106
9 Religion, Missions, and Cargo Cult
9.1 Religion in Melanesia
In Melanesia, it is impossible to make any convincing distinction between religion and magic. Certainly none of the three classical dichotomies corresponds with the evidence
available. For Tylor 1903 and Frazer 1913, religion was man’s belief in superior spirit- beings, whom he endeavoured to placate by prayer and sacrifice, thereby according them
freedom of action; whereas pure magic was his belief that he himself, unaided by spirit- beings, could control non-personalized occult forces by means of sympathetic techniques.
Yet there are many rituals designed not to placate spirit-beings but to place them in a position where they have to do man’s bidding. Again, some sympathetic techniques are thought to
derive their power from spirit-beings who gave them to mankind Lawrence et al. 1965:6.
Lawrence and Meggitt go on to say: …although we cannot accept these definitions as they stand, we still draw heavily on
them to formulate our own. With Goode, we recognize that any definition of religion must be sufficiently flexible to allow for a variety of forms. From Tylor and Frazer, we adopt an
intellectualist or cognitive approach, which sees religion as part of a people’s mental life and emphasizes their interpretation of the world around them. With Malinowski, we stress the
role of religion in the economic system. From Durkheim, we adopt a social approach, which sees religion as a social process and accentuates its relation to society in the way we have
indicated.
Thus, combining these views, we start our definition of religion with the concept of world-view: the total cosmic order that a people believes to exist. This order has two main
parts: the empirical—the natural environment, its economic resources including animals, and its human inhabitants; and the non-empirical, which includes spirit-beings, non-
personalized occult forces, and sometimes totems. Structurally, it has three analytically separate but functionally interdependent systems: men in relation to the environment and its
resources, or the economic system; men in relation to other men, or the socio-political system; and men in relation to spirit-beings, occult forces, and totems, or religion. More
specifically, we define religion, as does Horton 1960, as the putative extension of men’s social relationships into the non-empirical realm of the cosmos. It must be examined from
two points of view: men’s beliefs about the nature of spirit-beings, occult forces, and totems, which are contained generally in a series of explanatory myths; and their attempts to
communicate with them on the best possible terms by means of ritual. But to see religion purely as a cultural isolate, as we should do by limiting ourselves to this largely
intellectualist approach, would be inadequate. We have to examine it also in the context of the whole cosmic order: its involvement in economic production and its relation to the
sociopolitical system the social approach.
Ritual, which often has to be supported by the observance of taboos, may take any of the following forms. For spirit-beings, it may be seen as a substitute for face-to-face
relationships and may emphasize or combine any of three approaches: propitiation by prayers or offerings; bargaining with offerings; or what is often called coercion—usually the attempt
to create by invocation or spell reciprocal relationships, which are modelled on those in human society and in which spirit-beings should automatically confer material benefits on
men. Occult forces are believed to be controlled by sympathetic magic, power being attributed, as already indicated, either entirely to the ritual itself or to the spirit-beings said to
have invented the techniques involved. Finally, sorcery is any ritual designed to kill or harm human beings. It may require cooperation from spirit-beings or rely solely on sympathetic
magic. No true ritual is performed for either kind of totem apart from the avoidance of destroying, killing, or eating.
107 The function of religion within the total cosmic order is: first, to explain and validate
through myths the origin and existence of the physical world, its economic resources and the means of exploiting them, and the socio-political structure; and, second, to give man the
assurance that he can control the cosmic order by performing ritual. The extent to which religion is used in these ways demonstrates those aspects of the cosmos about which people
feel the most acute anxiety, its importance for achieving prestige and status, and its role in intellectual life Lawrence et al. 1965:7–9.
Writing again specifically about religion in Melanesia, these authors go on to say: No Melanesian religion pays great attention to the total natural environment. Most treat
it implicitly as something that can be taken for granted. It is no cause for anxiety except for the relatively rare occasions when it is threatened by disasters such as volcanic eruptions.
Hence, there are no elaborate myths to explain its origin or ritual to ensure its continuance. Those peoples who have little or no interest in creative spirit-beings assume that the earth
always existed; but this is true also of others…who believe in deities or cultural heroes Lawrence et al. 1965:12.
Regarding the attitude towards religion: It is self-evident that religion is an important part of the epistemological or cognitive
systems of all Melanesian peoples. As we have stressed, every myth and ritual act represent, to some extent at least, a people’s understanding of the nature of the total cosmos and of the
way in which it can be controlled to human advantage. They tell us about the types and sources of much of the knowledge men believe to be available to them. Moreover, as is
obvious from the general view of the cosmos both its empirical and non-empirical parts as a unitary physical realm with few, if any, transcendental attributes, the prevailing attitude
towards religion is essentially pragmatic and materialistic. Religion is a technology rather than a spiritual force for human salvation Lawrence et al. 1965:18.
On the dominant themes of Melanesian religions, Lawrence and Meggitt contrast those of the Highlands and Seaboard peoples:
…Nevertheless, even if allowance is made for the exceptions and modifications we have discussed, it is still possible to recapitulate two dominant themes. In Highlands religions,
there is universal interest in the dead, but rather less in autonomous creative or regulative spirit-beings. There are no totemic beliefs. Distant ancestors are collectively powerful and on
the whole beneficent, while recent ghosts are potentially malevolent. There is a close connection between religion and morality, and ritual for deities, ghosts, and ancestors
involved the concepts of propitiation, bargaining, and dependence, rather than human direction. The epistemological system, although obviously incorporating religious beliefs to
some extent, still gives considerable scope to the unaided human intellect.In Seaboard religions, there is strong emphasis on autonomous creative or regulative spirit-beings and
also on the dead. In many places, there are totemic beliefs. Distant ancestors tend to be forgotten, while recent ghosts are regarded as the protectors of their living descendants.
Ritual for deities and ghosts, although embodying elements of placation, is based on the confidence that, properly approached, they will automatically serve man’s interest. Religion,
therefore, pervades man’s whole intellectual life.
From a practical point of view, these two themes may shed some light on different native attitudes to development by Administrations and to mission work. Where they remain
intact, traditional religions may provide obstacles to these programmes; and even if many of their overt characteristics disappear, the basic concepts on which they rest may persist and
influence reactions to any innovations impinging on them Lawrence et al. 1965:22–23.
In light of the above, it is interesting to note the observations made by a national church leader. His address was given in Port Moresby at an ecumenical seminar which I was privileged to attend in 1979:
There are two policies which have been demonstrated by Christian missions towards traditional beliefs. The first is one which confronts. The idea expressed is that the power of
the Gospel is light which is casting rays on the darkness of what was before, i.e. traditional
108 religion. The second policy is that of integration, the grafting of preceding tradition into the
Gospel. It is conciliatory recognizing what there is in the traditional system that may go with New Testament belief and teaching.
More will be said about the traditional Rotokas system and the New Testament teaching in section 9.3.
9.2 Christianity on Bougainville-Buka
Kategori