Introduction
Ethiopia (a Wikipedia link) is a landlocked country in eastern Africa with a population of about 138 million people. It is Africa’s second-most populous country (after Nigeria). It is bordered to the north by Eritrea and Djibouti, to the east by Somalia, to the south by Kenya, and to the west by Sudan and South Sudan. Its capital and largest city is Addis Ababa.
It is a federal parliamentary republic. The prime minister is the head of government and the president is the head of state (with largely ceremonial power). The upper house (House of Federation) is elected by regional councils. The lower house (House of Peoples’ Representatives) is elected by the people. The president has a six-year term and the prime minister has a five-year term.
Ethiopia is officially a constitutional secular state. It was one of the first empires in the world to adopt Christianity as the state religion (in the 4th century), and it is still the dominant religion in the country. There are close to no citizens who report as atheists.
History
Prehistory and ancient kingdoms
- Cradle of humanity: The area is known for important archaeological discoveries, including “Lucy” (Australopithecus afarensis), a 3.2-million-year-old hominid fossil.
- Kingdom of Dʿmt: In the 7th century BCE in the northern region, Dʿmt emerged as a trading state that traded gold, ivory, and agricultural goods with southern Arabian traders.
- Kingdom of Aksum: In the 1st century CE, Aksum emerged as a trading power that linked the Roman Empire, India, and the interior of Africa.
- Adoption of Christianity: In the 4th century, King Ezana made Christianity the state religion, making the Ethiopian Orthodox church one of the oldest indigenous Christian churches.
Medieval era and the Solomonic dynasty
- Zagwe dynasty: Following the kingdom of Aksum’s decline, the Zagwe dynasty took over and constructed the famous monolithic rock-hewn churches of Lalibela in the 12th and 13th centuries.
- Solomonic dynasty: Established in 1270 by Yekuno Amlak (who claimed lineage from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba), the Solomonic dynasty ruled the Ethiopian Empire (known as Abyssinia) for centuries.
Colonial resistance and modern history
- Battle of Adwa (1896): Ethiopian forces (directed by Emperor Menelik II) defeated the invading Italian army. This ensured that Ethiopia became the only African nation to resist European colonization during the Scramble for Africa (despite a five-year Italian military occupation from 1936 to 1941).
- Haile Selassie’s reign: Emperor Haile Selassie modernized the nation. He was overthrown in 1974.
- The Derg (1974–1991): A Soviet-backed Marxist-Leninist military junta seized control. That lead to a brutal dictatorship with economic turmoil and severe famine.
- Contemporary Era: The Derg was ousted in 1991. That led to a transition period culminating in Eritrea’s formal independence in 1993. Then followed political and economic changes under successive administrations.
Current day
Religion in Ethiopia (a Wikipedia link) is as follows (as of 2023):
- Christianity: 62.7%
- Ethiopian Orthodox: 40.1%
- Protestant: 22.1%
- Catholic: 0.5%
- Islam: 36.9%
- Ethnic religion: 0.2%
- None: 0.1%
- Other religion: 0.1%
Of note is the negligible numbers of None and Other in the above list. The historical roots of both Christianity and Islam make it very difficult for the people to accept change in the religious status quo.
Ethiopia is one of the most religious countries, with religion deeply woven into the social and cultural fabric of daily life. About 98% of the population have reported that religion is the most important part of their lives.
The country has a constitution that states a formal separation of state and religion, however in practice, all aspects of society are affected by religion.
Unusually, Ethiopia has 13 months in its calendar. It divides the year into 12 months of 30 days and has a final 13th short month of 5 or 6 days. Due to a different calculation of the birth date of jesus, the Ethiopian calendar is 7 to 8 years behind the global Gregorian calendar. These oddities are because the country was never colonized and therefore managed to keep its traditional timekeeping quirks.
Issues
Due to the depth and integration of religion in everyday life, a statement of non-religiosity by a citizen can lead to social segregation, hostility, and being disowned by family.
Blasphemy and public criticism of religion can result in severe social and legal repercussions.
Human rights organizations report restrictions on independent media, detention of journalists and medical workers, and restrictions on the Internet by the government.
Same-sex acts is illegal and carries prison sentences from one to 15 years. This is actively enforced via the raiding of hotels, bars, guest houses, and restaurants.
There is no legal recognition of same-sex marriage or unions. That includes issues like adoption and gender identity. See LGBTQ rights in Ethiopia for more details (a Wikipedia link).
Women have a hard time of things in Ethiopia. There is widespread abuse of women, including rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence. These problems are often unreported and there is poor access to legal protection for victims.
A high percentage of girls are forced into marriage before the age of 18. Female genital mutilation (although criminalized) is still widely practiced. There is a high maternal mortality rate and healthcare is very low in rural areas.
Women do not receive fair pay or legal recognition for their work. Female literacy rates are lower than male rates, and female higher-education completion is very low.
The contradictory aspect of Ethiopia is that it ranks among the poorest of nations (43% to 72% of its citizens live in poverty) despite it ranking moderately well in terms of nominal GDP (72nd globally) and purchasing-power parity (48th globally).
The country does have low-productivity agriculture that is susceptible to adverse climate, however it also has high inflation (at about 15%) and high internal conflicts. State resources have been diverted towards military spending (instead of higher infrastructure spending). This has caused poverty rates to increase significantly in recent times.
Religious advocates are quick to point out the caring and giving side of religion, however for some reason, and despite 99.9% of the population being religious, the people of Ethiopia face: poverty, conflict, violence, discrimination, and oppression.
You’d think that, if the the fundamental tenets of religion mean something, that almost 140 million people following those principles should have produced some sort of paradise on Earth by now. You’d be wrong.
Of course, not all people in Ethiopia struggle in poverty. It turns out that a tiny minority of the people hold enormous financial assets. There are thousands of millionaires and some prominent billionaires who control huge business empires. The obvious question is: how religious are those people in public and in private? The other obvious question is: how much do the elite benefit by having an enormous and suppressed population working for them?
In terms of a secular society, Ethiopia is pretty much a lost cause. It’s a tragedy that close to 140 million people are living lives based on the lies, mistakes and misinterpretations of the various religions (which are based on writings 1,500 to 2,500 years old). In case there is any doubt about that, see Problems with religion (a page, and sub-pages on this site).
Secular and atheist groups
There are basically no secular, atheist or humanist groups operating in Ethiopia. There is close to 100% religious affiliation in the population and there are strict laws for the registration of civil organisations.
The following are about all that is available to the 140 million citizens of Ethiopia (links are to the organisation’s web site unless stated otherwise):
Forum
Regarding this forum, remember:
- this is a place to help others, so please be polite,
- that we’re trying to reduce the effects of religion in this society,
- that participants may have been badly affected by religion,
- to respect the privacy of everyone (including yourself),
- the law.
If your motives or actions are otherwise, you will need to find another venue.