Scriptural Reflection
Gen. 1:28: God blessed them and said to them, “Be
fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the
fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that
moves on the ground.”
Psalms 127:3-5: Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the
fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the
children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He
shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
Proverbs 31:28-29: Her children rise up and call her blessed; her
husband also, and he praises her: “Many women have done excellently, but you
surpass them all.”
African
peoples have a very rich cultural heritage with regards to sexuality, marriage,
and procreation. Consequently, there are
customs and institutions that safeguard these values. A closer study of these customs and
institutions makes it possible to see whether “sexual and reproductive health
and rights” advocacy by the United Nations, feminist groups, and foreign
donors, promote or undermine the proper sexual and reproductive healthiness of
the peoples, especially of women. It is
imperative to emphasise that despite the western disregard and disrespect of
many African traditions, marriage and family life still remain sine
qua non for most of the African peoples.
Marriage has as many faces as there are
various cultures and beliefs. Celestine
Ofoegbu in his book, Human Development, paints the picture vividly. He
writes:
While the economist sees marriage in terms of
contract, the biologist views it in terms of reproduction, the sociologist
views it from the perspective of a social structure, the theologian believes it
to be a divine injunction for procreation, and the psychologist may view it in
terms of fulfillment of psychological needs…, one thing is clear: it involves
an interpersonal relationship of a sort between man and woman. It involves most of the time, procreation.
There are norms: legal, religious or customary, attached to marriage.1
While individuals or groups of people view marriage
fragmentally, African peoples’ notion of it is total in its implications as is
evident in the following expositions.
The Meaning and Purpose of Marriage in Africa
Generally,
marriage in most African cultures is both an institution and an event. As an institution, marriage is the union of a
man and a woman as husband and wife, who to all intents and purposes are
joined principally for procreation.2 In other words, whereas in some cultures,
especially in some western cultures, marriage is primarily for companionship,
in Africa, marriage is principally for procreation. This difference must be pointed out since in
African societies, the primary intention of every married couple is to have a
representative born within marriage that will sustain and perpetuate the family
name and lineage. Without marriage and
the consequent bearing of children, the African man and woman feel incomplete.
As an
event, boys and girls are made to understand as early as possible that marriage
is an important event in their lives that must be accomplished. Series of preparations are, therefore, put in
place collectively and individually, for entry into this institution which
include among other things the initiation rites. Unfortunately, in many African nations, some
of these rites have been corroded by western attack of these traditions as
‘primitive’. We see again, the word game
– branding people’s values as ‘primitive’ automatically changes the people’s
behaviour against their own once adored cultural heritage.
Marriage
involves not only husband and wife, but also the two families, and in the final
analysis the community as a whole which share their very existence as they now
become one people.3 Apart
from uniting families and communities, many African people’s myths of creation
of man agree that human life started with husband and wife. Thus, John Mbiti rightly points out that
marriage is the meeting point for the three layers of human life, namely, the
departed, the living and those to be born.
While the departed are the roots on whom the living stand, the living
are the link between death and life, and those to be born are the buds in the
loins of the living. It is marriage that makes it possible for them to
germinate and sprout.4
Since it is believed among many Africans that God
commanded people to get married, marriage therefore becomes a sacred duty which
every normal person must perform.
Anything that deliberately goes towards the destruction or obstruction
of human life is regarded as wicked and evil.
Hence, in African societies, everything possible is done to make them
think in terms of marriage. Therefore,
deliberate failure to get married is an abomination, since “he who does not
participate in it is a curse to the community; he is a rebel and a law breaker;
failure to get married under normal circumstances means that the person
concerned has rejected society and society rejects him in return”.5 As A.K. Weinrich explains,
“every person had a moral obligation to marry and to
contribute to the social reproduction of his kinship group. This most basic value, to beget or bear
children, was instilled in all members of the society from early childhood
onwards. Nobody was allowed to shirk
this duty.”6
To die without getting married and without children is
to be completely cut off from the human society, to become disconnected, to
become an outcast and to lose all links with mankind.
Since
marriage is at the centre of human life, it also serves many purposes in
addition to procreation. The summary
provided by John Mbiti captures the situation.7 First and foremost, marriage fulfills the
obligation, the duty, and the custom that every normal person should get
married and bear children. Failure to do
so is considered a crime; it is a uniting link in the rhythm of life: the past
generation, the present generation, and the future generations; it enhances the
building of a family so dear to the people in order to extend life. For the peoples, through marriage and
child-bearing, the parents are remembered by their children, and thus life
continues after death. Through marriage,
the departed are “reborn”, in other words, a belief in reincarnation. Marriage brings people together, increases
them, multiplies them, and keeps them alive.
