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The Unresolved Separation of Church and State in Ethiopia?

 A week ago, there was huge mass protest in the streets of Addis Ababa, Ethiopian capital city. For years the Ethiopian Tewahedo church was riven by long suppressed and suffocating grievances between its church and the Ethiopian state. For a very long time, the Ethiopian government has been acting like a mafia political organization. Due to its involvement and inability to fix things, it utterly failed to do the right thing. This led some people to believe that even the breaking up of the Muslim councils, its leadership, six months ago was the result of government interference in Muslim affairs. As it was stated, the prime minister often dabbled in deadly problems throughout the country. In fact, he did not merely attempt to resolve them, but rather aggravated them. Whenever there is a problem, he deploys state security apparatus forces to resolve it by force, including whipping and shooting people. The present feud was started by a few disgruntled clergy, who violated the church's working mechanism, and doctrine, and even though they were aware of the imperatives of the Tewahedo inner workings system of the church, they did not care if they violated its principles due to political motives. The prime minister has been implicated in the affair, which he shouldn't have been involved in given the country's tribal politics. There were many who wondered whether the prime minister had taken sides because the claimants were from his tribal background. Perhaps he was unaware of what had happened, but many question whether he hadn't been informed. If the prime minister hadn't been involved, he would have ordered investigation into the case. This would have allowed him to set up a commission to investigate the affairs of those presented to him, but with the knowledge of the Canonical Governing Council. But he did not do it, that has resulted in the widespread mass protest last week across Ethiopia, as well as from Ethiopian exiles in other parts of the world. The state seems caught unprepared by the flood of protests that filled Addis Ababa's streets due to this sudden demonstration that didn't sit well with authorities. A prominent Ethiopian historian described the event as unprecedented in the country's history. But few are aware that the church was responsible for organizing this mass protest, and with the help of its followers, church devotees, it went smoothly without violence. In opposition to the Ethiopian government's draconian bantustanization policies, they demanded none-interference by the government in the affairs of the church. And Tewahedo church leaders called on their flowers to protest the sitting government's interference in the affairs of the church. According to church leaders, the government in power has crossed the red line for Ethiopia's independent church, which has existed for thousands of years. In their letter, they demanded respect for Canonical law, its administration imperatives, and independent governing principles. That the authorities must stop intervening in the affairs of the church, allow the church to function without government interference. We don't have guns, killer drones, armor, armed armies, but our crosses, recited the church leaders along with their ardent disciples. All roads and perimeters were filled with people carrying crosses on their shoulders, chests, and hands. As the crowd sang, "We are not afraid of your guns, but our faith in Jesus Christ, Mary, and our crosses do." We are children of God, children of the Tewahedo church. We do not fear any earthly power, nor the government of Abiy Ahmed. Abiy Ahmed, stop dividing our church into groups based on ethnicity; this is a violation of the law of heaven and earth. Please refrain from interfering in our church's affairs. Please follow, the Ethiopian constitutional law, which defines the state as separate from the church. As stipulated in the constitution, the church was protected, and the state would not interfere with its activities, so it should not interfere now. In response, the government of Abiy Ahmed, noticing the severity of the situation, tried to play a double game of politicking, but it appears the state has accepted its defeat, they are now on a different course. There is no doubt that the state underestimated the power of the church, those dedicated fervent followers of Christ who unquestionably respond to every call the church makes to carry out the church's mission. Done!

  Have a nice weekend!

 

Interesting Views About Ethiopian Music

Right now, I'm listening to beautiful Amharic music by various artists old and new but mostly contemporary music, which I enjoy these days very much. It has been every day for almost 6 months now. I am not listening to oldies anymore, though I still love them, but I am liberated now that I have incorporated all new Amharic music into my music selection. They are available on Spotify and other music platforms. We are no longer living in gloomy times like the 90s and 80s, when families used to send us cassettes of brand-new music when we arrived in the States. Today, you have access to everything you need to receive and enjoy music thanks to the high-tech of informational technology. As someone from old school, I have found it difficult to adjust to the new trends in music. Nonetheless, as someone who believes in the changing dynamics that occur in the world, I have also had to change some odd habits to conform to the changing trends in music, or else I would remain stuck in my ways. After a long period of distance from contemporary music due to my distaste for rap music and computerized voice manipulation, I'm now enjoying it again. As a result of my research, I discovered that Ethiopian music movement has been gaining great new experiences, it has undergone a great tectonic shift; restoring its originality, spicing it up, and withdrawing some experiences from the past, and replacing them with new ones. Let me be the first to say that I love the new Ethiopian sound. In addition to listening to music, I also read comments about artists, their performances, styles, voices, dresses, or outfits. It became apparent to me that some of these people are extremely popular commentators, while others are intrusive, condescending, abusive, and do not appreciate musicianship in any form. However, most fans are supportive, appreciative, and loving. The best of the good will came from faraway places, such as the Middle East, Central Asia, South and Far East Asian nations, including Australia. A Kazakhstani man and a Nepali man were surprised by the angelic voices of the Ethiopian singers, Amharic is beautiful, beautiful, an angelic language, which foreign schools should teach the say. A Nigerian woman championed Fikreaddis, Tamir, Rahel Getu, Veronica as therapeutic music for pharmacies. The song "atasferaragn" by Helen Berhe, Rahel Getu, "aleguaguam" is popular in Juba South Sudan, Siria Linka, Rwanda Kigali, Veronica, Lemlem Hailemichael "Kidus Lalibela" is popular in Nepal, along with Tameer music "manawa." In addition, all best wishes, love were coming from Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan Gahanna, Senegal, Nigeria, and South Africa, including neighboring countries. As a result of my observations, I discovered that many people from all over the world have never heard of Amharic music and language before. However, they love the language and wish they knew what was being said in it. Since discovering this language, a man from Kenya has been playing Amharic music in his bar, Everday.  A final note, I think many post-colonial countries have no national languages like Amharic that have developed over centuries. My roommate from Botswana used to listen to my Amharic music with great interest, fifteen years ago. Then one day, I asked if he could play some Botswana music for me, he replied that he had mostly English music, however some Botswana plays local tribal music, which is meant for specific local geographies, like in Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, etc. 

The end.