Regaining Our African Aesthetics and Essence Through Our African Traditional Religion

[Fenix]

I'm faster than I thought I'd be. Here are what I feel are the most important points in the article discussed in this thread. Any questions, feel free to hit me up.

“Regaining Our African Aesthetics and Essence Through Our African Traditional Religion�

Gibreel M. Kamara

Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 30, No. 4. (Mar., 2000) pp. 502-514

At the beginning of the article, Kamara poses two questions that he feels “African people all over the world must address� along with other related questions.
1. “What was the religious position of Africans before foreign cultures rudely interrupted us and made things fall apart?�
2. “What were the African moral codes that governed social constructs and human behavior?�

He posits that in spite of scholars who think otherwise “Africans have always had religion and philosophical thought patterns� and though these may be different from others, “difference does not translate to absence or nonexistence.�

Kamara defines religious according to E. B. Idowu (1975) African Traditional Religion. London: Orbis Books (p. 4), “an individual who ‘professes a certain faith and observes certain rituals�. And he goes on to define “traditional African Religion as the observance of rules of conduct in the way the individual conducts his or her daily life, the practice of rituals, and the recognition of the ever presence of the living-dead (ancestors) to allow the person to coexist in harmony with other members of the community and nature in order to please Pa Kuru.� Pa Kuru is the Thaimneh word for God. According to this definition, he puts forth that Africans are notoriously religious, “to be African is to be religious, to be alive is to be religious, and to be religious is to work toward the enhancement of the community in order to please the Supreme Creator.�

He says further that, “few people can argue against the positive influences of Islam and Christianity on the continent. However…these religions have served and continue to serve as the entropies of our traditional religions and thought. Islam and Christianity have so well succeeded in obnubilating the minds of Africans that most Africans even today have absolutely no qualms about objurgating the religions of our ancestors. Herein lies our demise.�

“Of all the peoples of the world, African people, especially those of us south of the Sahara, are the only ones who have totally abandoned the religions of our ancestors, thereby rejecting the values, beliefs, customs, norms, and traditions of our lineage. The Jews have Judaism, Europeans and some Middle Easterners have Christianity, Arabs have Islam, Indians have Hinduism, and Orientals have Buddhism. Each of these belief systems is laced with its own cultural orientations…only a minute fraction of the members of these cultures practice something other than their national cultural religions. Unfortunately Africans are Christians, Muslims, and everything else but something akin to our Africanness. For those very few who practice (ATR), we do so in secrecy to avoid embarrassment.�

His main contention in the article is that “the present predicament in which Africa and we Africans find ourselves has a lot to do with the forsaking of our African Traditional Religion and thoughts.� He goes on to say that “unless there is an immediate turnaround toward reaffirming, practicing, and living our lives according to our African religion, the problems of the continent will only get worse.� He puts this forth because “Islamic and Christian cosmologies and ontologies are antithetical to ATR.�

The article is not intended to knock any religion. In fact, he states that “religions of all kinds help to shape our values and morals and allow people in societies to live in harmony among themselves and their Maker.� And this is not an endorsement for one universal religion, rather a statement to the fact that the author does not believe that “ATR is for Europeans, Jews, Indians or Asians. By the same token, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism are not for Africans.� By accepting these foreign religions, Kamara believes that “we find ourselves in a religious clash that brings about…moral decay…�

He expounds on this moral decay by citing the delayed judgment of sins offered in Christianity and Islam, saying that “for most people this delayed judgment, and thus delayed reward and punishment, gives them a window of opportunity to give in to temptation and commit sins much more easily because, after all, they simply need to confess their sins, and God will forgive them. Perhaps this is why a great number of Africans who avow Christianity or Islam hardly see anything wrong in committing such cardinal sins as robbery, rape, incest, murder, and a host of many others.�

This is not to say that he thinks ATR is better than these religions, simply that ATR “has something within itself that will directly enable us to easily uphold its moral codes because (ATR) is tailored for African people.� “Believing in something requires a person to understand that something and to live by its codes. Christianity and Islam are peaceful, loving religions with ethical codes that restrain humans from sinful acts. Why then do we African converts to these religions neglect the tenets of our adopted faiths?� He answers, saying that, “Perhaps these religions are not ‘within the cosmic arena of the African’.�

ATR “holds the key to the sanity of our society because it is a religion we intuitively understand. It has no chance of being misinterpreted.�

“Clearly, African Traditional Religion involves, as the saying goes, mind, body and soul of the Africans who must, by the nature of our beliefs, practice what we preach. So what are these beliefs that constitute African Traditional Religion?�
-ATR “ontology consists of five components: ‘belief in God, belief in the divinities, belief in spirits, belief in the ancestors and the practice of magic and medicine’.�
-“Also, this religion does not conceive the end of the world, for the concept of time within African cosmology does not…allow such speculations. These three tenets—God, ancestors, and a never-ending world—are fundamental in ATR because of the influence they exert on human behavior.�

“As in the case of all religions, ATR operates on moral codes that the followers must abide by to ensure a just and amicable society. To believe in these codes, Africans know that failure to live accordingly guarantees punishment from Pa Kuru.� And also, due to the ever presence of the ancestors in ATR, “a person’s propensity to partake in any act that is morally wrong or evil is usually tempered by the fear of offending his or her ancestors.� So, “the practitioners of this religion (ATR) are fully aware of the immediate retribution that follows any evil action.�

ATR, “is the religion with a Creator who speaks our languages, speaks to our minds, and hears and listens and understands our ancestors as they intercede on our behalf. It is the religion that privileges the community over the individual and teaches us to cherish human life. Above all, this religion is the only religion that addresses the sum total of our Africanness.� The author aligns with Asante’s (Afrocentricity. Trenton, NJ: African World Press. 1989 p. 5) assertion that “the most crippling effect of Islam as well as Christianity for us may well be the adoption of non-African customs and behaviors, some of which are in direct conflict with our traditional values� and adds that “these religions have also made Africans become afraid of our African languages and thus our customs, beliefs, traditions, and values.�

Kamara asserts that “religion and culture are interconnected if not one and the same�. He uses the fact that Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all come from the same geographical location, and that they all “regard Abraham as the father�. How then are they so different, he asks? He responds saying that “they all believe in the same Supreme Creator,� but “their cultures are different�. Therein lies their differences.

“There is no longer any need for us to be confused about what is in the best interest of our Africannness. Nothing is wrong in importing attributes from another culture so long as such attributes are consonant with one’s cultural underpinnings. However, when such features obfuscate a person’s sense of commitment to his or her heritage to the point of abandoning his or her essence, the logical line of action is to sever the ties.�

“African literature feeds from African belief systems. Whether we want to accept it or not, African literature to some extent reflects who we are, what we want to be, and how we want to be perceived. The same is true of our music, dance, sculpture, painting, and philosophy. The aesthetic quality of this genre anchors on our ATR, which informs us of the responsibility of the artist to his or her art and community. By the same token, our behavior towards one another is supposed to be informed by our African religion, the religion of our ancestors. With the help and guidance of our ancestors, God will redeem us from the religious bondage in which we now find ourselves.�

ATR is “independent within its own right and worthy of the same regard as other religions. Any attempt to Islamize or Christianize ATR will surely not lead us to the promised land, the land in which people have respect for human life, elders, ancestors, moral codes, honesty, and all the great qualities necessary for a viable society.�

Kamara is an assistant professor of English at North Carolina A&T State University.

[Im The Truth]

Thanks for the article! I like it!

[Fenix]

Anytime I can help!