Impact of COVID-19 Epidemic and the Ghanaian Situation
As every country in the world continues to examine their Coronavirus situations in order to put in place measures to mitigate and deal with the spread of the virus within their jurisdictions, one cannot discount the serious impact the pandemic continues to have on the religious, social, economic and political life of all peoples across the globe. In Ghana, as elsewhere, the impact of the Coronavirus disease on the different dimensions of the life of citizens within the period has been enormous and very significant.
In the discussion below, I propose to examine briefly the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the religious and political dimensions of life in the Ghanaian context.
The Religious Impact of COVID-19: The Ghanaian Context
Within the context of the raging epidemic, the role of God and religion has come into sharp focus. Many people, believers and non-believers alike, continue to ask themselves pertinent questions: “Where is (our) God in the midst of this pandemic?” “Is God good all the time or just some of the time?” “Is God all- powerful?” “Does God care for His people especially in times like these?” Thus, many people continue to battle with these and other similar questions in their minds each and every day.
From the standpoint of religion, I believe that no quick answers can and will suffice to respond adequately to these questions and similar ones, but the important point to note here is that no amount of evil or suffering can detract from the goodness and omnipotence of God.
The Christian Bible teaches that God did not spare His only Son but allowed him to suffer and die for humanity’s sake (Rom. 8:32) and that “by his wounds, we are healed” (Isa. 53:5). As a Christian, I believe that God is more than capable of turning this situation and indeed, every situation around for our good, and of ultimately saving all of humanity from this and any other pandemic. Therefore, at no point in time is there the need for anyone to despair. Instead, everybody ought to continue to hope and pray for the best while at the same time adhering to all health and safety precautions to help halt the spread of the virus. The Coronavirus disease can and will be defeated not only by faith and prayer, but also by doing the right things at the right time.
Ghana is a highly religious country with over 90 percent of the population professing faith in God and Allah. It is therefore not strange that one of the first things the President of Ghana did following the announcement of the first case of the corona virus disease in the country was to call together selected senior members of the Christian clergy in the country to the Jubilee House, the Seat of Government, for a Breakfast Meeting and Prayer.
This meeting which took place on March 19, enabled the Religious leaders of our country to pray for the President and his Government, our health workers, as well as victims and their families, and to seek God’s intervention for an antidote to the virus. Two days later, Muslim leaders were also invited to the same venue for the same purpose.
A few days after the Breakfast Prayer meetings took place, the President also declared March 25 as a National Day of Fasting and Prayer, inviting all citizens to offer prayers and engage in acts of fasting to ask for God’s help to protect our country and the world, and for God to save us from the pandemic. What is encouraging is that the President indicated that his invitation to citizens to pray and fast was not to be a stand-alone activity but was to be accompanied by strict adherence to safety measures and precautions outlined to curtail the pandemic.
While most citizens rightly praised the above initiatives of the President, a few dissenting critics criticized the above initiatives as unnecessary and irrelevant to the fight against the disease. I think that since religion plays an important role in the lives of many Ghanaians, people of faith must be granted their freedom to demonstrate their faith especially in this difficult period of massive uncertainty.
It is interesting to note that the presence of the Coronavirus disease in Ghana seems to have given some ammunition to some Ghanaians who have for some time now been unhappy with some pastors and ministers of God in the country owing to various reasons, including their doomsday prophecies, “strange” miracles and irreverent display of affluence and wealth.
These critics have seized the opportunity brought by the Coronavirus outbreak to ridicule some of these pastors and prophets for their inability to predict the outbreak of the disease in the country (and the world) and their impotence to heal the victims of the disease. These critics argue that the Coronavirus disease has exposed many Ghanaian pastors and ministers of God as fake.
In my candid opinion, I think that these criticisms are unwarranted and needless. I believe that at this time of the day, what is needed is not baseless criticisms and ridicule but an all-hands-on-deck approach to deal with the raging virus in our midst. Having said this, let me now proceed to do a quick evaluation of the impact of the Coronavirus disease on the practice of religion in Ghana, in both its positive and negative dimensions.
Watch out for part 3
Source: Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Abbey-Quaye, Duquesne University, Pa.
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