My Curiosity With A Single Mother Who Is Dating

Yes yes! It’s really me and I’ve missed you way more than you have missed me.

But if you’ve missed me more I won’t complain. There are some things on my mind lately. Single mothers who actively date is a subject I don’t see enough written on. I have a fascination with the topic because I think there are two schools of philosophies on it. From my experiences with talking to some single moms, either nothing really changes in how you choose to date men, or whomever you choose to date is taken a lot more seriously.

Once I made this distinction, I began to wonder what having a child represented to all the moms who date. Maybe I should have surveyed some single mothers to add real answers to this post. That would’ve been smart, but I wanted this post to be interactive.  I’d like to know what makes a woman change her dating philosophy if anything.

Is getting pregnant a wake up call for some? Is the reality of single parenting more of a harsh reality for some? Does that revelation cause one to take how they date more seriously? Do other single mothers judge women who have kids but still continue less strict dating practices?

My curiosity stems from me being a single man who has gone out on dates with different single mothers through the years. I always find myself wondering what is expected from me in regards to dating. Should I always ask about the child and how they’re doing? Would that cause things to get deeper than I want too quickly? Are there women understanding of men who may need time to warm up to a kid?

There will be a variety of responses to all of this.

I think the reasons are obvious as to why a woman would want to not entertain any guy who wasn’t serious about her after having a child. Is there anything wrong with a woman who doesn’t mind not being serious with people whilst single parenting? I personally don’t see an issue with it as we’re free to live how we please. If you’re being a responsible parent then the rest I guess is irrelevant. I still pose this question to get a general consensus.

It’s my first week back so I hope I wasn’t too rusty. Ladies, please educate me. What are your views on single mothers dating? How do you/would you approach it? Let’s get into it.

These are my words and I make no apologies.

Confession of a “Church Girl”: Stereotype or Struggle

 

“So you’re a church girl,” he said.
I laughed to myself. Here we go.
“No, I’m Christian who happens to be a woman,” I said.
I’m a preacher’s daughter and grew up in church all of my life. Now I’m fully aware of the stereotype and misconceptions that come with being the “church girl”. Let me see if I get this right. We’re freaks. We say we go to church. We shout on Sunday mornings, but get us in the bedroom and we have you shouting “thank you Jesus” and throwing up hail Mary’s. Waiting until marriage is a cute theory but let’s be real, who does that these days!?
I do! At least that’s my goal and I’m striving. For clarification purposes to all men, just because a woman claims to be a Christian but may sleep with you, should not discredit her Christianity or her morals and values. Sounds a bit strange or hypocritical? I’m speaking only from my perspective and experience.
I’m an affectionate person. I love love and I love to display it through hugs, kisses, etc. Blame it on my Capricorn sign or simply just the way God created me. When in a relationship, because of my faith and desire to be celibate, it’s a struggle that gets the best of me from time to time. I meet a great guy. I put my belief and desire to be celibate upfront. He accepts it and states that although that may or may not be his desire, he will oblige. But every once in a while the flesh of passion rises and I succumb to my own desire of pleasure. I feel a bit guilty afterward (that’s called conviction). I repent and strive to do better.
We have the “talk” in which I explain why we can’t do it again and we must set boundaries for the relationship. But then it may happen again from time to time. I know this drives the man crazy. And I’ve absolutely realized that it’s not fair to the guy. Its a roller coaster ride that is fun at first, but then it just gets annoying and makes you sick.
In defense, for those who may be Christians, the struggle between spirit and flesh Is so real, particularly with dating. Its the same concept between right and wrong. Doing what you know is right and doing what you know will make you feel good for the moment. Its called being human. Just because a woman is a Christian does not negate her desire for intimacy and sex. Sex is great and the ultimate form of intimacy when with the right person. But understand that the struggle is not just about sex, but what are we really saying about God. How is that being portrayed to the guy I’m dating? Am I feeding into the stereotype? Am I giving him a bad view of Christians? Am I drawing him to the church or away from the church? (Like the church doesn’t have a bad reputation already) Did I mention the struggle is real!?
Speaking of the church. Dating is such an under taught concept that begins and ends with “don’t have sex before marriage.” But what about the in between. How do we do we do the whole dating thing God’s way? Many of us are left to our own interpretations.
Fellas, listen. It’s not our desire to get you all excited and aroused and then leave you hanging with frustration and agitation. It’s not our desire to lead you on or misrepresent Christ. It is our desire to be in a healthy relationship that pleases God. On behalf of all Christian woman who love God but struggle in the area of abstinence, we apologize.
Ladies, we must take responsibility for our actions and our struggles. We must be upfront with our belief and desires and stick with it! The guy will either respect it, challenge it, or go with the flow until he gets fed up. We must develop self control and boundaries. We can’t get upset with a guy who only wants sex when we constantly give it up, praying about it later, then inviting him to church. Wondering why we don’t go out much. We know why. Mr. Right will not only oblige our desire to wait until marriage, but will have his own standards and boundaries that will align with your same belief.
Fellas, “church girls” are actually great women to seek after. We have our struggles like every other woman, but if she is truly a Christian woman who goes to church and has a relationship with Christ, she will not seek to frustrate you, but build you up and be more of an influence than a hindrance. Besides, the stereotypes of “church girls” may hold a little truth, and from what I hear, most men want a lady in the streets, but a…., well you’ll have to put a ring on it before we complete the rest of that statement!

