The New Dawn, Monrovia – A traditional chief of River Gee County, James Pah Sayee, has launched an attack against the Church in Liberia, claiming that the Church has caused lots of problems and damaged the country’s cultural practices.
Speaking recently during a forum held in Monrovia, Chief Sayee said, though cultural practices were created by God and existed prior to the coming of Western missionaries in Liberia, Churches here forbid their members from partaking in cultural activities on grounds that they are Christians.
He alleged that the Church only teaches the doctrine of the Bible and whenever a Church-goer was found into any other cultural practices, Church authorities would have them punished for mixing Godly and worldly activities.
He argued that at the Liberia Bible Society between 11th and 12th Streets in Monrovia last week that the Church’s stance against allowing their members to participate in cultural activities has over the years scared away others from being part of their culture and caused problems for traditional people.
“The church business brought lot of problems. Now, I’m a member of the Assembly of God; they only teach me the doctrine of the Bible and if a Church member practices other culture, they are punished in the Church,” he claimed.
According to him, when God created the world, he created culture, saying, even the white race has a culture. But concluding his argument, Chief Sayee said the traditional people’s problem with the church in Liberia was to have people come here to damage the Liberian culture.
“When God created the world, he created culture; even the white man has culture. But people come here to damage our culture – that’s why we have problem with,” he said.
Meanwhile, efforts to get comment from authorities of the Liberian Council of Churches or LCC failed, as its president’s mobile phone number rang endlessly, while other pastors that were contacted preferred speaking on the matter subsequently.
