Demographic Anarchy?

Ask five Ethiopians the religious composition of their country you will most likely get six points of disagreement. Demographic data have become the means for locking others into an inferior position and, conversely, accord oneself a dominant status even when the facts militate against the assertion. Thus is perpetuated a jaundiced view of self and society before the watching world.

Some don’t bother to acknowledge the presence of a sizable Christian population (at least 10 million) outside the mainstream Orthodox Church. “In relation to religion,” says one presenter, “the population constitute 51% Orthodox Christian, 33% Islam and the rest 16% are other religious sects.” [Italics added]

Those who engage in numbers game are in the main educated and harbor a political and cultural agenda. The majority simply echoes figures that suit its taste. Is it any wonder then that we continually fail to comprehend or adequately address our enduring dilemma because we are in permanent denial or choose to live in a world based on illusions?

Expatriates are not immune to bending facts either. Some simply pick information that best support the story line they write on. “Islamic fundamentalists are on the rise” shout the fear mongering; others make similar statements to raise funds or take a simplistic approach to a very complex situation. Few more have not the interest or the time to check their sources; the fact that their careers are not on the line often means they get away with the crime of degrading a nation’s image.

To be taken seriously, cartographic censuses ought to meet basic international standards. Ironically, few bother to access published census data. Here for your perusal are samples of what we mean by demographic anarchy.

. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (does not recognize existence of “evangelical” Christians): Muslim (40-50%); Ethiopian Orthodox Christian (35%-40%); animist (12%)

· CIA World Fact book (perhaps one of the most cited sources, until very recently had, Muslim 45%-50%, Ethiopian Orthodox 35%-40%, animist 12%, other 3%-8%. [It is now corrected to Christian 60.8% (Orthodox 50.6%, Protestant 10.2%), Muslim 32.8%, traditional 4.6%, other 1.8% (1994 census)

· Christian Science Monitor (CSM): “the country's Orthodox Christians, …make up just over half of the population …nearly 50 percent Muslims – and others … share neither faith” [Italics added] (September 11, 2007).

· Library of Congress: [Info supplied by Ethiopian government, April 2005]
"No reliabel statistics exist on religion in Ethiopia... Orthodox Christianity and Islam... each constitute perhaps 40 to 45 percent ... Protestants number perhaps 11 million, constituting perhaps 10 percent of the population..."

. U.S. State Department: “An estimated 40 to 45 percent of the population belongs to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC) …approximately 45 percent of the population is Sunni Muslim. Christian evangelical and Pentecostal groups continue to be the fastest growing groups and constitute an estimated 10 percent of the population.”

. MSN Encarta: "Orthodox Christian (Ethiopian) 36 percent Muslim 30 percent Protestant 14 percent Indigenous beliefs 12 percent Other 8 percent..."

We’ve found the following factors contributed to the persistent confusion.

1. Some simply do not trust information governments put out and prefer rather to quote foreign sources, which often are educated guesses or recycled from similar or even outdated materials.

2. In the case of CSM and others the desire to project fairness appears to have forced them to take “near-half and half” measures.

3. Neighboring countries (Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti, and Al Jazeera and Middle Eastern sources) tend to prefer an Islamic majority.

Whether from projections or from actual censuses, it is fair to state that the Christian-Muslim population ratio in Ethiopia is around 2:1.

Copied from Ethiopianchurch.org blog

Arcaris woyane....lol

I read a poem today and felt like the disabora community as much as they say they care about thier place of birth, they do not. I see a lot of communities around the US organizing a fund raiser to the poor and the orphaned. this it is merely to feed them for today. it is plausable derget, however I think more could be done. we think we have done so much but i believe we have done the smallest thing we could possible do only. why? a question that bothers most of, eventhough we are the same ppl who do little.

as i was reading this poem on cyberethiopia.com, i felt the pain of the writet. numeropus times he right out insulted me as a reader, and question my manhood? i felt compelled to do something more than the little. I start wondering where all those underground resistance that were goin on during the Italy, invasion, if you want to call it that, and Dergu's regime???? Is Woyane any better for the country? arent they selling a portion of their own country to the enemeis of ethiopia? arent they killing innocent civilians (sidama, oromo, amhara) these were the MAIN reasons for the falling of this dictatorship. Now I want to ask you the reader, how is it possible for us to contribute to the underground resistance that is being carried over at the nose of the enemy? If there is any underground resistance.

the other thing is why do we still do business with the woyane enterprise, dont we know they can not exist any more if we cut off our business with them. Why cant we shop from other ethnic groups for few months and see what thet would do to dismantle this arcaris goverment.

