Tribalism in America?
I currently live in Beni, DR Congo, working with Congo Initiative – Université Chrétienne Bilingue du Congo (www.congoinitiative.org). Located in a region that has experienced the most horrific tragedies and suffering of mankind, challenges for the Christian community appear far deeper then the current debates back home. However, I recently returned from a Reconciliation Gathering in Bujumbura, Burundi entitled, “Identity, Community and the Gospel of Reconciliation, Christian Resources in the face of Tribalism.” In my reflections and thoughts, I’ve discovered tribalism may not be as distant to the west as one would imagine.
My understanding of tribalism in this region of Africa runs as deep as my comprehension of the context in which I live, stories heard, events witnessed, and relationships developed. However, identity and community are characteristics of our social and personal existence that we all face. Molded by our culture, ethnicity, race, economic status, political affiliation and more, our identity and community is in a sense a creation with a variety of artists. Moreover, our faith may ultimately shape them and vice versa. Unfortunately, the result of a fallen world and manipulated views of the Gospel presents challenges and obstacles to a Christian identity and community that is meant to reflect the Jesus it claims. Miroslav Volf provides an example in relation to conflict and reconciliation, “The overriding commitment to their culture serves churches worst in situations of conflict. Churches, the presumed agents of reconciliation, are at best impotent and at worst accomplices to the strife.” (Exclusion and Embrace,1996).
We derive numerous accounts and reasoning for the violence in Africa that often pervades the news headlines. Corruption, bad governance, resources, tribalism and poverty all have their place and vary in degree with each conflict. Yet as Christians, there is a deeper wonder, one that haunts our souls and confronts our faith. During the gathering, Fr. Emmanuel Katongle lead us to meditate on the question asked by Cardinal Etchegaray of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace while visiting Rwanda after the 1994 genocide, “Are you saying that the blood of tribalism is deeper than the waters of baptism?” One of the Church leaders present honestly answered: “Yes, it is.”
“Why is it that Christians are killing Christians?” This was the question that brought leaders from the Christian community of this Great Lakes Region of Africa together. For many westerners, our minds find it difficult to grasp the events that have taken place and realities that still exist here. Nonetheless, as I listened to stories and discussions throughout the gathering I drew an eerie and inevitably disturbing parallel to the state of Christianity in America. The same divisive features that exist and are exploited through tribalism may not be as foreign to our Christian culture today.
Where Christianity in this region has struggled to meet the challenge of tribalism and combat social justice issues, so I believe Christianity in America has equally failed to echo the Gospel it claims. Labels such as “evangelical” and “conservative” have developed identities outside the Christian community resulting in their own culture. Growing up, the evangelical voice meant saying Jesus’ name, not cussing, youth group filled with entertaining games and lessons on how to survive life as a Christian in white-suburban America. Later on, it developed into a subconscious perception it also meant American, Republican, wealth, and a quiet, but real condemnation of those that swayed from the set of values or beliefs held. It has spurred erroneous perceptions of the Gospel and created its own in reference to the idea of wealth, as supported by a number of televangelist observed in my youth and now in Africa. At the same time, self-help books and obsessive focus on the individual has lead a Church that is designed to breathe as a community, suffocate in a culture where there is a fix for every personal strife. God ceases to be God, and brothers and sisters are defined only by biological and maybe denominational terms. This is a very critical view, but one that I believe holds truth, notwithstanding the many positive contributions Evangelicals and Conservatives have made to the Christian church and the world as noted by Nicolas D Kristof’s article, “Evangelicals Liberals Can Love.”
“Scorning people for their faith is intrinsically repugnant, and in this case it also betrays a profound misunderstanding of how far evangelicals have moved over the last decade. Today, conservative Christian churches do superb work on poverty, AIDS, sex trafficking, climate change, prison abuses, malaria and genocide in Darfur,” (NY Times, Feb 3,2008).
Christianity in America as a religion and cultural identity has succeeded to divide the Gospel message and people of faith as much as tribalism. The intensity and scale of violent and negative effects may not be perceived with clarity, however, once you identify the wars claimed in the name of God and country, witness the disparity in wealth shaped by injustice, and admit the discrepancy of living what the Gospel encourages (I’ll note here specifically, “love your neighbor and love your enemy”), the results are equally incomprehensible. Christianity for many Americans is determined by their culture and experiences, political affiliations, ethnicity, social-economic status, and denomination, rather than an identity that transcends them.
Social elements will forever shape our respective identities and communities. Our ignorance though, shall never claim their perfection or allow our primary identity remain unseen. One question proposed in the ethos of the past gathering I’d encourage us all to ask, “What’s my primary identity?” I fear an honest answer by many Christians may suggest a primary identity that reflects a new form of tribalism, not the identity we’re called too as the body of Christ. The Gospel we claim is transformational and its very nature has the ability to transcend all that separates us. Evangelicals and all who believe must allow it to shape our identity and community. Then I believe, we will begin seeing a Christian community, the Church, reflect the Jesus it claims.
My understanding of tribalism in this region of Africa runs as deep as my comprehension of the context in which I live, stories heard, events witnessed, and relationships developed. However, identity and community are characteristics of our social and personal existence that we all face. Molded by our culture, ethnicity, race, economic status, political affiliation and more, our identity and community is in a sense a creation with a variety of artists. Moreover, our faith may ultimately shape them and vice versa. Unfortunately, the result of a fallen world and manipulated views of the Gospel presents challenges and obstacles to a Christian identity and community that is meant to reflect the Jesus it claims. Miroslav Volf provides an example in relation to conflict and reconciliation, “The overriding commitment to their culture serves churches worst in situations of conflict. Churches, the presumed agents of reconciliation, are at best impotent and at worst accomplices to the strife.” (Exclusion and Embrace,1996).
