Inviting Ethiopians to In-Between Spaces: A Pastoral Theology of Hope for a Fragmented Ethiopia

Ethiopia's ethnic federal system organizes regional states around dominant ethnic or language groups. In this system, minority Ethiopian ethnic groups within those states often experience discrimination. This structure has contributed to identity politics that has led to the displacement, suffering, war, ethnic conflict, and even death of thousands of Ethiopians. Yonatan Tesfaye Fessha argues that the ethnic federal government system generates identity politics that fragments shared religious and cultural identities among Ethiopians. This fragmentation is a major problem in Ethiopia today.