Whats the difference between Traditional African religion and Christianity?

A very inspiring discussion took place on SA FM’s Morning Talk on the 24^th of September 2013. In the guest list was a panel of experts and those included Mr Ntshangase -  a retired lecturer at the University of Kwazulu Natal and Chief Sefogole Makgeru – deputy Chairperson of the House of Traditional Leaders. By conception the discussion was relevant given the fact that South Africa was celebrating Heritage Day – a day that was formerly known as Shaka Day and since adjusted into Heritage Day with the dawn of democracy in 1994. The question asked: what is the difference between Traditional African religion and Christianity? was pertinent to present day South Africa where we have a diversity of belief systems manifesting themselves into different religions.

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It is very interesting the topic of religion and given the sensitivity of the topic, it was to be expected that the discussion would become heated. But what is the difference between Traditional African religion and Christianity? According to Christianity, believers are taught to connect to God through the one and only son of God Jesus Christ. 

In contrast, Traditional African religion puts emphasis on praying to God through the ancestors who due to their perceived spiritual essence, are acknowledged as a closer link to God. But it doesnt stop there, on the one hand, Christians have been taught to believe that the manner in which Traditional African religion connects with God is inappropriate and thus there is a need to “repent” or “convert” or “be born again” -  a call that appears, at least from where one stands, more subjective than fair. 

It is this sort of persuasive language that leaves one with more questions than answers given the fact that on the other hand, there is less evidence to suggest that Traditional African religion perceives Christianity as inappropriate. In the Christian faith, there are quite a number of words and concepts used to refer to other religions as inferior.  Words like “demons”,” heathen” and “pagan” have been recorded in the Bible – which is instrumental in Christianity. 

Although some people have gone on to deny Christianity calls Traditional African religion names, it became clear that there is a polarity of views within the Christian cohort. We could sense that when one caller who claimed to be a Christian smsed “ Traditional African religion is demonic period, for one to connect to God they need to be cleansed with the blood of the only messiah – our Lord Jesus Christ” but the laughter that came from Chief Makgeru and Ntate Ntshangase suggested otherwise. According to Chief Makgeru: “African religion is not a church, its a way of live. You don’t need an instrument like the Bible or a Koran to connect to God. It is a home grown faith similar to breathing and therefore was never necessary to go to  church to pray, its all in the  nature of humans that they know there is a higher being connected to them via the spiritual world: Modimo ”.

The question posed, as provocative as it is, is quite heavy given the fact that there is a dominant worldview that suggests one religion is better than the other. If one was to ask people who follow the Christian doctrine; it is to be expected that the perspective would be skewed towards their choice of religion and vice versa. Through the information explosion that came with the missionary education that was brought to Africa and other parts of the world during the hey days of colonisation and subsequently, Apartheid; it has become a normality for the Christian faith to present itself into a religion “of all” and ultimately; the perception since then has been that for someone to connect with God; they ought to pray God through Jesus Christ. One interesting caller on the radio show responded to the question by claiming that the main purpose of missionary education was not to belittle other religions but to merely teach what the Bible had purported ought to be exported to other nations in the world, for enlightenment?

The connection one can trace between the vociferous conquest of broad based education by western nations into Africa and the belittlement of the existence of African religion by this sort of subjective Christian worldview is immense and has caused so much tension, wars, terror  and the eventual hatred between human beings; in particular Africans. In the world today we continue to see a battle of ideology in religion between religions such as Islam, Judaism and Christianity just to mention a few. This battle, one could claim, has nothing to do with natural competition but the desire by one religion to rule over the other. And this has been so since the earliest centuries.  

As we continue into the 22^nd and 23^rd centuries, one wonders whether the hatred that has become between people of different religions will ever cede? There is no religion that is better than the other, that’s a subjective worldview, retorted Ntate Ntshangase. It became clear from the discussion that day as Chief Makgeru concluded, that “the differences in religion will be with us for years to come”. 

What we have gathered thus far is that the only way to a peaceful future of religious justice is for people to be tolerant towards each other.  For most people in the Traditional African religion, the future means that they will have to learn to live with the damage that has been done by certain quarters of the Christian faith. As already divided as we are in the African nation, it would be crazy for anyone to suggest those who have been converted and influenced by the Eurocentric way of life would suddenly revert back to Indigenous Knowledge Systems. By the same token, it is unacceptable that in a democratic society like South Africa, the perception that Traditional African religion is inferior continues to manifest amid the many attempts made since 1994 to address the injustices of the past. It is clear that Christianity is instrumentalist and persuasive in nature while Traditional African religion is introvert and non-partisan. Let everyone stick with what works for them and continue to learn from one another as one human family.

