5.3 Online Representations of the Self, Other, and Religion
5.3.3 Representations of Religion
Apart from the representations of specifically Christianity and Islam in the preceding sections, members also engaged in two representations of religion; as a problem in society, and as an intrinsic part of society. The context of conversations from which these depictions emerge was the 2015 Nigerian general elections and the political debates about the place of Southern Kaduna in Kaduna State and Federal politics. Often these debates, more frequent in the last quarter of 2014, were arrested in the division among members about which candidates should be voted, and often, whether their religion should matter in such decisions.
For some Forum members religion stalls thinking and evokes unwarranted emotional response and therefore, is a problem to society. Hilans, commenting on reactions about shared story that a political meeting in a church was terminated by the Nigerian army, wrote, “Just the mare mention of a religious affiliation then all sense of reasoning goes ablaze. Religion truly is the opium of the masses” (October 14, 2014). For Hilans, online attitudes of members are a confirmation of Marx’s popular maxim on religion as the “opiate of the masses”. It affects members’ ability to think clearly on issues and take the right actions. Forum members, in his
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view, become emotional when religion enters the conversation. Part of Hilans’ reaction comes from his observation that the presentation of the incidence was inaccurate as it was a political meeting involving both Christians and Muslims of Southern Kaduna origin, and it was held in a church hall that is often rented out for different kinds of events, yet these details were ignored by Forum members who were intent on weaving the incidence into an already existing narrative of Christianity as being under siege in Southern Kaduna. Another contributor, Tanimo, also challenges Forum members when he said, “it’s high time we started condemning wrong for its own merit, and not because it is done against christians or muslims, we must learn not to use religion as justification for every dirty thing (October 14, 2014). While the second half of Tanimo’s comment suggests a desire to protect the ‘purity’ of religion, he also challenges Forum members to move beyond religious affiliations in their perception of wrongdoing, and suggests that a fixation on religion can be problematic. Another Forum user made a similar argument following a suggestion that Christians should vote for members of their own religion only. He said, “It only shows how narrow minded you are. It is people like you that are drawing this country back (Bala, December 14, 2014). Another contributor notes, “I will rather vote even for an imam or Sheik than to vote the wrong candidate simply becos of religion” (Isaiah, December 14, 2014). These members suggest that basing decisions regarding votes on religion is regressive and a sign of backwardness. Another user, Adam, suggested that Nigerians are actually becoming “wiser…any attempt to psychologically bamboozle them with religious stings is indeed a quest in futility” (December 12, 2014). Thus, for this user, there is progress towards secularity, indicating that religion no longer has a strong grip on Nigerians. It is becoming ineffective as a political strategy.
Thus, for members, other values should be placed above religion in the context of leadership and political decision-making, because religion and religious affiliation, they believe, detract from real issues. As Yahaya’s comment shows, “Keep Religious aside, let’s face the music”
(December 28, 2014), and Garus observes, “leadership has nothing to do with religion…no culture, no race, no religion that is stronger than being human” (December 15, 1015) and Musa asks, “how has religion helped us? If you’re looking for good leadership, religion is the last criteria of a good leader. Those that hide under religion are those with little or nothing to offer”
(November 21, 2014). Religion, for these Forum members, does not contribute to progress and good decision-making. They suggest that holding onto religion is a sign of stagnation, unhelpful
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and, one could argue, pre-modern, and people who appeal to religion cannot be trusted. Abba makes this argument when he posted that “D world today hv outgrown the politics of religion, it was baby politics… He who still live in d past shuld continue to preach d politics of religion”
(December 30, 2014). In other words, to show their maturity and growth as a people, the Southern Kaduna people must outgrow religion. These views on religion and its application in political and social life suggest that these members not only see them as problematic, but a sign of backwardness. This agrees with critiques of religion such as that posed by Dawkins’ (2006) which sees religion and religiously-determined behaviour as premodern, and reliance on religion as regressive, considering that modern science offers explanations for the things that religion sought to explain. Yet people stick to belief despite scientific advancement. These criticisms of religion on the Online Forum are striking given the general religious tempo of the Forum and the heavy narratives of identity based on religion. Yet, it agrees with the findings of the survey I carried out among Forum members, which despite showing that 99% of respondents were Christian, making their voice heard on religious issues was the least selected motivation for joining the online Forum (3.7%) and religious strategies such as prayer (7.4%) were not considered a significant strategy for peacebuilding in Kaduna. Thus, while the forum members critique religion as problematic and regressive, and show an inclination towards secularism, it could be argued that their understanding of secularism is more about the decline of religious authority and influence on public life, rather than a decline of religion itself (Chaves, 1994).