Three Relationship Topics People Don’t Discuss Until It’s Too Late

Last week, I debated no less than three different relationship topics with various people on and off-line. Taken individually, no single topic was particularly groundbreaking. But, when I began thinking about them in total I realized they’re topics that we think about but don’t like to discuss because the conversation is usually uncomfortable. Instead, we avoid the topics and hope they work themselves out on their own when we already know they never will. Below are three topics people should discuss in the beginning of a relationship but they often don’t have until the end…

1. Is Being Faithful Hard?

Rather than answer this question, I’ll ask another question. If being faithful is easy, then why do so many people cheat? Have you asked your partner if they’ve always been faithful or their thoughts on cheating?
To be clear, I’m not only talking about physical encounters. Many people limit their definition of cheating to physical encounters. However, most infidelities don’t leap to the physical. You often work your way up to the physical point, so what about all those missteps you took on your way there?
What about all those indiscretions you overlooked, ignored, or somehow excused until the inevitable? You know the type: the extra DM on Twitter, the inappropriate ‘Like’ on a Facebook picture you had no business viewing in the first place, or the “hey, how have you been?” message to an X even though you’re in a new relationship. Then there is real life: the extra flirtatious laugh, touch, or suggestion you give or overlook from a person of interest. You know you respective statuses so instead you entice each other, playfully at first, until that invisible line between flirtatiously innocent suggestions and outright deceitful actions blurs beyond recognition. What then?
When I posed the question on Twitter, most people responded that being faithful is easy. This is an interesting theory. Are those who are faithful relatively stronger than those who are not? If so, what makes them so strong? Is it a strong moral resolve? Code? Ethics? Or do they simply have more will power than their cheat prone counterparts? Does this mean once a cheater, always a cheater? If so, then telling someone who has cheated to simply avoid or stop cheating is like telling a drug addict to stop doing drugs. Yes, you’ve identified a solution, but if it were that simple then no one would cheat (or do drugs). This is why I think it’s important to identify the true cause in order to successfully address the issue rather than make blanket and dismissive statement. Further, it may help to determine is it harder to be faithful than it is to cheat? Do men or women have it harder or easier? Is cheating more about avoiding situations that can lead to infidelity or having the strength to resist all opportunities real or imagined?

