The historian Jean Pirotte said that the actions of churches are neither harmless nor painless. They are accompanied by symbolic movements in mental landscapes, and even earthquakes; they can destabilize established authorities, disorganize societies and tip them over into a long period of chaos or of reconstruction (2009: 45). As religions are bearers of particular cultures, these movements obviously have social and political implications. In fact, religions have always been involved in social and political concerns. In the African context, this involvement emerges from the beginning of evangelization. It is especially visible in the heyday of the foundation and rebuilding of the societies in which Christianity settled. It was obviously at the time of the formation of new nations - in the three epochs conventionally established by historians (pre-colonial, colonial and postcolonial) - that the Christian mission became tied to politics in the contemporary era. It was at these moments that individuals emerged who were in favour of the identity, autonomy and independence of their people. Eyezo’o (2009) describes the place that some pastors of the Presbyterian Mission American held in the decolonization of Cameroon under French administration. Similar examples are found in most African countries in that period (1956-1960). For example, Bouron (2009) shows that in Haute Volta (now Burkina Faso) it was through social activity that the Catholic Church played a political role at that time. Concurrently, the ecclesial bodies reminded their staff that the Church has a spiritual mission and must refrain from any partisan political commitment (Zorn, 2009).
　　The postcolonial period is especially marked by the commoditization of the relationship between religions and states. A very informative article was published in January 2002 in the satirical newspaper The Marabout on the compromises made by religion with political power in Africa. He lists with irony and humour the “eternal” friendships, loyalties and corrupt relationships of representatives of both Christianity and Islam with the various presidents and dictators. This is often interpreted by the opposition to dictatorial regimes as something that discredits the proponents of universal morality. However, in the early 1990s, religious groups achieved credibility because of the role of arbiter they played in social and political conflicts. Several authors highlight the role of churches in that period. They emphasize this role in the national conferences in French Africa (Giffort, 1995; Constantin & Coulon, 1997; Ziegler, 1997; Michel, 1997); they consider the place of evangelical and pentecostal leaders (Corten & Mary, 2000; Dozon, 1995; Fournier & Picard, 2002; Frimpong, 1991; Toulabor, 1994) and Muslim reform movements (Islam et sociétés au sud du Sahara n°4, 1990; Magassouba, 1985) in the formation of political groupings and at the same time the mystical drift in the thinking of some political leaders. Some even describe the political commitment of several religious leaders (Djereke, 2005; Mouyala, 2003; Hagenbucher-Sacripanti, 2002). However, they do not sufficiently underline the role of communication in this political aspect of religions. Neither have African media experts seen the ancient connection between religion and politics from the perspective of communication. André-Jean Tudesq (2009) makes only passing reference to this phenomenon and restricts it to the institutional relationship between religious media and state. Annie Lenoble-Bart (1996, 2009) has identified some aspects through her study of Afrique Nouvelle, a Catholic weekly, between 1947 and 1987 but has not gone deeply into the matter. Yet, the analysis of the statements of religious groups on the media reveals an important political dimension.
　　Religious media in Africa do not only concern themselves with religious propaganda. They are also interested in social issues. They believe that evangelism is consistent with the consideration of the socioeconomic and cultural conditions of their audiences. Within religious communication, we can identify a sector dedicated to “social communication”. First, this sector has a role in explaining the position of religious leaders on major issues concerning social life. Its second objective is to highlight the choices of their followers. The task of communication promoting social change relates thus to various sectors of society: improving living conditions, the promotion and maintenance of cultural diversity, supporting local development, the contribution to the democratization of knowledge in society, supporting the democratization of society, and so on. Among the social contributions made by religious radio stations, I would like to emphasize the communication for political change, introduced on various stations, although, in most countries, the coverage of political information and debate is prohibited. What objectives do these stations pursue? What do they promote? What are the consequences? Some of the issues this article intends to address. However, more generally, it involves analyzing the radio as a mirror of the complex relationship that religious institutions have with politics in Africa.
　　This paper has three main objectives: to describe the considerable development of religious radio stations in the contemporary sub-Saharan Africa; to define the logic behind their communication, and to analyze their advocacy, including citizen engagement.
