Marty Martinez presents:
This section of the website will focus on responses from the Ethiopian Orthodox church representatives address social and global issues. The rapid global growth of the church has presented its positive and negative aspects. Europe for example has directly been affected by the recent spread of Orthodox. In an article written by Joachim Persoon titled The Planting of the Tabot on European Soil: The Trajectory of Ethiopian Orthodox Involvement with the European Continent, he relates the value the Tabot holds in Orthodox and how it aided Ethiopian immigrants in the twentieth century to experiencing the European Diaspora. In other articles that will be presented, researchers find that the religion worships forestry and how the church has taken action to protect north African forests. As long as Orthodox continues to spread, the church will have to respond to global issues and social concerns.
In the article written by Joaquim Persoon, he relates the importance behind the Tabot in the Orthodox religion to the European Diaspora. The Tabot is slab of material made from either wood or stone, and it is a symbol representing God. Ethiopian Orthodox followers wear these slabs of material on their heads and cover them with colorful sheets of cloth. The final product is supposed to represent the Ark of the Covenant which can be found in Solomon’s Temple as well as Noah’s arc. Because the Tabot is associated with Noah’s arc, the church itself represents a vehicle bracing the ocean of troubles and ending up in a “safe haven” made from the Tabot’s divine presence. All of this history and sentiment behind the Tabot contributes to the experience of being a member of the Orthodox church.
Major historical events began to unfold in Ethiopia in the twentieth century that catalyzed the movement of Orthodox Ethiopians to Europe. For example, Marxist supporters organized a military coup against the Ethiopian empire and succeeded. At this point in history, the country came under the rule of Marxism. Ethiopians were forced to flee their homeland and seeking refuge in European countries, taking their religious beliefs with them. In Persoon’s article, he compares this movement of Africans to Europe to the European Diaspora. The European Diaspora was a time in history where Jewish people fled Israel following the demise of Constantinople. Orthodox Ethiopians sought help from their church because African view on religion is that church brings a particular meaning to life. This kind of mindset helped Orthodox Ethiopians adapt and assimilate to their surroundings. The Orthodox church often has this urge to be more religious when reacting to global events, whether they are good or bad events.
Another instance in which Ethiopians looked onto the church for help when reacting to social issues occurred recently when an abundance of northern African forests began to plummet. Orthodox Ethiopians consider their forests sacred because they are one of the venues in which services are held and the trees symbolize angels guarding the churches. Also the natural world is believed to be a gift from God given to man that is meant to be protected. This idea of protecting nature is similar to ubuntu. Ubuntu is a moral concept prevalent throughout Africa that makes every human responsible for everyone. The basic understanding of ubuntu can help to better understand the dedication Orthodox Ethiopians have towards protecting the forests. In an article written by a group of researchers from the International Journal of the Commons titled Changes in community perspectives on the roles and rules of church forests in northern Ethiopia, the group informs readers of how the Orthodox church has responded to the social issues that have led to the destruction of the plant life in Ethiopia. There is minimal knowledge regarding the institutions that care for the plant life in northern Ethiopia, which makes this article one of the few to elaborate upon this subject. The authors state that some of the only surviving forests today are under management of Orthodox Ethiopians.
The sanctity the forests hold has been destroyed by deforestation. Reasons for deforestation in the area include the desire to plant cash crops, construction for larger buildings, firewood and construction wood. Even though the church receives a portion of the revenue collected from the sales it has chosen to stop altogether. Surveys were taken in 2002 and later in 2014 from four local Ethiopian communities to get a better picture of how the forests have changed. The communities that the researchers surveyed consisted of the Hiru, Debresena, Dengolit and Gelawdios. All respondents from the 2002 survey were found and survey in the 2014 survey in each community. The survey included personal questions and questions that focused on the characteristics church forests. The personal questions collected data of the participants age, occupation, literacy and land ownership. From the 2002 survey, the researchers found that close 83% of respondents concurred that there has been a declination in forests in the community, and 36% blamed weak legislature and law enforcement. When they went back in 2014, the researchers found that the people who still believed there was a decrease in local forestry went down to 64%. The percent of people who blamed legislature and law enforcement rose to 58%. More people surveyed from the Debresena and Dengolit communities agreed the forest should be completely closed and protected. Close to zero people from any of the communities believed in harvesting the forest for its materials.
