Communities of faith beyond the West today confront challenges and opportunities that are peculiar to the post-Western phase of the worldwide Christian movement. Just as new nations were coming into existence with faltering steps, new communities of faith were also emerging with contrasting energy and momentum, creating the dual challenge of membership in the religious community alongside membership in the national community. The duties of religion overlap with the demands of nationality, making obedience to God an obligation simultaneous with loyalty to the nation. While Christian teaching addresses this dual obligation from the point of view of Western consensus, it has not done so to the same extent from the point of view of emerging post-Western societies and their pre-Christian heritage.
The Project on Religious Freedom & Society in Africa is housed at the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University.
