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Philip
Gibbs, SVD At one time I was living in the Paiela Valley in a far corner of the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. The valley had no road access, and usually I would arrive on a chartered aircraft. The church leaders knew that there was often space available on the aircraft and they would give me money to buy store goods for the church canteen. One day a leader came with a list of goods to purchase and bring next time I came. Of the items requested I turned down three: cartons of bottled Coca Cola, bubble gum and sweet biscuits. I was concerned for people’s health. In my view Coca Cola, apart from being a symbol of multinational consumer values, is also a health hazard from broken glass in an area where everyone goes about barefooted. Bubble gum is another "junk" food; besides, I get tired of hearing the children popping it while in church. Sweet biscuits will only help start a cycle of tooth decay in people who generally have strong healthy teeth. Upon my refusal, the leader yelled angrily, "You are a colonialist b.......". My arguments were unacceptable. People wanted to buy such things and therefore I should help by using the space available on the aircraft. In refusing I was branded as a colonialist. I, an outsider, was telling people what was good for them. The incident occurred fifteen years ago. Now the people of Paiela have a road into their valley and they can bring in as much Coca Cola as they wish. In fact, shortly after the incident there was a "gold rush" in the area and some people gained so much money that not only could they charter their own aircraft, but they even took out a lease agreement for their own helicopter, pilot included! The account above serves to illustrate how missionaries today live in situations in which cultures are undergoing rapid change. This paper will reflect on some issues arising from that situation. Though the examples given are limited to Papua New Guinea, the paper will surely provide lessons with a wider application. What is the appropriate attitude toward culture for missionaries in these changing times? I do not not pretend to have the last word on this question, however, if the paper serves to stimulate further reflection, it will have achieved its purpose.
Changing Missionary Roles Missionaries came to Papua New Guinea along with government officers, prospectors and traders. They came with matches, axes, knives, nails, salt, etc. People saw the missionaries using such things and wanted them for themselves. Missionaries came with a spiritual message, and as part of the Good News, they helped introduce Western education and modern health services. These too had a big impact on the people. Faced with the invasion from outside, change was inevitable. Could the effects of the changes have been different? When the first missionaries came, evolutionism was favoured in anthropological circles. People in the mission-sending countries believed in a slow ethical and religious development of humankind whose religion developed slowly from animism and pre-animistic magic, to polytheism and finally to monotheism, with Christianity as the crowning jewel of such evolutionary development. Thus the "natives" in Papua New Guinea were generally regarded as "primitive" both technologically and spiritually. Such attitudes did little to foster a dialogic approach to mission and frequently local customs were condemned without investigation as to their meaning and wider function in the society.1 Western customs were introduced — for example, having European names at baptism, because that seemed "the Christian thing to do".2 Some missionaries like to refer to the "good old days" when people were less sophisticated and the youth would listen to them. But times have changed. Evolutionary theories have been discredited (though vestiges linger on). Missionary roles change too. In post-independence Papua New Guinea most of the major Churches have local leaders; only the Catholic Church continues with a high percentage of expatriate missionaries.3 They too face the challenge of allowing the thrust of ongoing evangelisation to come more from leadership within the local communities. In academic circles one gets the impression that missionary presence is barely tolerated, and one is often confronted by the refrain: "You missionaries destroyed our culture". What is the most fitting response to such accusations? One could simply ignore or oppose the statement and retreat to the relative security of the seminary or mission station. Alternatively one could endeavour to compensate for the alleged sins of the past by taking a lead in promoting inculturation. Neither response is particularly helpful for present-day missionaries, called to be companions on the journey and co-workers with national church workers. Culture and Cultural Change All too often "culture" has been understood as a collection of customs, or what people "do", for example, as rituals or artistic expression. This approach can fall victim to a museum mentality which freezes culture in a particular time period and encourages romantic views of ways of living in the past.4 A preferred alternative is to understand culture as a system of meanings that are expressed