Christianity and western imperialism have left the Tonga people a dual legacy, dual in the sense that it has both positive and negative aspects. On the one hand, Christianity is responsible for ending some bad cultural practices in Africa. On the other hand, western imperialism destroyed values in African indigenous culture that supported the interdependence of all created life. In addition, the process of colonization resulted in the unearthing of minerals and raw materials in Africa and in taking land from the indigenes.
Nash (1989:91) argues that Christianity played (and is still playing) a major role in encouraging western imperialism and capitalism38 which have contributed to the exploitation of nonhuman forms of life for the benefit of humanity39. Nash’ observation (1989:91), reveals three important
38Capitalism is an economic system with the following characteristics. First, the means of production are owned by individuals or companies. Second, the workforce, goods, and the means of production are traded in free markets.
Third, the profits are either distributed to the owners or invested in technology and industry. Lastly, the workforce consists of wage laborers. Most scholars agree with Max Weber that capitalism started in the eighteenth century around the same time as the Enlightenment. However, some elements of capitalism can be found much earlier than that in rural areas where monasteries began to rationalize economic life. While it is true that monks in some monasteries began to break away from the ethos of the “community of goods” that characterised sectarian groups like the Qumran community, protestant capitalism also played its part in fostering capitalist notions. See Hawken (1993:32, 72).
39 Scholars in this field can be categorised into three groups: constructionists who seek to reconstruct the ecological wisdom in Christianity, apologists who seek to defend Christianity from the argument that Christianity is ecologically bankrupt, and the revisionists who seek to revise the teaching of Christianity by revisiting the major premises of Christian tradition. Other scholars have focused on the role of religion in providing a solution to the crisis. As such, they dialogue with other religious traditions and integrate them into Christianity. See Daneel (1991), Hart (2006).
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points. First of all, there is a relationship between western Christian expansion in Africa and a capitalist economy. Second, the expansion of western Christianity has largely contributed to the establishment of religio-economic systems that exploit women and the natural world. In the third place Christianity has contributed to the exploitation of the natural world through its patriarchal and predominantly western bible interpretation.
However, some scholars contest the view that Christianity is responsible for the current ecological crisis and that it is porous and selective (Santmire 1985, Nash 1991). They insist that there are economic and technological factors that have contributed to the crisis. They further insist that the claim that Christianity has nothing to offer to the resolving of the ecological crisis is porous and does not address the ecological premises represented in Christian traditions. In agreement with this view, Rosemary Ruether (2011) draws on sacramental theology to promote the sacredness of the natural world. While it is true that a serious examination of the Christian tradition suggests that it contains ecological wisdom that can be retrieved, generally the Christian doctrine and teachings have to a large extent supported imperialistic tendencies. Lynn White (1967:1205) remarks that modern science emanated from the notions perpetuated by the medieval natural theology and the interpretation of the bible that emphasizes human mastery of nature. In other words, Christianity fostered the notions of exploiting land and the natural world for human advancement due to the anthropocentrism of the dominant theology of the time. The ninetieth century missionaries who came to Africa, and to Zambia in particular, were influenced by these notions.
McFague (2000:117) observes that the capitalist worldview is rooted in the protestant Reformation and in eighteenth century economic theories in Europe. No doubt, the Christian church provided a platform for the growth of the capitalist market. Firstly, the church owned nearly a third of all the land in Europe. Secondly, the new emphasis on clerical celibacy played an important role in advancing capitalism by strongly emphasising the separation between office and person in the church. This emphasis broke the traditional link between family (and marriage) and property that had been fostered by feudalism. Thirdly, the Christian church provided Europe with a highly motivated, literate, specialised and mobile labor force. Thus, the high medieval
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church had provided the conditions for the market to emerge. Furthermore, these notions supported individual achievement rather than community ties (McFague 2000:117). Due to these developments, exploitative attitudes towards nature became widespread.
The preconditions of a capitalist ideology included the availability of a mobile labour force, investment, the accumulation of long-term capital and wealth creation (Hawken1993:6-17, 32).
In additionally, the growth of capitalism contributed to technological discoveries. This was made possible by freedom of enterprise, markets, and competition. In all these respects, women were not considered as only men were employed as cheap labour.
The colonial state was characterised by patriarchal authoritarian patterns, designed to promote the extraction of natural resources and the control of labour. Hirmer (1981: x) notes that colonial states were marked by the paradox of having strong patriarchal and coercive powers and these were often sanctioned by Christianity. Such a religious approval sanctified patriarchal leadership and therefore a leader was, in a way, recognised as a divine nominee invested with all available power and accountable to the creator alone. In other words, the absolute authority (patria potestas) of the pater familias (head of the family) was seen as ordained by God.
At the heart of capitalist technological ideologies is religious sanctioning (Korten 2006:12-18).
As already noted, the main factors for the success of capitalism and western civilization are mainly religious in character. Firstly, the religious value attached to hard and good manual work.
