In the West we have assumed that our world view is the only
world view that accurately describes reality.
Since our particular world view has led to major advances in science we
have been blinded to its weaknesses, especially its failure to adequately describe
and account for the complexity and importance of relationships. We have assumed that our understanding is the
norm, and should be the norm for all cultures.
As a result we have approached other cultures with an imperialistic
attitude seeking to impose our world view of them failing to appreciate that
they may have something significant to offer us. Unfortunately this myopic Western bias was incorporated
into the Church’s theology, especially in its approach to mission work to
non-Western cultures.
Having been raised and educated in South Africa my schooling
was heavily influenced by the Western world view. However, there were not only individuals in
the Caucasian community who were challenging this world view but increasingly
the influence of African thought penetrated the Caucasian South African
consciousness. Exposure to this African
world view greatly influenced my thinking as well as my theology.
The difficulty in presenting the African world view is that
all too often it is understood and interpreted through the Western lens of
individualism. African sayings have been
unreflectively co-opted into Western thought without an appreciation of its
meaning and significance. To overcome this
perceptual difficulty I have found the most effective process is to offer a
comparison of the two world views. The
Western world view is best summarized in the expression of Descartes I
think therefore I am while the African world view is encapsulated in
the Zulu version umuntu, umuntu, ngabantu.
Rene Descartes was seeking to prove his existence when he
formulated the saying I think therefore I
am. The importance of this statement
is reflected in its endurance in spite of its critique by philosophers such as Soren
Kierkegaard. When coupled with the
philosophy of individualism, the self was increasingly understood in terms of
the lone or solitary individual. This
view of the self has been enhanced by myths that glorify the rugged individual
who is self-reliant, self-determining and self-defining; a type of rugged
individualism that has often been portrayed with admiration in American movies.
Individualism has had a profound influence on the social
sciences as well as Western theology. In the social sciences the focus shifted
from the lone individual to the understanding of the nuclear family as being a
discrete entity, and more recently to the understanding of cultures. What is lacking in this view is an
understanding that the individual is born into and shaped by
relationships. Relationships influence
the development of the self but these relationships are not limited to those of
the nuclear family. Each child is born
into a relationship system that includes the extended and the multi-generational
family as well as relationship with the larger community. Humankind is born into relationships and
remains dependent on those relationships for survival and growth. The importance of these relationships is
reflected in that the human infant is one of the most vulnerable of all animals
relying on these relationship systems for years. Without these relationship systems the infant
will die.
The commitment to individualism has created a problem for the
Western church since this philosophy undermines the biblical understanding of community. The Western world, including the Western
Church, struggles as it seeks to develop a sense of community. Businesses have become aware of this problem
and seek to address it by holding “team building” workshops. This approach mistakenly believes that the
way to build community is by the loss of self to the group. So those who promote this approach have the
slogan that proclaims that there is no “I” in “team.”
If community is not about the loss of self to the group, or fusion,
neither is it merely a gathering of discrete individuals. I believe that there is a parallel between
the experience of the church in North America as it seeks to be a community and
the people of the Exodus before the Sinai experience. We like them are a disparate people. They were more interested in achieving freedom
from the Egyptian tyranny and the benefits that would bring than on being a
community. At Sinai they found a centre
that started to shape them as a community.
Their desire to achieve their goal had blinded them to the centre that
was already present in the in the tabernacle and cloud. At Sinai they discovered what it meant to be
God’s community in the world.
In a society that promotes individualism the church struggles
to become a community of the Spirit that is an expression of the Kingdom of God
in the world. The deep desire to be a
community drives the Church in North America to copy the business world. It seeks to become a community by implementing
one programme after another. But pogrammes
cannot create a community. Luther is
very clear about this when in his explanation of the third article of the creed
he states that community is only created by the Spirit. But the work of the Spirit can be obstructed
by practices and beliefs. One such obstruction
is the influence of individualism on the church. Until the church gives up its tacit commitment
to individualism it will continue to struggle to be the community of God within
Western society. When it does it will
discover that community is not only the recognition but an expression and
experience of a multitude of relationships and inter-relationships. Until it acknowledges the perverse influence
of individualism, the North American church will continue to live with a deep
longing for community. It may be time
for us in the West to admit that we do not understand relationships and the
nature of community and that perhaps we need to seek new insights from Africa.
If the Western view can be summed up in Descartes’ saying “I
think therefore I am,” the African understanding of reality can be expressed in
the Zulu saying “umuntu umuntu ngabantu.” Some form of this expression is found in
every African community south of the Sahara.
The saying can be translated in two ways: “a person is a person in
relation to other persons” or “I am because you are.” Both of these translations express a profound
understanding of the self that is at its very core relational. For the African the self can only be
understood in the context of the relational system. This view of reality is in stark contrast to
Western individualism. For the African this
relational understanding informs their view of family. For them the nuclear family does not exist in
isolation. The nuclear family is part of
a broad relational system which includes the extended, the multi-generational as
well as the previous generations: the ancestors. The death of a family member does not mean
that the relationship with that person is ended. The dead are still part of the family. This understanding of the dead as being part
of the relationship system is emphasized by reporting to them. This is no different that people “talking” to
their dead family members. We had the
opportunity to go with Siyathemba’s grandmother to his grave where she spoke to
him in very loving personal terms and then invited us to speak to him as well. For the grandmother Siyathemba may be dead,
but he is still her grandson and part of the family relationship systm. Death may change but it does not destroy
relationships.
It is unfortunate that people in the West have co-opted
particular African expressions of reality without understanding its
significance and implications. One such
saying that is often referred to in the West is that it takes a village to
raise a child. This saying is grossly
misunderstood since it is an expression of umuntu
as reflected in the kinship relationship system of the Africans. In order to understand what is meant by this
saying one has to understand that for the African kinship is about a multitude
of relationships. This relational approach, to use a rather simplistic
approach, acknowledges that uncles and aunts are one’s mothers and fathers and
that one’s cousins are one’s sisters and brothers. Birth order is understood in terms of the extended
family and not simply the nuclear family.
Without this understanding of family, many of the African saying are
misunderstood.
The umuntu
understanding of relationships has shaped the way staff at Emmanuel’s Comfort
Home staff in Richmond, KwaZulu Natal, carry out their responsibilities. They have a profound personal relationship
with each patient not only while they are being treated in the hospice but
especially when they are dying. The staff
comes, even when off duty, and sit with the dying. They read to them from the bible, pray and
sing them into death. It is important
that no one die alone, but in relationship.
Each patient, no matter what their socio-economic background is treated
with a great deal of respect even in their dying. It became obvious that for the staff umuntu means not simply taking care of
the physical needs of the patients but relating and treating the patient as a
whole person. To be whole means to be in
relationship.
This relational understanding of reality provides us with a
deeper and clearer understanding of what it means to be in community. It does not ignore the importance of
individuality, but stresses that individuality can only be fully understood in
relationships. This view of community is
very similar to that of the bible.
Unfortunately we in the West read the bible as if it is a Western book. We read it through the lens of individualism. We have a sense of what it means to be a community
but our commitment to individualism undermines our efforts. We fail to appreciate and understand the
importance and centrality of relationships in creating community. Africans with their understanding of the
concept of umuntu experience the full
reality of being in community. Their
traditional experience of community is similar to the biblical description of
community in which relationships with God, others, self and nature are inter-dependent
and complex at times even messy. Perhaps
it is time we stop relating to Africans with an imperialistic attitude and
learn from them what it means to be a Christian community.
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