They got to be other options to schooling

Question? does college really matters for the development a person to a higher level in society? I have been going to school since i rember, leaarning this and that, i am expected to learn, how to read, write, read well, write well, write for english, write in amharic.....the list is never ending.If i could pause for oneminute, is life all about learning? can we be part of the productive part of sociey by not going to school and find other ways to learn about the only thing we would like to know? I have been in school for all of my life thus far, I have been doing what I was doing instictivel, like a baby breathing ones it comes out of the uterus. But does liefe necesserly have to be about just going to stupid school all of ones life? all of my life? whatever it is, I think I should find a better way for my children to come than spend half of their best-life going back to forth to this thing they call school. what really sucks is that, even after going to school and then to college, some ppl actually do not use their degree!!!! so you telling me someone is going to spend all their life, money, and time and not use what they worked for? I will definetly choke that person to death.....open for additionional stories

Life is too short, you are now free to have children

As you have read what I wrote before, I do not refrain from speaking what it is, because if do not do that it will be a crime against humanity. If there is one thing that is crucial to a man is continuing his blood line or ancestor line. Especially in the disabora, this is becoming an exticting culture amongest Ethiopians. Americans are know to adhere anything that got to do with marriage. They prefer to live their lives like the ages fo Garyoshe, having babies here and there, which is why more than 50% of US marriage end up with divorce (according to stastics the different ethinic groups might have different percentage of divorce rates). However we are communal beings that do nto bow down to the theory of the four legged monkey that started walking once it chnages its home from the tree to the savanna land. we, Ethiopians and few believers in the US, belive in a higer order of God and his never lasting kingdom. God has given Adam, Hewan to be his dear friend, wife, and to give him children that will follow in his foot steps.

So I ask myself why do I see Ethiopian men of different ethnicities marriage-less. Why have they become loaners. why do they chase after politics but has nobody to go to after hard day of work and long agreements and disagremnts of East african politics. It makes me sick to see these Ethiopian man, wonder around each day aimlessely like they have been hit by the evil. Please, please form humanitc relationship with someone you know and have some babbies becasue God from above has ordered you to do so.

I feel sorry for the women, who are trying to have babbies atleast before they trun 40 and become childless. I dont think it is necessery for Ethiopian women and men to go back to Ethiopia to find their match in less than 3 month when they are so many beautiful women and hard working men in the disabora. I beleive the best couples are the ones that are created here because they know each other longer and they know the US better, and hence they know their enemeies and friends better. Where as if I go and find an Ethiopian women from Ethiopia it will take her atleast a year to adjust.

I am sure there is a slight problem with the women also, who think they are the most beautiful angels, after comparing themeselves with the less fortunate ones here. In addition, a big problem is their inability to watch their weight. I personally prefer a women that weighs less than me and not too wide for the purposes that are clear to most men. It makes me sick to see all of these beautiful Ethiopian women become older and fatter and become less beautiful as they get older.

