories. These four categories are heart, mouth, night, and day witchcraft. Heart witchcraft is when a witch is offended; he or she will remove the protection of the ancestors from their victim. This results in misfortune happening to the victim who is no longer protected from it. Mouth witchcraft is very similar to heart as in both cases the protection of the ancestors is taken from the victims, but in Mouth witchcraft the curse is spoken aloud.

Night witchcraft among the people of the Botswana is something entirely different. Night witches are usually women who come out at night and perform mischief. This includes creating zombies, making people oversleep, and sucking the milk from cows. According to Kuswani, night witchcraft is generally associated with elderly women. It seems that these night witches are in their physical bodies, unlike the witches of Ghana and the witches among the Azande. Day witches practice their witchcraft during the day and are surprisingly the most dangerous, for they are said to poison and kill their victims usually through food poisoning. It is believed that Day Witches cause alcoholics to become alcoholics.

Now that one has learned what a witch is capable of one has to ask how it can be stopped. What is the anecdote for witchcraft? Is there one? One form of eliminating witchcraft is banishment. In Ghana at least, women accused of witchcraft are banished from their homes and sent to “witch villages.” Banishment seems even more humane than the apparent cold-blooded murder of accused witches today. Akrong writes:

This has often resulted in instant cold-blood murder of the accused, usually women. Stories about witchcrafts in our newspapers abound in such types of cold-blooded murder of women accused of witchcraft. Once a witch has been identified, there is a demand for confessions. People beat and torture the accused, which sometimes results in the death of the suspected witch, with the complicity of the bystanders.

What Akrong is saying may shock and appall an outsider, especially one from a western background, but in the worldview of the African peoples, witches are very real, very evil beings that are not to be taken lightly. The logic of their worldview would allow for such a violent treatment of an accused witch.

According to Evans-Pritchard, action against witchcraft is usually not taken if the harm caused was very minor. This is best explained in the following example:

If a man is bitten by a poisonous snake he either gets well or he dies. Should he recover, no good can come of asking the oracles for the name of the witch responsible for the bite. But if a man falls and his sickness is likely to be serious and of some duration, then relatives approach the witch responsible in order to turn the scales between recovery and death.

This means that small problems are not worth asking the oracle about, but if there will be serious consequences of the witchcraft, especially when it comes to death, the identity of a witch needs to be found. Evans-Pritchard writes also that, “Most people have told me that murder alone could be punished and I have recorded no cases of witches being punished for other losses.”

What is done to eliminate witchcraft among the Azande then? Evans-Pritchard writes about a few options. The first option is a public oration where the victim declares to the village that the oracle has disclosed the name of a witch and it is asked that the witch stop what he or she is doing. The name of the witch is not told to the public. In this way, the witch is given a chance to stop performing witchcraft and not be found out about. If the witchcraft continues, the witch knows that the name will be told to the public and no witch wants to be found out.

Another option is to send a deputy with a chicken wing to the door of the witch. This deputy will inform the witch what he or she is being accused of and asked to stop. Evans -Pritchard describes the action of the accused in this way, “Almost invariably the witch replies courteous that he is unconscious of injuring any one, that if it is true that he has injured the man in question he is very sorry.”

According to Omoyajowo, certain groups have made it their mission to combat witchcraft in Africa. A group called the Bamucapi traveled around and accused peoples of witchcraft and the accused houses would be searched. The accused were forced to drink a mixture that was supposed to cleanse them of witchcraft altogether. This group also sold protective charms and powders to combat witchcraft. A similar group existed among the Yoruba after World War 2, but they were banned by the government in 1951.

It seems that there is no concrete way to eliminate witchcraft among African peoples. Some prefer banishment, public humiliation, simply asking for it to stop, and magical drinks. It depends, much like everything in African Witchcraft, on which peoples one is studying.