Rainbowism: a concept of wraps and traps

Will the problem of racism ever end in South Africa? South African society seems to be at odds when it comes to issues of cultural identity. After much work had been done by different stakeholders since the birth of a democratic society in 1994, the progress made seems to backtrack every-time racist tendencies protrude themselves. This is against the backdrop of an ideology which the democratically elected government of the day proclaimed and the masses embraced. In the following discussion we ask: does the rainbow nation exist? For many, rainbow ism remains an ideal concept for nation building but at what cost to the cultural identity and liberties of individual race groups?

The Rainbow Nation is a concept that was coined by Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu after the success of the national elections in 1994. The concept was further elaborated by the then president Dr Nelson Mandela when he proclaimed:  "Each of us is as intimately attached to the soil of this beautiful country as are the famous jacaranda trees of Pretoria and the mimosa trees of the bush-veld - a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world". What this simply suggested was that from 1994 on-wards, South Africa would become a united country where everyone was represented by the colors of the rainbow, united in diversity. Although the concept earned the respect of many, both black and white, this move by the newly elected government came as a bit of a surprise to certain sections of the black community radical voices of black community. 

For sections of the white community, rainbowism was a advantageous in that it did not only dash some of the hopes that black radical thinking had during the fight against apartheid - a thinking which suggested that blacks were "going to chase away whites towards the sea after the struggle against apartheid was won". Of course, this radical thinking was not only a black thing since there also existed voices of dissent and radical white conservative thinking. During apartheid, Pan Africanist and Black Consciousness Movements were founded to align members of the black community with a political ideology which reinforces self knowledge and self pride. This political ideology was by then appropriate given the many decades of colonization where African cultural identity was nullified as barbaric and belonging to the dark ages. Has the struggle for cultural affirmation being won since 1994?

The idea of introducing the issue of race and racism in South Africa to this blog to try and understand the qualms, misconceptions and perpetual stereotypes which exist within society today. And although the discussion was not meant to be exhaustive, the amount of wording already here suggests that there is so much to be questioned, so much to be investigated, so much to be empathized as long as we dont go off topic. So, before i get carried away by the magnitude of the racism problem in South Africa allow me to make reference to Professor Louise Mabille's recent racist remarks regarding rape. 

After 20 years into a democratic dispensation, South Africa is still home to individuals in the white community who still perceive blacks as inferior and therefore deserving of the insults such as the one which Professor Louise leveled against blacks and in particular black culture. From where i write, it seems like the problem of racism is complex and transcends many dimensions. That still, the dimension i intend to highlight has more to do with the broader political ideology which was introduced by the then incumbent president Dr Nelson Mandela; who contrary to what many black political radicals in movements such the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) and the Black Consciousness Movement(BCM) thought would happen -  and that is "sending all whites back to their homelands via the sea". When that did not happen, many of those who were affected and  traumatized by decades of apartheid rule had hoped that the process of healing through reconciliation that was started by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission(TRC) would give justice where its due. But all of that did not happen. In fact looking back, for many in the black community in 2013, the TRC was nothing but a slap in the face mockery kind of an exercise which did nothing to sort out the social, political and economic problems emanating from the past.

Since the ideology of "forgive and forget" was advocated for, problems for the South African population have escalated more than subsided. Every-time a white person calls a black person a baboon and a black person calls a white person master, local black residents fight, loot or even kill non South African black people from Ethiopia or Mozambique  we are reminded of a reality that many have lived to deny for twenty years: South Africa is divided and we are living an illusion. Say whatever you like about social cohesion but the phenomenon of claiming social cohesion or unity or reconciliation through dubious measures such as sport is not working. No one can deny the fact that blacks and whites attend different sporting codes in stadiums and when that happens; we all seem united. Is that an illusion? With that in mind it is important to understand the ideology of rainbowism against that backdrop of the critical question of whether the ideal has helped restore pride and dignity of black people as the previously disadvantaged bloc or served to reinforce(sort of cover up) some of the racist beliefs white South Africans became notorious for during colonization and apartheid periods?