The Diaspora Dilemma: How Ethiopian Orthodox Church’s Trust Has Been Broken

Yonas Biru

There are discernible reasons why the Oromo Prosperity Party (Oromo-PP) led by Abiy Ahmed and tribalist Oromos at large believe the emergence and sustenance of hegemonic Oromo require weakening, if not breaking the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) along tribal lines. They see the EOTC as the primary threat more so than their number one tribal rival – the Amhara. There are three reasons.

First, nearly half of the Oromo population is Christian and members of the EOTC account for the lion’s share of it. Therefore, Oromo-PP and tribalist Oromo clans see Oromo Orthodox Christians as enemies from within. Asafa Jalata, the intellectual godfather of the Oromo tribal land, uses unminced words in describing Oromos who embrace and venerate the EOTC. They are “assimilated former Oromos, who have been the defenders of the Habasha culture, religion, and the Amharic language and haters of the Oromo culture.”

Second, there are more members of the EOTC than members of the Amhara tribe. Therefore, the law of large numbers makes the EOTC more threatening than the Amhara.

Third, the EOTC is more likely to get international support from the global Orthodox and broader Christian community than the Amhara or any other group in Ethiopia will ever get.

For reasons noted above, the hegemonic Oromo’s Waterloo is the altar of the EOTC. This was evident during the renegade Oromo bishops’ coup attempt when the EOTC inflicted a serious blow to the delusional invincibility of hegemonic Oromo. But we must know that inflicting a serious blow is not the same as exacting a fatal blow. Delivering a fatal blow requires the weight and torque of the ስደተኛው EOTC living in the diaspora, most importantly in the US.

If members of the EOTC at home and in the diaspora have any qualms about the existential threat their church faces, they should read Asafa Jalata’s articles and books and listen to Shimelis Abdissa’s past speeches. The passion of hate and thirst for vengeance toward the EOTC that is impregnated in their bestial tribal theology is palpable. The tribal seduction of the Oromo political theology has begotten a culture of savagery that they affectionately call Oromummaa. As Asafa Jalata describes it, Oromummaa is a political ideology. Ethiopia’s future will forever be threatened until the backbone of Oromummaa is broken.

The root word for Oromummaa is Oromo, a term that was coined by a German missionary who was stationed in Wellega. The same missionary was the designer of the Oromo flag, using the old imperial German flag as an inspiration and imitation. The imperial German flag was created when numerous German states were under France during Napoleon’s reign. The same color schemes were reintroduced during the Nazi era, consisting of a black swastika in a white circle over a red background. The Nazi flag was designed to resuscitate the spirit and soul of imperial Germany. The colors that Germany felt compelled to change after the Second World War are still embraced and revered by a 21^st century Oromummaa, with Wellega clowns serving as flagbearers pursuing the dream of imperial Oromia.

Thanks to the savagery of German-inspired Oromummaa that alienated the people of Ethiopia in every nook and cranny of the nation. It is not the force of the opposition but the savagery of Oromo-PP and Oromummaa that has completely stripped the two institutions of any semblance of legitimacy or popularity.

ጃዋር ፖለቲካን ጥላ ኬንያ የጫት ሽቀላ የጀመረችው የፖለቲካዋን ኪሳራ እና የሽቀላዋን ትርፍ አመዛዝና ነው:: የኦሮሙማ ፊት አውራሪ የነበሩት የተከበሩ ፕሮፌሰር እዝቄኤል ጋቢሳም የንጉሱን ዘመን መልሱልኝ ያሉት ወደው አይደለም። ወደሽ ነው ገጣቢት ያለውን ባላገር አዳምጠው ነው የሚል ጭምጭምታ አለ እሳቸው ግን እስካሁን በገሃድ አላስተባበሉትም:: One thing is for certain.  ያዙኝ ልቀቁኝ ይሉ የነብሩት የተከበሩ ሺመልስ አብዲሳ እንድተነፈሰ ጎማ ተጨማደው ሳንባቸው አቅም አንሶት በየቴሌቪዥኑ እየዘለቁ የኦሮሙማ ፊሽካ መንፋታቸውን እና የትእቢት ቱሉልቷቸውን መቶልቶል አቁመዋል:: ኦሮሙማ ካባዋን ተገፋ ፀጉሯን በከፊል ተላጭታ ሌላ የመግቢያ ቀዳዳ እየፈለገች ነው::