　　Religious Broadcasting: A Most Prolific Sector
　　The sudden emergence of religious communication on the media-political scene seems to be, from our point of view, one of the major phenomena of recent decades in Africa. It is true that the development of religious radio stations in Africa was almost synchronous with the development of broadcasting. Radio Leo, founded by the Jesuits in 1937 was followed by several other stations across the continent, even though in some countries no state radio existed. Furthermore, during the period of the monopoly exercised by the states, especially in the audiovisual field, religious stations were the rare radio stations that survived the wave of prohibition and closures, which occurred in most countries. Yet, never has the number of religious stations been so great as over the past two decades. After the liberalization of the audiovisual industry in the 1990s, one can speak of a proliferation of religious radio stations from all sides, substantially modifying the media landscape in most countries. There are several hundreds of them across the continent. Nearly one third of private radio stations in the Democratic Republic of Congo are religious or function as such. Various sources agree on the significance of the religious sector in the media of this country. In December 2005, the research organisation Technological Exchange Group (GRET) counted nearly a hundred of them, of which more than 45 belonged to Revival Churches1. Their number is likely to be revised upwards, because radio stations were subsequently created in various provinces, especially in Bas Congo, where we can observe a proliferation of Christian radio stations in recent years. In Western Africa, the countries are well provided for Burkina (40) and Togo (32). With the 11 recently licensed stations, Benin has now 16 confessional radio stations. In a country like Mali where the ‘associative’ and community radio stations dominate, there are still 10 religious stations (Muslim and Christian). Even in Ghana, where the law prohibits the establishment of religious radio stations, eight stations2 are still prominent among the most popular. This is also the case of Nigeria, which forbids the establishment of religious radio stations but which has accommodated Radio Eternal Love Winning Africa (ELWA) in Kano since 1992, and, on December 22 2009 in Abuja, Love FM (104.5), a radio station of the Anglican Church was born. Eastern Africa is not left behind; since Tanzania had at the end of 2009, 23 of the 45 faith-based stations of all types operating within Kenya spread over thirty frequencies. This phenomenon excludes very few countries (Niger and Zimbabwe, among them).
　　All religions are involved, because religious radio was immediately pluralist. Only a little late to arrive, Muslim radio stations did not give Christian radio stations much of a head start. Certainly, the Christian radio stations are very numerous, as they account for almost 90% of stations. This is explained by the widespread activism of Pentecostalism evangelicals in this field. They almost relegate established Churches to a minority. In Burkina Faso, evangelical stations were almost equal in number in 2010 to those of the Catholic Church, 12 compared to 13, while statistics show the religious affiliation of the Catholic majority (19% of the population of Burkina Faso) compared with the evangelical churches (5.8%)3. In the DRC, the evangelical radio stations very clearly predominate. The place they occupy is estimated at over 70% of the Christian media landscape of Congo. The second reason why the Christian stations tend to predominate lies in the network developing out of several of these channels. The first religious radio stations were established in the capitals and religious cosmopolitanism is one probable explanation for this. Relay stations are increasingly being established within the country to enable more extensive coverage of distance and people. Thus, Radio Maria Togo, initially established in Lomé, spread to Kpalimé, Sotouboua, Kara and Dapaong. Radio Immaculate Conception of Allada, north of Cotonou, did the same between 1998 and 2000, creating six relay stations in Abomey, Dassa-Zoumé, Djougou, Natitingou, Parakou and Bembéréké. It plans to install three other relay stations to Lokossa, Kétou and Kandi. In Togo as in Benin, we also see the preoccupation of the Protestants in decentralising radio. The pastor Adjaho brought Radio Zion-to in Kpalimé, in addition to the antenna of Adidogomé (west of Lomé) and Radio Christ in the east of the capital, and Radio Maranatha of Cotonou installed a subsidiary in Parakou for an evangelical presence in northern Benin. It was planning to extend relays to six other localities across the country (N’Dali, Tchaourou, Zogbodomè, Onklou near Djougou Paouignan and Bopa), while Alléluia FM of Porto Novo was exported to Bohicon and The Voice of Islam of Cotonou implemented relays in Bohicon, Parakou, Kandi and Djougou. This policy of decentralization was also conducted in 1995 in Burkina Faso with the extension of Radio Evangile Développement (RED) in several provinces (Bobo Dioulasso, Ouahigouya, Leo and Gaoua) followed by the establishment of subsidiaries of Radio Ave Maria Ouagadougou to Koupéla and Kaya. In addition, dioceses within which some localities are not covered will set up their own radio stations. In Togo, the whole territory is covered by the religious spectrum. It is also the case in Burkina Faso. There are even areas of over-coverage: the dioceses of Sokodé, Kara and Aného in Togo for example, have two Catholic stations each, creating some duplication.
