But there's something about tribal people, be it African, Aboriginal (Australian or Canadian), or South American that gives the impression that they just don't care to better themselves. They live, they die. They don't explore, they survive. They don't really evolve, they just improve, again, for survival's sake. I'm not saying this is actually how it is, just that that's the impression I have.
I had an interesting discussion with my brother over Christmas about the African "blahs". I won't go into how my brother feels about the situation, since I can't remember his point of view, only that I didn't agree. Are they really indifferent? Or is it just that the indifferent people have been in power, using the money they make through warfare to keep up with the Joneses in bling and not in societal structures...? I'm ill-equipped to theorize.
I read this great article on my friend Andrew's blog. Andrew's in Liberia, a few countries over (west) from Benin, working in orphanages. The article talks about how Christian organizations are bringing a sense of hope and self-respect and self-awareness to these people... for better? or for worse?
Oh big-G. Where would we be without you baby?
I thought this article was à propos... so many people, when I told them I was going to volunteer abroad, said, "You're not working with a Christian organization, are you?"
I'm not, but for the record, I'm totally bringing Jesus with me. He's got my back.
As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God
Missionaries, not aid money, are the solution to Africa's biggest problem - the crushing passivity of the people's mindset
by Matthew Parris
Read the whole article on The Times Online
Before Christmas I returned, after 45 years, to the country that as a boy I knew as Nyasaland. Today it's Malawi, and The Times Christmas Appeal includes a small British charity working there. Pump Aid helps rural communities to install a simple pump, letting people keep their village wells sealed and clean. I went to see this work.
It inspired me, renewing my flagging faith in development charities. But travelling in Malawi refreshed another belief, too: one I've been trying to banish all my life, but an observation I've been unable to avoid since my African childhood. It confounds my ideological beliefs, stubbornly refuses to fit my world view, and has embarrassed my growing belief that there is no God.
Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.
<...>
Those who want Africa to walk tall amid 21st-century global competition must not kid themselves that providing the material means or even the knowhow that accompanies what we call development will make the change. A whole belief system must first be supplanted.
And I'm afraid it has to be supplanted by another. Removing Christian evangelism from the African equation may leave the continent at the mercy of a malign fusion of Nike, the witch doctor, the mobile phone and the machete. END
While I agree that "a whole belief system must be supplanted," I'm not sure I agree it has to be supplanted by Christianity or religiosity as we know it. I know we are all connected as a human race and as a planetary organism... we call the energy within us and around us "God"... but what if we gave it a different name? What if this energy wasn't there to riddle us with guilt or pity towards those who haven't yet "found God" and instead worked to make us realize that we are all the same?
Bah - what do I know. If Africa enlightens, I'll report back.
Blog title is from Tori Amos' God: crazy video... oh Tori.
1 comment:
Hi Lovely Lady,
Your upcoming journey is super exciting and I am glad that you plan to share the adventure in this blog. You are an extraordinary person and I am confident that you will be a tremendous asset to the children in Benin.
In a world that is ripe with conflict and contradiction, I find it heartening that you are striving to really understand the people and culture of Benin and their place in the world so that your stay there can be the most mutually beneficial. One of my favourite quotes is from social constructionist and emancipatory theorist Kenneth Gergen who wrote: "knowledge exists is collectivity and interpersonal social interchange." To me, the pursuit of knowledge in this context conflicts with our Western culture when it tells us not to discuss religion and politics and our Judeo-Christian heritage when it preaches that humanity's original Sin was biting into fruit from the tree of knowledge.
My personal bias applauds you for not volunteering with a religious mission because, in my view, the problem with God and religion is that it provides an irrational basis for judging and is based on faith rather than understanding. Christianity also denies our connection "as a planetary organism" - failing to recognize that if we have a soul, then so does a chimpanzee and a tree as our DNA shows that we differ by degree, but not in kind. I like to think that the answer to most social problems can be found by relating to and empathizing with others - things that I know you do very well.
Ian Percy said: "We judge others by their behavior. We judge ourselves by our intentions." I admire your ability to convert great intentions into positive and constructive action, and your determination not to judge, but to try to understand and to share. I look forward to being enlightened through you and this blog with knowledge about the people of Benin and your journey.
Peace and Love,
Daniel
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