Over_the_Edge_Players'_Survival_Guide

CHAPTER 1
Over the Edge
In the Sahara, nomadic Berbers and Arabs live side
by side and are more distinct from each other than in
the agricultural north.
In the west and in the Sudan, the people show
the impact of European genes and culture. Here we
find Liberia, colonized by former slaves from the
US. Christianity is common here, as is the English
language.
On the east coast, the mix of Arabs and Bantus has
produced the Swahili culture.
South Africa boasts a Dutch-descended minority
which is slowly losing power over the black majority.
Christianity is the rule here, especially among
the whites.
Central Africa is dominated by the basic African
stock, especially by the Bantu people, who long ago
pushed the less developed groups into the rain forest
and deserts. Native religions are common among
these people, but Christians and Muslims have also
been at work converting them.
Religion
Three religious movements vie for the faith of
Africans: native polytheism in a diversity of forms;
Islam, brought by the Arabs, who also brought the
sword and the written word to much of Africa; and
Christianity, brought to Africa by the same people
who had destroyed its civilizations through the slave
trade.
Native religions have many general attributes in
common. People acknowledge an aloof creator deity
but mostly contact the numerous, less powerful deities
that are easier to manipulate or placate. Sorcery is the
source of undeserved good fortune (if one is a sorcerer)
and undeserved ill fortune (if one is a sorcerer’s
enemy). In contrast to the two invader religions, the
native religions emphasize earthly life rather than a
fatalistic dependence on heavenly reward.
Islam holds incredible sway over northern Africa,
and fundamentalism is on the rise. US fundamentalists
might sometimes be a pain in the neck, but at
least they don’t assassinate presidents, as Egyptian
fundamentalists did when they killed Anwar Sadat
in 1981. In turn, governments that do not want to
be controlled by Islam have responded with politi-
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