In the article written by Joaquim Persoon, he relates the importance behind the Tabot in the Orthodox religion to the European Diaspora. The Tabot is slab of material made from either wood or stone, and it is a symbol representing God. Ethiopian Orthodox followers wear these slabs of material on their heads and cover them with colorful sheets of cloth. The final product is supposed to represent the Ark of the Covenant which can be found in Solomon’s Temple as well as Noah’s arc. Because the Tabot is associated with Noah’s arc, the church itself represents a vehicle bracing the ocean of troubles and ending up in a “safe haven” made from the Tabot’s divine presence. All of this history and sentiment behind the Tabot contributes to the experience of being a member of the Orthodox church.
Major historical events began to unfold in Ethiopia in the twentieth century that catalyzed the movement of Orthodox Ethiopians to Europe. For example, Marxist supporters organized a military coup against the Ethiopian empire and succeeded. At this point in history, the country came under the rule of Marxism. Ethiopians were forced to flee their homeland and seeking refuge in European countries, taking their religious beliefs with them. In Persoon’s article, he compares this movement of Africans to Europe to the European Diaspora. The European Diaspora was a time in history where Jewish people fled Israel following the demise of Constantinople. Orthodox Ethiopians sought help from their church because African view on religion is that church brings a particular meaning to life. This kind of mindset helped Orthodox Ethiopians adapt and assimilate to their surroundings. The Orthodox church often has this urge to be more religious when reacting to global events, whether they are good or bad events.
Another instance in which Ethiopians looked onto the church for help when reacting to social issues occurred recently when an abundance of northern African forests began to plummet. Orthodox Ethiopians consider their forests sacred because they are one of the venues in which services are held and the trees symbolize angels guarding the churches. Also the natural world is believed to be a gift from God given to man that is meant to be protected. This idea of protecting nature is similar to ubuntu. Ubuntu is a moral concept prevalent throughout Africa that makes every human responsible for everyone. The basic understanding of ubuntu can help to better understand the dedication Orthodox Ethiopians have towards protecting the forests. In an article written by a group of researchers from the International Journal of the Commons titled Changes in community perspectives on the roles and rules of church forests in northern Ethiopia, the group informs readers of how the Orthodox church has responded to the social issues that have led to the destruction of the plant life in Ethiopia. There is minimal knowledge regarding the institutions that care for the plant life in northern Ethiopia, which makes this article one of the few to elaborate upon this subject. The authors state that some of the only surviving forests today are under management of Orthodox Ethiopians.
The sanctity the forests hold has been destroyed by deforestation. Reasons for deforestation in the area include the desire to plant cash crops, construction for larger buildings, firewood and construction wood. Even though the church receives a portion of the revenue collected from the sales it has chosen to stop altogether. Surveys were taken in 2002 and later in 2014 from four local Ethiopian communities to get a better picture of how the forests have changed. The communities that the researchers surveyed consisted of the Hiru, Debresena, Dengolit and Gelawdios. All respondents from the 2002 survey were found and survey in the 2014 survey in each community. The survey included personal questions and questions that focused on the characteristics church forests. The personal questions collected data of the participants age, occupation, literacy and land ownership. From the 2002 survey, the researchers found that close 83% of respondents concurred that there has been a declination in forests in the community, and 36% blamed weak legislature and law enforcement. When they went back in 2014, the researchers found that the people who still believed there was a decrease in local forestry went down to 64%. The percent of people who blamed legislature and law enforcement rose to 58%. More people surveyed from the Debresena and Dengolit communities agreed the forest should be completely closed and protected. Close to zero people from any of the communities believed in harvesting the forest for its materials.