BEING CHRISTIAN versus PAN AFRICANISM || A DOCTRINAIRE DILEMMA

BY SONNY MNCEDISI DUBE

ABSTRACT

Matters of faith, religion and or belief are the most sensitive if not the most contentious topics in conscious and subconscious debates. In light of most African countries’ controversial histories which sprung from Western colonial dictate and mould, conflict between modern Christianity and African Traditional Religion is far from smooth reconciliation. The prosperity of the former has seen the demise of the latter, and shockingly the passivity with which this subject is treated seem to justify the triumph of Christianity over African customs and cultural rites. These cultural rites which are a foundational basis for Africans as a people, the Christian dogma has castigated as demonic and devilish, diabolic and barbaric. As far as this seem to align perfectly to the ideal and preferred dogmatic framework of Christianity, it sadly does so simultaneously threatening the very existence of Africa and the dear values that holds and shapes it. How then do the values that underlie the African culture get to be castigated as profane and ungodly, incompatible with a doctrine that came by way of exploitative manipulation and dupery.  This leaves an infinite list of questions including the fact whether in the imminent future we will at all have a heritable cultural trace to talk about.

PART I: IS THE PULPIT CONFUSED

Modern Churches, with particular mention of Pentecostal ones push a doctrine that is incompatible with African Traditional Religion, the notorious connotations of “mweya yemadzinza”, “mweya wemadzisekuru or mbuya” is not an unusual echo in the core message of the modern church. A not so strict literal interpretation of the aforementioned native words would yield a meaning not far from ancestry i.e. grandparents and great grandparents. There is nothing unusual with an individual or a group of persons seeking an understanding of their ancestors and giving them the deserved reverence in the process but this simple cultural practice is what the modern church lists as one amongst many so called devilish deeds. The problem comes when the mainline church attaches an evil spirit to simple matters of genealogy and alleges that such is the chief cause of the whole or part of the list of problems one is facing. One sobering fact is that it is not explicable within rational confines to say one’s lineage is the cause of any anomaly in their life, as lineage is not a concept that’s uniquely Zimbabwean or African. A biblical trace of these conceptual issues would sufficiently inform one of lineage as part and parcel of Jewish culture or Israel so to put it. Jesus Christ who is the centre of the Christian faith has his genealogy in the synoptic gospels traced to the Davidic house. One would then struggle to see the difference between the Son of David as an ancestry reference and Mzilikazi kaMashobane kaMangethe or [Munhuwepayi Son of Muchemwa Son to Chief Mangwende]. 

An attempt [a futile one on that note] to explain Christian castigation of African cultures and the genealogies therein using the biblical conception of generational curses would merely do nothing more than unmask one’s misconstruing of the Bible. Generational curses which are in the bible best explained by the sour grapes analogy had a span that did not even stretch as far as the New Testament. It is clearly postulated in the Book of Ezekiel [ Chapter 18] that the sins of the fathers will no longer be visited upon the children. Jesus Christ himself brought about a faith that purely individualistic and it is quite clear that no Christian is punished nor suffers on behalf of another person. Having brought this to fore, one wonders what then is the fuss about paganising African genealogy if not to assassinate African culture and root neo-colonialism in that same process by stripping locals of their true identity.

Interrogating the same issue Professor Darnise Martin laments this cultural oblivion by posing the question that “what manner of mental slavery and colonization does a Eurocentric form of Christianity have over Black evangelicals today that they would credit white ministers who would tell you that African spirituality is ungodly and then look there for urgent help when the rubber meets the road”. The same authorship postulates that “In a world that has been gaslighted into believing that believing that civilization has always been centred in Europe, most of us can’t conceive of what precolonial Africa looked like……”

Professor Darnise Martin whose specialty is African-American studies outlines that

“Black Christians, your bible tells you how important it is to honour the God of your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Your Bible emphasizes that Jesus is one of the house of King David. You are Christians because the Apostle Paul connected you to that ancestral line, though you were a gentile, and thus would otherwise have no seat at their Jewish family table. These connections are there because ancestral lineage matters. You have been to respect other peoples’ ancestral stories but to dismiss and even demonize your own. You are discouraged from even knowing about your African history.”