　　However, it is likely that proliferation will increase on the Muslim side. The Muslim religious authorities had not felt the need to create specifically religious media, as in countries with Muslim majorities radio stations provided a constant and abundant religious service. This is even the case today in places where Islam is dominant. So what is new is the direct involvement of Muslim religious leaders in the creation and operation of religious radio stations. Given the political reorientation of Muslim leaders, reducing the construction of mosques in favour of investment in social and communication, and the activism of religious groups like the Ahmadiyya and the direction of D’awa of Arabia Saudi Kingdom in the funding of Wahhabite radio stations, the number of Muslim stations is constantly growing. In Burkina, for example, their number increased from 3 in 2005 to 10 in 2009, while developments on other frequencies are being studied.
　　This is not the case with traditional religions, which largely remain outside of public religious communication. In most countries, their absence in the media is compensated by the presence of tradi-practitioners and other traditional healers. Apart from the cultural vision, which is its focus, and to which it seems to be reduced, it is through the appearance of traditional healers on the media that we may find other aspects of worship and rituals of ancestral religions. However, radio for traditional religions is on the way. Benin, which is a leader in the claim on values associated with traditional religions, and which devotes to them one day holiday per year is now issuing an operating license to the first radio claiming the traditional African religion. The Congregation Yèhoué Voodoo, which has begun building a basilica to Voodoo at Adingnigon near Agbangnizoun, obtained from the High Authority for Audiovisual and Communication (HAAC) the licence to create Tradi Radio FM in the same locality. King AdanmakpohouéAgbalènon, president of the congregation Voodoo Yèhoué believes that radio will not only speak of traditional religions but also use three claims it makes: the installation of the seat of the congregation YèhouéVodoun, the project Voodoo practitioner and the institutionalization of the festival of Dahomey cultures.
　　The Links between Religious Radio Stations and Society: two Views
　　The use of media by religious institutions is closely linked with the understanding that they have relationships between religion as an institution, and society. It is possible to find several indications of their approach to wider society in the content of religious programs and in the practices of religious media in Africa. Different possibilities are identifiable.
　　A first approach follows a longstanding paradigm, but remains an attractive one. It assumes the state or society has no separate existence but exist only for and by religion. It is identified in particular in the flooding of all “places” by the religion. The media - especially radio - have been put to use to establish their omnipresence and omnipotence. Religious institutions are taking advantage of the absence of radical distinction between the sacred and profane, public and private matters of religion, to make the secularism of States and institutions theoretical. In many cases (and we shall come back to this), we can even talk of subjugation of political power by religious power.
　　


　　Diagram 1. The supremacy of religion over society
　　We can identify a second approach taken by some of the new religious communities from the emergence of evangelical Pentecostalism, one the earlier Christians also adopted. According to this point of view, religion should be completely separated from society (the world) – a separate entity from the “Kingdom of God” and often in opposition to it – (Psalm, 102)4 which appears to them as opposed to the Church (Kingdom of God). Believers are sent – like Jesus’ disciples into “the World” (Luc, 1, 12, 17, 20) merely to evangelize and seek to save souls and to bring God into their midst. This design has inspired the concept of spiritual warfare in which devout believers must engage against the spirit of the world.
　　


　　Diagram 2. Separation between religion and society
　　In some discourse, clerics sometimes seem to make sense of the world, of society, through religion. In the testimonies that the managers of religious radio stations give about religion in the media, the role of morality and wisdom of the Gospel is constantly elaborated in order to illuminate and give meaning to human life and to society. One would think that most people go astray and society tends to corrupt completely without the aid of religion. This attitude is also visible in positions of religious institutions on social issues and public laws.
