Soyinka's religion

Norm quotes with approval Wole Soyinka's piece in the Guardian on the French intervention in Mali:

[I]n the end, it took a former colonial power to seize the leadership. Humiliating? Not quite. This invasion was not just a Malian affair, or even an African one: it was a global challenge. It had become clear that a few more weeks of inaction would have empowered Mali's invaders and, by extension, the murderous campaign of Nigeria's own Boko Haram.

Unlike most commentators, I confess that I find it impossible to regard these al-Qaida clones as either political or religious movements, even of the extremist kind. That their ability to recruit footsoldiers is a reflection on society's failures is not in doubt; nonetheless, it is naive to attribute this solely to unemployment, marginalisation and other social inequities. The world is facing viral mutations of the human psyche. Take Joseph Kony, the Christian warrior of Uganda whose idea of "resistance" is child conscription, abduction and rape, spiced with the slicing off of lips, ears and noses of unbelievers. People such as he belong to a special category that is part-criminal, part-psychopathic...
.....
The truth, alas, is that the science fiction archetype of the mad scientist who craves to dominate the world has been replaced by the mad cleric who can only conceive of the world in his own image...

And, yes, I take the point that he's saying something useful here that, to quote Norm, "naive liberals with a wholly benign view of human motivation and wilfully unseeing members of the left" would do well to take into account. But I don't think he (Soyinka) should be allowed to get away with that line about finding it "impossible to regard these al-Qaida clones as either political or religious movements, even of the extremist kind". Because, though he clearly doesn't like it, that's exactly what they are.

He wants to make out that this isn't a religious problem - that it's some kind of modern "viral mutation" - because their behaviour doesn't coincide with what he thinks religion should be. But you can't just define it away like that; you can't just take the positives of religion as real religion and then pretend all the unpleasant bits are something else entirely. By their own account, and from the accounts of their victims, the Mali Islamists, and Nigeria's Boko Haram, really do believe that they're fighting a religious war, and that their actions are justified by the teachings of Islam. They may be wrong - Soyinka obviously thinks they're wrong -- but I see no evidence that they're lying.

The sooner national leaders and genuine religious leaders understand this, and admit that no nation lacks its own dangerous lunatics, be they Ansar Dine of Mali, or Terry Jones of Florida, the earlier they will turn their attention to the issues truly deserving priority.

They may be nasty, and Soyinka may not approve of them, but many "genuine" religious leaders actually do think as these Islamists think - unless you define "genuine" as "religious leaders I happen to agree with".

 

Comments

[Bob-B]

Of course it's not just the Mali Islamists and Nigeria's Boko Haram who believe that they're fighting a religious war and that their actions are justified by the teachings of Islam. It's also Al-Shabaab, the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, Hamas, Hezbollah, and others. There are too many of these groups to maintain the line that they're nothing to do with mainstream Islam, which is wholly benign. It's a situation which sensible Muslims should find rather embarrassing.

[Dom]

Terry Jones is a nasty imbecile, but he's not Ansar Dine. I think he was just mentioned to balance a Christian against a Muslim.

[Mick H]

Yes exactly. Hardly comparable.

[sackcloth and ashes]

@ Mick H

I have the feeling that Wole Soyinka's main point is that 'movements' like Ansar Dine and Boko Haram may have an ideological veneer, but in the end they're just like the RUF and the LRA. It's all about power and terror.

It's also quite striking to see that while Africans - whether it's Soyinka, or Timbuktu's recently liberated citizens - can see the Islamists for what they are, 'Guardian' writers will continue to make excuses for them.

[Mick H]

Yes, that's his main point. And I agree: it is all about power and terror. But then he's trying to make out that this is somehow not religion. I'm saying, yes, this is religion. This is, exactly, religion.