A Study Of Dosteo Bisaka’s Contribution To The “Faith Of Unity” Religious Movement In Western Uganda
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31436/ijrcs.v3i2.156Abstract
This study attempts to discuss the emergence of a new religious movement in Uganda called Faith of Unity (FoU). The goal of this paper is to explore why and how FoU emerged and became a dominant religion in Uganda. This study is crucial because it reveals the various approaches of Dosteo Bisaka (the founder of FoU) and his contributions to FoU. It highlights the vision of FoU and identifies the factors that contributed to forming FoU as one of the dominant religious movements in Uganda. The research follows both descriptive and analytical approaches while addressing the topic. It finds FoU to be a suitable example of a new religion in the African contour - albeit having many similarities with Christianity - that emerged as a response to the destitution caused by colonialism in African societies. Last but not least, this paper acknowledges various challenges in studying FoU.
References
Behrend, H. (2011). Resurrecting Cannibals: The Catholic Church, Witch-hunts, and the Production of Pagans in Western Uganda. Suffolk, UK: Boydell & Brewer Ltd.
Bisaka, O. (1987). The Book of God of the Age of Oneness: We are One in the Lord God of Hosts – Disunity has Ended. Kapyemi: Faith of Unity Press.
Bromley, D. G., & Melton, J. G. (2002). Cults, Religion, and Violence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Catholic Bishops of Uganda. (2000). Test the Spirit: Pastoral Letter of Catholic Bishops of Uganda to the Faithful on Cults, Sects and “Religious” Groups. Entebbe, Uganda: Marianum Press.
Cline, L. (2003). Spirits and the Cross: Religiously Based Violent Movements in Uganda. Small Wars and Insurgencies, 14(2), pp. 113-130. https://doi.org/10.1080/09592310412331300706
Divito, J. (2008, September 17). Native Cults in East Africa [Blog post]. Africa Centre for Apologetics Research. Retrieved on 19 February 2020 from http://africacfar.blogspot.com/2008/09/native-cults-in-east-africa.html
Doyle, S. (2000). Population Decline and Delayed Recovery in Bunyoro, 1860–1960. The Journal of African History, 41(3), pp. 429-458. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021853700007751
Dunbar, A. R. (1965). A History of Bunyoro-Kitara. Nairobi: Oxford University Press.
Faupel, J. F. (2007). African Holocaust: The Story of the Uganda Martyrs. Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa.
Glock, C. Y. (2018). The Role of Deprivation in the Origin and Evolution of Religious Groups. In L. Dawson (Ed.), Cults in Context: Readings in the Study of New Religious Movements. New York: Routledge.
Kaczynski, G. J. (2012). Religious Movements in Africa as Expression of the Sacral Trauma: The Explanatory Approach Reconsidered. Hemispheres: Studies on Cultures and Societies, 27, pp. 5-19.
Kasooha, I. (2018, June 11). Museveni hails Bisaka. New Vision. Retrieved on 17 February 2020 from https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1479498/museveni-hails-bisaka
Kassimir, R. (1991). Complex Martyrs: Symbols of Catholic Church Formation and Political Differentiation in Uganda. African Affairs, 90(360), pp. 357-382.
Kassimir, R. (1996). “The Social Power of Religious Organisation: The Catholic Church in Uganda, 1955-1991”. Doctoral thesis, Department of Political Science, University of Chicago.
Katuura, E., Waako, P., Ogwal-Okeng, J., & Bukenya-Ziraba, R. (2007). Traditional Treatment of Malaria in Mbarara District, Western Uganda. African Journal of Ecology, 45(Supp. 1), pp. 48-51.
Kibaale District Local Government. (n.d). Second Five Year Local Government Development Plan (2015/2016 to 2019/2020). Republic of Uganda. Retrieved on 9 February 2020 from http://npa.go.ug/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Kibaale-DDP-2015-16-to-2019-20-final-plan.pdf
Mafaranga, H., & Kasooha, I. (2013, September 29). Kibaale, the Hub of Cannibalism. New Vision. Retrieved on 9 February 2020 from https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1332869/kibaale-hub-cannibalism
Mayer, J. (2001). The Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God. Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, 5(1), pp. 203-210.
Mbiti, J. S. (1969). African Religions & Philosophy. London: Heinemann.
Mugerwa, F. (2012, May 12). Owobusobozi Bisaka: The Self-styled God in Bunyoro Region. Daily Monitor. Retrieved on 9 February 2020 from https://www.monitor.co.ug/SpecialReports/-/688342/1403840/-/wdeoq0/-/index.html
Ndeda, M. A. J. (2013). The Struggles of New Religious Movements in the Kenyan Religious Space: The Case of Repentance and Holiness Movement. Les Cahiers d’Afrique de l’Est [The East African Review], 47, pp. 33-56.
Niebuhr, H. R. (1960). The Social Sources of Denominationalism (Vol. 11). New York: Meridian Books.
Okoth, A. (2006). A History of Africa: African Societies and the Establishment of Colonial Rule, 1800-1915 (Vol. 1). Nairobi: East African Publishers.
Stark, R., & Finke, R. (2000). Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press.
Stark, R., & Bainbridge, W. S. (1979). Of Churches, Sects, and Cults: Preliminary Concepts for a Theory of Religious Movements. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 18(2), pp. 117-131. https://doi.org/10.2307/1385935
Tinkasiimire, T. (2004). Emerging New Religious Movements in Uganda. In J. N. K. Mugambi & M. N. Getui (Eds.), Religions in Eastern Africa under Globalisation. Nairobi: Acton Publishers.
Turyomumazima, B. (2005). The Church’s Pastoral Approach to the Practice of Healing among the Banyankore of the Archdiocese of Mbarara: Toward an Integrated Healing Mission. Doctoral dissertation, Department of Theology, University of Ottawa, Canada.
Ukah, A. (2018). “Everything is Plastic”: The Faith of Unity Movement and the Making of a Post-Catholic Religion in Uganda. Journal for the Study of Religion, 31(2), pp. 138-160. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2413-3027/2018/v31n2a6
Ukah, A. (2018, July 2). Emplacing God: The Social Worlds of Miracle Cities – Perspectives from Nigeria and Uganda. Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 36(3), pp. 351-368. https://doi.org/10.1080/02589001.2018.1492094
Ukah, A. (2018, December 28). Faith of Unity. World Religions and Spirituality. Retrieved on 16 October 2019 from https://wrldrels.org/2018/12/22/faith-of-unity/
Ukah, A. (2019). Healing Humankind and Ritual Entrepreneurialism: The Faith of Unity Religion in Uganda. In M.C. Green (Ed.), Law, Religion and Human Flourishing in Africa, pp. 225-241. South Africa: AFRICAN SUN MeDIA. Doi:10.18820/9781928314592/14.
Uganda Bureau of Statistics. (2016). The National Population and Housing Census 2014 – Main Report. Retrieved on 14 February 2020 from https://www.ubos.org/publications/statistical/20/
Welbourn, F. B, & Ogot, B. A. (1966). A Place to Feel at Home: A Study of Two Independent Churches in Western Kenya. London: Oxford University Press.