Freedom of religion is an important human right, and religion as an institution has played an important role in establishing and supporting democracy around the world.
While many of us will be more familiar with examples of Christian faith advancing democratic institutions, this article presents a less familiar example: the Voodoo / Vodún religion of Benin, which overcame and defeated an authoritarian leader and established democracy.
The article doesn't go into as much depth as I'd like, but maybe that's because it introduces such a wild storyline that after reading it you just want to know more. The wannabe Big Man in particular is quite bizarre because he converts from Catholicism to Islam to Evangelical Christianity over his life and also imposes Marxist-Leninist authoritarianism on the country. Apparently he is known as The Chameleon lol.
Anyway, I found this quite interesting to read, and for those of you who are interested in understanding how social institutions sustain and promote democracy, I think this will be an interesting and relevant addition to your collection of case studies.
Posted by Top_Lime1820