The role of faith and belief in modern Africa | Ndidi Nwuneli

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 29 March 2018

⏱️ 13 minutes

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Summary

Ndidi Nwuneli has advice for Africans who believe in God -- and Africans who don't. To the religious, she advises against using God to outsource responsibility for what happens in their lives. To the non-religious, she asks that they keep an open mind and work with faith-based organizations, especially on issues like health care and education. "There's so much potential that can be realized when we walk across the divide of faith and, hand in hand, try to solve many of our problems," Nwuneli says.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This TED Talk features social innovation expert in D.D. Wunelli, recorded live at TED Global 2017.
0:09.0	I was born to two amazing professors who were not religious. In fact, my father's regular response to the question about why we did not go to church on Sundays was when others go to pray,
0:22.6	I go to play, tennis in case you're wondering.
0:27.0	Faith found me and my siblings when university students came to a house to invite us to Sunday
0:32.5	school. I was drawn by their sense of personal conviction and their life of service,
0:39.3	and opted for baptism into the Christian faith as my 10th birthday present.
0:45.3	My faith has shaped my work as a social entrepreneur,
0:49.3	attempting to address Africa's most pressing challenges over the last 17 years,
0:54.4	and my work training youth as leaders
0:58.2	and promoting ethics across Africa.
1:02.2	29 years later, as a Sunday school teacher myself,
1:06.2	my faith was challenged by a young nine-year-old,
1:09.9	who asked a series of questions.
1:12.9	He asked, Ms. Indy, does God hate Africans?
1:19.0	To which I quickly retorted, of course not.
1:21.6	God loves all his children equally.
1:24.6	Then he asked, so why do so many young African children die?
1:29.5	I stumbled and mumbled as I responded.
1:32.5	There are many reasons why young African children die.
1:36.4	Most of them are man-made, and we cannot blame God.
1:40.5	So he asked, why does he let it happen?
1:43.1	He could stop it.
	...

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