in the way people live. Thus culture is a process by which people shape their lives, helping them to know how to feel, think and behave. Most cultures consist of many sub-cultures, all of which are in rapid transition. There are traditional and modern technological subcultures, urban versus rural mind-sets, youth values and the values of the older generation. At one point, while preparing a draft of this paper I was sitting next to a young Papua New Guinean engrossed in watching the "Muppet Show" on television — an educational programme produced in the USA. Many young people in urban areas know more about the lifestyle of characters on television than about the system of meanings that shaped the lives of their forebears. Children go to school and learn about a world quite different from that of their parents. In many parts of Papua New Guinea, boys no longer live in the "men’s" house and the initiation rites are abandoned or truncated. Traditional culture seems outdated, belonging to those who have died. Currently in parts of Papua New Guinea, there is a debate on the value of "kastam"or "culture". People wanting to introduce customary elements into education or prayer and worship encounter resistance from others who consider such attempts at "inculturation" to be wrong, or at best irrelevant. A woman who is now a religious sister gives an account of her experience as a child. "The children in the nearby village used to sneer at the children from my village saying that our people were still practising the tambaran pasin (superstitious practices) especially referring to the traditional singsing and the barter system of exchanging. There were times I felt ashamed for being in the village with such practices yet I couldn’t understand why those practices were seen as bad by the children from another village".5 This experience of shame is becoming increasingly common today. The arguments mounted by those critical of "kastam" or culture, centre around three points: 1. Culture is "sinful" and so must be rejected by Christians. On this point, the argument often centres around whether one can wear traditional festive clothing (bilas). It is said that those who decorate their bodies with feathers and other finery are making a deliberate display of themselves and thus are guilty of the sin of pride. Some point to dress standards for modesty in other countries and regard those in PNG traditional attire as being too scantily dressed. 2. The second argument holds that traditional culture is something to leave behind by those wanting to benefit from modernity. Some people promote the idea that their grandparents were "primitive", living in darkness, and that enlightened Christians should make every attempt to distance themselves from such barbarity. School dramas typically promote this mindset and it is no wonder that the prejudices involved are passed on from class to class. Often at school festivals one sees pupils acting out the "stupid" traditional person and everyone has a good laugh. 3. The third argument holds that, we need to be liberated from certain customs since they are oppressive. Today, many young people prefer to risk the freedom of Western ways to traditional values which they find burdensome. Mourning and funerary feasts provide an example of changing customs. Traditionally, in some parts of Papua New Guinea, during the time of mourning, which could last for months, friends and relatives would bring food, firewood and other items to sustain the mourners. But this must all be paid back, imposing a heavy burden on the family concerned. Now some Christians are arranging for their own "funerary" feast while they are alive so that their families will have to mourn only a few days after their death and thus not end up with a large burden of debt. The missionary who fully supports the arguments above will easily play into the hands of those who regard missionaries as being anti-culture. On the other hand, the missionary who would passionately oppose those arguments might succumb to a form of cultural romanticism which sees everything in traditional culture as good and desirable. Some missionaries are convinced romanticists — for example, occupying themselves taking photos of girls in traditional attire dancing up the aisle in church, but showing little concern for the difficult life that many of these girls face in the village. Some missionarieis may decide to side-step the cultural issue, and leave it to "them". However, perhaps the preferred alternative is to search together for cultural values appropriate for today’s world. Cultural Values for Today’s World When the first missionaries arrived in Papua New Guinea they noticed the way people performed rituals to placate or seek the assistance from spirits and dead relatives. The missionaries condemned such practices as superstitious and "heathen". Now some people are asking if blanket condemnations of these and other practices were necessary, and whether they stemmed from the missionaries’ (mis)interpretation of Melanesian religious experience.6 Could it be that at the deeper level of religious experience there are values that could have served as a basis for dialogue? Admittedly, interreligious "dialogue" is largely a post-Vatican II concern. Nevertheless, with