2. Is arguing a natural part of every relationship?

Last week Roland Martin tweeted:
RT @RolandSMartin: A # of youre saying how wrong I am. That’s because you’ve accepted arguing as being part of a relationship. I DON’T.
Can you genuinely remove arguing from a relationship or do you believe arguing is a natural part of a healthy relationship? What happens if you find arguing detrimental but your partner finds it natural? What’s the difference between an argument and a debate?
I always hate to prescribe definitive answers to emotional or subjective subjects. I’ve been in relationships where we never argued and I’ve been in relationships where we argued all the time. However, neither relationship was relatively better than the other. Sometimes the relationship I was in where we never agued might have benefited from us putting facts on the table, even if they made us uncomfortable. Conversely, in the relationship where we always agued, there were times when we would make petty arguments into grand stands, because we were trying to gain ground based on an important argument we lost days, weeks, or months ago. At times, we were immature and petty, but there were few times where we held back our feelings. Obviously a balance is best, but biting your tongue to maintain peace is often no better than getting everything out of your system in the present in order to have peace in the future.

3. Is your significant other entitled to your social media passwords in a committed relationship?

From Black And Married With Kids:

A Michigan man is now being sued by his ex-wife after he read her e-mails and learned of her extramarital affair with her (allegedly abusive) ex-husband. Got that?
The prosecution argues that he “hacked” into her e-mail, basing the justification of the charges on a criminal statute that is typically used to prosecute governmental hackers.
He claims that he used the computer all the time and she kept her passwords in a little book next to the computer. Simple click-clack of the keys and he was in.
Harmless, right? I’m not sure.

What are your thoughts? Do you have access to your significant other’s social media accounts? Do they have access to yours? Why or why not? Does not providing your password automatically mean you’re hiding something?

I don’t care if the Queen wants my passwords. I also feel like she shouldn’t have to ask. As they say, if you go looking for trouble, you’re bound to find it. In my opinion, you shouldn’t need my passwords because there shouldn’t be anything you ever need to verify. You should be able to ask me a question and expect that I will answer you honestly. If you don’t trust my response, then in my opinion that is the real issue. Some people say your wife (or family) should know your password so they can access your account in the case of your untimely death, to which my response is, “like hell they do.” If I’ve passed away, I can think of absolutely no good that will come from you having access to my various accounts. In fact, if I unexpectedly pass away, just throw my laptop in the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean.

Did you enjoy the perspective offered in this article? Check out like our facebook page for more candid content from the rufasca team. 

1) Do you discuss these topics when you’re vetting someone for a serious relationship? 2) What are some other topics you’ve learned the hard way that you should have asked early on in the dating process? 3) What are some other topics not covered today that people don’t discuss until it’s too late? 4) Which topic do you know needs to be had but you hate talking about the most?

Abubakar Shekau hits back; says he’s Still Boko Haram Leader

ABUBAKAR Shekau has released an audio message in which he denied ever being replaced as the Boko Haram leader.
This was contained in a report by BBC on Sunday.
In the message, addressed to the leader of the Islamic State militant group to whom Boko Haram had pledged allegiance, Shekau said he was still the leader of Boko Haram.
He had not featured in the group’s recent videos, prompting speculations he had been killed or incapacitated.
Last week the Chadian President, Idris Deby, said that Shekau had been replaced.
It was the same Deby that arranged the failed negotiations with the terrorists during the Goodluck Jonathan regime.
Shekau described as “blatant lies” reports that he was no longer in charge.
“I am alive,” he said, adding, “I will only die when the time appointed by Allah comes.”
The eight-minute-long recording mocked a recent statement by President Muhammadu Buhari that Boko Haram would be eliminated within three months.
Shekau took over as the group’s leader after its founder, Muhammad Yusuf, died in police custody in July 2009.
Under his leadership, Boko Haram has become more radical and has carried out more killings.
In numerous videos, Shekau had taunted the Nigerian authorities, celebrating the group’s violent acts including the abduction of the more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls in April 2014.
Last month, Buhari said he would be willing to negotiate with the Boko Haram leadership for the release of the Chibok girls – depending on the credibility of those saying they represented the group.
A previous prisoner-swap attempt ended in failure

