Why I prefer traditional worship to Islam and Christianity – Prof. Wole Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka says he prefers traditional Orisa worshipping to Christianity & Islam because it fascinated him more.

Soyinka said this in an interview with CNN’s Larry Madowo where he further explained that the deepness of faith in Islam & Christianity doesn’t match that of Orisa worshipping for him.

According to him, Orisa worshipping eschews violence & is more creative. “I was fortunate to be born in two worlds – the Christian world & traditional Orisa worshippers.

My grandfather, until he – poor man – also got converted – he was an Orisa person & a chief, and his (grandfather’s) side (of Orisa) fascinated me a lot more. For me, it (Orisa worshipping) was more artistic, creative & also more mysterious.

I don’t find much of the mysterious in Christianity and even less in Islam and that is for a simple reason that I didn’t grow up in a Muslim environment. Orisa is open, and very ecumenical and that is why these foreign religions were able to penetrate it and even distort the truth.