hindsight we can ask why, for example, funeral rites were not given greater prominence in Christian worship and why puberty rites were either condemned or ignored. Dimensions of Melanesian culture such as these were manifestations of a deeper religious experience based on the search for, maintenance, and celebration of life. There are many traditional Melanesian values that would serve as cultural foundations for the Good News. For example there is Melanesian spirituality with its sense of the sacred which it naturally integrates into the events of daily life: in sickness and healing, fortune and misfortune. There is the sense that rituals include human involvement, so one prays while working, not passively with one’s hands joined. There is a strong sense of justice based on reciprocity. There are communal values with their spirit of sharing and communal ownership. Underlying such values is the longing for the fullness of life. Admittedly, these noble values have been mixed up with human shortcomings and sinfulness — for example, there was and is sorcery, extortion, and the selfish dimension of the "wantok" system which can serve as an excuse for corruption. The missionary today needs to be involved in cultural issues at the level of such positive values. How many are equipped theoretically and emotionally for such a task? The "inculturation" of rituals and devotional practices can too easily remain at a superficial level, not touching on the values and the issues that people are struggling with. Effective evangelisation requires a dialogue of listening to where the community is now, and then inviting them to make their own the way of life revealed in Jesus Christ. Acceptance of that invitation leads to a transformation in people’s values, attitudes and actions. This is the level of culture in a true sense, and it is here that the missionary must try to be in contact with where people are spiritually. Attempts to impose change from above may result in superficial forms of inculturation, whereas a genuine transformation grows from within. At one time a group of parents told me how they were unhappy with videos being shown in the village by a local businessman. I too was concerned because many of the children were watching videos until late at night resulting in their sleeping in the classroom the following day. The parents seemed unconcerned about sleepy children. Rather, they were embarrassed at the sex scenes appearing in many of the videos. The ensuing discussion raised a number of cultural issues. They were curious to know if sex scenes such as those in X-rated movies are accepted as normal behaviour in the movie’s country of origin. They agreed that there was a need to reflect more on the norms for sexual relationships in their own society. Furthermore, they were relieved to learn that most videos include a censor’s rating on the cover so that they could anticipate shows which would hardly be suitable for general audiences. With input and encouragement from myself the parents were able to work together and arrive at a somewhat satisfactory solution. Myths and Counter-Myths If it were simply a question of whether to watch television, or what to wear in a liturgical procession, then the answers would not be so difficult to find. However, the missionary venturing into the area of culture and cultural values will, before long, encounter the realm of the mythical. Having dealt with fundamentalist myths about humanity being inherently evil, and the romanticist notions of the "noble savage" and some of the equally fanciful ideas Papua New Guineans have about Western culture, one will discover that many of the changes occurring today are legitimated as the fulfilment of traditional myths and old prophecies. For example, there are the myths of the poor ugly bachelor who encounters and marries a beautiful young woman who effects in him a dramatic change in appearance. Many young people sense a similar change when they join fundamentalist churches with their instant baptism, on condition that they renounce their past culture which was keeping them poor and unemployed. In Porgera, where there is now a multi-billion dollar gold mine, people say that the infra-structural changes were predicted by prophetic figures long before outsiders, including missionaries, ever entered their area. There were prophetic tales of bridges being built, permanent houses, and a flurry of activity in the bush of Yatika, which is now part of the mining township. Technology and myth intertwine as people connect the mining developments with predictions of the end of the world. Could this be one of the reasons why missions linking Scriptural passages with a millenarian message appear to be far more popular in Porgera than the "Good News" of the Catholics? Prophecies can be self-fulfilling, and myths can influence attitudes now and in the future. Today some people claim that their forebears were tricked into giving up their traditions. However, one of the first missionaries to Wabag, Fr Bernard Fisher, disagrees. He writes: "I have a problem with young people of a later generation claiming that their grandparents were stupid and easily outwitted. I refuse to join in that disparagement; the people I dealt with were as alert mentally as any of their