Ethiopia is one of the ancient countries in Africa and for centuries it has been isolated from the rest of the world. Edward Gibbons, the historian, wrote in The Rise and fall of the Roman Empire, “Ethiopians slept for nearly three thousand years forgetful of the world by whom they were forgotten”. Even today Ethiopians are not fully awake and still cling awkwardly to the past. The Orthodox Christian faith, which was established in the 4th century AD, is totally home grown with deeply ingrained superstitions, rituals and beliefs that include elements of ancient Judaism. Islam also came to Ethiopia shortly after some of the followers of Mohammed arrived there to escape persecution in Arabia.

Both Christianity and Islam are deeply entrenched in Ethiopia. Unlike other African countries that have been exposed to Western thought, Ethiopia, which was not colonized except for a brief period of 5 years, itself created most of its own modern infrastructure, and has therefore lagged behind in developing a sense of connectedness to new ideas and philosophies. With this background, Ethiopians are very rigidly Orthodox and never question their faith. However, in the last 50 years or so missionaries from Europe and the US have infiltrated Ethiopian society and have converted millions into their sects. The most popular of these new religions are Adventists, Protestants, Jehovah’s witnesses, Catholics, and Protestants. Recently the Mormons have also established a foothold in the highly populated capital city.

Even the Moonies are vying for their share and in the last few years have planted their agents in the universities, masquerading as students of culture but who actually seek out converts aggressively. The Moonies are working very hard and treacherously by forming such fancy-sounding organizations as “women’s federation for world peace”.

Most young people in Ethiopia consider the Ethiopian Orthodox Church too old-fashioned. When new religions appear with a very aggressive proselytizing campaign, these youngsters easily fall prey, assuming that they have found some new and better truth. If they were presented with the idea of Humanism with its openness and unthreatening and reasoned philosophy, young people would easily relate to it. But where such an alternative doesn’t exist, they would embrace any new cult that is aggressive and cunning. One of our members is a former university student who had joined the Moonies a few years ago. When I met this young woman at the University and introduced her to Humanism she was very receptive. She had been full of doubts about her previous religious experiences, first as an Orthodox, then as a Pentecostal and finally as a Moonie. But she could not articulate these doubts. She had never had the opportunity to find out about Humanism but had experienced all the falsehoods and bigotry of organized cults. What she had needed was the invigorating idea of Humanism with its appeal to reason and self-respect rather than fear and punishment.

The opportunity for the Ethiopian Humanist Organization (EHO) to reach out to thousands of young people is readily available. The challenge is to have the resources to reach to them. African Americans for Humanism have provided us with several hundred books and regularly send us Free Inquiry magazine, which our members enjoy reading. We have been able to establish a presence on the Internet with support from AAH.

The goals of EHO are to make Humanist philosophy and thinking easily and readily available to Ethiopians, particularly the youth. EHO aims to reach out to thousands of young Ethiopians, particularly those in higher education, with the specific goal of adding at least 20–50 members in one year. It plans to produce a brochure explaining Humanism and EHO, and will publish a quarterly newsletter that would be distributed to members, potential members and others. Other plans for which we are currently seeking funding include conducting studies of superstitions, and gathering information on issues related to separation of church and state.

The broader impact of our activity will be to introduce this new idea of Humanism, to have people become aware and ask questions, and encourage a new and bold approach to a scientific method of inquiry. Another effect of our activity will be to inculcate in people the ability to feel worthwhile, to feel human and capable of changing their circumstances without relying on supernatural forces and other illusions.

Gebregeorgis Yohannes is founder of the Ethiopian Humanist Organization which is receiving IHEU support to establish itself.