Religion in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has two primary religions: Orthodox Christian and Muslim. Religion has long been an area of civil conflict within Ethiopia, as it has been throughout the world. For many of us living in the US, religion-based conflict is pretty non-existent. The freedoms we have enjoyed since the foundation of our country- the freedom to practice any religion, and the freedom to abstain from religious practice- is something that we take for granted. The religious conflicts around the world are less "real" than those based on race, ethnicity, or country of origin, since we experience those kinds of conflicts ourselves in the US. However, these religion-based conflicts are very real. Here is an interesting article from the UK edition of The Times. It is particularly interesting because the peace sought with Christians from leaders of the Muslim world is directly relevant to the religious unrest within Ethiopia.