To conclude, many questions have now been answered about African Witchcraft. Is Witchcraft a positive or negative phenomenon? Where does witchcraft come from? How does one become a witch? What exactly do witches do? How are witches stopped? The answers to these questions depend completely on which African peoples one is asking the questions of. It is almost impossible to generalize when it comes to Africans, as they are a diverse people with diverse beliefs. One thing they have in common though is that all African societies include some belief in witchcraft.

Jewish rejection of Jesus

Jewish rejection of Jesus as the Messiah always posed a problem for Christians and quite naturally so. When pagans were rejecting Christ in those first centuries of pagan power in Roman Empire that was neither surprising nor difficult to cope with for Christians – it might be difficult to bare the persecution but not hard to understand that pagans do not believe in Jesus neither in monotheistic God or biblical morality, for that matter.

Jewish disbelief in Jesus was an entirely different matter. Here are people who have the Bible (Christian Old Testament), who read the prophets regularly in their Synagogues and who are of the same tradition, blood and ancestry as were the apostles and Jesus himself, yet they refuse to believe in Jesus as Messiah and Lord. Even after long discussions, persuasion and Bible reading. “How on earth can they not see?” was the question in Christian minds.

This by itself was not such a big problem for Jewish people themselves until western civilization didn’t become Christianized. By early Middle Ages Jewish disbelief became a silent, many times unconscious but increasingly strong disturbing factor in Christian society.

Historian at Stanford and an expert on anti-Semitism Gavin Langmuir describes Jewish disbelief in Jesus as something which was perceived by Christians as the greatest threat and danger exactly because it questioned such basic propositions which “had to be believed”. Feelings of threat and danger together with Christian power to sanction then landless and mostly powerless Jews, dependent on hospitality of Christian cities, was a perfect formula for darker side of human nature to run riot in Christians. Persecutions, fanciful accusations and “satanisations” of the Jews which followed and increased with time are not unknown.

Easiness of falling into Anti-Semitism

I will not go into discussion of the link between historic Christian anti-Judaism and Nazi anti-Semitism here. But it is not difficult to see how religious views (in this instance Christian) can easily be used in the service of power and in order to justify horrific actions.

Even gross evil can become a normal thing when majority gets used to it. And the prejudice and hate towards Jewish people indeed was and still is for many something quite normal and “logical” thing. It has a long and rich tradition into which an anti-Semite beginner today can just plunge into. Not much creative imagination is needed (although for centuries anti-Semitism did give birth to very imaginative stories and conspiracy “theories” indeed!).

How Christians perceive Jewish “No” today

Today’s Christian-Jewish Relations have been built on many painful lessons of history but also on many positive encounters between two faiths and peoples. Generally, Jewish people are not seen as a disturbing phenomenon by Christians anymore. Yet, many Christians still struggle greatly with Jewish disbelief in Jesus. Some, like dispensationalists for example, have incorporated the Jewish people and the State of Israel in their end-time scenarios as fulfillment of their understanding of Old Testament prophecies.

It seems that they want to conquer and explain theoretically the presence and prosperity of Jews (actually for them still a “threat of disbelief”) by quite imaginative interpretations of the Bible which for real experts in biblical research are exegetically completely bogus. I do not doubt these explanations offer comfort. But at least one should first ass Jews themselves how they explain and understand their own prosperity, religion and attitude to the Land of Israel, and how they themselves project their future, before boxing them into the preconceived simplistic explanations which they would never endorse.

Attitude towards a religious “other” in general

The story of Christian prejudice towards the Jewish people only shows how difficult it is for all of us to explain the presence or wellbeing of people who do not share with us some very basic beliefs which are among the most important we hold. “How can he be happy if he is a “disbeliever” and does not share this deep blessing of knowing God as we know Him?” This is a general question which many serious and well meaning believers of any of the three monotheistic religions have had to encounter.

My Christianity simply had to develop and transform through years of thinking and dialoguing with non-Christians from which I have learned so much, also about God. In the process it simply lost its exclusivist edge and enabled me to incorporate prosperity of several other religious traditions as God’s gifts to others in a special way which I do not necessarily fully understand. Not now anyway.