Boko Haram Foreign Sponsors Exposed Using GPA

The Global Prolife Alliance (GPA) Council has identified American billionaire, Bill Gates as a major foreign sponsor of the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria’s North East region. Speaking with journalists in Owerri, the chairman of the GPA, Dr. Philip Njemanze disclosed that Gates and Monsanto were sponsoring the insurgency in the region using their biotechnology companies.
According to him, the major aim of the insurgency was to capture the food security of Nigeria and control Africa’s largest nation by population and economy, adding that this could only be possible by fighting to displace the indigenous farmers in the country and replace them with Genetically Modified Organisms, GMOs corporate farms in the North East food basket region of Nigeria.
Njemanze, revealed that the name Boko Haram was only used as a cover-up in the terrorism attacks, saying that the actual perpetrators were hired assassins and mercenaries by the Blackwater (also called Xe-Service, and now Academi) private army owned by Gates and Mosanto. He disclosed that Blackwater which was purchased in 2009, “began the recruitment of former child soldiers from Liberia and Sierra-Leone of what remained of Charles Taylor’s army in Liberia” and trained them in Ougadougou in Burkina Faso despite the ban of the company by President Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia.
The GPA chief added that the Liberians and Sierra-Leoneans were brought to Nigeria as ECOMOG boys to fight as Boko Haram. He stated that the assignment of the insurgents was to displace the farmers in the North East and create fall in the agricultural production of the country as well as to compel the federal government to adopt large farms that grow Bill Gates /Monsanto GMOs crops to feed the nation. With this strategy, he said that such staple food as rice, cassava, maize, sorghum, millet would be replaced by Gates/Monsanto variants, thereby effectively surrendering the food security for the over 170 million Nigerians to them.
“The volume production of these GMOs crops will come at lower prices than that of theorganic food grown elsewhere in Nigeria and they will price out of the market the conventional organic foods, leaving the Bill Gates/Monsanto crops the dominant crops for food in Nigeria”.
Njemanze also raised an alarm about the high technology approaches used by Gates in executing the terrorism plan.
According to him, Gates’ recent interview in Daily Trust where he said he was quoted to have said “Bill Gates Foundation was carrying out satellite Remote Sensing of the North East area to study migration patterns of people” clearly supported the assertion of Global Prolife Alliance, adding that what that statement meant was that the Satellite images against the Nigerian law were being used as espionage in the state of emergency to identify military installations and how to evade and attack them.
He also attacked the electronic wallets (cell phones) given to farmers by Bill Gates through the federal ministry of agriculture to provide the farmers with agro-credits for fertilizer and GMO crops, describing it as wallets of death. According to him, the offer was made and accepted in total disregard of the evidence presented by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that GMOs does not increase crop yields, but rather may lead to decrease in overall crop production, damage to fertile grounds and dangerous health risks were still being uncovered including cancers and other debilitating diseases.
With the cell phones which have Global Positioning System (GPS) device, he continued, the position of every farmer would be known to the Boko Haram insurgents, who he said use satellite images to know the location of the Joint Task Force (JTF) and then using the cell phones to track down the farmers. The group called on the federal government of Nigeria to investigate Bill Gates activities in Nigeria and not to sweep the allegations under the carpets because according to Njemanze, the group had very strong evidence to support its claims.

