Artigo

Jealousy and Witchcraft: Africa and the World

Autor: Jim Harries
Data: 05.05.2010
Category: Verdade & Pluralismo, Fé no Mundo, Reconciliação

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‘Do you believe in witchcraft’, people ask me every now and then. This issue seems to puzzle the West. They hear that Africans ‘believe in witchcraft’, and are absolutely amazed. How can they, Westerners ask themselves? Then they set about trying to convince African people that witchcraft does not exist.

Meanwhile African people see witchcraft and its impact all around them, and are puzzled when told by Westerners that witchcraft does not exist. How can they not to believe in witchcraft, Africans ask themselves? When Westerners tell them that witchcraft does not exist they are forced to ignore them.

What is the answer to this puzzle? It can be explained in a number of ways:

Witchcraft is a term that originates in English that has been taken as being a translation of something that is happening in Africa. It is not a very good translation. For the English, witchcraft is something that used to be there long ago in history that was evil and arose from ignorance. Anyone who believes it nowadays in the West is taken as being behind the times.

The African term(s) that ‘witchcraft’ translates, however, are an important part of the very basis of every-day life. They are used to explain when things go wrong. They are a means of encouraging people to behave well. They make sense of the world.

A better translation than ‘witchcraft’ for what goes on in Africa may be ‘jealousy’ (or envy). Then the folly of the question ‘does witchcraft (i.e. jealousy) exist’ is revealed. Of course jealousy exists! What about ‘is jealousy real’? I think again the answer is clearly ‘yes’. One could even ask ‘does jealousy affect you’, and again the answer is yes.

So-called ‘witchcraft’ in Africa is largely a result of jealousy. It might be very helpful if ‘jealousy’ were substituted for ‘witchcraft’ in the books that are written about people’s religion and beliefs in Africa. Jealousy is found in many places around the world. It can destroy marriages, result in fighting, distrust, hatred, dissension and even death. It is extremely destructive – which is why the 10th commandment in the Bible condemns it: “Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour’s” (KJV, Deuteronomy 5:21).

It is not easy to overcome jealousy. The desire to have what someone else has is very deeply ingrained in human nature. There is a sense in which jealousy seems to be healthy – wanting what someone else has could inspire someone to work hard, to achieve, and to have healthy ambition and so on. On the other hand, jealousy as a motivator is inherently limited. It can easily lead someone astray. In that sense jealousy is a sin.

Fear of jealousy motivates a lot of human behaviour. It explains why people prefer to carry out sexual activities in private. It causes endless issues in male-female relationships. It results in people feeling guilty about their wealth. It underlies the development and aid industry; the West is compelled by its fear of the ‘jealousy’ of those in the poor world to give them handouts, to educate them, to ‘develop’ them, and so on.

Jealousy is curtailed by the Gospel of Christ. In so far as someone wants to please God, they will not desire the things of the lusts of the world. ‘Love’ that the Bible teaches, is in many ways the opposite of jealousy. This is why; in part at least, the Gospel of Christ has been such an effective counter to the destructiveness of jealousy (witchcraft). This is why the best way to empower people in Africa, can be to share the good news of Christ with them.

The ‘sin’ of jealousy (witchcraft) has been and continues to be a very big problem in many parts of Africa. Fear of jealousy can be intense. The practice of jealousy is encouraged when the importance of material prosperity is emphasised, when faith in God is belittled, or when people are encouraged to believe that they are inadequate, impoverished, behind, and needing to reach the standard of others in order to be ‘acceptable’. This is why witchcraft beliefs can be heightened by foreign aid, and by encouraging people to need more and more things. Many of the activities of the West in Africa are pro-jealousy, and so pro-witchcraft.

Biblically, jealousy is not to be encouraged. People who are worse off are NOT encouraged to be envious of those who are better off. Instead, they are encouraged to turn their eyes to the Lord. The corollary of this, is that the ‘haves’ need not live in fear of the ‘have-nots’. The Christian church is neither a ‘club’ for the rich (proponents of the prosperity Gospel may prefer not to believe this), nor an association for the poor. It is the body of those who through belief in Jesus Christ find worldly things to be of less importance, and who can therefore overcome the powerful hold of jealousy / witchcraft.

Acts 6:1-4 illustrates clearly that the primary role of the church is to spread the Gospel. Matters concerning redistribution of wealth should never compromise that primary objective. Thus can jealousy (witchcraft) can be overcome, and thus Africa can be allowed to develop.

Palavras-chave: witchcraft, Africa, translation, language, jealousy, envy, 10th commandment, development, gospel

Conversa Postar Comentário

: Responder Bandeira 0 Gostou Não Gostou JohnShorack (0)
Venezuela

Hi Jim,

thanks for writing on the topic of "witchcraft". In Venezuela, where I live and work, there is also a lot of witchcraft. In this context the line gets blurred between "witchcraft", "sorcery", and other esoteric practices.

Jealousy is one factor, but not necessarily the overwhelming one. Due to the high level of street crime and murder, the every day need for protection from violence leads many to seek spiritual consultations with those who promise protection. Revenge is the corrolary to this. If your son has been murdered, then "black magic" or other practices of what’s called "witchcraft" and "sorcery" become the means to taking revenge on the killers.

In our experience, issues such as jealousy, protection and revenge cannot be simply equated to "witchcraft"/"sorcery". Venezuelans, and I would assume Africans, would insist (rightly so) that there are actual spiritual beings at work in these practices. Though I was not prepared to engage this kind of spirit world by the middle-class US environment where I grew up in, I have had to learn from my Venezuelan brothers and sisters. Though the powers of darkness and death can never be singularly defined in spiritualized or demonized terms, nor can we afford to overly accomodate to Westerners who refuse to see that side of the picture. If we do, which would seem to be the conclusion of what I read in your piece, we will end up misunderstanding the majority perspective of the global church. We Westerners must be willing to learn from our African and Latin American partners in this regard.

25.05.2010

: Responder Bandeira 0 Gostou Não Gostou besoman (-2)
Nigéria
@ JohnShorack:
“and I would assume Africans” and “We Westerners must be willing to learn from our African and Latin American partners in this regard”.

Thanks John for being “odd” but truthful. I’ll remove “assume” from the first quote to state my position which because of what I term “industrial blindness” the West, again as you rightly pointed “refuse to see”. Africans do not need to insist (rightly) about facts. They are there for those who wish to learn and see. I will add that the starting point is dropping the superiority garb and putting on the different view. No one is superior, we are simply different and must continue to study and be taught about one another if we must make progress.

28.06.2010

: Responder Bandeira 0 Gostou Não Gostou JohnShorack (0)
Venezuela
@ besoman:
Brother Mbah,

thank you for your response to my comments. I can only attest to how slow Western Christians can be in seeing "the facts", as you write. After years in a North American church, and even experiencing one case of seeing someone delivered from a tormenting evil spirit, it took me another 10 years to "accept the facts" and as I say, "take the plunge" and minister freedom from demons in the lives of the sick and needy. Thank you for your patience!

john shorack

28.06.2010