　　


　　Diagram°4. Religion as the “Salt and the Light of the World”
　　One last look at the links between religion and society shows that society is the space religious institutions inhabit and where they perform their mission. Religion and society interact and co-exist constantly, mutually enriching one another. The two poles are diversifying their points of dialogue and sites of collaboration. This is especially well reflected in discourse on social development and commitment to human promotion of religious institutions.
　　


　　Diagram 5. Dialogue between religion and society
　　None of these concepts is found alone and none characterizes itself as a religious institution. They simply indicate societal trends. These are all found to various degrees in an institution and in this no institution represents an exclusive model. Applying these concepts to the ideal of communication allows us to emphasize that the first three each involve a one-way process. There is a proclamation but not communication in the sense that there is no exchange. Seen from the perspective of the link to media, instead, they bring a utilitarian view of the media. These are seen as tools to further their goals. This is the fourth point of view that establishes a genuine act of communication since it involves constant interaction between the religious institution and society. In terms of the link to the media, it is the only one that admits that they have their own autonomy, their own reason for being, and their own vocation. The media are somehow the agora of modern society, where people discuss their problems, where information is exchanged and where human aspirations are expressed. This meeting through the media is beneficial to the religion that draws inspiration for its action, while offering practical solutions to society. Unfortunately, the particularity of religious communication can not always get rid of interference from other easy concepts. At least this is what we can see in analyzing more closely the use religious institutions in Africa make of the media. It identifies a feature that seems to characterize communication by all religious institutions.
　　A Decisive Political Role
　　The’90s have given a different inflection to their practices. Primarily designed as a source of alternative information, private radio stations were quickly disenchanted in front of the hostility of many dictatorial powers. They retreated fearfully in the entertainment of their audiences by broadcasting music and news items. Soon, however, they have found in religion a “providential” field that allowed them to extend their zone of action and their life expectancy. It is in widely exploiting the possibilities offered by a religious communication that the media were able to survive and grow. Indeed, by integrating the religious sphere that not only has the particular ability to crystallize alone the entire social field, but still constitutes a form of rebellion against politics, they have begun to find their true purpose. An encounter with religion could bring them to explore other areas that seemed confined to the political.
　　The religious radio stations immediately placed themselves in this diverted opposition, which has become more and more overt. The forces subsequently became balanced, forcing the political power to involve the religious and, conversely, religion to win a share of power. In reality, driven by a wave of spiritual renewal and revival of religious practice, religious institutions were initially concerned by the need to renew their structures. In this sense, the use of private stations and the establishment of religious radio stations were the means used to support this movement. Yet, if religious communication is of particular importance, the meeting of religion and the media seems to have evolved somewhat. Traditional forms of teaching, posting events, religious education, the link to the public, to the economy of communication, to the communication medium itself, and the public sphere, multiplies their possibilities or gives way to new perspectives. Thus, non-religious fields were completely naturally incorporated. In addition, choosing to focus on some form of propaganda, religion has had to develop a strategy of seduction, which brought it to invest in social capital and to influence the power of the politically powerful. For religion the media, therefore, is a weapon of conquest and retention of power, and it is not surprising that for this reason, the religious system is no longer able to do without. At the same time, the media are tools of political protest in the field of social action. Is it not partly because of the social action of religious communication that the public is still asking for more religion? In any case, everything seems to show that taking into account the specific needs of their audiences, and including their communication in a religious context we imposed on communicators of the 1990’s and 2000’s. That period is indeed characterized by a number of social upheavals caused by the gradual fall of dictatorships and the adoption of democratic principles. Led by a religious system that has become autonomous and constituted as a power-cons or parallel power, religious radio stations in most countries tended to offer a vision of society as an alternative model in progress.
　　The role that religious radio stations fulfill in the political life of societies relates to the place the religious institutions occupy in their midst, and depends on the situation of each country. The status of religion was diverse in different countries before the ‘90s. However, from that date on, religious institutions have everywhere obtained a legal status such as through associations, and thus a political status. Therefore, a paradoxical situation has settled: the liberation of religion from politics and their development strategies to influence the political context, either as power-cons, and either as prescribing a moral line that policies must be observed. Elsewhere, were the monks even directly involved in politics5. Although the news coverage remains difficult in most countries studied, religious radio stations permanently exhibit this contradiction.