Secondly, the Christian theological separation of the Creator from the creature resulting in the subordination of nonhuman to man. Thirdly, the Judeo-Christian sense of linear time as opposed to cyclical time which reinforces the concept and the ideology of progress. And lastly, respect for the market. Following this trajectory, it is evident that anti-nature attitudes that have contributed to global warming and ecological crisis are religiously conditioned.
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It is therefore not surprising that the European missionaries supported the philosophy of commerce. Following this philosophy the natural world was considered as a “resource”40 to be exploited for profit. In modern economic theory the term “resource” is conditioned by an insatiable desire for profit. In this sense the natural world is treated as raw material that serves in the production process in order to make a profit for the benefit of humanity.
The nineteenth century Christian missionary movement to Africa was conditioned by this capitalist philosophy of civilisation, evangelisation and commerce (Porter 1985:597-621, Tengatenga 2012). Missionaries such as David Livingstone41 argue that Africans would abandon the slave trade once they were exposed to commerce, civilisation and Christianity. Whereas some missionaries promoted civilisation as an instrument for Christianising Africa, imperial governments as well as some missionaries emphasised the promotion of commerce. To them, the value of Africa consisted in its natural world which they treated as raw material for industries in the west. Consequently, Christianity and European imperialism worked together to promote human exploitation of the natural world in Africa for profit.
40The words most commonly used to indicate the natural world is “natural resources”. Hart (2006:150) suggests the use of the term “natural goods” or “earth goods” in place of natural resources. For Hart, these terms accurately describe the abiotic aspects of nature that humans use for their own benefit. While it is true that the terms “natural goods” and “earth goods” describe the abiotic aspects of nature, the terms still carry business connotations. It is for this reason that the present study prefers “nonhuman nature” or “nonhuman forms of life”. The usage follows that of Clifford (2005) and Ruether (1996, 2011) and seeks to emphasise that the natural world is there to serve an eco- systemic purpose that benefits the entire biotic community rather than to serve human patriarchal interests.
41 David Livingstone believed that Christianity, commerce and civilisation would support countries in Africa and a way to end the slave trade (Livingstone 1857). He believed that an involvement of Britain and Africa in trade links and commerce as well as Christian influence would bring money to African countries. While ending the slave trade was a good thing, the emphasis on commerce implied the exploitation of the natural world for human benefit.
Livingstone once said: “Our first objective was to explore the Zambesi [Zambezi], its mouths and tributaries, with a view to their being used as highways for commerce and Christianity to pass into the vast interior of Africa.” In this way David Livingstone and other missionaries opened up Africa to the west for commerce, civilisation and colonialism.
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Hence, the expansion of western imperialism with its focus on civilisation and commerce resulted in the exploitation of the ecological landscape in its African context. This development should be given sustained attention if the impact of the ecological crisis is to be reversed. Since Christianity is the most prominent religion in Zambia (Mwanakatwe 1994), and as the Tonga Christian community regards the bible as sacred and authoritative (Mwanakatwe 1994:41, Gifford 1998:191), the patriarchal and anti-nature worldview of the missionaries and of Christianity in general asks for an urgent investigation.
The early Christian missionaries among the Tonga people encouraged European settlements as a way to promote civilization (Machila 1990). Based on a patriarchal interpretation of the biblical myths of origin (Gen. 1:26-28), European missionaries believed that the natural world is a resource created primarily for the benefit of humankind. As McFague (2000:117) and Haynes (2007) have observed, these notions supported the establishment of environmentally destructive economic ideologies. For this reason Christianity has been linked to factors that have contributed to the ecological crisis. Conradie (2006:64) notes:
Following Weber’s famous thesis on the historical correlation between Protestantism and capitalism, there is a further need to explore the complicity of a protestant ethos and the theological convictions supporting the establishment of environmentally destructive economic systems.
Among the Tonga of Zambia, territorial and ecological shrines were destroyed to make space for European settlements and for the construction of the Kariba (Lagus1959:37). Tonga sacred groves and forests were destroyed (Lagus1959:37). Thousands of animals were killed or displaced. Lagus (1959:37) and Weinrich (1977) show that, during the process of European settlement and the construction of the dam about fifteen Tonga Chiefdoms, located in the Zambezi valley, abandoned their homes. These activities by colonialists in collaboration with missionaries illustrate the negative impact of western civilisation on African culture.
O’Brien and O’Brien (1996) and Ute (1998:299) state that territorial cults among the Tonga people of Zambia no longer function as they used to before the arrival of Christian missionaries and western imperialism. Firstly, the early missionaries in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
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accompanied Tonga converts when they went to destroy territorial shrines. Trees and structures at the shrines were taken down by the converts. Secondly, Christian converts refused to participate in communal rituals and ignored associated taboos. The missionaries taught Tonga converts that ancestors were non-existent and that spirits associated with nature were forces of the devil (Ute 1998:299). Attending rituals at shrines was considered to represent demon worship. In other words, Christianity and western education promoted anti-nature attitudes and scepticism as regards territorial shrines.