The learned Professor calls the above “the insidious result of white supremacist Christianity…” Katell Berthelot in his article contends that ‘beyond their uses in individual and ethnic self-definitions, genealogies play a role in defining social groups and consolidating social hierarchies and power relationships.’ He goes on to assert that ‘in Antiquity as in later contexts monarchy, aristocracy and priesthood were generally related to lineage.’ The same authorship also highlights that ‘it is clear that genealogy pervades biblical texts, relating to both the definition of the elites (Davidic lineage for kings and Aronide descent priests) and that of the people at large. The issues surrounding genealogy having been made clear, one questions Christianity’s labelling of African genealogies and lineages as pagan and one wonders in what way do one’s ancestry wield demonic forces. This confusion takes a comic turn when one appreciates the fact that the culture that forces you to disown your ancestors does itself base its beliefs on its own ancestors. In other words, it is telling you that its ancestors are more divine and preferable; and yours are demons.

To narrow it down to Zimbabwe, our cultural practices range from kurova makuva, kuroora, kusungira, kupira mudzimu etc. These cultural practices are some of the core African cultural practices, but it is not surprising that millennial souls merely know of the sound of these cultural words but are oblivious as to how they are practiced. One obvious reason is such that they are perceived to be least fashionable and to have been overtaken by events. Local culture is dismissed as archaic and this has led to an African society that’s devoid of trace, originality and in the literal sense devoid of Pan Africanism. The modern individual clings dearly to a culture that’s foreign more than to the intrinsics of their very own kind. Despite local culture being inevitably overtaken by modernity and popular culture, Christianity comes in to rubberstamp the fact that cultural customs are not only archaic but are heathen. 

One other interesting turn is when the modern gospel surprisingly embraces African traditional customs in a few sporadic instances, notably “roora” or payment of dowry in a traditional set up. This particular custom has proved to be indispensable and at the core of the modern church. It thus seems that the modern church from a basket of customs only does what is considered a careful handpicking of a few rites that are considered compatible ones. One wonders what guides this protracted choice of picking the other and discarding the other whilst picking from the same basket. Some devout reverends have tried to unconvincingly explain the prevalent traditional marriages in the context of biblical concept of “dowry” payment [Genesis 34:12, Exodus 22:17]. Such an argument holds little or no water when the concept of roora is traced to having been part and parcel of African society since time immemorial.

The emphasis predicates that the church despite being ambivalent of traditional customs, it has somehow found a justifiable way to make the traditional roora tolerable. Take note that the writer is not for or against the payment of roora or otherwise but rather questions the criteria which the church uses to embrace traditional customs. Whatever criteria it uses, it should be consistent because the current inconsistency is merely reflective of hypocrisy and an identity crisis. An identity crisis rooted in an insatiable desire to measure up to societal expectations painted in capital graffiti simultaneously advancing a neo-colonial mentality.

To expand on the above on how the church subtly advances a neo-colonial mentality would be to look at the double standards that have been set when it comes to marriage. To put it aptly marriage has become a two-pronged approach, with the aforementioned traditional dowry[roora] payment operating as a prerequisite stage. The second stage is the English wedding which has colloquially come to be known as “the white wedding” which is in the literal sense a second wedding, considering that our African roora payment and the cultural rites inherent therein is a complete wedding on its own. It does not need any qualification. The current situation as it stands sure seem like the ‘white wedding’ is a qualification of the traditional wedding and the former is a badge with which one registers a valid marriage in a public domain that’s greatly swayed by Western standards. Notable reverends have come forward in a bid to defend the white wedding as nothing more than a celebration ceremony. This is easily disputable when one looks at the gown and suit attires worn by the bride and the groom respectively, the cake and its cut, bridal groom kiss, the ring and the marriage pledge rite [declaration of vows] all follow a Western marriage rites formulae which has no trace anywhere in African history. This is not shocking at this point in history as we all agree that the church is Western in form and nature. It however becomes shocking and problematic when the church fails to harmoniously reconcile its dogma with the African culture or when it merely embraces such customs that suit its agenda which has largely shifted from salvation-seeking evangelism to advancing capital interests. The modern “gospel of prosperity” as it is popularly known.

