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Jack’s Blog

  • New Gods for Old

    Further conversation with a young Ghanaian male about his unshakeable belief in Christianity provides insights into cultural dissonance. That is, between him and me and between him and his traditions. There is little doubt in my mind that one of the reasons why Africans take to Christianity with a fundamentalist zeal is that its rituals… Know More

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  • Hypocritical Oaths

    Closed minds are like houses shut up for the winter only to find that their owners are never returning. They become dusty, dark, places of foreboding and creepy crawlies. You have to break in from the outside to lever off  hinges on doors or windows to let some light in. Well, it may be an… Know More

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  • Have you got anything for me?

    Generally, we don’t get the law enforcement we deserve. I suppose a great litmus test on the quality of a culture is the behaviour of its police force. In the UK, a vast, conspiratorial network of corruption has recently been uncovered relating to football tragedies, phone hacking, framing suspects and everything in between. But on… Know More

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  • Intelligence intelligence everywhere but who can stop to think?

    A young man here in Ghana is expanding his knowledge of the world by asking questions. He came from a village in the north and much of what he believes is so indelible it is difficult to shift. He believes that female circumcision keeps women from being promiscuous, and many women ask for it. When… Know More

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  • Feeding the five thousand

    A funeral. 500 mourners. The body of the deceased on display for the file past. In Ghana it is hard to gauge how many people will turn up. You don’t send invitations after all, you post the day of the funeral in the popular press. Ghana state television also has exceedingly long sections where the… Know More

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  • Laying to rest

    The laying out of the dead happens in many religions. A final procession of the bereaved to gaze upon the face of the dearly departed seems inextricably bound up with primeval feelings. It is the equivalent of putting your fingers in the nail holes of Christ. It is a public affirmation before witnesses that this… Know More

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  • Jacking up Death

    An amusing coda to the recent musings on death and how we might stage it arose the other day at a friend’s countryside retreat here in Ghana. A powerful figure on the political and economic landscape for decades here, my friend was commenting on a recent bereavement and the disposal of the body. As I… Know More

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  • Authoring your own Funeral

    Did you ever see The Big Chill? Friends gather for the funeral of one of their own tight group. It was very funny at the time but what brings it to my mind was the soundtrack which included The Weight and other 60s and 70s rock hits from The Rolling Stones et al. Part of… Know More

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  • A Dying Art

    Last week I heard of a birth and a death on the same day. Both events very close to me. The door to the place beyond seems to be a revolving one. Here in Ghana, much of people’s lives are spent doing the rounds of births, deaths and marriages. (The extended family can run into… Know More

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  • New lamps for old

    The west exports lifestyle assumptions to the world, constantly. This includes medical accessorising, designer brands for every conceivable disease or malaise. The Ghanaian population are more and more hooked on the flagrantly disseminated notion, “new cures good, old cures bad.” Despite drugs growing on trees all around, they are quickly forgetting their bio-heritage and opting… Know More

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