God and Obama

Ghana has fascinations with several key topics. These are: the Black Stars(Ghanaian national team), fufu, God and Obama. With the last two, I'm not always sure which comes first. The national trait of naming things after some manner of religious context is quite fascinating. Things with religious names stretch from stores, taxis, tro tros, bars, refrigerator stores, and wheelbarrows full of pineapples. The change in this trend is the introduction of Barack Obama. There are now several taxis and tro tros in particular who have adopted names such as "Obama Express" or the ubiquitous "Barack." There is even an incredibly popular reggae song about Obama. Most of the newspapers are quite taken with both their own elections and with Obama. The coverage is often about equal. There seems to be a sense from a select few that he will be very nice to Africa and help develop and then when he is finished as President it will be ready for him to come "home." Others feel that because of his heritage that some of his innate qualities are African so he will be a good leader.
God is another overriding but sometimes frustrating subject. The fact that every single store or enterprise is named in a religious phrase somewhat deadens the effect. It is also quite neat and often hilarious the combinations of names with what the store is selling. I have had talks about religion with Ghanaians and there is an interesting dichotomy for me with the things that I agree with and others that I completely disagree with. The concept of Jesus coming into your life and "fixing" things like homosexuality and mental disorders rather than taking people as they are and accepting that they too can have strong faith in God despite their "differences."
The separation of church and state is very much not in existence. Before and after many of my play rehearsals the cast will circle up and pray. Before some lectures as well, there will be students who come to the front and begin preaching for a good five minutes or until the lecturer shows up. Many of the lecturers have few qualms about inquiring into ones religious views or saying "Praise the Lord" or "Hallelujah" quite often. I find that while sometimes it may be awkward, overall however, it is nice having people simply be open about their spirituality rather than trying to balance their beliefs with what everyone says is acceptable.
In other news, I will hopefully be going to watch the final Black Stars World cup qualifying match in about two weeks. It should be a good game with a ridiculous atmosphere.
For anybody following along with my postings, feel free to ask questions or correct my grammar, or just say Hi. Hope everyone has a good day and stays warm, cause I know I will!!