Obama's Grandmother Changes Islam Story

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=29154_Obamas_Grandmother_Changes_Islam_Story&only ^

[stickman20089]

Yesterday’s edition of USA Today had a story about Barack Obama’s grandmother in Kenya, in which she slams the Clinton campaign for circulating photos of Obama in Muslim garb—and then states that she is a Christian: Obama’s grandma slams ‘untruths’.

Obama’s grandfather had converted to Islam from Roman Catholicism and taken the name Hussein, Sarah Obama said, but his children had inherited only the name, not the religion. Each person should be able to choose how they worshipped, she said.

“In the world of today, children have different religions from their parents,” she said. She, too, is a Christian.

Just one little problem with this statement.

In April of last year, Sarah Hussein Obama told the New York Times she is a devout Muslim.

Sarah Hussein Obama, who is his stepgrandmother but whom Mr. Obama calls his grandmother, still rises at 5 a.m. to pray before tending to her crops and the three orphans she has taken in.

“I am a strong believer of the Islamic faith,” Ms. Obama, 85, said in a recent interview in Kenya.

[KingJaja]

That is not true, Christianity is the fastest growing religion in Sub-Saharan Africa.

At the turn of last century Islam was the dominant religion in Africa. In 1900, there were 9 million christians in Africa, in 2000 there were 380 million christians (the number is growing).

The Western MSM (under Saudi influence) does not like to acknowledge that fact, but Christianity is growing faster than Islam.

People who claim that Islam is growing faster point to higher birth rates as the cause. But the birth rates of Christians in Africa is similar to the birth rates of Muslims in Africa. In addition it is estimated that 6 million African muslims convert to Christianity each year.

(You can read the Next Christendom by Philip Jenkins to understand more).

[KingJaja]

Just to add, I was BORN, educated and worked in Sub-Saharan Africa.(West Africa).

I KNOW the figures for the Muslim population of Nigeria are widely inflated. (There are political reasons for this). This may jolly well apply to several other nations in West Africa.

[agrace]

If you were born there then you certainly add a much needed perspective, thank you. That said, Christianity might be the fastest growing religion in sub-Saharan Africa, but considering the dominance of Islam to the north, I have a hard time believing that Christianity is the fastest growing religion in Africa as a whole. I certainly hope you’re right though.

[KingJaja]

The population of Sub-Saharan Africa is larger than the population of North Africa. The fertility rate of North Africa (high as it is) is less than the fertility rate of Sub-Saharan Africa.

The two most populous nations in North Africa are Egypt (80 million) and Algeria (33 million).

In Sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria has a population of (140 million) - greater than Egypt + Algeria, South Africa (47 million), Congo-Kinsasha (58 million), Ethiopia (70 million), Kenya (37 million).

Out of these nations, only Nigeria and Ethiopia have significant Muslim populations. The rest are predominantly Christian.

I did not pull these figures from my head. They are freely available. I don’t understand where the fiction that Islam is the fastest growing (or largest) religious grouping in Africa comes from.

[agrace]

I donÂ’t understand where the fiction that Islam is the fastest growing (or largest) religious grouping in Africa comes from.

Probably because internet sources tout it quite a bit. Here are some tables from wikipedia (I know, don't even say it, just using it as an example) that demonstrates Christianity as a whole is a minority religion -

Christianity in Africa

Region	Total Population	Christians	% Christian	% of total Christians
Central Africa	83,121,055	53,127,098	63.9%	3.008%
East Africa	195,041,900	116,911,194	59.94%	6.620%
North Africa	203,536,578	10,271,958	5.04%	0.581%
Southern Africa	138,028,304	81,609,757	59.12%	4.621%
West Africa	269,922,224	93,283,710	34.56%	5.282%
Total	889,650,061	355,203,717	39.92%	20.11%

Islam in Africa

Region	Total Population	Muslims	% Muslim	% of Muslim total
Central Africa	83,121,055	12.6 million	15.1%	3.1%
East Africa	193,741,900	66.4 million	34.3%	16.5%
North Africa	202,151,323	180 million	89.1%	44.8%
Southern Africa	137,092,019	8.9 million	6.5%	2.2%
West Africa	268,997,245	134.0 million	49.8%	33.3%
Total	885,103,542	402.0 million	44.86%

[Richard Kimball]

Yeah, but it’s 100% Voodoo.