In the same vein of taking a peep at what is happening in the Christian Church, one other sad reality is that King Leopold’s mission is being relived in subtle enough ways. As was the case that the missionary was to use Biblical scriptures to mask daylight robbery on locals, unfortunately the same plague has been reincarnated and has become the design with which the church leaders milk their poor congregants of all their hard earned monies to the last cent. This as is the emphasis of this digest throughout its entire span is the how religion has been used to brainwash unassuming and innocent souls to the detriment of a substantial sector of society. In an unstable and trudging economy like Zimbabwe, the church is society’s soul soothing avenue but ironically in turn the same church preys on these poor souls. This villainy is perpetrated by black on black and is enough proof that neo-colonialism is deep-rooted. The skin is indeed black but the conscience is white.

PART II: The Political Office faces the Dilemma of a Step Child

A trace of the mandate of Christianity in Africa as per the notorious Belgian King Leopold’s letter to the missionaries not only leaves one with a bitter taste but also a mind full of questions. A quick glance at this particular document reveal that the advent of Christianity was an ingenuine step, with salvation at the least or not anywhere within the contemplation of the message that the missionary was armed with. It was rather primarily to make Africans flaccid and placid, to distance them from reason and reaction, to render numb the African consciousness. Intriguing in Leopold’s letter is an explicit acknowledgement that Africans are awake to the existence of God, therefore the gospel need not point to this obvious fact but rather dilute their spirituality with protracted confusion that will make them blind to the expedience of imperialism and colonialism. To mistake imperialism with altruism, vile as it seems, it’s the unsavoury truth of how Christianity came to be engraved to the African soul.

It is against this foregoing background that African Traditional Religion was rendered lifeless, disparaged as profane and ungodly, against ideal civilization etc. It is also against this background that African countries who were under Western Colonialism turned out largely Christian countries. It is therefore not surprising to see, as we have witnessed countless times, current politicians and their predecessors alike, appealing to the pulpit to validate and legitimize government policies in the eyes of the people. The church has always been a weapon at the politicos’ disposal to advance and buttress capital interests thus it being at the centre-support of political initiatives such as PoLAD, the disputed 2018 general election just to mention a few, comes as no shock but an ironical monotonous folkway.

It is however interesting in some instances to see that the politico is at least to a substantial degree alive to parts of our history that we deem precious and dear such as the priceless sacrifice of our fallen war heroes in the fight against colonialism and socio-political suppression. “MAGAMBA EDU, AMAQHAWE ETHU”. We will forever revere the toil and trauma endured by our war heroes in the face of colonialism, a journey which we are proud to say the gallant sons of the soil triumphed. The heroic reverence has since taken an interesting turn when the President declared that a statue of Mbuya Nehanda be carved and erected midtown [Harare]. A process which is in the pipeline and sooner to see light. This is indeed a remarkable step by the new dispensation. Now to marry this instance to the plot of this outline is to say that the politico is not wrong in its trajectories but rather caught in the dilemma of a step child. Our Mbuya Nehanda is one amongst many such historical actors Christianity called demonic and barbaric and continues to do so in somewhat implicit terms. The same church that the politico turns to in times of policy deficiencies that usually require legitimization by the pulpit.

This above friction might not explicitly play out in the open but rather battles with the country’s soul, an identity crisis that we suffer as a nation; as a people. A people that’s caught between two camps, exercising our Christian faith devoutly on one hand and paying homage to our beloved war heroes that the same Christian dogma label as devils or devil incarnates. It is indeed a dilemma of a step child.

