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October 7, 2014

Those who want Africa to walk tall amid 21st-century global competition must not kid themselves

that providing the material means or even the knowhow that accompanies what we call development will make the change.
A whole belief system must first be supplanted. And I'm afraid it has to be supplanted by another. Removing Christian evangelism from the African equation may leave the continent at the mercy of a malign fusion of Nike, the witch doctor, the mobile phone and the machete.
-- Matthew Parris: As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God

Posted by gerardvanderleun at October 7, 2014 9:13 AM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.

Your Say

Africa has everything it needs as a continent to be prosperous, healthy, strong, rich, and dominant... except a Judeo-Christian heritage.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 7, 2014 9:35 AM

The only way to get good crop yield from some fields is to raze the land, plough everything under, and start from scratch. Eugenics has its place and this is a textbook example of one.

Otherwise it is only good money after bad, Christian or secular.

Posted by: chasmatic [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 7, 2014 9:47 AM

By the way, who says we want Africa to "walk tall"?

I got eyes, ya know. This is not racist ranting. It is a good hard look at the evidence, compiled over a century or two:

The only redeeming thing about the wretched continent is the natural resources and historically the native populations have been in the way. Like rats in the warehouse. Like a turkey in the corn.

Chris: what you say is correct but it will not happen. Too much, too long, too strong the juju.

Posted by: chasmatic [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 7, 2014 10:11 AM

No, CT, no. That isn't all it needs. And what it needs it cannot have.

Posted by: james wilson [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 7, 2014 10:51 AM

Friedrich Nietzsche would almost certainly agree that Africa needs a Christian heritage, even though he was a rant-filled atheist. For he also wrote, along with "God is dead," that what would replace God would be worse for humanity than religion ever was.

BTW, Africa already has more people confessing Christian faith than North America has people, period. And unlike North America, Christianity is growing in Africa.

Posted by: plus.google.com/104841162830331053592 [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 7, 2014 11:27 AM

The answer and salvation for Africa, as it is being for South America, is applying the tried and true principles and policies described in Hernando de Soto's "The Mystery of Capital."
This will be the godsend to Africa's terrorist and despair prone countries, as it has been for Peru which finally defeated the "Shining Path" terrorists and has been building a sound capitalist economy.
Of course, vampiric Western and Chinese exploitive economic/financial policies of interference will have to be defeated along the way. What's new?

Posted by: Stug Guts [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 7, 2014 3:49 PM

Africa, a continent rich in natural resources and populated by a people that never evolved beyond the stone age, and never will.

Posted by: ghostsniper [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 8, 2014 11:28 AM

I am reminded of a scene from a movie with Eddie Arnold Arnold and Judge Reinhold, I think it was called "Inc." A big conglomerate that sells everything from landline telephone service to jet fighters is selling advanced jet fighters to warring tribes that live on opposing hills in some benighted region. Their method of combat is to pull these fighters to the tops of hills and roll them down the hill, like a high-teck runaway snowball, toward the other tribe.

Posted by: tscottme [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 8, 2014 1:05 PM

There isn't much to help Africa until they rid themselves of the dictators, Shamans, and put Christianity in it's place. Christianity is a socialist practice which is no better than any other of that type.

Only when the people get the idea that they can do it on their own, without government permissions and interference will they succeed.

This will require killing a bunch of people that believe they by birth, have a right to what you have.

Posted by: Vermont Woodchuck [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 8, 2014 2:38 PM

Mainland godless communist China came from third world status to first world status in manufacturing [high and low tech], weaponry, and national economy. Confucian principles, putting the state before the individual, and a totalitarian driving force have made them what they are now. Not different in essentials from Stalin's USSR and Hitler's Germany -- give enough with hope for more to the masses and reward the managers more lavishly, and blame the helpless innocent when others complain about slowness of progress.
Progress can be a matter of organizing around proven principles and methodology and knowledgeable non-greedy mentors. Is not Lagos [in southern Nigeria?] an example of what Africa needs more widely. Perhaps sub-Saharan Africa can become the agricultural and mineral hub of the planet? The Chinese think so. They continue to pour workers and financial resources into development there. Perhaps we need to reorient ourselves and participate in joint ventures with Africans for development of Africa. Resource rape of Africa should be eliminated along with the rapists, ghouls, and vampires

Posted by: Stug Guts [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 8, 2014 3:52 PM

In time maybe the Christian cultural influence can make a difference, but there's a big contrast between a culture with 1000+ years of Christian heritage and one with a few decades. We're losing that in the west and maybe they're gaining it in the east and Africa.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 8, 2014 3:58 PM

Mainland godless communist China came from third world status to first world status in manufacturing [high and low tech], weaponry, and national economy. Confucian principles, putting the state before the individual, and a totalitarian driving force have made them what they are now. Not different in essentials from Stalin's USSR and Hitler's Germany -- give enough with hope for more to the masses and reward the managers more lavishly, and blame the helpless innocent when others complain about slowness of progress.
Progress can be a matter of organizing around proven principles and methodology and knowledgeable non-greedy mentors. Is not Lagos [in southern Nigeria?] an example of what Africa needs more widely. Perhaps sub-Saharan Africa can become the agricultural and mineral hub of the planet? The Chinese think so. They continue to pour workers and financial resources into development there. The Chinese have similar plans underway in South America. Perhaps we need to reorient ourselves and participate in joint ventures with Africans for development of Africa. If we don't do it voluntarily, the Chinese will displace us completely -- they've got lots of 'our' money with which to do it.

Posted by: Stug Guts [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 8, 2014 4:01 PM

I think the Chinese-African match is perfect. The Chinese have absolutely no illusions about the natives, and the natives have no illusions about the Chinese.

Posted by: james wilson [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 8, 2014 11:52 PM

China isn't a 1st world country, its a paper dragon hollow inside and gaudy. You can see the feet of the people under it running around holding it up if you aren't distracted by the bright coloration and graceful movements. Russia was the same way under the Soviets: it looked impressive and seemed a superpower the equal of the US but inside it was rotting potatoes and collapse.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 9, 2014 9:11 AM

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