Lencho Leta, one of the leading founders of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), revealed that the Eritrean government was the most powerful force that opposed a coalition Ethiopian government in 1991 that would have created democracy for the first time. Mr. Lencho Leta was one of the OLF leaders who participated in the transitional developments in Ethiopia after Mengistu was overthrown. According to the OLF founder, the Eritrean government rejected the proposal by OLF and other groups in 1991 to transform the EPRDF partisan army into a coalition Ethiopian army, which would have set up the transition to a democracy for the first time in Ethiopian history. (Audio and translation). In an interview, Mr. Lencho Leta also described Eritrean leader Isayas Afewerki’s fear of allowing a united Ethiopia under democracy and how much influence Isayas had on Meles Zenawi & foreign diplomats in 1991.
It is important that all Ethiopians understand what Mr. Lencho Leta and other OLF leaders are saying. As long is the army is partisan and under the order of Meles Zenawi's party only, there will never be democracy in Ethiopia. Demilitarization of warring political forces in one country is one of the most important factors to build democracy in a country, which also helps speed up development. Today, 17 years after Meles Zenawi and Isayas Afewerki overthrew the one-party Mengistu leadership, they have replaced our country with more one-party dictatorship, which has closed political and economic freedoms and starved more millions of people. Ethiopia under Meles has over 6 million people in malnutrition and suffering in drought, according to the UN. Meanwhile, according to the Global Hunger Index, Eritrea under Isayas Afewerki has the highest proportion of undernourished and starving people in the whole world at 75%. All of this agony of our people imposed by the two dictatorship “governments” will not end until our people are free and democracy is established.
In 2005, CUD/Kinijit became the most democratic and the most popular political party in Ethiopian history during the national election. The main reason why it was popular was its democratic principles including the separation of the military from the Meles ruling party. Kinijit party and its leader Birtukan Mideksa asked dictator Meles Zenawi to accept her 8 points proposal and principles. These 8 points Judge Birtukan Mideksa asked were diverse in nature, including freedom of press, independence of judiciary and independence of the military. But the most important out of these 8 points were the separation of military from Meles Zenawi’s grip. Separation of the military from the ruling party leads to a coalition administration where the military is governed by the constitution and is responsible to the constitution. This in effect, creates the foundation toward peaceful and democratic governance where independent institutions are established.
Even though our people still have a chance to bring democracy to Ethiopia with the leadership of Birtukan Mideksa, it is important that all Ethiopians understand WHO are our friends and WHO are our enemies. It is important that all Ethiopians understand WHO supports democracy and who supports and practices dictatorship. Meles Zenawi and Isayas Afewerki have already showed us their dictatorial rules. But some confused Ethiopians are insulting Kinijit/UDJ and insulting Judge Birtukan Mideksa because she chose a patient and peaceful way to achieve democracy. These CONFUSED Ethiopians think we should work with the one-party dictatorship of Eritrea to bring a multi-party democracy to Ethiopia. These severely confused Ethiopians are telling our people in Ethiopia that we will regain and take back Assab port in Eritrea with the help the Eritrean government itself. These confused Ethiopians are not only out-of-touch from reality, but they are also ignoring history. The OLF founder himself has revealed to the world for the first time what happened during the 1991 transition period. The OLF founder Lencho Leta and other Oromo leaders who support him have risked their reputation many times when they supported peace and Ethiopian unity thru diversity and democracy because they believed in the potential greatness of a democratic & prosperous Ethiopia. Even though we know Dictator Meles Zenawi is a major obstacle to democracy in Ethiopia, Mr. Lencho Leta has told us ONCE AND FOR ALL that the Eritrean government was the first to block our historical opportunity to demilitarize politics and achieve democracy in Ethiopia. These historical anti-Ethiopia actions by president Isayas Afewerki around 17 years ago has made the road to democracy that much longer, that much harder for us. And this… we will never forget!
But now, it is time to stand MORE united behind Birtukan Mideksa and her Kinijit/Andenet opposition party. Let us not miss another historic opportunity to remove tyranny and establish democracy in Ethiopia.

After reading this paper on Nazreth.com, I had a discusting, disturbing feeling for the author and Mr. Lencho. The whole OLF, has to be a stupid joke. Because these bandits are nothing but bunch of worthless bandits who cant stand alone. if you take one boy at a time and tell him to carry out his sick plan for United ethiopia he will shit on his legs. The OLF, as my dear friend at the bottom has said it at the bottom, is power hungry sons of bitches lurching around for the next opportunity to get their ass wipped.

