Ramifications
Do you ever wonder why people do what they do? Why we act the way we do to certain scenarios and situations reflects an understanding on who we are in that situation. I was thinking as I walked down the street today about the way the old people in Chinese society demand respect. It is as though they have earned it by being old. The communal nature of this society has infused this philosophy into everyone. You can see this when an old lady crosses a busy street and doesn’t even look for cars; expecting everyone to yield to her. You also see this walking down a sidewalk and an old man will not move around you but walk through you if you do not move. When was this system started? Is it culture or something that was created? Who let everyone know that this is the way things would be, and all you had to do was obtained this certain status and you would be one of the honored ones? We are products of our culture and the systems they create.
Reading Welsh’s Rise and Fall of Apartheid got me thinking about how it would be very easy to be critical of this country, its history and its culture. How this blog could easily be about the structures and laws that limited individuals within South Africa; especially after 1948. (1) Even though originally Apartheid’, “chief aims was the elimination of competition between black and white.” (2) I believe that we can observe and learn from the actions of others outside the culture we grew up in, we can never fully understand the environment that created the traditions and systems with it, thus should not criticize that culture and its history. I wa
s talking to a White South African man last week and told him of the book I was reading. He commented that the original intention for Apartheid wasn’t bad, but how it was lived out, how it was enforced turned it into something no South African was proud of. Apartheid seems to be a system that was thought to have been started with good intentions has come to define systemic evil.
Systematic evil is talked about in terms of participating in systems of business, of government, of education etc…designed to oppress some to benefit others. It is easy to see Apartheid under the rule of the National Party as an evil system with its laws of segregation; in land, voting, schools, and rights. What about the other systems that were involved? Could the system under the ANC, the violence and response to violence be considered evil? “Mandela said…ANC was forced to adopt violent methods of resistance after decades of having diligently sought peaceful solutions.” (3)
I pose these questions to allow us to think beyond Apartheid, beyond easily demonizing the oppression that took place. If systemic evil is a real thing and participating in a system that benefits us at the expense of others is evil, then how are we to change that system? Did Mandela’s leadership move this country toward a greater system or just a different one? “ANC laid down some fundamental prerequisites….first, that Mandela be released…second, that it would decline to renounce violence prior to its being satisfied that the government was ready to negotiate transition to a non-racial system.”(4) Mandela fought against a system many considered evil and chose to not respond with another system of violence as so many wanted. Like us, he had no control of what would come after him, rather he faced a system and moved to change it. How is the system post Mandela? What evil is it producing, and what good? As an outsider, do I have the right to even comment or question the political systems of another country?
As I think of my own country and my own faith, I do ask myself what system am I participating in out of convenience, out of a desire to do something, or maybe even to go represent Christ? It is easy to say, “at least we are not as bad as…” and name a place or situation that justifies our system. I think of mission trips that bring thousands of dollars into a country to build a church and create dependency of foreign Christians. I also think of mission agencies that pay local leaders’ trips and salaries rather than helping them be self supportive. Both systems were created with positive motives and have a limited place in working cross culturally, but have too often been the norm and seen as the rich westerners coming to bring the “light” and money. We as church love to help the poor and needy. It is easy to buy things and give them away, harder to love and develop people and create value in their lives. Many churches, this time of year, buy backpacks for school children not thinking that they are robbing local businesses in poor areas of much needed income. Many times churches purchases these supplies online or at a big Walmart-type store. The intention is good, but the system has long lasting, potentially negative, effects on a poor community. This can also be seen in free food programs. Giving a way food helps the poor, but damages the local grocer who now has no ability to compete with the hundreds of pounds of free food blanketing the neighborhood. How is our generosity and mission effecting those we are working with?
The systemic evil found in governments, Apartheid, can also be found in our lives as well. We easily wash our hands of any participation in this type of evil without truly examining the question of what system we are currently supporting. I am on the journey, like many of you, to find ways that our time here in this world glorifies our Lord and not ourselves. When Jesus challenges those accusing the adulteress woman in John 8, that if you without sin cast the first stone..he knew we’d all struggle and we all like to point out the plank in someone elses eye. Let us not be like those who are comfortable, rather let us look around with open eyes and ask, what system of evil do we participate in? Whether you participate in a system created by tradition, culture or political law, we need to be aware of the ramifications that our actions.
1. Welsh, David; The Rise and Fall of Apartheid.(Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 2009), 47
2.Ibid., 56
3. Ibid., 375
4. Ibid., 365
About the Author
Greg
Greg has a wife and 3 children. He has lived and work in Asia for over 12 years. He is currently the Asia Director of Imanna Laboratories, which tests and inspects marine products seeking US Coast Guard certification. His company Is also involved in teaching and leadership development.4 responses to “Ramifications”
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Greg,
I loved reading your post. I was picturing that elderly Chinese woman watching cars, bikes, and buses parting ways before her as she crossed the street.
Your question “How is our generosity and mission effecting those we are working with?” is a great one I frequently consider. The simple gift of backpacks seems right, but juxtaposed next to the local convenience store owner who has a dusty inventory of backpacks he can’t sell because of the generosity of foreigners, it becomes a more challenging issue.
I look forward to meeting and discussing this in real time. Safe travels.
Your cross cultural experiences are going to be so valuable to our cohort. Please keep sharing! We need you.
I vividly was able to picture your stories of the respect for the elderly in China. Great word pictures for me!
See you soon!
Your questions about systemic evil are very thought-provoking and very insightful. I love your line … “The systemic evil found in governments, Apartheid, can also be found in our lives as well. We easily wash our hands of any participation in this type of evil without truly examining the question of what system we are currently supporting.” This caused me to really examine myself and what systems I am supporting without even realizing it. Amazing post, see you next week.
Greg, thought provoking post! You asked a question that reminded me of a song we sang when we lived on the Navajo Reservation when I was a kid. The song was in the native Navajo tongue and had this awesome beat to it that my sisters and I would rock out to every time it was on the radio. The spelling is wrong I am sure, but the words were “A yonda shonda, de belegonna”. We had no idea what it meant, we just knew that we loved singing it; that is until one day some Navajo friends finally stopped us and told us it was inappropriate for us to sing. You see, the words we were singing meant, “no good dirty white man.” At first we all laughed at our ignorance, but then as kids, we were forced to ask, “Why were they singing a song that called us ‘no good dirty white men’?”
We had just been slapped in the face with a history that frankly, we had been no part of, but that was still being held over our heads. I remembered that even as a young teenager, I did not want to be the people in that song. There was a part of me that truly loved the heritage of the Navajo Indians, and yet another part of me that was always worried that I would offend them as those who had gone before me had. I wanted to learn from their mistakes so that I would not repeat them.
I found South Africa enlightening and super frustrating at the same time. Again I seemed to carry some of the guilt of a past that I was not even part of, but completely desiring not to repeat it. I truly wish I felt like governments shared that desire. Too often I believe we see progress placed above consideration. We know our past offenses, but fail to learn from them.
And one more thing…WOW! Thanks for giving a reason to why those old people won’t get out of my way. LOL.