Imperialism and socialism in the context of Africa Essay

Cecil Rhodes Social Darwinism advocate states, I contend that we are the finest festinate in the world and that the more of the world we inhabit the better queen Leopold of Belgium, To open to civilization the only part of the globe where it has yet to tick is, I dare to say, a crusade worthy of this century of progress. From the preceding(prenominal) assertions, it is prudent to note that, colonial powers thought Africa to be devoid of an governing in social, political and economic perspective and therefore they wanted to achieve Africa, England. In that thought of naivety of the Afri undersurfaces, there were societal structures and organizations which British did not care to observe. However, it was not going to be easy as where cardinal or three cultures interact a clash is inevitable.Although Africa was not a plain or bear continent, Afri masss had their expression of life, structure of govern workforcet, reverence, economic activities, education, systems of marriage ceremony and development plans for their societies, nevertheless the British brought their systems which conflicted with Africans established way of life, this was because the British, as well-nigh other(a) European powers were economically depressed and Africa appeared to be the only way come in. The British wanted to commune the three Cs Commerce, that is to reconcile m wholenessnessy through and through the acquisition of free labor form Africans, raw(a) materials for their industries as industrial revolution back in Britain was rapidly winning place, a market for their surplus production Christianity to save Africans.Explorers such(prenominal) as David Livingst unrivalled, Vasco Da Gama, Portuguese Diego Cam and Arabs with Muslim faith had missionary zeal. The last C is for Civilization, they wanted to civilize Africans in terms of education, culture and many other tones. Thus, to a larger extent, the activities of British heartened conflicts.African traditional theol ogy is root in the African culture, it was challenging for Christianity to penetrate through. Portuguese tried in the fifteen century and failed. For Christianity to take the course the Africans had to abandon their culture which was impregnable so to say. The Missionaries in the nineteenth century, however, came up with an elaborate plan for them to stagger Christianity. They introduced through faith, education and health centers which contradicted informal learning and the institution of medicinal drug men. Africans gradually began to embrace Whitemans way of life but not without several clashes. These battles are seen in various forms such as spiritual, doctrinal, pagan and practical. The African trust has been given several definitions by dissentent scholars, for instance, Mbiti has lucubrate aspects of African religion.In his book African tralatitious religious belief, Mbiti (1991) African religion is in truth pragmatic and realistic (p2), he explains that it is appl ied in hatful where the need arises. In addition, he states that religion is rooted in the topical anaesthetic language, so to comprehend the spectral life of an African society one has to understand the local dialect. He further affirms, To be an African in the traditional setup is to be truly phantasmal. (p30) He states that the religion can be seen in five aspects of culture beliefs, practices, ceremonies and festivals, religious objects and places, set, and morals and religious officials and loss leadership. He defines African religion as The product of the thinking and experiences of our forefathers and mothers that is men and women of their generations. They formed religious ideas, they observed religious ceremonies and rituals, they told proverbs and myths which safeguarded the life of individual and his fellowship.(pp 13-14) Mbiti notes that African religion has no scriptures as compared to Christianity and other religions, it is written in peoples history, hearts an d experiences of the people.(p14)Awolalu in his book Sin and its Removal in the African conventional Religion defines African religion as largely written in the peoples myth and folktales, in their songs and dances, in their liturgies and shrines and in their proverbs and concise sayings. It is a religion whose historical founder is neither known nor hero-worship it is a religion that has no zeal for the membership drive, yet it offers sour fascination for Africans, young and old. The African traditional religion was not alike as the communities had different ethnic background thus the religious practices such rituals varied one community to the other. It is worth noting that it was oral, not scripted or written and was passed from one generation to the other by word of mouth, as I earlier alluded in the definitions of religion. Within their organized societal structures, Africans believed in supernatural beings together with transmittable spirits. The inherited spirits were believed to link the lifespan societal members to the deitys. Therefore, the African traditional religion was and still is interweaved to the African culture.From the above insights, one cannot talk about African religion without African set as they are intertwined and inseparable. African religion was embedded in moral values or codes or standards which were believed to originate from God through the ancestral spirits, these values when observed one would be rewarded with maybe good fruit from their cultivation of land or increased number of the flock of cattle. When these values prepare violated the culprits were reprimanded. The concept of values is a vital sign as one talks of the African religion. For that reason, African religion is skeletal from the African values and Culture. African Culture was the source of law through the moral codes and values passed from generation to generation. From the above description, we can see that law or rules of conduct were embedded i n religion and that African religion was interweaved in the African culture. Local dialect was the medium through which African culture and religion were propagated.The African religion had some institutions as Mbiti points out in the aspects of African religion, who presided over religious functions, these institutions were believed to communicate directly to ancestral spirits (living dead) who in turn would communicate to the gods and grievances of the living societal members would be heard. In the