　　Communication for Social Change
　　Faithful to the line prescribed by Church officials at the highest level, the members of Churches of the World Council of Churches and the Catholic Church in Africa defend a position that promotes social change. For the WCC “Churches have the task of teaching everyone how to achieve efficiency in terms of policy 6“at least for the perpetuation of power in place of the advent of civil peace. In Populorum Progressio, the Pope Paul VI intimated, in fact virtually ordered the Christian countries’ development work to change the temporal order for the good of all. He believed that changes are necessary, fundamental reforms are essential and that Christians must resolutely work to instil the spirit of the Gospel7“. “As defined in the Post-Synodal Exhortation of bishops of Africa and of Madagascar (‘Ecclesia in Africa’), social action is a kind of political protest. The bishops suggest that Churches take seriously the training of lay people to play their full role of Christian activation of the temporal order (political, cultural, economic, social), which is a feature of the secular vocation of the laity. They asked the Churches to encourage the laity to engage in politics, in which they can work collaboratively and, at the same time prepare the way for the Gospel. By encouraging Christians towards political structures, Catholics do not miss the opportunity of further training in civil rights and sometimes government action. The Christian nonprofessional engaged in democratic struggles in the spirit of the Gospel is thus the sign of a church that wants this to build a rule of law across Africa. However, apart from reading the pastoral letters and comments made about them in the political sphere, one rarely finds in religious radio directly critical positions. Those who tried to venture there, such as Radio Maria Lomé (Togo), have been meeting opposition. Radio Maria Lomé was sanctioned several times because it sometimes gave the impression that it opposed the government. This is also the case of Radio Fahazavana the Protestant Reformed Church Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM) whose political program “Ampenjika” and the news program was suspended several times, finding all its production and transmission equipment ransacked by police, according to local analysts paid well and too close to former President Marc Ravalomanana. Finally this is also the case of Radio Television “Inter Come and See” (RTIV) and Radio “The Way, the Truth and the Life”(known as Channel Radio CCV in Kinshasa) who have experienced temporary suspensions, one of them for broadcasting. The issues were over inciting the secession of Katanga, and alleged support of Jean-Pierre Bemba. Religious leaders themselves believe that the role of religious radio stations is not to give political direction and even less to give voting instructions. Since all citizens are potential listeners regardless of their political affiliation and membership of same religions, they could be divided by partisan positions. Political commitment is therefore expressed more in terms of campaigning for a proper democratic culture and the establishment of conditions for the development of a genuine public dialogue.
　　A public space for reflection and discussion
　　Religious radios stations have helped a lot in shaping and informing the public mind on matters of public interest. Radio programmes like “2000 Years”, “Christian in Society”, “Point of View” (Radio Maria Lomé, Togo) “African issues”, “Straight”, “Challenge Africa” (Jésus Vous Aime, Togo) “Jicho ago nchi mwana” (the eye of the citizen) of Zenith (Democratic Republic Congo), “Optical Issues” (current issues) Radio Veritas in Monrovia (Liberia), and many others, develop topics that have inspired a number of associations, NGOs and political groups. Many associations were started in Togo for example, in the aftermath of the 2003 presidential election, under the inspiring programme “Year 2000” broadcast on Wednesdays at 09 PM (Radio Maria Lomé). It is true that in a forfeiture of the freedom of expression and prohibition of talking about politics on private radio stations, broadcasts of this kind are often the only ones able to encourage thinking and sometimes discussion “The duties of a citizen” (Radio Al Mafaz, Burkina Faso) as “Human Rights” (Radio Notre Dame de la Réconciliation, Burkina Faso) are the occasion to discuss any political news, and at the same time it deals with serious issues concerning the future of the nation and common life. “The city” (Radio Immaculée Conception, Benin), just as “Justice and Peace” give voice to every citizen interested in discussing issues affecting life in the city. Social justice and civil peace are addressed even though these programs were designed at the outset to publicise the social doctrine of the Church in these areas. “Our society” (Radio Progress, Ghana) became, there too, a flagship political program that alternately and sometimes at the same time provoked discussion of various political and social conditions, with the possibility for listeners to pause anytime during the discussion to intervene.
