the LACK of moral consciousness AMONG CHRISTIANSHISTORICAL FACTORS
Wanjohi - Reasons for the philosophy of dualism among African Christians The philosophy of dualism has become a prominent feature of life among churchgoers in Africa partly because of the manner Christianity was introduced to the Africans from the 18th century till Vatican II. The church, reacting to the then current philosophies, used the classical philosophy to define her teaching in a precise, categorical language which left no room for any ambiguity. To become a Christian one needed only to memorize the catechism paraphrased in Aristotelian logic. A catechumen poorly gifted in memory had to spend a couple of years in catechetical classes before baptism. The ability to memorize well was basically a precondition for the reception of the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and first Holy Communion. The culture of the people being evangelised was considered pagan and opposed to Christianity and thus had to be uprooted lest it act as a threat to the Good News. Nothing was considered good in this heathen culture: its religion, its practices, its music, the names given to its people; everything was condemned. Everything was dark, just like Africa was considered the "dark continent by the colonizers of the same era. The Africans were predominantly filling hell as a prayer composed around that time clearly shows: " O God remember that you are the creator all human beings. But see how the black people are filling hell, and definitely you do not like it." The church 's thinking at the time was that she possessed a precious unopened bag termed depositum fidei (faith deposit). This bag had to be handed over to the next generation of believers as it was since no one had anything new to add to it. There was no room for inculturation since the so- called depositum fidei lacked nothing. Outside this depositum fidei there was no salvation as it was put categorically: "extra ecclesiam nulla salus" (no salvation outside the church). In short, the "depositum fidei" approach to evangelisation in Africa adhered to a doctrinal model of evangelisation which required a catechumen to memorize the church's doctrinal tenets to qualify for baptism. As a result, the baptised African found himself living in a dualistic moral world. On the one hand he practised a religion that did not relate to most of his daily needs. He kept its precepts but when a crisis threatened his well-being or existence, he turned to his ancestral religion for solutions and direction. Therefore the Good News did not become inculturated in him, it remained foreign. The African marriage rituals, initiation rites, music and the link between the living and the living dead were not taken into consideration. An African would go to church on Sunday morning and in the afternoon visit a traditional medicine-person, called "witchdoctor" by non-Africans, for the healing of the traditional "sins" which a Christian pastor or priest could not handle since he considered them to be witchcraft and promptings of Satan.
Magesa - Erroneous religious moral pedagogy The consequence of this is that in matters of moral outlook, the soul is divorced from the body. In actual fact, it becomes "privatized" in that it alone becomes the sole and exclusive concern of religion, of the relationship between the person and God. If the body is involved in these "religious" relationships at all, it is in a very peripheral and insignificant manner. Of course, this view of the person influences the entire vision of social life and morality. Once the body is abstracted from the soul or "spirituality", that is, in this case, from the religious sphere, then what one does socially is not perceived as being connected with religion. And since what matters is religious morality, social morality, once again, becomes incidental. Therefore, Sunday observance, for example, is seen to be morally very significant whereas embezzlement of public funds or bribery does not seem to have much moral import. Preach as one may against the latter being against the fundamental moral tenets of the Christian belief, the effect on people's social behaviour is minimal because the break or separation between the private and the public has already been established at the formative, catechetical and general pedagogical stage. The theory behind the predominant and prevalent Christian pedagogy has its roots in Greek philosophies and the religious movements inspired by them. These either extolled the spirit and denigrated the body or vice versa. Well known among them was Gnosticism from which arose schools of philosophy and movements such as Stoicism, Epicureanism and Manicheism. But these are far removed from the African perspective, a perspective that is perhaps closer to the Christian covenantal view of the person, life, society, religion and morality.
Magesa - Adverse effects of the slave trade and colonialism
Colonisation carried on from where the slave trade had left off. The African had to be enslaved not only psychologically, but also physically, socially and mentally. His traditional government and moral norms had to give way to the coloniser's judicial system. The educational system was made to adhere strictly to the colonial charter. The so-called barbarians had to be educated to fit and live according to the coloniser's economic and ethical norms. The colonisers knew no brotherhood or sisterhood in other nationalities. You were Belgian, Dutch, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese or British. World War I and World War II plunged the Africans into a war of hatred and desire for world domination. They learnt how to hate and kill mercilessly while fighting for the benefit of their colonial masters. These same masters had already taught them to hate each other through the philosophy of divide and rule. Whoever did not gather with the colonisers was an enemy of the colonial empire. Family and clan members were encouraged with rewards, promotions and elevation to chieftains and sergeants etc. to spy on one another. The evil of individualism, instead of working for the good of the community (governed by the philosophy of "I am because we are") had fertile soil in which to flourish. Ethnic groups or tribes were made to hate each other as a necessary tool for successive conquest. Some politicians in Africa are perpetuating this same evil today in order to prolong their illegal tenure of office. Clans are made to hate each other. Tribes are politically instigated to kill and rise up against another tribe. To survive, one has to have a member of his family, clan and tribe employed as a bodyguard, a secretary or in any other function in an arm of the government. It is the colonial instrument of subjugating people who have now to look to their master for their salvation and survival.