descendants and I respect the judgements they made". Fisher says, "I think they made the intelligent decision to get better things and I respect them for it".7 National Response Village life is "hard". One spends a lot of time gathering firewood, fetching water, and preparing food. In urban areas, for those who have the means, gas cookers, running water, and electric appliances save a lot of time and trouble. Who wants to go through the effort of lighting a woodstove when gas is available? Do people choose to listen to the radio instead of watching television? However, usually, the gas stove and the television come in a package deal along with the many other trappings of modern Western culture. In gaining new insights and the knowledge of other realities, people’s values and ideas will inevitably change. The trend continues today, particularly with the tourist dollar. Culture, as promoted by the media these days, appears as a commodity to be sold to tourists. In this sense culture is understood in terms of performances, arts, and crafts. One reads in the newspapers how the annual shows in various parts of the country (Hagen, Goroka, Enga, Port Moresby, etc.) are instrumental in preserving PNG culture. From my personal experience of such events, I wonder how much culture is seen as an object with economic value, and if the ever-increasing amounts of prize money were not offered, I doubt if many people would participate at all. The question arises, besides the economic and tourist potential, what interest is there among national people in cultural matters? Concerning material culture, generally, museums and cultural centres are suffering from neglect. Plans for introducing cultural themes into the school curricula seldom move from paper to reality. Books are written, but rarely read. Editions of the New Testament in local languages lie in boxes gathering dust. "Culture study" projects continue so long as they are supported by outside funding. The anthropologically trained missionary finds these trends hard to take. In talking with educated people in Papua New Guinea, one will inevitably encounter negative attitudes to the village and its values. For people who have gained an education and job skills, it seems demeaning to go "back" to the village lifestyle. The presumption is that the next few generations will leave behind much of their traditional culture and values, so it is a waste of time worrying about it, especially if it does not help one prosper. For some, the argument helps save them from the awkwardness of dealing in traditional matters, where quite likely they will say or do the wrong thing and then feel ashamed. In such situations, my first reaction is to pity the children with second-hand cultural values governing their lives. Yet, if independence means that a nation "pays its own bills" then it also implies that Papua New Guineans themselves must take responsibility for their cultural identity both now and in the future. Missionary Attitudes How can modern missionaries respond to the situation of rapid cultural change, alienation, and the accusation that "you missionaries destroyed our culture"? Is there a way to relate to Melanesian cultural values without falling into romanticism on the one hand or cynicism on the other? I propose the following ten points as a way towards finding a healthy solution. 1. Missionaries should not simply accept the stories about their predecessors going about destroying the whole of traditional culture. If some early missionaries are still alive it might be good to ask them what happened and they will most probably shed new light on the issue. For example, in Enga, nowadays people say that "the missionaries" condemned the initiation rites, seemingly unaware that Fr Schwab took part in the rites between 1953 and 1962 (beginning within five years of the arrival of the first missionaries). The first missionary in Enga, Fr Bus writes as follows, "I myself, before I could start to ‘preach’ because I didn’t know the language, began by asking the people in Pompobus about their world view, their beliefs. I started to learn their language. Later on in my instructions or sermons I could make comparisons between Bible beliefs, scenes, ceremonies and their own stories, laws and ceremonies.... In later years, when there were indigenous priests, I repeatedly asked some of them, encouraged them, to study their own culture in relation to the Bible Revelation. Especially I wanted them to discover the very human and Christian values in their own culture, and to show how much can be integrated and how well the traditional and Christian cultures could enrich each other. They seem to find it not important or interesting or valid, or too difficult".8 2. Missionaries must be honest in acknowledging that their work has had destructive consequences. There were blanket condemnations of traditional rites and beliefs. In co-operation with the colonial powers, in some provinces, large areas of land were alienated from the local people. Paternalistic attitudes and over-protection has inhibited people’s initiative. Denominationalism still destroys communal solidarity. These and other unfortunate trends should be admitted and deplored. Some mistakes arose because interpreters either misunderstood what had been said, or generalised in a way that subtle details were overlooked. Seminarians from the Simbu Province like to tell the story of the early missionary, Fr Schaefer, announcing to the people that he was going away and would return with an SVD brother and some Holy Spirit Sisters. The interpreter mistakenly said that the missionary was going to fetch his wife and her family and that the people should be prepared to contribute to his wife’s brideprice! 