SWORD OF FAITH

Religion No Excuse for Bloodshed: Soyinka

Nobel laureate takes stand against abuses.

Religion has proved itself a “spur, a motivator and a justification” for innumerable “crimes against humanity,” and it is time to say so, said Nigerian poet and Nobel Prize laureate Wole Soyinka in a speech at the headquarters of the United Nations late last month. Soyinka, the first African to be honored with the Nobel Prize for literature, said in September that “it is time that the world adopt a position that refuses to countenance religion as an acceptable justification for, excuse, or extenuation of crimes against humanity.” Soyinka has spoken out widely against Boko Haram, a violent militant group that aspires to create a Sharia state in his native Nigeria.