Magesa - The two dimensions of Christian morality The Ten Commandments, ... but particularly the summary of them by Jesus, show in an unmistakable way the two dimensions of Christian morality. There is the individual, personal or private dimension, characterized by one's own interior person. This is evident in the first three commandments and is sometimes referred to as the "vertical" or (rather erroneously) strictly "religious" dimension of faith. But there is also the equally important "horizontal" dimension. This latter comprises the public or social aspect of human behaviour. … In describing this second dimension, Jesus emphasizes that it is like the first in importance. As a matter of fact, the two dimensions are so interrelated in Christian ethical thought that one cannot authentically exist without the other. The letter of James in the New Testament is a classic example of the interpretation of the intrinsic oneness of the private and social dimensions of morality. Belief in God and social concern, according to James, must not be separated; they work together. "A body dies when it is separated from the spirit," James writes, "and in the same way faith is dead if it is separated from the good deeds" (James 2:26). To illustrate, he argues: If one of the brothers or sisters is in need of clothes and does not have enough food to live on, and one of you says to them, "I wish you well; keep yourself warm and have plenty to eat, without giving them these bare necessities of life, then what good is that? Faith is like that: if good works do not go with it, it is quite dead (James 2: 15-17) Christian morality, both private and social, therefore, presupposes the existence of a community of people acting in relation to one another under the guidance of the will of God. It refers to what people do, what motivates their action, what kind of judgement they place upon their behaviour and what attitudes they adopt in relation to the realities of day-to-day existence. Morality for the Christian has therefore to do with all dimensions of life. It does not consist merely in precepts to be assented to, laws to be obeyed, taboos to be observed or structures not to be transgressed. Rather it concerns itself comprehensively with the conduct of the life of a person or a people in the private and social dimensions.
Magesa -The African paradigm
It was not even necessary to know that the individual was harbouring a thought inimical to the cohesiveness of social relationships. It was enough for the individual in question to realize this him/herself to effect remorse and repentance from him/her. In the traditional African moral outlook, there was therefore no departmentalization between what was religious and "secular". Sacrifices to the ancestors were as much religious events, only perhaps in a more intensified way, as the act of giving birth, marriage, hunting, tending cattle or working the garden. The distinction was there but clearly no separation. The chief may have also been the chief priest for the tribe. This underlines the political dimension of religion and the religious dimension of politics. Life was integral.
Recently the church in Africa has tried to heal this dualistic African Christian way of living by exhorting the evangelisers to see to it that the African is catechised in such a manner that there is no dichotomy between his being an African and a Christian. A major focus of the church is for the good news to be inculturated in Africa in order that the African in the new millennium may come to feel that he or she is a true African as well as a true Christian in the way he celebrates marriage, buries the dead and conducts any of the life healing initiation rites. The church has tried to eradicate the evil of greed and selfishness by exhorting the conferences of bishops and the dioceses to establish Justice and Peace Commissions, whose effects should be seen and felt in the small Christian communities. The common good is the basic reason for the existence of any government or community. Social justice, expounded in the recent papal encyclicals, leaves no room for greed and luxurious accumulation of wealth at the expense of the poor. Preference should be given to the marginalized and the poorest of the poor. Solidarity with the marginalized and with poor nations is not a matter of charity but of social justice in our global village.
Magesa -What is to be done?
I am arguing that this insight is invaluable and indispensable if the present worrying trend in the moral vision of Christians (and, indeed, of a great many of the citizens of Africa, particularly the young), is to be arrested. I believe it is within the parameters of Christian orthodoxy to insist that religion permeates life and that, consequently, all aspects of life have a religious import. Should not therefore instruction of the young at home, and adult catechesis emphasize this fact? My conviction is that Christianity, as well as other religions, which understand correctly the moral implications of their faith in God, are in a unique position to save the African continent from total moral collapse now threatening it.  A JOURNAL OF SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS CONCERN Published Quarterly by DR. GERALD J. WANJOHI Likoni Lane - P .O. Box 32440 - Nairobi - Kenya Telephone: 712632/311674/312822 The Online publishing of WAJIBU is by Koinonia Media Centre. GO TO WAJIBU HOMEPAGE |