3. Healthy cultures change in order to live. A recent book on traditional Enga culture, Historical Vines, shows convincingly how between 250 and 450 years ago, the introduction of the sweet potato precipitated rapid changes among the Enga people.9 The authors argue that cultural needs motivate men and women in altering social meanings and values. They show in great detail how in pre-colonial times Enga big men played a part in altering society with its economics and ideology. Warfare, ceremonial exchange and large ancestral cults were orchestrated by powerful big-men who were brilliant orators, flamboyant performers, and skilled economists. They may have lived in a "stone age" culture in that they used stone tools, but the culture was not stone-like in the sense of being static or inanimate. On the contrary, the pre-colonial culture was dynamic and it continues to be so today. 4. We need to reconsider the theological value of culture. We would do well to remember the theological principle, "Grace builds on nature". God uses nature as a medium for saving grace, and the same holds true for culture. The Second Vatican Council (Gaudium et Spes, n. 22) refers to grace "secretly at work" in the hearts of all people of good will. People search for God with a sincere heart and "under the influence of grace" and try to put into effect the will of God. Others strive "not without divine grace" to lead an upright life (Lumen Gentium, n.16). Are we convinced that Christian faith can really take root within today’s cultural context? How often do we discover Christ in our Melanesian neighbour? 5. The missionary must arrive and remain with the attitude of wanting to learn. Many come with university degrees and have years of theological and other studies behind them. However, when it comes to getting to know people, and understanding the situation, we have to begin as learners all over again. Papua New Guineans are good at saying "Yesa" to know-it-alls, and then joking about them when they are gone. On a faith level missionaries should seriously ask how they themselves have been evangelised by the people. 6. Missionaries should be prepared to dialogue with nationals as companions on the journey of life. The "they" word should be used sparingly, and hopefully replaced by "we". A national sister writes, "It is as if we are rolled back and forth in the waves between modernisation and culture/customs/traditions. There is a need for a third party, a tolerant, patient one, with an attitude of wanting to learn as well as an attitude of willingness to help us face our realities yet not solving our problems, someone who can guide people in choices related to the Christian faith".10 Rather than observe from the relative safety of the sideline, missionaries need to encourage debate about cultural issues. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the wantok system today? Is polygamy as life-giving as it might have been in former days? What helpful values do people gain from television? What language(s) will Papua New Guineans use in the coming millennium? Recently with a small group of young men and women sitting around a woodstove, I suggested we talk about why people were abandoning their traditional cultural values. The lively debate continued well past midnight. 7. We must learn to be discerning. Unfortunately there are fundamentalist tendencies in both missionaries and the people in Papua New Guinea. Fundamentalists tend to see everything in either/or terms: black/white, good/bad, Christ/Satan. For the fundamentalist, if a culture is not "Christian" then it must belong to Satan. At this point it sometimes helps to remind people of a traditional Engan proverb about a man with a bag full of opossums. One of the animals was dead a long time and was beginning to smell. Instead of finding and discarding the offending possum, the foolish man threw away the whole bag, thus disposing of what would have made a good meal. The fundamentalist solution is to throw away the lot rather than face the task of being discerning and choosing what to discard and what to retain. 