Why I prefer orisa worship to Christianity, Islam — Wole Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, says he prefers traditional Orisa worship to Christianity and Islam because it fascinates him more.

Soyinka said this in an interview with CNN’s Larry Madowo, where he further explained that, for him, the depth of faith in Islam and Christianity does not match that of Orisa worship.

According to him, Orisa worship eschews violence and is more creative.

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“I was fortunate to be born into two worlds – the Christian world and traditional Orisa worshippers. My grandfather, until he – poor man – also got converted, was an Orisa devotee and a chief, and his side of Orisa fascinated me a lot more.

“For me, Orisa worship was more artistic, creative, and also more mysterious. I do not find much of the mysterious in Christianity, and even less in Islam, and that is simply because I did not grow up in a Muslim environment.

“Orisa is open and very ecumenical, and that is why these foreign religions were able to penetrate it and even distort the truth. Because of the generosity of this spirit, Orisa is not violent. It is one of those African religions which eschew violence.

“I do not believe in the Islamic or Christian God, and if, for the adherents of these religions, that makes me an atheist, then I say, I am an atheist. I insist that all human beings have a certain spiritual core in their being; I believe myself to be a more spirit-sensitive person.”