　　In so doing, the religious radio stations destroy the hierarchy related to the exercise of the power of communication in the public domain, allowing the emergence of new ideas from grassroots and social organizations. To some extent, these programs provide an opportunity for listeners to participate directly in the debates, as they allow the establishment of a public space that is struggling to exist otherwise and elsewhere. Due to the influence of the Catholic Church, its stations can afford boldness in the matter that the others cannot. Extending the appeal of Pope John Paul II for building a just and free society, they did not hesitate to accept the development of themes that could be detrimental to those in power. In Togo, they represent one of the frames of public reflection that public media themselves are unable to achieve. In a country where civil society has no voice because it is exhausted, especially because the party-state is still powerful, the radio thus often becomes the single speaker representing authority. Thus, no Christian radio has been banned from broadcasting or suspended beyond a reasonable time; critical transmissions always resurface in other forms. An eminent official of the state of Togo already told one of the radio presenters of“Hello Youth” that he personally thought the issues articulated during the various broadcasts were in line with the public interest. Yet the government’s position on the matter was publicly expressed in November 11, 2003 at the 16th general meeting of the national communication of Catholic Social Communications. At the opening session, the Chief Cabinet Minister of Communication and Civic Education welcomed the interest that the Catholic Church attached to the communication, which is, according to him, “a key factor in shaping the minds and behavior of citizens for a peaceful society”. He also stressed the role that Catholic media played in public education, as well as their influence on the political, social and economic development of the country. Even more astonishingly, he recognized the vital role of religious radio stations in the democratization of African societies8. Admittedly, the Church as a structure (a hierarchy, a place for meetings, public speaking and a spiritual message) attracts less punishment than a political party does. One can truly believe that religious radio stations occupy a space of power - or cons-power - by intervening in the public space of civil society through their “communicative action”. However, the religious radio stations are not positioned just in a disguised criticism of the political situation; they also help install a democratic culture that respects the opinions of each other.
　　The construction of a national community
　　Society lives by or through increasing its relationship with itself through the media space. As highlighted by Lucien Sfez (1988: 16-17), communication has become the preferred vehicle of research homogenization in a shattered society and in search of memory. Dominique Wolton (1997: 97)9, for his part, insists on the fact that the media, especially television, have a remarkable power to establish a social link of a new type between their public. This link is combined with a sense of belonging to a particular community, certainly virtual, but genuine. The media thus participate in the advent of an international community that should not be confused with the“global village”. In line with this thinking, Frédéric Antoine noted that
　　Even if they are not a real group located in a defined space, members of a corporation looking concomitantly the same TV show are in effect as related to each other, temporally united in shared consumption of a given cultural data. They take communion together; the simultaneous use this alternate sharing of spatiality which traditionally allowed circumscribing the limits of a community (2002: 32-33).
　　However, D. Wolton also enhances the role of religion, while not relying on the prerogative of Christian institutions - how important is the role of religion in its ability to establish a link between identity and some impassable universalism. In doing so, he somehow follows Durkheim, who did not find religion more important than the function of social cohesion. In fact religion appears to him as the primary form of this common spirit that holds together society beyond individual identities, because society is “primarily a set of ideas, beliefs, feelings of all kinds that are realized by individuals, and at the forefront of these ideas is the moral ideal which is its primary raison d’être” (1967: 79). Religion thus meets the criteria of a social fact: it encompasses all individuals and exerts a moral constraint on them. Study religion and any aspect of its action, and one is led back to the sources of social ties.
　　Just as religious people do, the media create social bonds, nevertheless ones of a more superficial nature. The community gathered for a radio program has little ability to reduce social divisions, and it may even strengthen them. By cons, if that community is based on two grounds, religious and media, there may perhaps be opportunities for it to have a social impact. However, the same limit can be emphasised about religion. If it exacerbates the feeling of belonging to a class or a people, it thereby becomes a dividing factor. There is no natural effect of social cohesion, but the will of an institution to produce one. For this reason, we postulate that the performance of this function by both is not only voluntary but also more effective when religion and the media are together, or that one exploits the other for this purpose. That is what we want to emphasize: the role of religion in Africa in the use of radio stations for the construction of a national community, and also the role of the media in the use of religion for the same purpose.
