At least in Mali the actions of the Islamists were visible for the whole world to see and condemn but there is a parallel between this attitude by religious factions in Mali and the relationship between the Christian Church in Zimbabwe and the traditional Shona Religion. The conversion of the Shona people to Christianity from their own religion demanded a degree of self-negation, the logic of which was that if Christianity was true then Shona Religion was false.
Religious myths
For the missionaries proselytizing it made perfect sense for them to attack a religion they had no understanding of because they were seeking converts. And so the ancestors who are central to Shona Religious tradition were mislabelled as the demons of the Christian faith, although, paradoxically Mwari the monotheistic God of the Shona was co-opted into the Christian faith. What is stranger still is that 100 years later these myths about Shona religion persist in
Zimbabwean society and are even championed by the Shona themselves, most of whom have converted to Christianity.
In Shona cosmology there is one God – Mwari, known by other titles, Musikavanhu – the Creator of Man, Nyadenga – he of the heavens. Beneath him is a chain of Vadzimu – ancestors starting from the first man to the youngest, most recently deceased ancestor who provides the link between the material world and the spiritual world. Some ancestors of royal lineage – Mhondoro – may have wider influence such as those of Nehanda or Chaminuka. The ancestors take an active interest in mankind’s affairs, influencing events on the material plane by helping their families or even punishing them for wrongdoing. The ancestors are the link between mankind and Mwari.
The clergy of the Shona Religion are the Masvikiro who, through possession, are the channel by which the two worlds intersect, thus they were very important in traditional Shona States. Great Zimbabwe was one centre of Shona Religion and had an oracle who spoke with the voice of Mwari and so did Matonjeni in the Matopos, which came after the fall of the Great Zimbabwe Empire.
This is a very brief overview of Shona Religion, which is very complex, but compare this cosmology to that of the Christian faith. The Christians are monotheistic, having One God. Below this God is a network of angels who take messages to and from God, Gabriel being a prominent example in the Bible. Some branches of Christianity believe in saints – human beings who died in the faith and can intercede on man’s behalf to God. Central to this faith is the figure Jesus – the Son of God. Below this you have the clergy who could be priests, pastors, prophets and so forth who lead Christians in prayer.
Now through these deeply simplified versions of both faiths, one can find many similarities, agents playing the same role albeit under a different name. Yet the Christians persist in the slander of traditional African religion. The ancestors are labelled demons and Masvikiro are labelled agents of the devil. This fundamentalism claims that the religion of their own forefathers was Satanic by its very nature and so their own ancestors were at the very least misguided and at the very worst Satanists. Some evangelical churches even forbid the use of drums – ngoma, rattles – hosho claiming that because these musical instruments were used in Shona religion then they are Satanic.
Post published in: Analysis