Does tongue speaking belong in the secular space?
By Doris Yaa Dartey. The WatchWoman Column
Should the religious space be so tightly interwoven into the secular space to the point that they become inseparable? Definitely not! Should the sacred be separated from the profane? Definitely yes!
If the super-Christianity that is very pervasive in Ghana was to truly manifest in our national life, this country would not have been weighed down by corruption and other unchristian behaviours. Corruption and Christianity do not gel. Corruption and Islam do not get. Corruption and God do not gel.
SPEAKING IN TONGUES IN A PUBLIC BOARDROOM
A couple of years ago, my sister/friend (let’s call her Belinda; not her real name of course) narrated an incident that occurred during a meeting in the board room of the public institution where she works. With no provocation whatsoever, a senior staff member began to speak in tongues. It is a diverse workplace with people of varying faiths – Muslims, Christians from several denominations, and others.
From Belinda’s narration, the incident was a very awkward moment. People’s faces expressed shock. Others were confused and were left in disbelief about what they had witnessed. A few staff members giggled, not knowing what to do with the tongue-speaking situation. No one understood what the tongue-speaker said because there was no translation. It might have been a deeply spiritual moment or just a fluke occurrence meant to obfuscate and impress the onlookers. Whatever it was, the significance (if any) got lost on the observers.
The tongue-speaker moved on with his life without giving any explanation of what he did. No one had the courage to ask him for an explanation. People left the meeting, carrying the story away, and to use it as rich fodder for gossips. That was how come my sister/friend Belinda called me almost immediately to share the juicy gossip. I was flabbergasted. Not knowing what to make of such a story, I filed it away.
Since I personally know the tongue-speaker, my surprise was deeper because the information kindled my imagination whenever I meet him (I secretly giggle!). Filing it away was underlined by an assumption that it was an odd incident that do not just happen in everyday life in the public space.
SPEAKING IN TONGUES ON NATIONAL TV
So it was with the baggage of my unresolved amazement about Belinda’s tongue wagging gossip that sent me rollicking into a higher state of amazement when I watched Paul Adom Okyere’s interview of William Ato Essien, the founder of the defunct Capital Bank in a ‘Good Evening Ghana’ trailer. Any story that offers to explain what happened to cause the near meltdown of Ghana’s financial sector gets my full attention. I did not lose any money but close friends of mine lost fortunes.
As I watched to gain understanding of the financial issues, I was not prepared for the ending of the programme. Mr. Essien broke out with facial contortions, to passionately speak in tongues! I had never witnessed tongue speaking behaviour in a secular context on national television. I blinked and blinked and blinked. Then, to satisfy my curiosity and cure my doubt, I went back to watch the video all over again just to be sure. And lo and behold, what I saw was real – the man prayed and spoke in tongues on national television in a non-religious programme!
The context of the interview was for him to state his case to Ghana about his role in the collapse of his beloved Capital Bank. What did that have to do with speaking in tongues in a language that probably only very few Ghanaians understand? The substantial case is that GHc490 million (almost half a billion cedis) of Ghana’s money, which was given to Capital Bank by the Bank of Ghana as a bail out, somehow got squandered by the shareholders and directors of the Bank. In effect, these folks owe Ghana some hard fat cash. So ultimately, the Bank’s license was revoked in August 2017.
How on earth does an opportunity to explain this very sticky stinky matter end up with speaking in tongues? What exactly was the tongue-speaking supposed to convey to Ghanaians? Was it meant to instil fear in us so we will forget our money, or to win our sympathy? I am imagining what half a billion Ghana cedis can do for the average Ghanaian. For sure, half a billion can mop up a couple of thousand children from risking their lives regularly to hawk odd wares on our streets. But speaking in tongues will not help these children.
Or, was the public display of tongue-speaking meant to display good and flawless character? Speaking in tongues should not be taken lightly. If it is the same holy language spoken by the disciples of Jesus Christ in the Upper Room after the Holy Spirit fell on them, then publicly wagging tongues would imply that the speaker lays some claim to holiness. How does a “holy holy” person oversee the events that led to the collapse of Capital Bank? Did he do everything right, in a Christ-like manner?
On another level, if he is such a big-time tongue-speaker, how come he could not foresee the impending end of his Bank to the point that he could have intervened spiritually to stop that from occurring?
TONGUE SPEAKING CAN POTENTIALLY GET UGLY
I maintain that the display of tongue-speaking in non-religious settings is manipulative and deceitful. It belongs to the category of communication that is meant to impress and not to express. It is babble that no one understands. It is merely meant to show off as in, “Look at me! I am very holy; I am very close to God”, meanwhile, the sinning continues.
Someday, in a copy-cat fashion, an unemployed graduate might over-excite him/herself and consider it appropriate to speak in tongues half-way through in a job interview during a heated questions and answers session. After all, a big man spoke in tongues in an interview on national television! A job interview is on a smaller scale and a good place to show off to the interview panel or just to confuse issues.
How would the interview panel handle such a situation? I can imagine some panellists saying, “Erhm, erhm, erhm …….what language is that? What are you saying? Speak English!” Other panel members might giggle and break out into laughter that is louder and more piercing than the tongues.
As the tongue-speaking phenomenon gains wider acceptance in this era of fake prophets, just imagine a groundswell of a trend showing its ugly head in the school system. In a face-off with a teacher, a rascally school kid, who did not do homework, will break out to speak in tongues as a strategy to escape punishment. The tongue-speaking “dis-tin” phenomenon could potentially morph, and send us on to the odd fringes.
In this era of fake prophets, we should dread that rampant tongue-speaking in secular spaces does not become too fashionable and acceptable as normal. Without a doubt, a census will show that currently, Ghana has more prophets than Israel in its entire history.
Ato Essien, founder of defunct Capital Bank
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