8. The starting point for inculturation is the community and the point of entry is the way of life of the community. To evangelise a community in depth requires a dialogue of listening for the felt needs in the community and then inviting the members to discover a solution to those needs through faith in Jesus Christ. The resultant change will affect the way people feel, think and behave. The missionary may take the initiative in suggesting possible courses of action. However, the primary agent of inculturation must be the community. Attempts to impose change from outside or above will seldom result in a genuine link between faith and life. 9. People are the recipients of culture, but they also "create" culture. There is the important task of helping to concientise people as to their power to guide the process of social change. Recently in a Highlands community I witnessed how people can create new cultural events. Because of the stories about moral laxity in the community, the leaders decided to conduct sessions on womanhood and what it means to be a Christian woman today. The women went into seclusion in the bush for four days. Mature women instructed younger ones in rituals and tribal lore which they felt had given them pride and dignity as women in the tribe. For many of the young women it was an experience of ceremonies that they had only heard about before. The days of seclusion ended with a procession with a statue of Our Lady (dressed in the ceremonial costume of a woman of the clan) and a special celebration of the Eucharist. A month later the men went through a similar experience. The sympathetic missionary can contribute a great deal by encouraging such efforts. 10. It is important that missionaries help people discover that the Christian faith we share can be life-giving in cultural terms. Besides talk about "eternal" life, we need to address the real needs of people here and now: particularly the need for security. I am reminded of the account of a woman praying over the food that she was setting aside for her husband. He was planning to take part in a tribal fight and his wife, for her safety and his, was praying that he would stay out of trouble. He ate the food and then told her that he had decided it was not worth the risk getting involved in the fighting. Was his wife employing magic? Or was this the valid response of a faithful woman striving for life in its fullness? Conclusion No doubt there are things that we regret in the history of mission work. However, surely we must focus more on what is happening now in this sea of change. It does not help to be a romanticist seeing the traditional culture as coming straight from the Garden of Eden. Nor does it help to take the fatalistic view that all traditional societies are doomed to transmute into some Western cultural form. We must be realistic, prepared to take responsibility for our part in the present changes. As the Jubilee Year 2000 approaches, many Church leaders, including Pope John Paul II, are preparing to apologise for the harm caused by the Church in the past. They consider it important to seek reconciliation so as to open the way for renewed partnership in the new millennium. In the same spirit, missionary congregations might consider whether this is an appropriate time to apologise to the people they have evangelised for some of the mistakes and misunderstandings of previous years.11 Through openness and with some spiritual enlightenment we can hope that missionaries will not be mere agents of or obstacles to change, but rather companions on a journey that is slowly but surely leading to transforming our world into the form of the reign of God. Notes: 1 See Ennio Mantovani, "Key issues of a dialogue between Christianity and culture in Melanesia", Sedos Bulletin (1999) 35-41. Mantovani says, "It was not ill will that prevented dialogue. It was, in my opinion, also mainly ignorance on the part of the Western missionaries. The knowledge we have today about religions in general and about Christianity in particular was simply not available" (p. 35). 2 See William Longgar, "The Missionary Situation in Papua New Guinea", Catalyst 29.1 (1999) 91-109. 3 In 1995 the ratio of national Catholic priests to all Catholic priests in active ministry was 175/473 = 37% (See T. Aerts, Christianity in Melanesia, UPNG Press, 1998, 164-165). As of 1 September 1999, the ratio of national Catholic Bishops to the total number of Catholic Bishops is 3/19 = 16%. The ratios for national sisters and brothers to the total number of sisters and brothers in 1997 is 447/900, and 119/198, respectively. (The figures do not include brothers in clerical religious congregations). 4 See G. Arbuckle, From Chaos to Mission, Geoffrey Chapman, 1996, 38. 5 Personal communication, March 1999. Name withheld. 6 See, E. Mantovani, "Key Issues", Sedos Bulletin (1999) 35-41. 7 Fr Bernard Fisher, personal communication, 22 March, 1999. 8 Fr Gerard Bus, personal communication, 19 March 1999. 9 P. Wiessner and A. Tumu, Historical Vines: Enga networks of exchange, ritual, and warfare in Papua New Guinea, Crawford House, Bathurst, Australia, 1998. 10 Sr Pia Sogon, Personal communication, 9 March 1999. 11 In 1998 in the Simbu Province, people from the Denglagu parish gave pigs and money to the Bishop to help compensate for their part in killing one of the early missionaries, Fr Morschhauser, some 64 years before. However, as a result of Fr Morschhauser’s death (and also the death of Brother Eugene) 80 men (some most likely innocent) were taken away and gaoled, and some died without ever returning home. In the spirit of the Jubilee Year is there some way that the Church could offer a reconciliatory gesture for the Simbu men who died? This is merely one practical case. Surely there are many possibilities not only in other places in Papua New Guinea, but throughout the world. Ref.: From the author; First in: VERBUM SVD, Fasciculus 1, Vol. 41, 2000.
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