I have known Judge Birtukan since I was in addis in the mid 90' s(EC). She is nothing but a pure Ethiopian. Once my uncle was courting her for marriage. She is indeed beautiful inside and out. A very polite, smart, hardworking Ethiopian women. The Ormos in the diabora are trying very hard, very shameful I must say, to associate her with the OLF camaign for power because her last name I guess resebels oromoic. But what they dont know is she might be at the most only 50% oromo. And i promise you if she is the same women I knew 8 years ago, she will send a bounty head on each of these sons of bitches and get them hanged for what they did in Assossa hospital during the transition period of 91. I must say these OLF maggots are nothing like the good and real oromos that live, eat and inter-marry amongest us, however they were sent to remind us that there might be few of them amonges us. The birth of OLF, TPLF, ELF are the true hinderance for the development of Ethiopian democracy and they must be crashed to allow the birth of UNITED ETHIOPIA.//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
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Comment from: Mesganaw [Visitor]
I’m really laughing hard and non-stop. OLF made Ethiopians sad, cry, desperate, migrate and dead many times for long time. Who forgets the Assosa massacre in hospital Against the Amharas and Tigres that were lying in hospital beds? They Brutally massacred including pregnant women who were there giving birth and the just born babies. All is with us, recorded. Who was the OLF leader at the time? He was called Lencho Leta (a good and trusted ally to Issayas at the time). What OLF did before 1991 is known and lets move after their hate marriage relationship with TPLF(after 1991). As lencho said here that issayas was always against Ethiopia including during 1991 when OLF was the active member of the so called Ethiopian Transitional govt. During this time, OLF has committed the worst crime against Ethiopia and humanity in the Ethiopian soil since the Invasion of Islam (1529-1543) and since the mass and cruel Galla Migration through the corner of balie to the rest of Ethiopia including the highlands (1550-1850). The Ethnic cleansing, the massacre and taking away all right the people living in the south and other part of the country where OLF was controlling against non Oromos such as the Amharas, Tigres, Gurages and others was/is the crime against humanity Lencho and his entire OLF responsible for. They used the Issayas influence against Ethiopia/meles as an opportunity to destroy Ethiopia as much as they could. Many millions of non Oromo Ethiopians forced to leave the south while escaping the OLF massacre and ethnic cleansing. The crime what OLF has done since 1991 is all there and known by Ethiopians. Why Lencho is exposing himself this way at this time? Because OLF is no longer in a position to affect Ethiopia the way it has done in the past under his leadership. Because the split in the OLF and those in the south are became the driving force to use OLF for their secret/main agenda, which is Islamic ideology. As we know OLF was created by handful protestants after converted by Missionaries in wellega. 95% wellegas are Christians while 99% balie, harar and other places in the south are Islam oromos. Because of being oromo is no longer a reason to unite them but being one of the 3 Oromo groups, or the 28 oromo clans or one of the thousands sub-clans becomes more and more an identity expression and association to the oromos. Somalia has one group, 5 clans and hundreds sub-clans. Almost all of them are Muslim. But, they are fighting based on Clan and sub clans. The oromo present and future will be even worst because of many religion, custom, tradition and other differences that what is going on in Somalia. Group-clan-sub clan. Because of the Split in the OLF and Lencho and his crime groups is no longer relevant. His is now someone from the street has no influence at all. His is doing this because of to get back to the EPRDF. But EPRDF is not stupid as he thinks of. He and his entire OLF must be in jail for the rest of their life with the crime they did against innocent Ethiopians. By the way” The one who did write this piece is a foolish and biased one. This shows how low is the level of some Ethiopians political maturity laying about in a primitive way. Look for instance: “Kinijit party and its leader Birtukan Mideksa asked dictator Meles Zenawi to accept her 8 points proposal and principles.” When was Birtukan Mideksa a leader to Kinijit? When was the 8 point proposal presented and who was at the discussion? “Even though our people still have a chance to bring democracy to Ethiopia with the leadership of Birtukan Mideksa” Birtukan is less relevant to Ethiopia than Sarah plain To America. Mirtukan was an EPRDF child; got education by EPRDF and served EPRDF. I’m not saying she is bad but what is behind the story associating her with an OLF criminal leader lencho Leta? Is because her father name sounds like an Oromo name? She is the innocent and trusted Ethiopian child. And Criminal OLF and others in the name of Oromo need to leave her alone. She knows only Ethiopia. ´The OLF founder himself has revealed to the world for the first time what happened during the 1991 transition period.” Why now? Because he has lost from OLF. He is a street old man no one wants him to be around. He is looking to make a living again with the Ethiopian cost. He is a well known and tested anti Ethiopian and a criminal. “The OLF founder Lencho Leta and other Oromo leaders who support him have risked their reputation many times when they supported peace and Ethiopian unity thru diversity and democracy” hahahah and hahaha the crime they have committed during that time is still there and will be part of the Ethiopian history. “But now, it is time to stand MORE united behind Birtukan Mideksa and her Kinijit/Andenet opposition party. Let us not miss another historic opportunity to remove tyranny and establish democracy in Ethiopia.” Laughable. Ethiopia was saved when EPRDF wiped out the Entire OLF headed by Lencho after years of direct crime against Ethiopians. Ethiopia was saved the second time when EPRDF kicked issayas’s influence out of Ethiopia and put him like a dong knows nothing what to do. If somebody forces me to choose from the two Evils I will choose with no regret Shabia than OLF. Their members are like savage animals giving an impression they are the blood family with the Hutus in Rwanda. The writer to this shit pieces is a silly and ignorant individual. We have to thank nazret for bringing this to us showing how many and what kind ignorant are around us.
Permalink 10/23/08 @ 04:20

Change in your pocket is what matters

Congratulations everybody Barack Obama of Illinois, born from a Kansas women adn a Kenyan Man has won the presidential election. It is my hope and dream that this man will not only impact the socio-economic of this land but also the other around the globe. I hope US will finally stand for justice and freedom, unlike the one in Iraq. The real enemey now is time. How fast can we show the injustice to those who have the power and how fast the meles cadres are getting in the pockets of washington staffers. If anybody in the us does anything after the cadres have their share, then it will be too late and meaningless to try anything.