　　In the case that we are studying, clearly the intersection between them both induces the effect we identify. The full-service radio stations in particular, have certainly played a role in disseminating information on reliance and social advertising, but the media have very little concern in uniting the various components of the nation. It seems the trend has been the reverse. Radio began to play that unifying role in discovering in religious people a potentially unifying object. On the other hand, we know that, after the disintegration of society in most countries following the political unrest of the early ‘90s, even the religious groups were opposed to each other, losing all credibility as to their ability to recast the social bond. Yet it took their appeal to the media, offering pledges of a true “community of witness”, and spread a spirit of national reconciliation and brotherhood, so that religion is again a legitimate force for social cohesion. The radio stations thus enabled religion to regain one of its ‘raisons d’être’.
　　For its part, religion enabled radio to fulfil one of its core functions: one of the scattering effects of religion on the radio, in a context of social and political fragmentation, has been the rapprochement between communities in the nation. In Togo, for example, radio indeed managed to build a religious community that transcends ethnic, regional, community and religious inclinations, while simmering down division and even civil war, following the political and ethnic rivalries. The prominence given to all languages of the country on various religious radio stations is not only the effect of religious expansionism. Even if it were the first goal, the benefits go beyond expectations. In granting a voice to all and ensuring the representation of all peoples through including their languages in the broadcasts, Christian radio stations give them the assurance they are on the same footing, and involved in the same issues affecting their society. They thus manage to elicit from people the feeling that they are members of a community that they must love, and develop. For the construction of a national community, this is an effective action. In addition, many programs have helped strengthen the bond to rebuild the desire to work together for the same purpose. This is particularly the goal set by “Te agaa paaheyeng” (“We are concerned” in dagaara language) of Progress, that works to create a complicity between the different peoples of the region. These, according to the host of the show, have a tendency to “let win the real life and daily horrors by the opposition of political and ideological rivalries10“.
　　Beyond raising awareness and mobilizing the will to build peace and democracy, some radio stations offer a spiritual dimension that also has an effect. Many Christians are politically, ethnically and regionally divided because of political developments, such as saying with one voice the prayer for the nation that Christian radio stations of all denominations offer. This is particularly the case of the LMR network every day at 09:30 PM. The same takes place in Porto Novo where Alleluia FM offers a time of “Prayer for the Nation” and an hour of“Prayer for family and friends”. Religious radio stations play an important role in the prospect of a national peace and harmony for all. Flaminio Piccoli, president of the U.C.S.I., acknowledged this role of the Catholic radio stations during the XIIth International Congress of the International Catholic Union of the Press (UCIP) in 1980. He said what, in his view, is the most admirable social communication of Churches.
　　It can be an instrument of understanding, tolerance among peoples and men. As violence again seems about to play the role of regulator of social relationships or relationships that citizens have with government, the media offer a chance to tear down the barrier of hatred and misunderstanding, to rediscover and develop a renewed brotherhood (Guissard, 1991).
　　Besides the critical attitude that tends to play power-cons, new churches display a clear position in support of the government or, more accurately, exploitation of the sources of power for their own purposes.
　　Pentecosta radio stations and the development of a dualistic political theology
　　In the different countries studied, one issue draws our attention: the evangelical pentecostal churches are on the side of the power in place, not so much as supporters of a corrupt human order, as recognition of a divine order to which they owe allegiance. Their political theology remains very “Paulist”11 in this matter: all authority comes from God and cannot be disputed (Toulabor, 1994). Far from seeking to challenge the legitimacy of the outgoing government, as was the case for old churches of the mission represented by the traditional Protestant churches and the Catholic Church, the Pentecostal churches have shunned the protests, concerned rather to develop strategies to prove their ability to absorb and reduce the suffering of the people. In doing so, this position has resulted in significant change in their relationship with the state. Indeed, together with the massive following for their message and the public legitimacy they enjoy, they have developed towards the public powers an ambivalent discourse. In Ghana (Giffort, 1998) as in Togo and in Benin, they affirmed the idea that the country would grow and prosper only if the head of state was a believer, in this case Christian, while conversely, it would inevitably go under if he would make allegiance with occult forces. The spiritual battle between forces of good and evil we have already described above, thus applies to the total social dimension, affecting the highest echelons of government, the leader of the nation himself being summoned to integrate the process of conversion.