This has perturbed the Oromo tribal power dynamics and sparked a glimmer of hope for a change in the nation’s political trajectory. But the hope will not turn to reality if ስደተኛው EOTC fails to live up to the legacy and expectations set by ስደተኛው ሚካኤል.

Supposedly, there are over 100 ስደተኛ EOTC Churches in the US alone with ታቦት and all. When it comes to mobilizing international support, no other Ethiopian group has the opportunity and the organizational platform as much as the ስደተኛው EOTC. They have the power not only to protect their Church but also to break the backbone of Oromo-PP and Oromummaa.

Considering Oromo-PP’s and Oromummaa’s systemic assault against the EOTC and the deafening silence of the ስደተኛው EOTC, a serious of questions impose themselves on us: Why has ስደተኛው EOTC failed to do the basic orthodox or ተዋህዶ thing of protecting its Church? When I speak of ስደተኛው EOTC, I am speaking not only of diaspora bishops and church administrators but also of EOTC’s devotees.

Let us put it in the vernacular in the interest of laying the unvarnished truth to bear. When Christians families are being burned alive and priests are slapped and stoned to death, the silence of the ስደተኛው EOTC is inexplicable. When the silence continues after the bellies of pregnant women are slit and their fetuses are ripped and discarded, the ስደተኛው EOTC’s seeming stance of “let them do their killing and we will do our preaching of life after death” epitomizes serious dereliction of clerical obligation, bordering on ክህደት.

What are the sources of ስደተኛው EOTC’s failings? Are they attributable to the distance from the epicenter of the Oromo-PP and Oromummaa savagery? Could it be the culture of absolute obedience to Church leaders who are apathetic to political campaigns even when it is aimed at ending persecution of Christians? Or is it its opaque modus operandi that has made it difficult to understand and impenetrable to rational and candid dialogue?

Addressing these questions requires a thorough investigation that I have neither the bandwidth nor the wherewithal to tackle. I will leave the questions to experts of the field and address what is obviously obvious to an ecclesiastical layman like myself. As such, I start with humility and candidness.

Humility requires me to ask ካጠፋሁ ይቅርታ because I wholeheartedly believe that to err is human and to forgive is divine. In the meantime, candidness obliges me to admit there is an element of desire to disturb the proverbial applecart by shaking it, willfully stepping over our cultural guardrails. In this regard, I am guided by a time old Ethiopian wisdom: ካልደፈረሰ አይጠራም.

We need to be candid in violation of our culture that sees candidness as a lack of judicious sophistication at best, or as an outright rudeness at worst. Our culture conceals inconvenient truths behind the beyond of layers of façades of softening statements and appeasing remarks to a point where the façades become the substance of the conversation, burying the truth beneath their underneath.

ባጠፋም ይቅርታ አድርጋችሁ allow me to be bold in the interest of laying bare the truth. The reason why diabolical Oromummaa clowns are wreaking havoc in the EOTC is because Ethiopia is trapped in a hermitized mindset of a solitudinarian tradition. Rant and rave if you must, vent if you need to ventilate, and shed some tears if you wish to cool off yourself, but the problem of hermitized frame of mind is most acute in the ስደተኛው EOTC.