SPIRITUAL WORLD OF AFRICAN RELIGION PART 1

The spiritual world, or world of spirits, is central in almost all African religions. Spirits (like Angels and demons in the Jewish, Islamic, and Christian traditions) directly communicate with and impact the lives of human beings, as individuals and as communities.
Good spirits provide protection against harm, misfortune, and disease, heal illness, provide children, rain for crops, fish, and wild game, and protection for livestock. The realization of these blessings are dependent on the appropriate behavior on the part of individuals. Good behavior, according African religious beliefs, includes following and practicing values and behavior established by society and culture, participation in religious rituals and practices, and proper respect for family, neighbors, and community. Failure to follow these behavioral guidelines often results in the good spirits withdrawing their blessing and protection. The result? Illness, death, draught, and other misfortune.
Good spirits can be divided into the following categories:

Human Spirits: Most African religions firmly believe that people continue to live, through their spirits, after death. These spirits are often referred to as ancestral spirits. It is believed that spirits of the ancestors remain very interested in what happens in their families and communities. Most African religions divide ancestral spirits into two groups:

• The Recent Dead Ancestors: After an elder dies her or his spirit remains actively interested and engaged in the life of their family and community for many years. The ancestral spirits are most concerned about the prosperity and security of their families and communities. They intercede with God on the behalf of their communities. However, if individual members of their families or communities as a group engage in inappropriate behavior, the ancestors show their displeasure by withdrawing their protection-their willingness to seek God's blessing on their descendants. Although this results in illness and misfortune, it is not the desire of the ancestors that their families and communities be destroyed. Rather, the ancestors hope that illness and misfortune will be seen as warning and result in people and communities stopping the inappropriate and offensive behaviors. Remember that African religions hold that following social and cultural norms and values is the only way to guarantee security and prosperity. No wonder the ancestral spirits want their descendents to behave appropriately!
• The Spirits of the Long Dead: As time passes, the spirits of the recently dead gradually withdraw from the lives of their descendents and communities. It is believed that these spirits live with God. However, some ancestral spirits remain actively engaged for many generations. This is particularly true of the spirits of important individuals. For example, it is believed that the spirits of great rulers or founders of nations maintain their interest and power for a long time, perhaps centuries after their deaths. These ancestors are most interested in promoting the longevity of their kingdoms, nations, and communities. As with the regular ancestral spirits, these spirits intervene to protect their communities. In Module Seven B: African History there are examples from Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe of ancestral spirits encouraging people to resist colonial rule that was perceived by the ancestors as destroying African nations, cultures, and societies.

Given the importance of spirits of the ancestors, most African religions taught great respect for the ancestors. In addition to living appropriately, special shrines were often built to commemorate the ancestors. These shrines, while different in style, have a similar function to grave-stones in the Christian and Jewish traditions.
In addition, respect is shown by giving libations to the ancestors. That is, at least once a day, symbolic drink and food is presented to the ancestors. When Europeans first encountered these practices, they wrongfully thought that the people were worshiping the ancestors. In African religions, ancestors are not gods and they are not worshiped, but just as living elders are given great respect, even more so the spirits of the ancestors are remembered and respected. Moreover, ancestral spirits are not feared. Although their blessings are important to personal and community well-being, appropriate behavior is all that is required to maintain social harmony, longevity, and the ancestral contentment.
Nature Spirits
All African religions believe in the existence and importance of human spirits, however, not all African religions believe in nature spirits. Nature spirits are spirits that inhabit or live in nature. For example, several African religions teach that there are spirits that live in the skies. These spirits are important since they are believed to control the rain that is so important to the raising of crops and animals.
Other African religions hold that spirits live in and control rivers, lakes and oceans. These water spirits are also very important since they are believed to control the fish that live in the waters. Still other religious traditions believe that important ancestral spirits inhabit rocks, mountains, and trees.
As is the case with ancestral spirits, nature sprits are held to be good since they help to protect people and to provide people with essential items like water and food. In order to guarantee the good will of these spirits, African religions practice rituals and ceremonies that honor these spirits.
Just as the early European missionaries misunderstood the role of ancestral spirits in African religions, so too they often misunderstood the beliefs regarding nature spirits. These outside observers thought that African religions held that God inhabits all of nature-trees, rocks, water, land-a religious system scholars call animism. African religions do not worship rocks, trees, the sky or rivers, as is the case in animism. Rather, important spirits who control the forces of nature are believed to live in the sky, rocks, trees and rivers.
Bad Spirits
African religious traditions, as with Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and other major world religions, hold that just as there is good in the world, there is also evil. Goodness is the result of the blessings of God and the spiritual world in response to good behavior on the part of individuals and communities. Suffering and misfortune to individuals and communities, in all of these traditions, are believed to be the result of either:

• Inappropriate behavior on the part of individuals or communities, OR
• The intervention of bad or disruptive spirits.