We derive numerous accounts and reasoning for the violence in Africa that often pervades the news headlines. Corruption, bad governance, resources, tribalism and poverty all have their place and vary in degree with each conflict. Yet as Christians, there is a deeper wonder, one that haunts our souls and confronts our faith. During the gathering, Fr. Emmanuel Katongle lead us to meditate on the question asked by Cardinal Etchegaray of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace while visiting Rwanda after the 1994 genocide, “Are you saying that the blood of tribalism is deeper than the waters of baptism?” One of the Church leaders present honestly answered: “Yes, it is.”
“Why is it that Christians are killing Christians?” This was the question that brought leaders from the Christian community of this Great Lakes Region of Africa together. For many westerners, our minds find it difficult to grasp the events that have taken place and realities that still exist here. Nonetheless, as I listened to stories and discussions throughout the gathering I drew an eerie and inevitably disturbing parallel to the state of Christianity in America. The same divisive features that exist and are exploited through tribalism may not be as foreign to our Christian culture today.
Where Christianity in this region has struggled to meet the challenge of tribalism and combat social justice issues, so I believe Christianity in America has equally failed to echo the Gospel it claims. Labels such as “evangelical” and “conservative” have developed identities outside the Christian community resulting in their own culture. Growing up, the evangelical voice meant saying Jesus’ name, not cussing, youth group filled with entertaining games and lessons on how to survive life as a Christian in white-suburban America. Later on, it developed into a subconscious perception it also meant American, Republican, wealth, and a quiet, but real condemnation of those that swayed from the set of values or beliefs held. It has spurred erroneous perceptions of the Gospel and created its own in reference to the idea of wealth, as supported by a number of televangelist observed in my youth and now in Africa. At the same time, self-help books and obsessive focus on the individual has lead a Church that is designed to breathe as a community, suffocate in a culture where there is a fix for every personal strife. God ceases to be God, and brothers and sisters are defined only by biological and maybe denominational terms. This is a very critical view, but one that I believe holds truth, notwithstanding the many positive contributions Evangelicals and Conservatives have made to the Christian church and the world as noted by Nicolas D Kristof’s article, “Evangelicals Liberals Can Love.”
“Scorning people for their faith is intrinsically repugnant, and in this case it also betrays a profound misunderstanding of how far evangelicals have moved over the last decade. Today, conservative Christian churches do superb work on poverty, AIDS, sex trafficking, climate change, prison abuses, malaria and genocide in Darfur,” (NY Times, Feb 3,2008).
Christianity in America as a religion and cultural identity has succeeded to divide the Gospel message and people of faith as much as tribalism. The intensity and scale of violent and negative effects may not be perceived with clarity, however, once you identify the wars claimed in the name of God and country, witness the disparity in wealth shaped by injustice, and admit the discrepancy of living what the Gospel encourages (I’ll note here specifically, “love your neighbor and love your enemy”), the results are equally incomprehensible. Christianity for many Americans is determined by their culture and experiences, political affiliations, ethnicity, social-economic status, and denomination, rather than an identity that transcends them.
Social elements will forever shape our respective identities and communities. Our ignorance though, shall never claim their perfection or allow our primary identity remain unseen. One question proposed in the ethos of the past gathering I’d encourage us all to ask, “What’s my primary identity?” I fear an honest answer by many Christians may suggest a primary identity that reflects a new form of tribalism, not the identity we’re called too as the body of Christ. The Gospel we claim is transformational and its very nature has the ability to transcend all that separates us. Evangelicals and all who believe must allow it to shape our identity and community. Then I believe, we will begin seeing a Christian community, the Church, reflect the Jesus it claims.
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Comment by dlw on February 22, 2009 at 2:10am -
thanks for writing Justin.
How long have you been in the Congo?
I don't disagree w. what you're saying, yet for me I also affirm that we are inevitably historically-contextualized and need to find ways to be so that bear witness to that which is transcultural about our faith.
I also try to remember that the roots of the dysfunctional aspects of traditional USAmerican Christianity stem from quite some time ago, in particular the polarized polemical nature of Christianity in Europe in the wake of the 30 yrs war, which was then s.t. the not-so-discriminate Enlightenment polemics against organized religion. If the spiritual ancestors of USAmerican Xty leaned too heavily on the public-private distinction and their patriotism increasingly began to degrade into a nationalism, it was in part due to how several organs of the body were temporarily shut-down so as to keep the blood flowing to the most vital organs.
In fact I sometimes like to characterize traditional USAmerican Evangelical Christianity as not wholly unlike the 70s Batman show, an incarnation of an older, richer story that fails to be true to its origins and yet managed to play a critical role in keeping the franchise afloat during it's most difficult years....
So I liked how you emphed the good we've done, and would like for you to consider that for all its flaws the misguided self-confidence of traditional USAmerican Christianity propelled our missionary efforts and scattered many important seeds abroad and within for the wider and more holistic renewal of our faith.
Here's a post of mine where I share some of my story and reflections, which have led for me to come to the view that perhaps the best thing we in the US can do for the 2/3rds world is deal w. our own country's significant short-comings and trust that while we undoubtedly cannot succeed, we can give Frodo or the burgeoning development of Christianity in the 2/3rds world a chance to develop in its own fashion, apart from and corrective of the many mistakes we have made historically.
dlw
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