አንዳንዶቹ እኮ አሜሪካ ኢትዮጵያን ሊያጠፋ የሚፈልገው የኦርቶዶክስ ቤተክርስቲያንን ለማጥፋት ነው ብለው የሚያምኑ እና የሚደሰኩሩ አሉ:: እውነቱን ካልፈራነው የኢትዮጵያን ቤተክርስቲያን የሚያጠፏት በኦሮሙማ የተለከፉ ልጆቿ እና ቆመው እንደታዛቢ የሚያዩት ወንድሞቻቸው  ናቸው። ከተሳሳትኩ ወይም ካጠፋሁ ይቅርታ ሆኖም ግን ህዝባችን የሚበላው ስንዴ እና ሩዝ በአሜሪካ ጆንያ ተሰንቆ ህዝባችን የሚታከምበት መድሃኒት በአሜሪካ ባንዲራ ባሸበረቀ ካርቱን ታጭቆ እንደሚመጣ መካድ ባህላችን የሚፀየፈው ነውር ነው::

Let us leave America alone and focus on our own failings. God has done its part in planting the seeds of self-destructive DNA in the Oromo-PP and Oromummaa evil theology. In so doing he has fermented the seeds out of which a new hope can sprout. The stars are aligned for Ethiopia to rise out of the ashes of Oromummaa. We are in the proverbial Phoenix moment.

The daring ካጠፋሁ ይቅርታ seduction of the virgin land of ካልደፈረሰ አይጠራም is pregnant with hope. That is if enough members of ስደተኛው EOTC carry it to term. It is, therefore, with unbounded humbleness and sincere humility that I submit my modest thoughts on the way forward. I hope the ስደተኛው EOTC community will receive it in the spirit of cordiality and wholehearted respect that it is delivered with.

• ስደተኛውEOTC needs to learn from the American Ethiopian Public Affairs Committee (AEPAC) and Ethio-American Development Council (EADC). The two institutions have abandoned the #NoMore ፍሬ ከርስኪ street diplomatic cacophony choreographed with a blend of ለቅሶ and ዘፈን. Of late, they have registered impressive strides in the political power corridors of America’s Ivory Towers. They have more to do, but their initial steps are already praiseworthy.

• ስደተኛውEOTC is not well tooled and honed to operate in the American lobbying system. Therefore, it needs to establish a joint committee with AEPAC and EADC.

• ስደተኛውEOTC’s ምእመናን need to hold their bishops’ feet to the fire for action. The thinking that the Church is a place of worship not politics is misguided when the Church is under a coordinated and protracted political assault by Oromo-PP and Oromummaa. Once again, “Let them do their killing and we will do our preaching of life after death” is a position of betrayal not of a theology of clerical divination.

• ስደተኛውEOTC needs to distance itself from confrontational extremists in the genre of Memhir Fantahun Waqe and work with leaders who are judicious and whose tendency is to nurture a negotiated settlement from a position of principle and strength built from national international support base. A dogma-driven head-on collision serves neither the EOTC nor the nation.

• ስደተኛውEOTC must have a laser-focused and fact-based agenda that the international community can rally behind. There is no point in claiming genocide that has not been proven no matter how much some members of our community believe that it has occurred.

• ስደተኛውEOTC must not forget that some three years ago Amhara political extremists raised over $400,000 to hire an international lawyer to file genocide complaint with the ICC on behalf of Amhara Orthodox. At the time, some of us told them no international lawyer worthy of his/her salt will go to the ICC to file unproven and unprovable genocide claim. Three years later, nothing came out of it. Correction: ABSOLUTELY NOTHING came out of the irresponsible genocide claim. No lawyer of international repute would rely on political slogan when there is no judicially admissible evidence. The $400,000 is presumed to be still in the Bank. Today, the Amhara lawyers who organized the GoFundMe campaign and አቱቶ ቡቱቶ-ized genocide are in full radio silent mode.

• ስደተኛውEOTC needs to identify American institutions that can support and champion its campaign. The most effective strategy is reaching out to religious organizations such as the political powerhouse Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, Leaders in the United States Congress for Religious Freedom, the International Christian Concern (Persecution.org), among others. There are lobbyists who specialize in religious issues and can help the EOTC mobilize influential religious groups to reach out to the White House and US law makers in both chambers.

