A quick thanks to Andrew Sullivan for linking to my post on the compromised relationship that Western Anglican conservatives maintain with the Nigerian Anglican Primate, and on his role in recent violence in that country.
Sullivan believes I was too kind to the Archbishop. Indeed, I was concerned that it would be wrong of me, without more evidence, to make a strong connection between the Archbishop Akinola's statement and the subsequent retaliatory violence.
However, it now seems clear that Akinola's statement received considerable publicity, and that its release just preceded the retaliatory attacks. Despite claims by conservative Christian groups that the Church in Nigeria is under siege, and by the Archbishop himself that "it is no longer a hidden fact that a long standing agenda to make this Nigeria an Islamic nation is being surreptitiously pursued," Akinola owes both his God and his Church an explanation for the instigatory role he had in the violence of 2/21 and 2/22 in Onitsha.
A man of great compassion once said, "If the misery of our poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin."
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