The Ghana Freethinkers Podcast returned April Fool’s day with a packed episode tackling the usual big questions that the podcast has become known for.
Chris-Vincent Agyapong Febiri, host of the show, was joined by writer Godwin Nii-Armah Okine, Adam Braimah, Edward Newton and Fleance Kyere to discuss politics, religion, literature and other pertinent topics.
The podcast started with a look at Western Democracy in Africa, how it has or has not worked for us, and the way forward. Chris-Vincent argued that the concept was not working, and that was because we have taken everything hook, line and sinker, and are trying to implement it without any sensitivity to the cultural and social differences between us and the Westerners. Along with Kobby Newton, they argued that Africans have to find a sort of hybrid system, where we incorporate local customs and ideas and infuse it to build a democracy that works better for all of us.
Other panellists disagreed, arguing that the problem wasn’t the system per se, but the lax implementation of it. Godwin, Adam and Kyere argued that the problem with Africa in general, and Ghanaians in particular, is that the laws and the systems are all perfectly in place, but no one adheres to them. This creates a system where you could have a democracy in name, but nothing else conforms to that. So the problem isn’t the system, but the reluctance of the Ghanaian to follow what the system entails.
The conversation then turned to the question of a recent study out of Case Western University in Ohio, which found that belief in the supernatural leads to suppression of critical thinking. The study postulates that those who believe more in the supernatural tend to suppress other parts of their brains meant for critical thinking. In conjunction with another study which shows that the more intelligent a person is, the less likely they are to believe in God, the podcast looked at the factors that could explain this trend.
Another major issue discussed was the link between poverty and religion. Over the years, studies have shown that the wealthiest nations in the world are largely irreligious, whilst the poor ones are hugely religious. Gallup polls have also found that in countries where people say religion plays a huge part in their lives, the populations tend to be extremely poor.
Whilst the link exists, the podcast tried to decipher in which way it works- whether religion causes poverty or whether the presence of poverty drives people to religion.
And Friday being April Fool’s day, the podcast also tackled the issue of parody and satire, looking at the hypocrisy embedded in the all hue and cry over sites like ScrewLife.Com, only for everyone to turn around and do the same thing under the guise of April Fool’s day.
The conversation ended with a look at some miscellaneous information, including the NCA shutdown of OBTV and the widespread belief in the supernatural our society is saturated in. Chris-Vincent suggested that President Mahama can employ a few of those money-vomitting Sakawa boys to solve all of Ghana’s money problems.
It was another interesting and thought provoking panel discussion, the fourth episode of the Ghana Freethinkers podcast. The podcast airs every Friday at 8:00pm GMT.
The podcast referred to several research articles, which are linked to in this article, but are listed down here for your convenience. The Ghana Free Thinkers Podcast streams live every Friday; 8:00GMT.
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