Killing the Past
Summary of My Beliefs and Understanding of Colonialism
Most recently, I have understood colonialism as a system that begins with powerful nations using their power to enrich themselves by taking resources from other people groups. The “powerful” nations are typically inhabited primarily by white people who view the other people, normally brown, as inferior. The more powerful nation may justify its actions by adopting a white savior mentality, which believes that they are helping the brown people by providing them with a better culture. The church has often been a partner in colonization through her missional efforts at making disciples of all nations per Jesus’ commission in Matthew 28.
Due to the colonizers’ diminished view of the local people, many have been harmed by enforced enculturation, though the harm may have been unintentional. Additional intentional harm happened due to wars, sometimes initiated by resistance. Diseases introduced by colonizers stand out as another form of harm.
The Trajectory of My Convictions
Public education initially formed my ideas about colonialism. I saw it mainly through the lens of Western European countries forming colonies in Africa and the Americas. Daring stories of exploration are closely tied to my views of colonization stemming from that era of learning. A few decades of reading history and historical fiction expanded my view to include a more detailed picture of how colonizers had also harmed people.
Later, I became curious about and uncomfortable with the church’s role in colonization after participating in a few “Work and Witness” trips. The deference shown to visiting white people in Africa did not align with my picture of being equal at the foot of the cross. It upset me to see evidence of the church setting aside beautiful local worship forms and dress in favor of Western norms. During my studies for a Master of Divinity degree, I began to feel ashamed about any part I possibly played in upholding practices born of colonialism while traveling. I also began to habitually look for evidence of harm against Indigenous people when reading any histories of missionaries or migrations. Undoubtedly, the entertainment industry has fueled my increasingly hostile view of colonialism.
I will conclude this section with two thoughts. First, I have come to believe that history has many points of view depending on who is doing the telling and it is crucial to honor multiple lenses. Two things can be true at the same time. Second, it seems that attempts to honor people from the past sometimes take on a performative aspect. Lengthy email signatures describing the original inhabitants of the land on which a public university is situated strike me more as self-congratulatory posturing than helpful for creating educational access for underserved people.
Some Arguments by Furedi
In The War Against the Past, Frank Furedi claims that an undeclared war against the past threatens to steal the legacy of Western civilization.[1] A professor emeriti at the University of Kent, Furedi has authored dozens of books and extensively studied the impact of culture wars on many sectors of life. He contends that identity politics is a key factor in the war on the past as various groups locate their present sense of victimhood in the injustices of the past.[2] Furedi argues that the drive to form identity groups that eradicate the past is ironically fueled by its own effort as it wipes out a shared cultural identity within a broader group. In his view, Western people become “rootless” when they are no longer connected to the generations of people who came before. Their disconnection from the past leads to forming identification groups based on specific characteristics in the present.[3] He asserts that a shared moral identity began to lose its place to identity politics after the 1950s and became evident in academia by 1995.[4] In a specific example, Yascha Mounk traces postmodern scholars’ abandonment of hope in the unfolding “arc of the moral universe” during the 1970s in favor of prescribed policies and practices to achieve equity for people of color.[5] When national politics became deeply partnered with social identity politics, group ties to values of the past were cut even further.[6] Without the shared values and pride of past accomplishments, society lacks a foundation of hope for the future.
Affirmations
Furedi notes that cultural institutions, from education to entertainment, “frame the past in the language of harm,” which affirms my recognition of a growing sense of negativity about the past. He goes on to say that by doing so, those propagating the Culture Wars dismiss positive content.[7] Refusal to acknowledge good things in the narrative of the past has contributed to replacing positive feelings with shame, not only for me but among my peers.
Challenges
What I found most challenging about this reading was trying to locate balance. In reference to my comment that two things can be true at the same time, I was looking for acknowledgment that harm did happen. While I appreciate the author’s point that culture is going too far in wiping out the past, dismissing the point of view of the present seems unlikely to bring a shift towards living “with” others instead of living “against” by fighting for one’s identity group over finding shared values and recognition that we are all products of many streams of history.
[1] Frank Furedi, The War Against the Past: Why the West Must Fight for Its History (Cambridge UK: Polity Press, 2024), 6.
