Mereja.Forum

[Odie]

One of the hot spots of the renaissance of Ethiopia is the marriage between the orthodox church in Ethiopia with politics that is ruining the nation. EOC is rooted in the Northern regions and culture and intertwined with the daily life. The religion feeds wrongly into the politics which serves a source of a predicament to the secularization of Ethiopian politics based on political science and practice.
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Transitioning Ethiopia away from the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church's (EOTC) political legacy requires strict enforcement of constitutional secularism, decentralizing religious institutions to reflect the country's diverse ethnic and linguistic makeup, and fostering a civic national identity entirely separate from any single religious or historical establishment. That is probably what the politicians attempted when they tried to make EOC regional serving in regional language but there was a large outcry from the ignorant, including some of us that time and of course the chauvinists that want to maintain their grip through their religion.

The centuries-old intertwining of the EOTC with the Ethiopian state created a deep-seated legacy of "king-making" and cultural hegemony that still heavily influences modern politics. Moving away from this legacy requires a multi-faceted approach:

1. Enforcing Strict Separation of State and Religion

• Constitutional Integrity: While Ethiopia's constitution guarantees freedom of religion and separation of state and religion, successive governments often utilize religious co-option or repression to meet political goals. Genuine separation requires state actors to remain strictly neutral rather than intervening in church governance, schisms, or internal disputes.

• Neutral Civic Identity: Government and civil institutions must promote a civic-based national identity that treats all belief systems—including Islam and indigenous faiths—with absolute equality, ensuring religious affiliation does not dictate political access or legitimacy.

2. Decentralization and Institutional Reform within the EOTC

• Linguistic and Ethnic Representation: A major point of political contention stems from allegations that the EOTC has historically favored Amharic and Northern cultural narratives, leading to schisms like the creation of the breakaway Oromia Orthodox Church. Expanding the use of local languages (such as Afaan Oromoo) and ensuring localized leadership helps decenter the traditional Orthodox-state hegemony.

• Internal Democratization: Empowering regional dioceses to independently manage their administrative, cultural, and linguistic affairs—while maintaining core theological unity—reduces the overarching central synod’s ability to act as a centralized political powerbroker.

3. Promoting Ethno-Regional Federalism

• Separating Faith from Territory: Ethiopia’s current political system is organized around ethnic federalism. Moving away from a singular historical narrative requires a commitment to equitable power-sharing across all regions.

• Countering Christian Nationalism: Certain groups (like Mahibere Kidusan) actively push for the restoration of the pre-1974 imperial era when the EOTC and the state were one. Political leaders and civil society must counter this Christian nationalism by promoting inclusive, secular political parties and institutions that prioritize democratic representation over historical religious privileges.

4. Fostering Interfaith Dialogue and Truth/Reconciliation
• Dialogue over Coercion: The government and church leaders must address grievances through open dialogue and reconciliation, as opposed to heavy-handed crackdowns or arbitrary arrests, which often only serve to strengthen religious-nationalist resistance.

• Institutional Frameworks: Establishing independent civic and religious regulatory bodies can help arbitrate disputes between the state and church actors, ensuring that neither politicians nor religious institutions use faith communities as tools for political polarization and propaganda.

[Odie]

There is no question that EOC political power and ethnic power influence should be downsized and the church should be made to focus on religious work only dissociating itself from political power play.

It also has to be decentralized so that regions can take care of the orthodox religious affairs of their region in their own language.

The church should not have preferential power or language preference with regard to its role as a religious institution.

Although it should be respected, it is time for the EOC to change administratively and its deliberate entrenchment in the New Testament affecting from nutrition to political affairs in that poor country.