• ስደተኛውEOTC needs to realize it has potent internationally documented and proven issues to raise. There is no need to raise genocide claim without international verification and confirmation. The only international report is Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention’s report that raised a red flag to alert for a risk of potential genocide. The report stresses the Amhara are “in a perilous discursive position that could easily devolve into genocide.” This is not the same as declaring existing or past genocide.

• ስደተኛውEOTC’s campaign needs to focus on: (1) Pope Francis’ Clarion call to “Pray for persecuted Christians in Ethiopia”; (2) the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ (CAIR) appeal to the US government to “take concrete actions to prevent the government of Ethiopia from demolishing that nation’s mosques”; and (3) numerous international reports documenting the mass murder of Christians demolitions of hundreds of churches.

• As noted above, there are lobbyists who focus on religious prosecution. There is $405,000 that was collected through the GoFundMe platform in the name of Amhara and Orthodox victims. The money has been in the Bank for over three years. The people who raised it have refused to use the money or return it to donors. The ስደተኛው EOTC should kindly ask the organizers to use this money for lobbying.

• ስደተኛውEOTC can learn from other Orthodox leaders who used lobbyists to get access to the White House. The picture herewith shows Christians from the Middle East talking to Obama.

• ስደተኛውEOTC must have specific demands focused on: (1) providing unfettered access to international investigation of religious persecutions, mass murders and displacement of Christians, and demolition of hundreds of EOTC churches; (2) relocating forcefully displaced Christians to the place from where they were unjustly cleansed; (3) reconstructing demolished Churches at the expense of the government of the Oromo tribal land; and (4) stopping government interference in the administration of the EOTC.

• The DC, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) area that is within a spitting distance from the White House has some three dozen Churches with tens of thousands of members. Virginia is what is called a battleground state where a voting block of 10,000 or so voters can potentially determine who wins in the coming November 2024 election. This can be replicated in other battleground states, including Michigan, Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Nevada where there are significant numbers of Ethiopian Americans. If ስደተኛውEOTC finds it possible to end its hear-no-evil and see-no-evil comfort in silence, it has a latent power that can break the backbone of Oromummaa.

• ስደተኛውEOTC has the organizational platform and devoted followers to mobilize a voting block motivated by a common concern of protecting its Church. If the bishops and church administrators fail to lead the congregation, the congregation must take the lead with or without the blessing of its leaders.

In Conclusion, four important points need to be heeded to.

• What international Christian groups concern themselves is dictated by their bylaws. Their bylaws dictate what kind of international campaign they can be involved in. In most cases it is only geared toward protecting Christians and Churches. Therefore, it is important to tailor ስደተኛውEOTC’s demands to get the most support it can garner.

• The EOTC must avoid politicizing its campaign and keep polarizing agents at bay with a clear message of “stay way.”

• The success of the ስደተኛውEOTC depends on its success in collaborating with Muslim Ethiopians in the diaspora whose Islamic brethren have faced and continue to face similar persecutions. Their members have been and continue to be displaced. Their Mosques have been and continue to be demolished. It is, therefore, critical to form a joint taskforce not only to advance common interests but also to stand for each other. Though there are areas that ስደተኛው EOTC and ስደተኛው Mosques may separately focus to win support from Christian and Islamic international organizations, respectively, there are also areas where they can work together. Examples include lobbying US lawmakers and the Whitehouse. Creating a common voting block will also help both scale up their separate efforts.

• The timing is right for international campaign in the US, considering the upcoming November elections.  Therefore, ስደተኛውEOTC must launch its campaign with utmost urgency.

ያው ሰደብ ነው የምታውቁት አንባችሁ ስትጨርሱ ተሳደቡ። በኔ በኩል ግን ካጠፋሁ ይቅርታ እጠይቃለሁ