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Did African Religions Need To Be Substituted?
Tokyo
#1 Posted : Friday, June 29, 2012 8:23:21 AM
Rank: Veteran


Joined: 10/9/2006
Posts: 1,502
African “religions” are no less sacred and no more sinister than the foreign imported beliefs but have been popularly perceived and reduced as "fetishes", "idolatry" ,"black magic", largely “polytheistic” and spiritually unevolved, lacking its own profound spiritual dimension.

Denounced as obscene, discarded by many, substituted for another in a manner that rendered these imported bloodguilt faiths as an antidote to the seemingly “backward” traditional systems on the ”Dark Continent”.

Today many Africans have less knowledge concerning the traditional systems in their full capacity in their original packages against the unattractive caricatures that have been widely portrayed.

However there is no denying there were some reprehensible practices on the continent; there’s no denying this at all because no society is exempt from ever harbouring any deplorable beliefs but the malpractices in Africa have been used to summarize entire belief systems.

Now I wonder and doubt if it has ever been seriously considered if these systems could have still been enough minus the "malpractices" that formed a component but not the whole.

Was it possible to modify the ancient systems instead of replacing them completely?
Could the systems not have been reformed?
Did African Religions need to be entirely substituted?
Was our best bet at “salvation” only via an imported system(s)?
work to prosper
2012
#2 Posted : Friday, June 29, 2012 9:22:58 AM
Rank: Elder


Joined: 12/9/2009
Posts: 6,592
Location: Nairobi
When you colonize a nation or your company takes over another, the fist thing you need to change or impose is the culture.

BBI will solve it
:)
essyk
#3 Posted : Friday, June 29, 2012 10:18:23 AM
Rank: Elder


Joined: 11/15/2011
Posts: 4,518
emofine? d'oh!
"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.
Tokyo
#4 Posted : Friday, June 29, 2012 11:01:53 AM
Rank: Veteran


Joined: 10/9/2006
Posts: 1,502
Exciting nairaland opinion
work to prosper
essyk
#5 Posted : Friday, June 29, 2012 2:07:08 PM
Rank: Elder


Joined: 11/15/2011
Posts: 4,518
Tokyo wrote:
Exciting nairaland opinion


It made front page imagine. 2 interesting threads.
"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.
mkeiyd
#6 Posted : Friday, June 29, 2012 2:52:19 PM
Rank: Veteran


Joined: 3/26/2012
Posts: 1,182
I think the abandon of our ways was the first step to misery land.
We are in the midst of what we know not.
KenyanLyrics
#7 Posted : Friday, June 29, 2012 5:35:42 PM
Rank: Veteran


Joined: 4/16/2010
Posts: 906
Location: Nairobi
@mkeiyd true, true. We are now playing the Western game, and I fear we may be condemned to a lifetime of following the leader.
tycho
#8 Posted : Friday, June 29, 2012 9:00:02 PM
Rank: Elder


Joined: 7/1/2011
Posts: 8,804
Location: Nairobi
Tokyo wrote:
African “religions” are no less sacred and no more sinister than the foreign imported beliefs but have been popularly perceived and reduced as "fetishes", "idolatry" ,"black magic", largely “polytheistic” and spiritually unevolved, lacking its own profound spiritual dimension.

Denounced as obscene, discarded by many, substituted for another in a manner that rendered these imported bloodguilt faiths as an antidote to the seemingly “backward” traditional systems on the ”Dark Continent”.

Today many Africans have less knowledge concerning the traditional systems in their full capacity in their original packages against the unattractive caricatures that have been widely portrayed.

However there is no denying there were some reprehensible practices on the continent; there’s no denying this at all because no society is exempt from ever harbouring any deplorable beliefs but the malpractices in Africa have been used to summarize entire belief systems.

Now I wonder and doubt if it has ever been seriously considered if these systems could have still been enough minus the "malpractices" that formed a component but not the whole.

Was it possible to modify the ancient systems instead of replacing them completely?
Could the systems not have been reformed?
Did African Religions need to be entirely substituted?
Was our best bet at “salvation” only via an imported system(s)?


When we say 'African' we are taking a reference point that identifies with the 'non African' and this in effect destroys possibility for true conversation.

Again, 'Africa', or 'African' is a historical consequence of how certain humans met the question of being. Choices were made, and consequences followed.

What we have to speak about now is how we understand religion, and how we should live.
kyt
#9 Posted : Saturday, June 30, 2012 10:09:25 AM
Rank: Elder


Joined: 11/7/2007
Posts: 2,182
i find it interesting how people question only religion. yet we dont question their education, their clothes, their medicines, their beer, their football, their tv's their computers, their structures, their cars, their language, their roads, their movies......................, guys give me a break. if u want to get rid of religion, get rid of everything else!! nkt.
LOVE WHAT YOU DO, DO WHAT YOU LOVE.
KenyanLyrics
#10 Posted : Saturday, June 30, 2012 1:15:30 PM
Rank: Veteran


Joined: 4/16/2010
Posts: 906
Location: Nairobi
@kyt no one's fighting in this thread. Be gone with your anger.
kamundu
#11 Posted : Saturday, June 30, 2012 10:04:07 PM
Rank: Member


Joined: 5/9/2011
Posts: 786
Location: Mashinani
Christianity originated in Israel. Just because the mzungu brought it here does not mean it originated from them.
Infact now we are the ones taking it to them
Peace in our Homeland.
essyk
#12 Posted : Saturday, June 30, 2012 11:18:22 PM
Rank: Elder


Joined: 11/15/2011
Posts: 4,518
Tokyo wrote:

Now I wonder and doubt if it has ever been seriously considered if these systems could have still been enough minus the "malpractices" that formed a component but not the whole.

What malpractices are u refering to?
Circum,sacrifices,polygamy,abandoning the sick in the forest,what exactly?
If they did away with all those then what would have been left, since they formed the core around which the community existed?All these things were intertwined and they gave life to the community.
Besides those'malpractices' are what identified one community from another and made them unique.Something they were very proud of.
Of course everything seemed right then because there was nothing for comparison.
But now that we are enlightened, we can look back and assume that some stuff ought not to have been practiced.
That would have resulted in nothing but a shell of a community.


Was it possible to modify the ancient systems instead of replacing them completely?
Which systems?you have to be specific to answer this well.
You realise that each community had its own system.
For example polygamy hasn't been modified.Infact what we call modification has turned immoral and corrupt.
Religion has changed from sacrificial to mpesa pap.Its business nothing godly.
Instead of polygamy we have embraced gayism and lesbianism and chips funga.
Is that the better option?


Could the systems not have been reformed?
Reformed has taken a whole new meaning and become worse and poisonous.

Did African Religions need to be entirely substituted?
But subsituted with what? mpesa religion?
There was nothing wrong with african religion the only thing was that witchcraft was involved in some cases.
Offering sacrifices was okay since they believed in a higher power whose history they just didn't know.
Most important thing to do is get rid of unpalatable systems like fgm, and stick to what is moral and applicable to the modern times.
Don't throw baby with water.


Was our best bet at “salvation” only via an imported system(s)?
You call it imported? well christianity calls it spreading the gospel far and wide.




"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.
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