Thirdly, some shrines were destroyed to create space for European farms and settlements. As Machila (1990) shows, people now follow European methods of farming and they no longer wait for the earth-priest and the ritual wife to initiate farming activity. They plant, harvest and eat the farm produce as it suits them. Fourthly, territorial shrines were destroyed in the Gwembe valley during the construction of the Kariba dam in the Zambezi River. Land shrines linked to displaced communities were bulldozed or left to be flooded as the lake rose. After the resettlement, the reinstituted shrines never regained their reputation of efficacy.
Lastly, some shrines that survived to the present day have been commercialised by the governed.
For example, while the Gonde territorial shrine still functions as a land shrine for the surrounding community during times of drought, the Lwiindi ceremony in the dry season at the shrine has been commercialised to celebrate the unity of Tonga ethnic groups in Zambia (O’Brien and O’Brien 1996). In other words, the ceremony is now a tourist attraction to bring income to the country.
Given that the African worldview supports the interdependence of both human and non-human forms of life as clearly demonstrated by African theologians (Magesa 1997, Phiri 1996, Mbiti 1969), the influx of western civilization and commerce has undermined the balanced relationship between humans and nonhuman forms of life that existed in Africa before the nineteenth century.
The African worldview never supported destruction of the natural world for individual gain (Magesa 1997). The emphasis on the sacredness of nature in indigenous religious Tonga culture has been negated by Christianity with its Judeo-Christian patriarchal interpretation of the biblical dominion motif. Thus, Christianity has significantly contributed to the marginalization of the natural world.
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The impact of European civilisation on the natural world ultimately leading to an ecological crisis cannot be fully appreciated without considering the effect on women and their marginalisation. The impact of climate change and the ecological crisis in poor countries in sub- Saharan Africa and Latin America has been associated with western imperialism and the capitalist globalised economy (Mosala 1986, Sintado 2011, Nash 1989:91). As social phenomenon, globalization has primarily been associated with the extension of the forms of production, the mobility of capital, the rapid spread of information and the penetration of western culture into modern indigenous cultures.
Political imperialism, cultural aggression and economic integration are some of the features of the larger phenomenon of globalisation with which the realities of ecological crisis and climate change are interwoven. Christians as members of the earth community are compelled by the ecological crisis to reconsider gender and ecological justice in theological and biblical discourse.
Seen in this light, the ecological crisis touches on critical tools of theology and biblical interpretation. It challenges the dominant modes of biblical interpretation which are patriarchal and predominantly western. It also challenges the dominant notions of how humans conceive of themselves in relation to other forms of creation.
Feminist theologians argue that an interaction of the threefold oppression of women is evident in the politics of economics and imperialism. The three elements are gender, race and class.
Fiorenza (1987: xviii-xix) reminds us that the suffering of the majority of women is found in
“structural interconnections between the gendered economic system of capitalistic patriarchy, its racist underpinnings, and women’s global poverty.” In other words, the poverty and suffering of women is attributed to the process of colonization and systemic exploitation of women and the natural world. It is for this reason that the global economy which is based on unjust relations that have roots in socio-political and religio-cultural structures needs to be addressed.
To understand how the process of colonisation has disadvantaged Tonga women, it is instructive to read the works of Latin American female liberation theologians. They have conceptualised justice in terms of preferential options for the poor (Sintado 2011, Gutierrez 1988:12). Similarly,
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black theology in Africa has given sustained attention to the poverty of marginalised black people (Mosala 1986). However, while, these theological trends offer a strong theological basis for the addressing of economic injustice, their scope does not allow for dealing with ecological issues and the marginalisation of women in sub-Saharan Africa.
First of all, the generic term “poor” is problematic as it is abstract. Putting women in the category of the “poor” as Vuola (2002:141-155) eloquently contends, does not necessarily interrogate the fact that poverty “has a female face”. This failure to integrate the gendering of economics in the discourse on the politics of economics marginalises women’s experiences and perspectives. As it is, women in sub-Saharan Africa suffer not only on account of poverty but also on account of gender. Thus, the preferential option for the poor should be an option for poor women.
Dealing with the marginalisation of women in the context of the ecological crisis requires the unmasking of the mechanisms that effect their oppression. There is also a need to uncover the dichotomy characterising the perceptions of private and public that contribute to the construction of power structures that oppress women. In this way justice for women will be understood as
“equality of equals” (Gebara 1996:142-158, 2002:141-155).
Secondly, justice as an option for poor women in Africa has to be understood in the context of the interrelatedness of life, be it human or nonhuman. For example, women in sub-Saharan Africa are severely affected by climate change, due to their closeness to the natural world (cf.
Moyo 2009). Gendering the quest for economic and ecological justice for women in Africa, therefore, involves expanding the usual feminist analytical categories of women, namely class, race and sex, to include women who share their experience of oppression with the natural world.
To achieve this, theological and biblical discourses should integrate gender and ecological issues.
In the case of the Tonga people of Zambia, a clear understanding of the role the process of colonization played in the subjugation of women and the natural world is of paramount importance. In that context the gender and ecological dimensions of Tonga indigenous culture that have been marginalised in the process of colonisation and western Christian missionary movement among the Tonga people of Zambia need to be investigated.
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