The Marginalised: today's lepersby Kizito Sesana
Who are the marginalised? And why are they marginalised? What is the difference, if any, between being poor and being marginalised?
In the very idea of marginalisation, there is a dimension that goes beyond economic poverty. The really marginalised are those who have to carry a stigma, a burden of being somehow different from the others. The really marginalised in Old Testament times were the lepers. A search with the computer through the Bible text indicates that leprosy is mentioned 742 times, leper 297 times and lepers 192 times, even though(according to Biblical scholars("leprosy" in Biblical language includes many different types of skin diseases. In the Old Testament, it is God who marginalises the lepers: The leper was always considered impure and he was excluded from the community. He was supposed to "wear torn clothing and disordered hair, and will cover the upper lip and shout, 'Unclean, unclean'. As long as the disease lasts, such person will be unclean and, being unclean, will live alone and live outside the camp."(Leviticus 13:46). Leprosy was seen as God's punishment for the sinners. Since leprosy appeared to come from inside the body and to make it rot, it was seen as an external sign of sin, the progressive rotting of the moral fibre of a person. Leprosy was seen not just as a visible sign of sin. In addition, it was a symbol of rebellion against God. When King Uzziah, in his pride, entered the Temple to offer incense to God, a rite that could be performed only by priests, "a virulent skin-disease broke out in his forehead ... King Uzziah was afflicted with skin-disease till his dying day." (2 Chronicles 26:19ff). When God became angry with Miriam, the sister of Moses, she was "covered with a virulent skin-disease" (Numbers 12:10). When Jesus comes, his love and concern for everybody is eminently shown by his healing of the lepers, proof of the fact that he is overcoming all kinds of uncleanness and sin. The Saviour heals society's marginalised, bearing himself, in fulfilment of Isaiah 53:4, our sicknesses, wounds and diseases. When John the Baptist sends two of his disciples to look for signs of the Messiah, Jesus affirms his identity with the words: "Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind see again, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life and the good news is proclaimed to the poor" (Luke 7:18-22). The cleansing of the lepers becomes a sign that the Messiah is present. The power to cure leprosy is also included in the mission of the apostles (Matthew 10:8). "Leprosy" and "leper" have since then become religious symbols with both a negative and positive connotation. On the negative side, it evokes images of physical suffering, body decay, ugliness and rejection by the community. On the positive side, it evokes some of the highest human values like the ability of the diseased person to endure suffering and prejudices, the commitment of others to overcome their natural fears and to identify with those who are rejected. When Saint Francis of Assisi with his companions as well as Saint Clare, are washing the wounds of the lepers and feeding them, they are part of an image well embedded in the Christian imagination. In all marginalisation, as in leprosy, there is a spiritual or at least a social dimension; it is not only a matter of economic marginalisation. In modern times, with a diminishing sense of sin, this spiritual dimension has become more of a social one: The marginalised are those who(in the minds of the majority(are not only poor but pose some kind of threat to the wider society; for instance, those who belong to another race or another culture, the mentally ill, the refugees, the physically impaired, the terminally ill, the alcoholics and the street children. They are the ones who disturb the smooth running of the society. Humanity's strong tendency for discrimination has invented new types of leprosy. Sometimes these new types of leprosy are given religious justification by mistaken or irresponsible religious leaders, as was the case with South African apartheid and is today the case with AIDS. More often, it is a social stigma, very evident with those who did not have the chance, for whatever reason, to complete their basic education, and are called "dropouts." They are the failures, the ones who did not manage to jump on the fast train of a society that is always running ahead. They are the ones left on the banks of the railway track. Having missed their chance, they will never be like the others. What is the cure, the social remedy against marginalisation? It is simple: acceptance. In fact, the main cure is not for the victims, but for those who think they are normal. In 1968, Raul Follereau, an elderly French man who had already spent most of his life, energy and writing skills campaigning for the eradication of leprosy from the world, wrote: The poor? It is not enough to give part of our abundance, but to admit them into our life. The true lepers are the selfish, the pitiless, those who live a stagnant life, the comfortable, the fearful, those who waste their life. If you accept, without anger and without remorse, that, out of 15 million people suffering with leprosy, a disease that is barely contagious and completely curable, 12 million of them are still without treatment and assistance, without love, then the true leper is YOU This is in line with the logic of the Gospel, where Jesus changes the rule of the social game. Jesus himself is a marginalised person, a dropout. He is rejected by the self-appointed pillars of the established society and by the right-minded persons of his time. Peter, after he understood, told the rulers of the people of Israel and the elders that Jesus "is the stone which you, the builders, have rejected but which has become the cornerstone. For the visionary of Nazareth and his followers, the answer to the question: "Who are the marginalised" is that they are the co-saviours of the world.
 A JOURNAL OF SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS CONCERN Published Quarterly by DR. GERALD J. WANJOHI Likoni Lane - P .O. Box 32440 - Nairobi - Kenya Telephone: 720400 The Online publishing of WAJIBU is by Koinonia Media Centre. GO TO WAJIBU HOMEPAGE |