Just as there are good spirits these religious traditions hold that there are bad spirits (referred to as the devil or Satan in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism). In African religious traditions, bad spirits are responsible for causing much of the misfortune that individuals and communities suffer.
Most African societies have specially trained spiritual professionals who through special medicines and communication with the ancestral spirits can provide protection against the wiles of evil spirits.
Religious Leaders
Every religious tradition have individuals who perform specific religious tasks and duties. Each religious tradition has special titles for religious officials-rabbi, imman, minister, pastor or priest. In African religious traditions, there are different religious roles, these include priests, rain-makers, and healers (diviners, herbalists) In some African traditions, these various roles may be served by the same individual, in other traditions different persons may serve each position.
We should consider religious leaders to be professionals in that each position requires a long period of training. Moreover, these positions are often full-time leaving little time for activities beyond the fulfillment of their duties. We should also note that in most African religious traditions women and men serve as priests and healers.
Priests
The role of priests varies between religious traditions. One of the most important functions of priests in many traditions is to officiate at religious ceremonies and rituals. Religious ceremonies and rituals are very important to maintaining religious and cultural traditions. Ritual ceremonies celebrating birth, transition to adulthood, marriage, death, planting and harvest, or commemorating the life of a deceased ancestor are vital to maintaining a close-knit community. Such rituals also help to reinforce values and appropriate behavior within the community. Priests, who officiate at these rituals and ceremonies, play a central rule in promoting a strong and united community.
In some religious traditions, priests will be affiliated with a particular spirit or group of spirits. In this situation, priests will be in charge of a special shrine dedicated to the spirit, and she or he officiates at special ceremonies commemorating that spirit. For example in many African religious traditions, there are special shrines to commemorate the founding ancestor of the community. In addition to officiating at special ceremonies celebrating the ancestor, the shrine priest(s) serves as the voice of the ancestor spirit, communicating advice and admonition to the community.
How do the ancestral spirits communicate to their priests? As part of her or his religious practice, a priest will enter a trance-like condition during which time it is believed that the spirit of the ancestor enters or "possesses" the body of the priest. During the possession, the ancestor directly communicates with the priest, passing on information to the people. History gives an account how ancestral spirits in Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe communicated through shrine priests their wish for the local community to resist European colonialism which was destroying local cultures, traditions, and communities.

Rain-Makers
With the exception of the area of tropical rain forests in West and Central Africa, much of Africa is either arid or semi-arid and suffers from fairly regular cycles of drought. In vast areas of East, West, Central, and Southern Africa, farmers are dependent on rain for their very survival. Throughout these regions, rain is an important focus of religious practice. As you learned, many religious traditions in Africa view misfortunes such as drought to be a result of inappropriate behavior on the part of community members, or of the disruptive influence of bad spirits. Rain-makers are special priests who are responsible for finding out the cause of a drought and to devise a remedy to the problem that has caused the drought.
Rain-makers through possession communicate with ancestral spirits to find the cause of the draught. Once the cause of the draught has been identified, the ancestral spirits will provide the rain-maker with a remedy. The remedy usually involves changing an inappropriate behavior that is believed to have caused the drought and offering special librations to the offended spirits.
Healers
Healers, often referred to as traditional doctors, are important in all African societies. Given what we know about African religious traditions, including healers as religious leaders should not be surprising. Good health is the believed to be the result of appropriate behavior, that is living in accordance to the values, norms of traditions of the society. One of the primary causes of illness, then, comes from inappropriate behavior. In addition, illness can be the result of the work of bad spirits.
In either case, illnesses have a spiritual basis, that in turn, requires a spiritual remedy. In most African religious traditions, there are two methods of healing. In some traditions, these two methods are practiced by the same healer; in other traditions, there are separate practitioners. To be a practitioner of either type of healing takes experience and great skill developed over many years of training. Training to be a healer in Africa takes time and effort just as does training to be medical doctor in North America.

