Conservative Anglicans and Lutherans Seek to Appease African Demagogues

Members of the leadership of both the Anglican Communion and the worldwide Lutheran Church (see my post from this morning) worry about offending the anti-gay sensibilities of Church leaders among African elements of those denominations - "Christians" like Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria who may have authorized the massacre of 600+ Muslims. Amazingly, regardless of how bizarre some of the beliefs of these African Christians may be, rather than buck the will of these nutcases, the leaders of both Churches apparently would rather embrace ignorance and bigotry rather than stand up to these African leaders of growing but uneducated and ignorant populations. A couple of stories illustrate how crazy some of these Africans "Christians" can be in real life - even as the U.S. leaders of the Episcopal and Lutheran Churches continue to cower and grovel to these crazy "Christians." The first story comes from Ghana where a pastor - albeit not an Anglican pastor - beat an alleged witch to death:

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Pastor Kwame Kussi, 30, of the Warriors of Zion Prayer Camp at Asante Kwaku near Nsawam has been remanded into prison custody at Nsawam, for allegedly lashing Madam Esther Ayeley, 40, a farmer at Asante Kwaku to death.

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Briefing the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at the Nsawam Police Station, Chief Inspector Redeemer Kumah said Pastor Kussi on Sunday, August 9, this year, testified during a deliverance service that the deceased and her two daughters were witches.
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Inspector Kumah said the pastor with the help of some of the church members allegedly laid the woman and canned her till she collapsed and died the following day, in an uncompleted building near the church. The body of the deceased has since been deposited at the Police Hospital in Accra for autopsy. Inspector Kumah said the police are still investigating the case to enable them arrest the other members of the church, now at large, who assisted in canning the deceased.

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This case is not unique. A prior CNN story looked at the problem of "child witches" and the fact that "Christians" are one of the major problems. Here are a few highlights:

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The teen is one of the so-called witch children in Eket, a city in oil-rich Akwa Ibom state of Nigeria. They are blamed for causing illness, death and destruction, prompting some communities to put them through harrowing punishments to "cleanse" them of their supposed magical powers. "Children accused of witchcraft are often incarcerated in churches for weeks on end and beaten, starved and tortured in order to extract a confession," said Gary Foxcroft, program director of Stepping Stones Nigeria, a nonprofit that helps alleged witch children in the region.

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Pastors have been accused of worsening the problem by claiming to have powers to recognize and exorcise "child witches," sometimes for a fee, aid workers said. But some are true believers, such as one minister in Lagos, Nigeria. He pinpoints children affected by witchcraft for free, he said. "Sometimes, we get a dream that shows us a certain person is suffering from witchcraft," said the Rev. Albert Aina, a senior pastor at Four Square Gospel Church.

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"The role of the international Christian community in this cannot be underestimated," Foxcroft said. "Unfortunately, the fact remains that this belief system is being spread by so-called Christians."

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I cannot help but wonder what is more important to U.S. Church leaders of these denominations - growing membership numbers among the uneducated and unhinged or doing what is right and rejecting ignorance and intolerance? In the case of the ELCA, we will know the answer to this question by the end of this week.