12 - African Tribal Religion and Its Influence on American Culture and the American Church

I spent 37 years in ministry as a pastor here in the US. In 2010 my wife Pat and I moved to Liberia, West Africa where we served for five years with SIM, Serving in Missions (formerly Sudan Interior Missions). I have spent countless hours interacting with Africans and learning about their culture and their traditional beliefs. As we returned to the US in June of 2015 I was surprised to see many of the aspects of African Tribal Religion (ATR) finding their way into the American culture and in the American church. Illustrations of ATR Influence on our Culture: We can see the influence of African Tribalism in much of the American culture. Fashion, hair styles, body piercing and scaring, tattoos, ear plugs, and music. This is the invasion of an eastern world view on our western culture.