TINYANGA ABUSING THEIR POSITIONS

Sir,

As I was reading the article ‘Believing in ancestors’ published on December 7, 2014, I was very touched by the demonising of African cultures by a Christian.

He states: “Satan uses many tricks to sway us away from God and the belief in ancestors is one of the hallmarks of his adept skill of getting away with his nefarious mission.”
This quote suggests that ancestor veneration was devised by Satan, yet this is white lies.

Originated

I say ‘white lies’ because Christians believe their sins will be white after being washed by Jesus’ blood.
The point here is that ancestor generation originated with and within the archaic people and is much older than the Bible.
Therefore, using the Bible to crush African cultures is an extension of ignorance and blind faith because the Bible was written in a totally different environment from ours (laSwatini).

Moreover, the Hebrew Bible (wrongly termed Old Testament) records Jewish history not Swazi or African history.

role

Before questioning the mediatory role of the ancestors in the African context, I think the writer should first think of some Christian songs like ‘inyang’enkulu’ which liken Jesus to the very same tinyanga he is against.
Comprehending African culture needs ‘overstanding’ rather than understanding.
However, I want to give a round of applause to the writer when he pointed out that some of the spiritual leaders for example tinyanga are abusing their positions for money. That I condemn.

Ncola Tafari
MATSAPHA

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