Kenyan context, these institutions include Orkoyot of the Nandi, Oloibon of the Maasai, Seers, Diviners, and Rainmakers depending on the ethnic communities which they came from. These institutions apart from the cultism of the ancestors, they blessed warrior before going for war, advised the political leaders, offered sacrifice to god and conducted rituals for the culprits who violated moral values in the community. The gods had some specific name for instance, in Kenyan context, we h ad Enkai for the Maasai, Encore for the Abagusii, Mulungu for Akamba, Asis the Nandi, Ngai for the Agikuyu and Nyasaye for the Luo. There were specific worship places which were regarded as holy, this places included shrines, mountaintops some special trees such as mugumo, hills, and some caves. The potpourri of the names given to gods and places of worship, show the lack of uniformity in the African Religion. Consequently, Africans were of different ethnic background and had their own religion, gods, and religion as a community. The clashes can be seen in the five aspects as earlier alluded in Mbitis work that is beliefs, practices, ceremonies, festivals, religious objects and places, values, and morals, religious officials and leaders. These aspects of African religion differ from those of Christianity.The Africans believed that their religion was sourced from god, who they believed long before their ancestors existence. The British Missionaries conflict with Africans by interco urse them about the existence of a God who had a son and lived among them many years ago. The religion of British was written ( ledger) thus one had to have the ability to read and write in order to understand it, whereas that of African was passed from generation to generation by oral tradition. There is an introduction of a new system of identifying the origin of religion which conflicts with the African system. Language is in like manner conflicted as Africans could not comprehend English, hence missionaries such as Ludwig Krapf translated the Bible into the local dialect.The Africans revered in special caves, Mountaintops, hills, Forests, Special trees (mugumo) and shrines. The British fall apart Africans that they should worship God places called Churches. This encounter shows that there is a bit of run into as the African places were very clearly defined and preserved by the community members. The British also seized African land to construct churches or chapels, Africans, as a result, became very hostile as they had distinct worship places which occurred naturally. They believed that their land was in cultivation and a gift from their gods.The Africans practiced their religion by reverence to their ancestors, offering homo and animal sacrifices and invoking the ancestral spirits, for instance, the Umira Kager rank believed in spirits in the S.M Otieno case. They offered sacrifices in order to get favors in terms of harvest. The African worship was communal that is, all community members apply to convene to pray for rain and ask for the wellness of the community. The British religion had an aspect of confession of ones hellholes before worship, repentance, and forgiveness of sin are granted. This aspect of forgiveness of sins lacks in the traditional African religion, one had to be punished for wrongdoing. British missionary religion brings out an aspect of offerings in terms of money and tithe which is ten percent of ones total earnings. The Brit ish advocated for human rights and therefore disregarded and condemned human sacrifices.In African religion, worship was led by Diviners, Rainmakers, and Seers who were considered righteous. The work of religious leaders was taught through apprecentiship and was hereditary from specific clans in the community. There were received clans from whom diviners would descend. They were highly respected in the community. The British Christian religious leaders attend school to be trained mainly in theology. They take formalities of worship and nature of God. Any member of Christian family can become a religious leader although there are some myths which say one has to be called by God. A Christian leader has to have the ability to read and write so as to pass the scriptures to his congregation.African traditional religion was diverse from one ethnic community to the other due to the linguistic differences, migration patterns and origin. Christianity is introduced as a homogeneous religion as the author of it is Jesus Christ, a common ancestry and university extension point for all Christians. The diversity of worship is dismantled by the British introduction of this even religion.Africans were notoriously religious as it was found in each group. Africans who lived as per the traditional way of life were regarded as very religious.it is also worth acknowledging that Africans are at crossroads due to the circumstance that religion is embedded in the African culture and language. It is thus difficult for Africans to fully be committed to Christianity as being fully whole-hearted intend they will have to abandon some of the partaking of African culture and autochthonous dialect by embracing the Whitemans language and culture. This has already happened as some dedicated African Christians according to Quarcoopome (1987), refer to traditional religion as paganism, fetish, and animism.References.Awolalo, JO, Sin and Its Removal from the African Traditional Religion (197 6) chronicle and Government Form One to Four, KLB Fourth Edition. The People of Kenya Up to the nineteenth CenturyKwasi W, Towards Decolonizing African Religion and Philosophy, African Studies (1998) Quarterly volume 1 Issue 4.Ojwang JB and Mugambi JNK (eds), The SM Otieno case, Death and Burial in Modern Kenya, (1989) capital of Kenya University pressMbiti, JS, African Religion and Philosophy, Oxford, England, (1999) Heinemann Educational Publishers.Mbiti, JS, Introduction to African Religion Oxford, England, (1991) Heinemann Educational Publishers.Uchenna O, African Crossroads Conflict between African Traditional Religion and Christianity, (2008) The International Journal of Humanities vol 6 No. 2Quarcoopome, TNO, West African traditional religion. Ibadan, Nigeria (1987) African Universities Press.NAME MUNYALO, DANIEL MUTHENGIREG.NO G34/102614/2017COURSE GPR atomic number 6 LEGAL RESEARCH AND WRITINGCONVENER DR. NKATHA KABIRAThe encounter between the British and Africans was a ca se of two worlds colliding.Discuss