The African Worldview

I just finished reading "A Letter to Africa About Africa" by Kasongo Munza.

He was raised as the son of the chief of the Lubu tribe in the D.R. Congo, but attended "white man's school" and much later became a pastor.

Most of the book is him sharing his religious views, so I will share with you the really helpful part in understanding why Africa has the issues that it does. It's very interesting. Everything not in parenthesis below is from this book.

Definition of Worldview- "A comprehensive, especially personal, philosophy or conception of the world and of human life." Compared to colored glasses. . .[through which we view the world]. Cultures are a result of their respective worldviews. Worldviews help the individual deal with life within his culture. A worldview governs society at a subconscious level even more powerfully than laws and legislation. It is the reason behind conscience. Worldview can be likened to a culture's immune system. It enables a culture to determine what is harmful and what is beneficial, and it protects the society from the harmful.

(BodyTalkers isn't this an interesting statement. This is the only time he says it in the book, but I think he's right on. I don't think he realizes how profound that statement is. He's showing us, like all the emerging evidence we read about, that belief systems in the subconscious mind govern our bodies. Our "views of the world" determine not only our actions, but our health. And the beliefs about what's "beneficial" and what is "harmful" in the environment make up the immune system. Interesting when you remember that the people of Africa have some of the most compromised immune systems in the world. Their worldview has compromised their immune systems in a different way than ours. For example, in America we are crippled by allergies and food intolerances, which are almost non-existent there. We have a different worldview and different problems that go with it. We wear different colored lenses.)

A. Life is cyclical

1. Half of life is visible, and the other half invisible and mysterious.
2. There are two spheres of existence- one is physical and the other is spiritual.
3. There are two temporary places- the womb and this world.
4. There is one place of residence- the after life or spirit life.

B. There are two gates to transition between the two spheres: the womb and death. The understanding of two gates leads to may rites and rituals dealing with both gates.

1. At the first gate, pregnancy and birth:
a. Dietary taboos.
b. "Kuputa dimi" which literally means "to cover the pregnancy". No one talks about it until after the ceremony at four months.
c. Sterility and impotency are curses because the gate is closed.

2. Death- rituals determined by status and manner of death.
a. Status types: ordinary person, king, chief, twin, fool, childless person, leper or epileptic.
b. Manner of death requiring special rituals: suicide, pregnant woman, baby dying in childbirth, miscarriage.

C. Because of these beliefs, the logical conclusion is that there is reincarnation.

1. Every birth is someone coming back.
2. That is why there are no family names; they use the same name as the person being reincarnated.
3. The means of determining who is being reincarnated are usually dreams and visions by family members during the pregnancy.
4. When dreams and visions do not show clearly the right identity of the one being reincarnated, people consult the diviners.

D. In our world there is interaction between the two spheres of existence- spiritual and physical.

1. The spiritual beings possess omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience.
2. They physical beings depend and are subject to the spiritual beings.
3. The spiritual beings are the source of everything good or evil that happens in the physical sphere. i.e. health, disease, accidents, fertility, sterility, blessings, curses, success or failure.

E. There is intercommunication between the two spheres the main means being dreams, visions, and signs.

1. Dreams, visions, signs and mediums are a means for the spiritual to communicate with the physical.
2. Invocation, sacrifices, prayers, and consultation with the mediums/diviners are the acts of the physical communicating with the spiritual.
3. There are good mediums who intervene on behalf of the humans: Diviners, Healers, Priests.
4. There are evil mediums: Witches with the ability to communicate with evil spirits to harm humans.

F. Harmony must be maintained among the living ones and the dead ones. Everyone is required to fulfill certain responsibilities in order to maintain harmony.

1. Honor- never let a family member or spiritual being be dishonored.
2. Solidarity- assist each other in any event.
3. Sharing- property, position and benefits.
4. Preservation of ancestral heritage- land, power and traditions- they are not negotiable.

(Isn't this fascination. It's still SOOO true here. Even with modern teaching, laws and even knowledge. Especially these last four above and the part about witches. )

The Implications of thie worldview are profound. They affect all aspects of life.

Lack of Development:
The perception that this world is a musumba or a temporary place is an obstacle to development. Why build good houses and roads in a place you will only be occupying temporarily? The concept of development is almost absent. A Kiluba proverb says, "Kishiya bashiya; Kitana batana." which means, "This is how we received it; as we received it is how we have to leave it. "

Witchcraft in dealing with disease:
Fear of witchcraft distorts and and negates the benefits of science. Belief that spiritual beings are the source of everything good or bad, means that all diseases are caused by spiritual beings. Nothing is satisfactorily treated with medicine, because they KNOW there is someone behind the disease who is causing it. And because someone is causing it, there is no personal responsibility to change things. "Nothing is my fault" "Everything that happens, happens either because someone bewitched me, or because the spirits predestined it."

Fatalism:
"Kebidi ntelo biya, bidi kwabilwa na Leza" which means, "It is not because of your skills in putting traps that you are successful, it is a gift from God." This means that you do not need to develop skills to be successful, you need to use fetishes.

The Sacredness of Ancestral Heritage:
Ancestral Heritage includes mainly land and power and traditions. These are sacred. There is NO way to accept sharing land or power with other people. Land boundaries must not be changed. It is an unforgivable sin to compromise in this area. Colonialism changed boundaries and transferred people groups. This is why Africa has the interminable conflicts and genocide that is does, because one or more tribes are occupying the same land.

Sharing Benefits with your Relatives:
They have a tradition of sharing which is good, but sharing has expanded to mean power or benefits if one has any social or political position. This is problematic for democratic elections. You can only vote for the candidate who is most closely related to you. This is why so-called African democracies are really "tribocracies". The candidate who is a member of the largest tribe wins, and then distributes benefits to his family or tribal members.

Cannibalism:
Behind cannibalism lies a strong belief that sacrificial blood contains supernatural powers. A Luba proverb states, "Wami tata kyamudile bitupu, i bwanga bwankomeshe meso." It means, "I did not eat my father for no reason. It was because of the fetish (bwanga) that I was forced to." Levels of power vary according to the type and purpose of the sacrifice. One level deals with domestic animals, another wild animals, the ultimate is human sacrifice. Levels go according to status of human, usually baby to elder, but sometimes the youngest has more sacrificial value or power. The fetishes to which these sacrifices are made are endless: invincibility, invisibility, invulnerability, luck, success in business, winning an election, winning a soccer match, winning your spouse, winning the favor of your boss. This is practiced by the non-educated, and runs deep among the most educated social classes- political leaders, students, business men, army officers and even church leaders.


(Interesting, huh. Hope you enjoyed. )