Ecclesiasticly Tolerant Business Enterprises

[Martin Hash]

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The Good Word is highly respected in Ghana. The Ghanaians wallow in the faith to a degree even greater than they devote to football. Catholic missionaries showed up 500 years ago to the Gold Coast, (called that primarily because it was the main terminal for the exodus of slaves and millenniums of accumulated wealth), and were exceptionally successful in converting the locals from the practice of animus to the practice of the Beatitudes. The modern Ghanaian Catholic is immensely devout, to an amazing degree not familiar to most Westerners accustomed to moderating their faith. For example, it is of no consequence to name a business “God’s Glory Refrigeration and AC,” “Jesus Love Latex Foam,” or “Heaven Gate No Bribe Fried Rice.” Even government sponsored buildings such as schools join in the communion with “Virgin Children Jr. High,” and “The Evil That Men Do Lives After Them Post Office.” Church’s are certainly sure of their position in society, as evidenced bynames like “God Is Never Wrong” and “The Wicked Must Die.” All of this religiosity is taught at places like “Last chance Prayer Camp, Propheted by Reverend Luis Alias.”

Death is big in Ghana: ceramic covered graves adorn the front yards of many mud-brick huts, and in the business district, “God Wins Furniture” sells coffins in any shape you want, for example, a piano or a racecar. To exploit ecclesiastic terminology for business purposes requires a level of self-assurance or innocence that Westerners simply don’t possess. We feel guilt take The Lord’s name in vain, let alone expecting Him to validate our taxi service. This all tells me that the trinity is in good stead with Ghanaians, second only to Barack Obama.

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