The fight between the religion you grew up with and the religions that you are introduced to later in life can be quite fascinating from another's perspective. The degradation of religion can happen in many ways. It can happen by force, or transition naturally. Sadly, most times it is by force. Religion, as a base for the indigenous Nigerian people, was broken apart by missionaries that came in and colonized Nigeria. Some could say that Christianity was the better religion to be part of at the time, but that does not take into account the differences between them and people's opinions.
One huge differing opinion between the indigenous Nigerian tribes and the missionaries were what happened with twins. Twins to the Igbo tribe, for example, …show more content…
For one thing, many did not believe that the people from africa were humans. When they first arrived, the missionaries had some rude things to say about Nigerians. THis is due to a difference in cultures. A research paper written about the relationship between the igbo and the missionaries states that “To some anthropologists, ‘untutored’ Africans cannot know God as the idea of God is philosophical. To the missionaries in the early days, Africans were not fully human; they prohibited polygamy, initiation rites, ancestor worship and other indigenous practices (Mercado 2004, 2005:99).” (http://verbumetecclesia.org.za , 2011) This is important to consider how the missionaries saw the nigerian people. They saw them as lesser beings because of the mannerisms that they grew up with. The Nigerian people had a different was of doing thing and the Missionaries wanted it to be the same. Another large reason that the colonizers of nigeria wanted money. By controlling the area, they could use the citizens as labor. They could get all the minerals they would ever need at the expense of natives. An article covers this idea pretty well. The Author writes that “Improving local living standards to them means he aided Europeans in taking land that belonged to Africans and then forcing them to work for a living so that they would pay taxes for things that never benefited …show more content…
The people in that community lost their sense of family and brotherhood. This made them weak and susceptible to being taken over by colonizers. In the book, The men with the highest titles in the tribe, known as the elders, get together to discuss what has been in happening in the village. After the meeting, they have come up with an unanimous opinion on the christianity that was invading their home. They had this to say to the tribe: “An abominable religion has settled amongst you. A man can now leave his fathers and brothers. He can curse the gods of his fathers and his ancestors, like a hunters dog that suddenly goes mad and turns on his master. I fear for you; I fear for the clan.” ( Achebe, pg167) The elders are speaking to the fact that in their eyes, many of the values that that they grew up with are gone. They are changing and disappearing and it scares the elders. They are noticing how kids are acting, and are not going with this forced change. Unfortunately, what they suspect will happen does happen close to the end of the book. The main character, Okonkwo, realizes that there is no saving his tribe. They are too weak spiritually to to repel the advancement of christianity and the loss of traditional values. He realizes this through a moment of inaction. The moment goes as follows: “He knew Umuofia would not go to war. He knew because they had let
One huge differing opinion between the indigenous Nigerian tribes and the missionaries were what happened with twins. Twins to the Igbo tribe, for example, …show more content…
For one thing, many did not believe that the people from africa were humans. When they first arrived, the missionaries had some rude things to say about Nigerians. THis is due to a difference in cultures. A research paper written about the relationship between the igbo and the missionaries states that “To some anthropologists, ‘untutored’ Africans cannot know God as the idea of God is philosophical. To the missionaries in the early days, Africans were not fully human; they prohibited polygamy, initiation rites, ancestor worship and other indigenous practices (Mercado 2004, 2005:99).” (http://verbumetecclesia.org.za , 2011) This is important to consider how the missionaries saw the nigerian people. They saw them as lesser beings because of the mannerisms that they grew up with. The Nigerian people had a different was of doing thing and the Missionaries wanted it to be the same. Another large reason that the colonizers of nigeria wanted money. By controlling the area, they could use the citizens as labor. They could get all the minerals they would ever need at the expense of natives. An article covers this idea pretty well. The Author writes that “Improving local living standards to them means he aided Europeans in taking land that belonged to Africans and then forcing them to work for a living so that they would pay taxes for things that never benefited …show more content…
The people in that community lost their sense of family and brotherhood. This made them weak and susceptible to being taken over by colonizers. In the book, The men with the highest titles in the tribe, known as the elders, get together to discuss what has been in happening in the village. After the meeting, they have come up with an unanimous opinion on the christianity that was invading their home. They had this to say to the tribe: “An abominable religion has settled amongst you. A man can now leave his fathers and brothers. He can curse the gods of his fathers and his ancestors, like a hunters dog that suddenly goes mad and turns on his master. I fear for you; I fear for the clan.” ( Achebe, pg167) The elders are speaking to the fact that in their eyes, many of the values that that they grew up with are gone. They are changing and disappearing and it scares the elders. They are noticing how kids are acting, and are not going with this forced change. Unfortunately, what they suspect will happen does happen close to the end of the book. The main character, Okonkwo, realizes that there is no saving his tribe. They are too weak spiritually to to repel the advancement of christianity and the loss of traditional values. He realizes this through a moment of inaction. The moment goes as follows: “He knew Umuofia would not go to war. He knew because they had let