In summation, the above has been an endeavour to explain the nexus between orthodox Christianity and a perpetual neo-colonial mentality which poses cultural oblivion. I would have loved to say there is a fine line but it rather seems there is not a line between clinging to one’s cultural beliefs and paganism as the modern gospel has put it. A point noteworthy is that Christianity came to find Africanism in Africa thus the former rather than the latter is alien. This is not to adopt an abolitionist standpoint towards Christianity but rather to highlight the fact that Africans must be wary of clinging to their orthodox modern beliefs at the expense of their almost extinct cultural beliefs.

NOTE TO READER: THE ABOVE CONSTITUTES THE WHOLE ARTICLE AND THE FOLLOWING IS AN OPTIONAL READ

PART III: [KING LEOPOLD’S LETTER]

Excerpts from a private letter from King Leopold II of Belgium to colonial missionaries (1883)

Reverends, Fathers and Dear Compatriots:

The task that is given to fulfil is very delicate and requires much tact. You will go certainly to evangelize, but your evangelization must inspire above all Belgium interests. Your principal objective in our mission in the Congo is never to teach the savages to know God, this they know already. They speak and submit to a Mungu, one Nzambi, one Nzakomba, and what else I don’t know. They know that to kill, to sleep with someone else’s wife, to lie and to insult is bad. Have courage to admit it; you are not going to teach them what they know already. Your essential role is to facilitate the task of administrators and industrials, which means you will go to interpret the gospel in the way it will be the best to protect your interests in that part of the world. For these things, you have to keep watch on disinteresting our savages from the richness that is plenty [in their underground. To avoid that they get interested in it, and make you murderous] competition and dream one day to overthrow you.

Your knowledge of the gospel will allow you to find texts ordering, and encouraging your followers to love poverty, like “Happier are the poor because they will inherit the heaven" and, "It’s very difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of God." You have to detach from them and make them disrespect everything which gives courage to affront us. I make reference to their Mystic System and their war fetish-warfare protection-which they pretend not to want to abandon, and you must do everything in your power to make it disappear.

Your action will be directed essentially to the younger ones, for they won’t revolt when the recommendation of the priest is contradictory to their parent’s teachings. The children have to learn to obey what the missionary recommends, who is the father of their soul. You must singularly insist on their total submission and obedience, avoid developing the spirit in the schools, teach students to read and not to reason. There, dear patriots, are some of the principles that you must apply. You will find many other books, which will be given to you at the end of this conference. Evangelize the savages so that they stay forever in submission to the white colonialists, so they never revolt against the restraints they are undergoing. Recite every day-"Happy are those who are weeping because the kingdom of God is for them."

Convert always the blacks by using the whip. Keep their women in nine months of submission to work freely for us. Force them to pay you in sign of recognition-goats, chicken or eggs-every time you visit their villages. And make sure that savages never become rich. Sing every day that it’s impossible for the rich to enter heaven. Make them pay tax each week at Sunday mass. Use the money supposed for the poor, to build flourishing business centres. Institute a confessional system, which allows you to be good detectives denouncing any black that has a different consciousness contrary to that of the decision-maker. Teach the savages to forget their heroes and to adore only ours. Never present a chair to a black that comes to visit you. Don‟t give him more than one cigarette. Never invite him for dinner even if he gives you a chicken every time you arrive at his house.

 

REFERENCE NOTE

The above was completed with the aid of Professor Katell Berthelot’s article titled ‘Genealogy versus Merit? On the Role of Lineage in Ancient Judaism’ found in Journal of Ancient Judaism and Professor Darnise Martin’s article titled ‘Black Christians don’t Demonize African Spirituality’. The above article also makes sporadic Biblical references and lastly an extract of the notorious King Leopold’s letter which the writer picked from Belgian Congo Primary Sources.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SONNY MNCEDISI DUBE is an LLBS Student at The University of Zimbabwe; A member of Speak Out for Animals Student Chapter and a Freelance Writer amongst other things.

sonnymncedisi@gmail.com

0718533598 

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