A couple of days ago I stopped off at my local Borders, and as is my habit, rooted around in the remainders. A real gem that I snapped up was 'Introduction to African Religion' (Oxford, Heinemann, 2'd ed. 1991) for $3.99. The author is John Mbiti, a very well known author in the field. Well, the title page lists the gentleman this way: John S. Mbiti Ph.D. (Cantab.), L.H.D. (h.c. Barrington, USA) and D.Theol. (h.c. Lausanne, Switzerland) Admittedly it is an honorary degree, but still... what was Dr. Mbiti thinking? Or perhaps not thinking? Don't celebrity authors do some checking before accepting these things? And don't they take some care before giving this stuff to publishers to list? Besides, don't most honorary doctorates involve traveling to the school awarding the degree and at least giving a speech? I can imagine the scene at the Mobile Alabama mail forwarding service when Mbiti drove up and proceeded to deliver an address in full academic regalia to the teenage clerk on duty.
Indeed, Bill! As the graduates were tuned in via their hand-held communication devices, Dr. Mbiti challenged this innovative group to continue their academic journey, however, he urged them not to use the degree in their CV stating that it could possibly be a "liability" to their career. He then proceeded to take 32 minutes to define what a degree was. The President of Barrington then addressed the grads from Hawaii, where he was vacationing, by offering them a rebate for every new student they enrolled at BU. Russell
Slapdash is as slapdash does. Serious students of African religions and philosophies have been climbing out from under Mbiti's pontifications for years. Paulin Hountondji dismantled Fr Mbiti years ago.