[2] Furedi, The War Against the Past, 185.
[3] Furedi, The War Against the Past, 193.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Yascha Mounk, The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time. (London: Allen Lane an imprint of Penguin Books, 2023), 57.
[6] Furedi, The War Against the Past, 199.
[7] FFuredi, The War Against the Past, 18.
About the Author
Julie O'Hara
11 responses to “Killing the Past”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Hi Julie,
Considering Furedi’s perspective on decolonization, what practical steps can societies take to acknowledge and learn from their colonial histories while fostering unity and progress for the future?
Hi Shela, It is an incredibly broad question which I do not have the expertise to answer nor can I speak for all. It “seems like” people within a given society who have positions of authority or power acknowledge multiple narratives rather than choosing just one. It seems especially important to acknowledge the many directions in which cultural impact flows: both for good and for ill.
Hi, Julie, thank you for your post. You mentioned that ‘the church’ took part in the colonialization alongside the powerful nations. What would the church response to this today?
Hi Noel, My statement was too broad, I apologize. At times in history, Christians have participated in colonizing practices. In response to your questions, It would depend on whom you ask. If I had to take a wild guess, I suppose that persons with greater responsibilities in church or denominational leadership might be more in agreement due to education and access to historical information. Perhaps an average attended might be less inclined to agree due to lack of awareness or education. I am only speculating.
Great to see your working out of the both/and challenge. In his word on the emergence of a “made-in-Africa” theology beyond the ‘Colonial-Christendom-Complex’ era, Tim Hartman warns against a ‘Colonialism in Reverse’ struggle, where particularly the oppressed who see spirituality as part of life become the oppressors against the rational Western democracies based on the Enlightenment, who’ve lost their soul, and global migration enables a backlash. He lays this out as a crisis of shifting authority.
Some thoughtful African theologians like Kwame Bediako are pushing for a “Made-in-Africa” theology that is not in opposition, but which is rooted in the early church experience on and from the African continent.
I’d love to hear if this gives you any insights for your “with others” fight.
Hartman Tim, Theology After Colonization : Bediako, Barth, and the Future of Theological Reflection. Notre Dame Studies in African Theology, (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 2020).
Hi Joel, Thanks for your resources. I will reply from an experiential rather than cerebral perspective. It’s been incredible to experience a very present spiritual reality as a result of relationship and interaction with my colleagues in Africa. Using commentary written on the continent to prepare for preaching has also influenced me…then through me to others in my sphere back in USA/Canada Region. This would not be possible if we were not part of a global denomination, even though it is fraught with colonial underpinnings!
Hey Julie! I aprreciate how you unpacked this. From your lens how can we create a more balanced historical narrative that neither erases past injustices nor disregards cultural achievements?
Hi Daren,
What if we practice ‘asking’ instead of ‘telling’? Noone can tell the story of everyone. I am imagining a public school classroom in which the teacher broadly sketches the basic historical narrative and then starts to ask questions to the students. “How do you think the people who lived on the land felt when new people came?” This is a pretty basic example, but it is possible we could begin helping people gain more empathy when they are children and instill pride in accomplishments from the past. How those questions would differ from a midwest rural community to an urban highly populated one…? I am just thinking of ways to get people to discover the experiences of people different than themselves. The only things I’m certain of: We can’t ignore that there are multiple narratives and that prioritizing any one of them shuts other groups down. My only place of influence is what I say/teach/model and the conversations I have with others, so I can personally commit to being thoughtfully balanced and questioning.
Julie, great post, thank you. You clearly articulated many of my same sentiments and questions. So I’ll ask one more of you:
How do you think identity politics can be both a response to historical injustices and a potential barrier to forming a shared cultural identity? In what ways can we navigate this tension without dismissing the valid experiences of marginalized groups?
Hi Debbie,One form of barrier could be when people who were not directly part of an historical injustice are meant to feel currently responsible for the past. When people feel attacked, the reaction is defensiveness. Understanding can lead to empathy and willingness to work toward change. Listening. We have to listen.
Hi Julie, I, too, struggled to find balance in this book! I would love to hear some of your ideas on ways that Christian leaders can show and find balance on this issue.