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WHEN THINGS FALL APART Some thoughts about Christian mission in a changing society
Turning and Turning in the widening gyre
In his tragic novel Things fall apart, the Nigerian author Chinua Achebe deals with the problem of cultural confrontation. The title is taken from the quoted poem that describes a universe falling to pieces. Does this mean that Achebe wants the reader to view the change of the Ibo tribe as a tragedy? Or does the tragedy consist of the fact that one of the chiefs, the famous Okonkwo, cannot face the new times and that it is in his life that all things fall apart? Is the cultural and religious confrontation that strikes the Ibos in Nigeria at the end of the 19th century just a local and isolated event or should it be regarded as a problem of universal extent? Is it not obvious that similar struggles are still going on all over the world?
SOCIETIES CHANGE No doubt, there are still a few anthropologists who believe in the possibility of keeping native societies unchangeable for ever, romantics who hope to protect old cultures and traditions against any influence from the outside world. Are they credible? In the 1970s. there was a lot of criticism of Christian mission because of its lack of respect towards the original cultures. Missionaries were said to be culture destroyers and even murderers. The accusations were sometimes well-founded. But not always. What Chinua Achebe points out in his novel is the fact that the old native society with many of its customs undergoes a deep change. Old traditions are abandoned and new ideas transform the people. Could this have been avoided? Certainly not! The story Achebe tells the reader of his novel is the tragedy, not of the Ibos but of one single Ibo man, Okonkwo, who might have become a chief of his people in the days of changes if he had been able to face them with an open mind. To quote from the novel: "His life had been ruled by a great passion - to become one of the lords of the clan. That had been his life-spring. And he had all but achieved it. Then everything had been broken. He had been cast out of his clan like a fish on to a dry, sandy beach, panting. Clearly his personal god or chi (2) was not made for great things. A man could not rise beyond the destiny of his chi. The saying of the elders was not true - that if a man said yea his chi also affirmed. Here was a man whose chi said nay despite his own affirmation."(3) Unfortunately, Okonkwo did not understand that societies change. They do not remain unchangeable for ever. They do change and the attempts to stop the developments are mostly in vain.
CHRISTIAN MISSON IN A CHANGING SOCIETY Some changes are good; others are bad. Let us look at the Christian mission and its fruits within the native society. It is a tragic fact that very often the representatives of the Occidental culture have approached other people with an attitude of superiority. This can be seen in the behaviour of the white man as Achebe describes him. The natives are regarded as and treated like children. The missionary is proud of his British origin and he shows the Ibo natives that they should be grateful and happy because of his arrival amongst them. When they ask some questions about the iron horse (4) the white man promises them a future of iron horses. When the natives listen to the new religion they are told that their old faith is false and that their gods are worthless. "Your gods are not alive and cannot do any harm," replied the white man. "They are pieces of wood and stone." (5) Even if this was what the white man thought, should he not have told it in another way, not to depreciate their convictions and their traditions? Not all missionaries are the same. The two representatives of the Church described in the novel, Mr Brown and Reverend Smith are different. The first one makes a lot of mistakes due to his lack of cultural knowledge. But he tries to understand the Ibos, their religion and their traditions. He takes a lot of time in discussions with the people in order to learn more. The second one is different. "He condemned openly Mr Brown’s policy of compromise and accommodation. He saw things in black and white. And black was evil." (6) Negative attitudes towards the native people, depreciation of their traditions and values, the creating of animosities! Is that kind of Christian mission not just another face of colonisation and oppression? Indeed it is! But there are not only negative fruits of the missionaries’ efforts. Chinua Achebe indicates some changes of the Ibo society that are rather positive. The osus (7) were outcasts, isolated from their families and deprived of their human rights in the old native tribe. Within the Christian Church they receive a new dignity and their human value is restored. The poor people are invited to school and get education. Old cruel habits like exposing new-born twins in the jungle are abandoned. Thus, it can be said that the experience of the Ibos shows both the dangers and the benefits of Christian mission in a changing native society. The two missionaries Mr Brown and Reverend Smith are not only individuals in the novel; they are symbols of different kinds of Christian mission. The criticism of missionary organisations because of their cultural destructive work has many times been well-founded. In their lack of cultural understanding, persons like Reverend Smith too often have represented the message of love in a very negative way. This has been a cause of animosity and cultural tragedy. Things have fallen apart. Societies have been corrupted. Personalities like Okonkwo have got lost. Should the Christian Church give up its mission and let the natives of foreign continents live in peace and remain in their old traditions and religions? Would it not be better to let every nation and every tribe keep its own identity and its own paradise? That is a very beautiful dream. But it is a dream and nothing more. Isolation is no solution. Economic and political interests will always extend their domination. The rich man will always exploit the resources of the poor people. If the Church wants to be faithful to its Christian convictions it has to strengthen those who are weak, encourage the people under a disadvantage and struggle with the poor against the oppressors. If so happens, it is even possible that men like Okonkwo become national leaders like the South African Christian Nelson Mandela. Things that fell apart may be restored! Societies without any hope in the past may become promised lands. So let the Christian mission continue its work. Not as a part of colonization and profit. But as a protection against the evil forces. There are still osus who need their human value to be restored, uneducated people who have to be taught and new-born twins who must be rescued from the jungle.
1. Quotation from W.B.Yeats: The Second Coming
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