Chapter 541 I'll Dare You Next Time
Religious issues are a long-standing problem in other countries, but East Africa does not have such concerns because East Africa has been a country built on secular forces from the very beginning.
Moreover, in the land of East Africa, there were only Arabic religions and some indigenous wizards in the past. Wizards could also be said to be priests. The indigenous people were under a low level of development. Even within the country, there were a large number of tribes and independent villages. These countless small units each had their own gods and ghosts that they worshipped.
It is impossible to form a unified belief. According to Ernst's understanding, religion is a social group with a strict organizational structure and a unified program. Therefore, the scattered indigenous beliefs in East Africa cannot meet the requirements of religion at all.
If there is religion in Africa, then the strength of this force must be strong. The simplest example is the Abyssinian Empire. They believe in the "Coptic" Christianity, which is similar to Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, but is influenced by the Eastern Roman Empire and is closer to Eastern Orthodoxy.
Religious forces can suppress social contradictions and bring society together. This is a characteristic of many theocratic regimes, so religious countries can easily grow and develop.
It is obvious that there is no such religious force in sub-Saharan Africa, otherwise it would definitely be possible to develop a relatively powerful centralized regime in sub-Saharan Africa relying on religious power.
As a feudal slave kingdom, East Africa was not only wary of "reactionary" ideas such as freedom and democracy, but also wary of backward ideas such as religion and anti-science, although East Africa's system itself seemed very reactionary and backward.
This is a matter of opinion. The Eastern princes also called Qin a barbarian! Ernst is not belittling Qin. Qin was very powerful at the time, but it was not a normal country. To a large extent, Qin's success was based on military plunder of the six Eastern countries. This is very similar to Germany today. After all, other countries call Prussia a barbarian, but are Prussian barbarians backward? In all aspects, Prussia is not backward today, and is even quite successful.
In the eyes of other countries, Prussia's military system is no different from the "tyranny" of the Qin Dynasty, so these are all prejudices. Without the rise of Prussia, Germany might still be bullied by France and other powers.
Back to the issue of religion, contemporary Western missionaries can be said to be quite crazy, and they can even be seen in the barren lands of Africa.
There were European missionaries in the South Sudan region under the control of East Africa during the Ottoman era. However, it can be seen that the Christian missionary activities in Africa were not smooth, and could not even compete with Arabism.
The large-scale conversion of Africa occurred after the large-scale invasion of Africa by European colonists, but now the emergence of East Africa has directly restricted the missionary activities in the entire southern Africa in history.
This constraint is the Cultural and Religious Affairs Bureau of East Africa. It is very difficult to become a priest in East Africa. You need to pass a strict exam. Even if you become a formal priest, it is difficult to have room to play, because the East African government stipulates that priests can only preach in the church. If they go out of the area, it is illegal. For example, if you recruit people on the street, the law enforcement agency can directly arrest them. In addition, all church activities must be reported to the government, including gatherings, celebrations, etc.
What orthodox religious people are most dissatisfied with is probably the so-called "freedom" policy of religious belief in East Africa, which has led to non-believers being able to flourish in East Africa.
The biggest feature of East African religions is that there are no churches. All religions are organized into regional churches that are not subordinate to each other. The superiors of these churches are the local Cultural and Religious Affairs Bureau. Without churches, those churches are just scattered soldiers with very little say.
In fact, Constantine, Karina, Archduke Ferdinand, and Princess Charlotte were all relatively devout Catholics.
But Ernst has no feelings about religion. Although he is a "reborn person", he does not attribute his rebirth to any gods or the like, because his rebirth mode is to close his eyes and open them again.
"When in doubt, turn to quantum mechanics." This is Ernst's attitude. Since they are also illusory things, they could be space-time cracks, space-time tunnels, parallel universes and other mysterious things.
Moreover, he has a very simple logic. In his previous life, he did not believe in any religion or ghosts and gods. Assuming that supernatural mysterious powers exist, it is impossible for someone like him to be reborn. If he really reincarnates, hell is the place for non-believers like him.
Of course, in order to appear more sociable, Ernst's image in public was naturally that of a Catholic believer. However, judging from the religious policies in East Africa, any discerning person would find the purity of Ernst's Catholicism to be highly questionable.
The East African Bureau of Cultural and Religious Affairs is not only active in Nairobi, it is a national agency and is at the same level as the East African National Defense and Security Agency and the East African Immigration Agency. It is a powerful agency.
So this time the East African government is not targeting Nairobi, but is taking such actions across the country, with the exception of Nairobi, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, which are the key areas.
"This time, our department has banned and destroyed 123 illegal religious organizations and individuals across the country, investigated and dealt with three officials who were sheltering them, investigated and dealt with 15 illegal schools and illegal assembly organizations, and arrested 23 people."
The report of the Bureau of Culture and Religious Affairs shows the powerful crackdown on hostile elements threatening East Africa's cultural and ideological fields this year.
It also shows that the current society in East Africa as a whole is relatively stable, because the problems mentioned in the report are minor issues compared to the entire country of East Africa.
For example, the “individuals” in the illegal religious organizations and individuals mentioned in the report indicate that many cases may be just individual behaviors. This has been strangled by East Africa before it has even begun to take root, so it has not become a trend.
Constantine: "Ernst, do you have any prejudice against religion? If it was just a matter of German, I could understand it, but you are too cautious about religion."
Constantine did not blame him, but he did not quite understand. After all, some of Ernst's policies were too shocking and were always incompatible with mainstream society.
Ernst understood his father's feelings, but considering his father's identity as a Catholic, he followed Constantine's words and said, "Father, that's not the case. It won't do us any harm to restrain these forces. After all, God doesn't want those who cheat and steal to do bad things in East Africa in his name."
What Ernst said is the same as not saying anything. Whether there is prejudice or not is relative. Even if Ernst himself is truly unbiased, his attitude is biased in the eyes of devout believers.
So Ernst turned to the Director General of the Cultural and Religious Affairs Bureau, Wali, and said, "You have done a good job this year. Keep up the good work."
This shows Ernst’s attitude towards religious affairs in East Africa: I’ll do it again next time!
"Yes, Your Highness!" After receiving the affirmation, Vali answered without hesitation.
Wali doesn't care about any religion. Even if Jehovah comes down to earth, his words are not as effective as those of his Highness. His firm atheist attitude is one of the important reasons why he holds this position firmly. As for the other reason, it is his loyalty to His Highness the Crown Prince.
(End of this chapter)
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