Challenging Colonialism through Religion: Connections Between Colonialism, Power, and Religion in Colonial Uganda

In the late nineteenth century, Christian beliefs and European ideas spread among the people of present-day Uganda through increasing British involvement in this region and the work of Christian missionaries. However, some Ugandan people also used these ideas to challenge and critique European society and the colonial system itself. This paper explores two ways that this happened. In the case of the Malakites and Bayudaya, a stricter interpretation of the Bible and Christian beliefs led them to see European Christians as hypocritical and to question parts of the colonial system such as European medical care. As demonstrated by Ignatius K. Musazi and Reverend Reuben Spartas Mukasa, both of whom had connections to the group Abazzukulu ba Kinta, or the Descendants of Kintu, another way blended elements of Christianity with other ideas and worked within the existing systems to challenge colonialism. Both approached used Christian concepts to question British colonialism