• Herbalists: Extracts from plants-fruits, berries, roots, leaves, bark-provide the basis of the medicines used by traditional healers in Africa. Herbalist healers go through a rigorous training through which they learn about the healing properties of a wide variety of plants. When they finish their training, herbalist healers will be able to prescribe herbal remedies for many different illnesses. On occasion, a healer will be confronted with a new and strange disease. In these situations, the herbalist will seek assistance from the spiritual world. As described above, the healer will enter a trance in which she or he is possessed by a spirit. The spirit will lead the healer to an appropriate remedy.
• Spiritualists/Diviners: Diviners treat illness primarily through facilitating the direct intervention of the spiritual world. If an illness is believed to be caused by inappropriate behavior on the part of the patient, a remedy or cure for the illness can only come through spiritual intervention. While a herbal healer uses plants to treat diseases, a diviner seeks input from the spiritual world to understand the cause of the illness and prescribe a cure. Usually a diviner is possessed by the same ancestral spirit with whom she or he has developed a special relationship.

In addition to treating specific illnesses, African healers-herbalist and diviners- also practice preventative medicine. Patients may come to the healer seeking protection from misfortune. Or a person undertaking a long journey may want a remedy that will provide safety on her trip. Another patient may want a remedy that will provide wisdom and clarity in making an important decision.
When Europeans were first observed African medicine and healing practices, they often had a negative reaction. They viewed these practices as being based on magic and not on science. These judgments were based on a misunderstanding of African views on disease and healing. Indeed, like "western" medicine, African healing is based on close observation of the patient and his or her disease and on the use of remedies-medicines-that have a track record for successfully treating a particular ailment.
During the past thirty years, Western trained doctors have gained a greater appreciation for African healing techniques and practices. Indeed, throughout Africa it is now fairly common to have Western trained doctors working with traditional healers in the treatment of patients.
Global Impact of African Religions
Indigenous African religions continue to be very important in many African societies. However, African religious beliefs and practices have not remained unchanged. The spread of Islam and Christianity has influenced the practice of indigenous religious practice. But just as importantly, as will be demonstrated in the next two sections, African religious belief and practice has influenced the way Islam and Christianity are practiced in Africa.
African religious belief and practice have also had an impact outside of Africa. Just as trade from Asia and Europe helped to facilitate the spread of Islam and Christianity in Africa, so too travel and trade facilitated the spread of African religious traditions into Europe and the Americas (See Module 15: Africa and the World). The Atlantic slave trade and more recently the new wave of immigration of African to Europe and North America assisted the transfer of religious practice to these areas.

Priest/Spirit Medium, rural Ethiopia

Women participating in religious ceremony: Ethiopia

Shrine to river spirit: Oshun River, Nigeria

Ritual masquerader dance celebrating Agbo Water Spirit, Nigeria

Two of the most important examples of African religious expression in the Americas are the religions of Santeria in Cuba, and Brazil, and Vodou in Haiti. Both of these religious traditions have a growing following in the United States.

Studying Africa through the Humanities Indigenous African Religions

First, it is important to remember that while there are similarities between African religions, there are also differences. Just as there are differences in religious practice in the United States-not just between Christians, Moslems, Jews, Hindus, and others, but even within Christianity (Roman Catholics and many Protestant groups), Islam (Sunni, Sh'ite, Nation of Islam) and Judaism (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform)-so too there are differences in religious belief and practice among African religions
 Secondly, although the supernatural-God and spirit world-are important in African religions (as you will learn in the next section), religious belief and practice are central to all aspects of life in Africa. That is, religious beliefs impact the way people live their everyday lives, from what they eat (or cannot eat), the way they farm, do everyday chores, hunt, make tools and clothes, arrange themselves in families, marry, divide work among family members, educate their children, treat illness, and bury the dead. Among indigenous African religions, religious belief and practice are not restricted to one holy day each week, be it Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, but are present in the most common daily activities as well as in special ritual ceremonies.
 

