[Author’s Note: This essay in two parts on sacred music vs sacred silence also deals with colonialism and Christianization in Ghana.]
The Ghanaian Pentecostal church’s opposition to the month of silence is not about them asserting the importance of freedom of religion. Instead, the church’s stance seems to be one of pure colonial imposition. Beginning in the 1970’s different Christian denominations, such as the Roman Catholic Church, started a process of “African enculturation” whereby the traditional songs and drumming rhythms used by the people were incorporated into the liturgy and service. The prophetic and spirit-healing churches embraced whole-heartedly the use of drums, singing traditional songs, and performing traditional dances which “…maintained a continuation with a perceived cultural past of ancestral and healing traditions…”[1] Conversely, the Pentecostal church refused to engage in this “African enculturation” and preferred to develop a hybridized music style of Western, Black American, and West African for their worship services. There was a fear that religious-cultural traditions would serve as an avenue for Satan, and the only way to combat him was through the Christianizing of Ghana.[2]
The hatred of Ghana’s cultural past includes not only the traditional religious beliefs of the people but also the traditional musical instruments of the people. The Pentecostal churches prefer to use Western-made electric guitars and other instruments. As Dijk explains:
To safeguard a disconnection from the cultural past, in Pentecostal ideology, neither musical styles nor musical instruments should be of local origin, and they should not refer to local traditions of veneration of ancestors. Acquiring instruments from the West … precludes such ‘contamination’ by past traditions and influences.[3]
But, even purchasing musical instruments from the West may not entirely be free of consequence. Pentecostals believe that to have money to buy such expensive luxury items, the buyer may have to make a blood covenant with Satan in which they sacrifice a close relative. To avoid this possible contamination, the leaders of the church will pray over the instruments before they are shipped and when they arrive to ensure that no evil or harmful influences follow the instruments from Europe to Ghana.[4] To Pentecostals, the power of Satan can come not only from the traditional religious festivals which they oppose but also from the expensive instruments which they seek to use and own.
Is this Music Sacred?
When I attend circle or celebrate any of the Pagan festivals drumming, and singing is central features. If you were to do a YouTube search for pagan/Goddess music, you would find that drums figure prominently, and songs are sung at the alto level, which most people can reach. The reason for a low steady thrum is to induce a trance-like state in the listener, to move them onto another plane of existence. Pagan/Goddess music in America cannot be found in the spiritual/religious sections of most music stores. Instead, they are listed under “New Age,” an ironic heading since most of the “New Age” music consists of ancient Buddhist and Tibetan chants, Native American songs, and drumming done on traditional instruments. Most of this music is used for meditation and ritual by non-Christians. Unfortunately, some Christians believe that Christianity is the oldest and only true faith; therefore, and every other religion came later and was influenced by demonic forces.[5]
Western churches in Africa and South America continue to demean traditional practices and music as “primitive, heathen, and uncivilized.” In these instances, traditional music and ritual become more than merely religious observances. They have become a symbol of the people’s rejection of colonial power and their determination to regain control of their country, culture, history, and traditions. In Africa and the United States, there is a resurgence of African religious practices being incorporated into mainstream church services because the leaders realize that these practices fill a need within the people to connect with their culture and ancestry. Even if the practices are not the same as those their ancestors observed before they were slaves, they still provide a connection to the original home of all humanity.
The position of the Pentecostal church is one of disrespect both to the Ghanaian people Ghana and sacredness of their music. Music, hymns, and songs are essential to worship and praise. The fact that the Pentecostal church in Ghana is using their music as a weapon is shameful. Those who live around the churches have filed complaints with the police and city officials because of the nightly noise that accompany church services. Instead of addressing the charges, the church officials raise the cry of religious discrimination and refuse to compromise by keeping the music down or not playing after a specific time.
This cry of religious discrimination is raised when another religious and culturally significant festival is taking place, which requires quiet. Instead of being considerate of the beliefs of their neighbors, the Pentecostal churches make noise and play music throughout the festival. They insist that their modern, Christian way is the only path to salvation and that the cultural festival of Homowo is an “animalistic” outdated ritual that will not allow Ghana to enter into the civilized world. This belief carries over into the instruments used in the Pentecostal churches. No traditional instruments, no instruments made in Ghana; instead, the church leaders insist on purchasing expensive, new Western instruments made in Europe.
In Ghana, the debate on religious freedom versus religious tolerance is still not settled. While one church leader will release a statement claiming that the instruments are stored away during Homowo, another will mock the Homowo and ask why the churches should respect the call for less noise during one month out of the year. A statement from the Christian and Pentecostal Counsels of Ghana acknowledged that the ban on drumming levied against the Pentecostal churches is probably based on:
…the fact that there is indeed an increase in undue noise-making and drumming which go on in certain places till well in the night, if not starting too early in the morning. Or they could also be due to the insults and abuses which some new-founded Churches hurl in traditional authorities. We love our culture and respect our traditional leaders, but we strongly believe that the statement for the Ga Traditional Council infringes on our basic human and constitutional rights. …We are being asked to involve ourselves in traditional religious practices that we do not believe in. We are being forced to avoid something that our religion expects us to do, namely, to sing, drum, and praise God.[6]
Let us consider this statement for a moment. Pentecostal leaders acknowledge that there have been many complaints about the noise during their services, services that can start early in the morning, and last late into the night. Some of the hatred directed against traditional leaders can stem from new churches or church members.[7] But, they believe that the edict is limiting their religious freedoms against loud noise during Homowo.
All of these are valid statements, and if left there, we could understand their desire to worship as they wished. However, the Council also included this in their statement, “Our traditional leaders should not force us to do something against our conscience. … It will not be in the interest of our traditional leaders and will cause disaffection and lead to violence which will not auger well for our country.”[8] So a call for peace is ended with the threat of violence is the Pentecostal church leaders do not get their way.
While music used in ritual or worship may be sacred, I believe that when the Pentecostal church of Ghana uses music as a weapon for force deference to Christian practices and belittles traditional beliefs as animalistic, they remove what is sacred from the music. They take what is holy, good, sacred, and Godly out of their teaching and practice and make the words of the Bible a tool to hurt others. For the music to be sacred, it should be used joyfully, inclusively. When it is a weapon or colonial oppression or forced conversion, it becomes no different than a cry of propaganda and a chant of hate.
(End of the Essay)
Meet Mago Contributor, Francesca Tronetti, Ph.D.
[1] Ibid., 39.
[2] Ibid., 49.
[3] Ibid., 54.
[4] Ibid., 54.
[5] This may seem like an extreme point of view but once you have had complete strangers quote Bible versus and tell you that you are going to hell because they see your spiral Goddess necklace; or when you engage in a 20 minute debate trying to explain to someone that the Old Testament is the Jewish Bible and therefore Judaism is the older religion, you realize that yes some people are completely unable to even consider a different view point. Also never try to explain how the story of Job and the flood myth actually come from Mesopotamia; it is just not worth it.
[6] Ghana Web, “Ban on drumming: Christians seek middle road as government calls for calm,” Ghana Web, May 7, 1999. http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=6433.
[7] No zealot like a convert
[8] Ghana Web, “Ban on Drumming”.