Forum members who generally disagree with the secularization positions tend to represent religion as an intrinsic part of society, even though this is expressed often more specifically in relation to politics. For example, Emly, contesting separation of religion from politics, asked, Emly, “Did religion not birth politics? How can the two then be apart?” (February 20, 2014).
This Forum member did not explain his claim that religion came from politics, but he sought to show that there is a deep and inseparable connection between the two and therefore, efforts to separate them are futile. What is more interesting is the way Forum members make reference to Islam in order to make their arguments on the subject, which further reveals the ambivalent response to Islam, particularly, the attraction to a perceived lack of separation between religion and politics in Islam. As Emly further notes, “What makes Islam politically palatable and fascinating is that it has never attempted… to divorce religion from politics” (February 20, 2014). Sam, further notes, in a similar context, “for a muslim politics and religion are
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inseparable. Let's not peddle these fake liberal ideas that are not real” (November 21, 2014).
Other members further suggest that this situation is specific, though not limited, to Nigeria generally, and northern Nigeria in particular. Mary, for example, wrote “whn u said 'lets 4get religion...i cnt but wonder if u r stil living in ds country let alone d north” (November 21, 2014);
and Hilary wrote, “We can always peddle separation of politics from religion, but in the politics of the north, religion is its bedrock, fully enshrined. We're victims of religion in politics, maybe that's why we have a great phobia for it, but under the guise of so-called liberal ideas”
(November 21, 2014). These members depict religion as intricately connected to politics and criticize counter-suggestions as fake liberal ideals. Hilary further suggests that such ideas are a mere cover up for something deeper, which is seen in his use of the victimhood narrative and suggesting that the presence of religion in politics was a causal factor and that the experience has caused a “phobia” that makes some Forum members seek separation. The view that religion is intrinsic in society and politics also shapes political decisions as some members explicitly declare their intention to vote political candidates of their own religion only, and partly because this is what Muslims are perceived to be doing. Bala, for example, declared, “I and my family will not give any muslim our vote, I’ll beta vote a bad Christian instead of a Muslim” (December 5, 2014); and Janet wrote, “No true Muslim will comment or campaign for GEJ. My SK brothers are channelling their good talents and energy for GMB. Abin mamak!i” (December 21, 2014).
In other words, while Southern Kaduna Christians are campaigning for Buhari, a Muslim, no true Muslim will do the same for Goodluck, a Christian. This Forum user further depicts prioritization of religious affiliation in political decisions as a mark of “true” religiosity, and again, using Muslims as the example. The idea that religion and politics, or secular life, are not separated by Muslims is prevalent in Nigeria (Onapajo, 2012). Kukah (1998) and Laguda (2013) argue that while Christians have historically made a distinction between the sacred and the profane, and applied that to religion and politics respectively, Muslims have seen their religion as applicable to all spheres of life. Kukah (1998) and Laguda (2013) further demonstrate how Muslims have historically applied religion to both pursue and counter political interests, including several conflicting interpretations within Islam. Thus, given northern Nigeria’s history of Islam, early political parties and attitudes were tied to Islam and religious concerns form important political agenda (Onapajo, 2012). Falola (2009) suggests that Islamic symbols still remain effective for political ideology and for legitimization. Uthman and Abbas (2013) suggest
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that rather than merely mixing religion and politics, Islam upholds a different vision of modernity, and poses a critique of western ideas of modernity and progress. According to Uthman and Abbas, while differing and even conflicting views exist within Islam about modernity, there is a common vision of modernity that diffuses “Islamic principles and values in both the intellectual and political projects of modernity” (2013:171). Nonetheless, scholars such as Laguda (2013) argue that separation of religion and politics is not a feasible goal, as religion has always been an intrinsic part of society and politics.