 African religions provide people with what some scholars call a world-view. A world-view can be thought of as a system of values, attitudes, and beliefs, which provide people with a mechanism to understand the world in which they live and everyday events and occurrences. Maybe we can think of a world-view as being like a language. Can you imagine how hard it would be explain or understand everyday events and occurrences if we did not have language-words? Words are essential tools that help us explain and understand events and occurrences. But words come with their own meanings, we cannot simply change the meanings of words when we use them to explain or to understand events or why we live the way we do. Words and their meanings help shape the way we see, and therefore how we explain, events. Similarly, the world-view (values, attitudes, beliefs) that an individual learns from the time s/he is a baby provides a mechanism that influences how s/he understands all that happens to her/him, her/his community and the world in which s/he lives.



 African indigenous religions provide a system of morality that establishes right from wrong, good and appropriate from bad or inappropriate behavior. Just as with Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, children growing up in African religions learn right from wrong, and what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior in every situation that they face.
 like all world religions, rituals are important to African indigenous religions. Rituals are cultural or religious ceremonies that celebrate or commemorate specific events that have deep religious significance. Rituals serve to reinforce important religious beliefs through meaningful activities that bring comfort or joy and thus strengthen the unity of the followers of the religious tradition. Rituals are often associated with important human events: birth, marriage, death, planting, and harvest.

The Supernatural in Indigenous African Religions

Scholars who study religion in Africa tell us that all African societies have a belief in God. Some African religions believe in one supreme God who created the world and all that is in the world. Other African religions believe that there is more than one God; however even in these religions, usually one of the Gods is claimed to be the supreme God who was responsible for creating the world. Since there are many different language groups in Africa, there are many different names for God.
 Whether or not a particular African religion believes in one or several Gods, the way God is viewed in most African religions is both similar and different than the way the monotheistic religions characterize God. Judaism, Islam, and Christianity are the main monotheistic religions. These religions teach that there is only one God and that that God not only created the universe, God has complete control over that universe. Moreover throughout history, the one supreme God communicates directly with humans, and God is directly involved in the lives of humans.
 many African religions share the following concept of God. These concepts are quite similar to the way God is viewed in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, the three main monotheistic religions.

• God is creator of all things.
• God sustains creation
• God provides for and protects creation
• God rules over the universe
• God is all powerful (omnipotent)
• God is all-knowing (omniscient-knows everything that happens in the world)
• God is viewed as parent (sometimes as a father and sometimes as a mother)
• God supports justice
• Human-beings cannot directly know God.

Given these similarities it should not be surprising that Africans from all over the continent often accepted the introduction of Islam and Christianity into their communities.



In spite of these similarities there are important differences in the way God and the supernatural are viewed in African religions in comparison to Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. In most African religious systems, God (or the Gods) after creation was not directly involved in the human society or the individual lives of people. Remember how in the creation stories the Gods were engaged in the creation of people, but after creation, the Gods usually withdrew from direct contact with human-beings?
The idea of an isolated God does not make the supernatural un-important in Africa religions. Indeed, the supernatural, or spiritual realm, is most important to African religious belief. Between an all-powerful God and humans is a pantheon of spirits. These spirits are directly engaged in the lives of human beings, and can act as intermediaries between God and humans.
Spirits in African religious traditions share some of the same characteristics of angels in the Christian, Islamic, and Jewish traditions. Good spirits help to protect against illness and misfortune and assist humans by providing rain needed for crops, as well as, fish and game animals used for food. However, not all spirits are good, some spirits are viewed as evil and are believed to be responsible for illness, premature death, and other forms of suffering and misfortune.