[KingJaja]

Those Wikipedia figures are suspect. According to the same Wikipedia article you liftes your statistics from: According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Christianity is currently one of the Africa's most widespread religions, with a following of some 51.5% of the population. So please check with the Encyclopædia Britannica. I suspect that even Encyclopædia Britannica's figures are conservative. You have to live in Africa to really grasp the rate of growth of Christianity.

[KingJaja]

The Muslim population of Sub-Saharan Africa is concentrated in the North (semi-arid region), while the Christian population is concentrated in the South (fertile region). I am yet to come across any demographic study that supports the notion that semi-arid regions are more densely populated than fertile regions.

Most people in the West do not understand the politics behind the figures. (There are things the British and French never tell you about Colonialism). The British and French prefered dealing with Islamic rulers. They found it more convenient to rule indirectly through Islamic Emirs than through traditional chiefs. The British, for example legitimised Shari'a in Northern Nigeria and discouraged the activities of Christian missionaries.

After independence, the political structure was skewed in order to favour the Islamic population. Nigeria has had several censuses, all have been controversial. The figures from the Muslim North have been questioned as being too high and fradulent. These same figures are paraded and parroted by reputable organisations like the CIA, BBC and UN. Any Nigerian over the age of sixteen understands that these figures are nonsense.

The last census took place in 2006. It was remarkable because the leaders from the Muslim North were adamant that religion should not counted as part of the questionnaire.

This what BBC had to say:

The BBC's Alex Last in Lagos says the results will be scrutinised to see whether the majority of people live in the predominantly Muslim north or the Christian and animist south.

Although the controversial questions about ethnicity and religion have been removed.

Question: If the Muslims were so sure about their supposed numerical superiority, why were they opposed to putting religion on the census questionnaire?

Now, 1 out of 4 Sub-Saharan Africans is a Nigerian.

[agrace]

Question: If the Muslims were so sure about their supposed numerical superiority, why were they opposed to putting religion on the census questionnaire?

Maybe because Islam is insecure about EVERYTHING. :) I'm kidding, but it's true.

Like I said, I really hope you're right. That's interesting stuff about colonialist practices - it makes a strange sort of sense. Of course they'd rather deal with Islamic leaders than a widely diverse range of tribal traditions. Stands to reason it would be much easier. And it also makes sense that they'd discourage Christian missions because Christianity breeds democracy while Islam breeds the opposite. Again, much easier to control the natives.

Unfortunately things are coming home to roost these days - Europe's in trouble with its huge Muslim demographic.

Thanks for the discussion and the perspective. Despite my reluctance to believe you (ha), it's pretty heartening to hear that Christianity could be growing that much in such a place. Now they need to work on all those Marxist tendencies and Africa might stand a chance. :)

[KingJaja]

Can’t you see the contrast between the Muslims in Europe who are ever so eager to have censuses and love to tout their numbers and numerical superiority. If Muslims are reluctant to have censuses then there is a problem.

The last census in Nigeria in which religion was on the questionnaire was the 1963 census. The figures that CIA, Wikipedia and BBC quote are projections based on the 1963 census. They don’t take into account the fact that Christianity has grown rapidly since independence. The same probably applies to most Sub-Saharan nations.

Those of us who have lived in Nigeria (I took part in the 1991 census) know that the figures are rubbish.

Lastly, there are no Marxists in Africa, Africa has never had Marxists. Mugabe is not a marxist. What Africa has always had is tribalists. Mugabe is essentially a tribalist. Mugabe’s opponent belongs to a different tribe from Mugabe. Mugabe’s support does not stem from his Marxist ideology or his economic competence but from people from his tribe. If Mugabe goes, his opponent will build his support from another tribe (he can spout all the pro-American BS, to keep you guys happy). There is no guarantee that he will be better than Mugabe.

That, is the tragedy of Africa.