Kenya: Religion
Natalie Mogul
World History-Hjelmgren
5-17-09, Period 7
Kenya: Religion
If you really think about it, Christians and Muslims are not very different. From creation to the morals of each religion, they believe in mostly the same things. The people in Kenya do not see this and cannot come to peace with each other. Their leaders are even getting involved. In Kenya, the Muslims and Christians are in a long term feud, and the Muslims do not feel welcome.
The Christians and Muslims do not get along and there has been predicted violence if something is not settled (Mwesigwa). According to the Department of State, there have been church groups arguing that the Constitution gives special treatment to the Muslim courts. Although nothing happened, both Christians and Muslims are in a debate over whether the country’s constitution should acknowledge the special Islamic courts (Dept of State). And even with a debate going about that issue, the Muslims still complain about not being treated well (Dept of State). They claim that the Government was “hostile” towards them (Dept of State). Muslims in Kenya struggle with finding their freedom of religion because they are a big minority.
The leaders of both the Christians and Muslims have stepped in to fight for their freedom. For instance, Christian leaders chose to move away from the pulpit to the rostrum to sanitize politics (Mwesigwa). According to Baldauf, Sharif is the Muslim leader who hopes to solve the problems by winning over Islamist militia’s. Sharif said, “The reason they are fighting us is to overthrow our government and to prevent the creation of an effective government” (Baldauf). It is safe to say that the Muslim and Christian leaders are in an argument. One example would be that the Somali Islamist leader launched his final assault on the Somali transitional government which caused multiple days of fighting and dozens to be killed (Baldauf). These problems are not getting solved and the leaders are not helping the matter.
It is clear that the Muslims and Christians are not getting along and are not on the road to being able to settle this argument. I feel that if the government stepped in a little more and helped put peace between these two sides, things would happen a lot smoother. The government could possibly bring peace with each other because they know what is right and wrong. The Christians and Muslims are fighting, but there has to be a right and wrong to each situation that they are in. There is hope to all religious groups in Kenya.
Annotated Bibliography
Baldauf, Scott. “Somali government encircled by hardline Islamists.” Lexis Nexis. May 12, 2009 http://ntesx01-lic.nths.net:2052/scholastic/printdoc
This site gave me a lot of information on the leaders of both Christian and Islam. It helped me to write my second body paragraph
Mwesigwa, Fred. “Religious Share Blame for Kenya Strife.” Global Issues In Context. February 1, 2008. GIC. May 12, 2009
This site helped me with information about the leaders and the conflicts between Christians and Muslims.
U.S. Department of State. “International Religious Freedom Report 2007.” Kenya. May 12, 2009 http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90103.htm
This site gave me a lot of information on all aspects of religion in Ke nya. The information really helped me write my paper.
Last updated by Natalie Mogul May 22, 2009
World History-Hjelmgren
5-17-09, Period 7
Kenya: Religion
If you really think about it, Christians and Muslims are not very different. From creation to the morals of each religion, they believe in mostly the same things. The people in Kenya do not see this and cannot come to peace with each other. Their leaders are even getting involved. In Kenya, the Muslims and Christians are in a long term feud, and the Muslims do not feel welcome.
The Christians and Muslims do not get along and there has been predicted violence if something is not settled (Mwesigwa). According to the Department of State, there have been church groups arguing that the Constitution gives special treatment to the Muslim courts. Although nothing happened, both Christians and Muslims are in a debate over whether the country’s constitution should acknowledge the special Islamic courts (Dept of State). And even with a debate going about that issue, the Muslims still complain about not being treated well (Dept of State). They claim that the Government was “hostile” towards them (Dept of State). Muslims in Kenya struggle with finding their freedom of religion because they are a big minority.
The leaders of both the Christians and Muslims have stepped in to fight for their freedom. For instance, Christian leaders chose to move away from the pulpit to the rostrum to sanitize politics (Mwesigwa). According to Baldauf, Sharif is the Muslim leader who hopes to solve the problems by winning over Islamist militia’s. Sharif said, “The reason they are fighting us is to overthrow our government and to prevent the creation of an effective government” (Baldauf). It is safe to say that the Muslim and Christian leaders are in an argument. One example would be that the Somali Islamist leader launched his final assault on the Somali transitional government which caused multiple days of fighting and dozens to be killed (Baldauf). These problems are not getting solved and the leaders are not helping the matter.
It is clear that the Muslims and Christians are not getting along and are not on the road to being able to settle this argument. I feel that if the government stepped in a little more and helped put peace between these two sides, things would happen a lot smoother. The government could possibly bring peace with each other because they know what is right and wrong. The Christians and Muslims are fighting, but there has to be a right and wrong to each situation that they are in. There is hope to all religious groups in Kenya.
Annotated Bibliography
Baldauf, Scott. “Somali government encircled by hardline Islamists.” Lexis Nexis. May 12, 2009 http://ntesx01-lic.nths.net:2052/scholastic/printdoc
This site gave me a lot of information on the leaders of both Christian and Islam. It helped me to write my second body paragraph
Mwesigwa, Fred. “Religious Share Blame for Kenya Strife.” Global Issues In Context. February 1, 2008. GIC. May 12, 2009
This site helped me with information about the leaders and the conflicts between Christians and Muslims.
U.S. Department of State. “International Religious Freedom Report 2007.” Kenya. May 12, 2009 http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90103.htm
This site gave me a lot of information on all aspects of religion in Ke nya. The information really helped me write my paper.
Last updated by Natalie Mogul May 22, 2009