　　Obviously, Pentecostal leaders used their media appearances to spread their discourse about the morality of power. In Ghana, apart from Sunny FM and Spirit FM, which are their official media, they produce several programs at the GBC, of which they direct the department of religious programs in various radio stations across the country. In Togo, the radio Zion -to and the stations Bonne Nouvelle, Christ, Sinai and La Moisson Finale are the main intermediaries in this doctrine. This speech is not uttered in political programs but through sermons to show its sacredness. In a broadcast on August 13, 2005 entitled “Generations twisted and adulterers” broadcasted on BN, the preacher commented on a Bible passage and then attacked the “world leaders” treated like friends of the “Prince of this world”, which is to imply Satan. He summons them to convert, otherwise “the days of Sodom and Gomorrah” will come to the country and “the earth shall open and swallow up” the culprits.
　　Having become a force in politics, charismatic and pentecostal leaders developed a seductive discourse towards the power establishment. So, they are not neglected by politicians. While they tended to see their development as a threat, the government soon made them allies. Realizing the enormous social importance of these churches and their ability to mobilize a large mass of people, E.G Rawlings, Head of the State of Ghana from 1979 to 2001, showed more sympathy for Churches than he did before. Comi Toulabor precisely relates the beginning of an article cited previously to the events of his alliance and cooperation with their populist leaders (Comi, 1994, pp.131-142; Gifford, 1998, pp.70-71). Bishop Duncan-Williams of Charismatic Church“Ministères Chrétiens de foi” became the leader of the charismatic leaders who have undertaken to support the president and pray for him in public. C. Toulabor describes one of these gatherings in favor of the head of state who was celebrated as “a high mass for Jesus Junior Rawlings” in thanksgiving for the advent of the Fourth Republic “in the presence of President Rawlings, members of his government and the entire diplomatic corps”(Toulabor, 1994: 132). This congruence is increasing, especially after the 1996 elections, when recalling the“moral revolution” initiated in the aftermath of the coup of June 1979, Ghana’s policy takes the form of a battlefield between the powers God and Satan. In this context of spiritual struggle that seems to determine the fate of the country, because it is (“to clean (literally and figuratively) Ghana” so that is evoked what Rawlings called then “the spirit of Ghana” (Spirit of Ghana)( Gifford, 1998, pp.70-71), Pentecostals were able to impose the idea that the future of the nation depended on Christians, on their prayer and on their voices, and on the morality of politicians.
　　When Rawlings awoke from his “dogmatic slumber”, charismatic Pentecostals were able to convert the head of state of Benin, whose only political discourse became a biblical discourse. The President elected in 2006 is himself heavily influenced by the Evangelical Pentecostal Church. In Togo and Burkina Faso, their political strategy was to organize, as in the past in Ghana, prayers for the government and the nation and the need to provide words of encouragement to the ruling power. Pentecostals therefore demonstrate that good citizenship and Christian virtues are two sides of the same coin. In other words, in their political ideology, nationalism without Christianity would not make a good country. The radio stations relay their conception of power as expressed in two booklets, one entitled ‘The Christian and National Politics’, written in 1991 by the Reverend Joshua Narey Kudadjie and Robert Aboagye-Mensah, Kwasi, and the other ‘The Christian and Social Conduct’ published in 1992, the two forming the collection ‘Christian Social Ethics For Everyone’.
　　Conclusion
　　However, the political role and the role of social cohesion constitute only one aspect of the multiple social functions fulfilled by religious radio stations. Most programs for political change are part of the social action of religious media. From there, marking the border between political and social issues remains a tricky business. There is continuity between political action and social action in the various programs taken as examples. To establish the city of God on Earth or to make God present in the city of humans, and to ensure that the Gospel frees humans from what oppresses them, are at the same time social and political objectives. It depends on what is highlighted. “The struggle for justice and participation in the transformation of society appears as a political dimension of preaching the Gospel” pronounced the Synod of Catholic Bishops in 1971. Political action passes through the social role and all of them are justified by the wellbeing of mankind “For Christians, if Christianity is not interested in humans, it shows a caricature of the Gospel”, says Pastor Etienne Kiemde - the manager of the Burkina Faso Assembly of God’s radio station (Radio Evangile Développement) 12.
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