It is also a status symbol, everyone recognises that the individual is a
full person when he or she is married and has children. The more children a person has, the higher is
his status in society. Marriage also
makes a person “somebody”, “complete”, and “perfect” – the person is considered
truly a man or a woman; it is the peoples’ belief that “without marriage, a
person is only a human being minus”.8 Africans also believe that
marriage brings about qualities or values such as love, good character, hard
work, beauty, companionship, care for one another, parental responsibility
towards children and vice versa, especially when it is happy and successful. Marriage is considered successful, especially
when it is fruitful; that is, when it culminates in bringing about offspring.
Since
marriage is so important, various arrangements are made to ensure that
everybody is married and has children. These include: marrying several wives
(polygamy), inheriting the wife of a deceased brother (or husband of a deceased
sister), arranging for an unmarried dead son to be married in absence,
arranging for the wives of impotent or long-absent husband to have children by
close relatives or friends, and so on.
These various types of marriage fulfill the meaning and purposes of
marriage for the people.
The Procreative Emphasis in Traditional African
Marriages
As already mentioned, the
main purpose of marriage among Africans is to raise children. Life and transmission of life are cherished
values in the peoples’ culture, and to live means to be able to transmit life.
Marriage and procreation are therefore inseparable. At the centre of this emphasis on procreation
is perhaps the issue of immortalising an individual. In many African cultures, unfortunate is the
man or woman who sees nobody to remember or immortalise his or her name after
physical death. For them, “to lack
someone who keeps the departed in their personal immortality is the worst
misfortune and punishment that any person could suffer.”9 Bohannan agrees,
Only on the birth of a child does a woman become truly
a kinsman in her husband’s group. Only
on the birth of a child is a man assured of the “immortality” of a position in
the genealogy of his lineage, or even his security or esteem among the
important people of his community. Only
on the birth of a grand-child is a man in a position to be truly sure that his
name and spirit will live in the history and genealogy of his people.10
Similarly, E. Obuna points out that “to die without a
child is to descend into oblivion - forgotten by both the living and the dead.”11 Likewise, N. Ndiokwere says, “a childless
marriage as far as Africans are concerned, is indisputably a disaster.”12
It is also pertinent to add that in most African cultures, to die without
having a male child is as good as dying without a child. Africans believe they can “immortalise”
themselves in this world by leaving behind children, especially males. This desire, among others, obviously makes
them have as many children as possible to immortalise their lineages and
communities. For instance, among the
Igbo of Nigeria, names such as “Afamefuna” (may my name never be lost),
“Amaechi” (may my lineage never close down), “Obiefuna” (may my big household
never extinguish), testify to this desire.
Fertility thus, is the central requirement in marriage. A marriage proposal would be even less likely
if there were cases of barrenness among the female members of a girl’s
family. This might cast doubt on the
ability of the whole family to transmit life.
Male sterility and impotence
were regarded and are still regarded as the most shameful condition possible
for married couples. This informs all the traditional remedies and medicines
for sexual potency that are seen advertised in African societies today. Female barrenness, which in many cases was
more obvious, though not more frequent than male sterility, was an even greater
reproach in African traditional society.
Unfortunately, in the majority of cases, women were blamed when
marriages were childless, although in almost half the cases of childlessness is
due in fact to male sterility.13
Traditionally therefore,
African marriage is more or less fertility-oriented. This fertility-oriented
approach to marriage is very far from the person-oriented approach, that is,
the concept of marriage as companionship which the “sexual and reproductive
rights” advocacy expounds, and on which western societies in general base its
understanding of marriage – with or without children.14
The Procreative Emphasis in Traditional African Social
Structures
As already
seen, African societies are traditionally structured in such a way as to
promote the procreation of children.
This was the aim of the social institution of marriage and family. As noted by Alyward Shorter, the family was
the central institution of African society. It was even the central institution
of African religions since religious worship was expressed at the family
level. Family was seen as a corporate
community extended in space and time, reaching back to the ancestors and
forward to the unborn.15 For
Africans, marriage is thus, the device through which the procreative power of
the sexes could be unleashed for the continuation of the family. It could be argued that in traditional Africa,
marriage did not create families; it was incidental to the on-going corporate
life of families already in existence.
This is because the traditional family was not thought of as a “cell” or
“nucleus”, subject to fission or division, but rather as a corporate community.
In view
of the fertility-oriented African marriage, polygamy had its procreative
end. It was esteemed because it ensured
a large progeny and the extension of the family to an eminent degree, through
more children and more alliances. There
was a pervasive sentiment that it was good to have a numerous progeny, and “the
general and diffuse motives accompanying this sentiment were that children
meant wealth, prestige and the blessings of God and ancestors”.16 There were also various legal arrangements
in traditional African society, to ensure that the procreative powers of family
members were used to the full and that the family was not left without
heirs. For instance, there is the
“levirate” union, whereby a man catered for the procreative needs of his
brother’s widow, or the widows of other close kinsmen. In other words, the “levirate” catered for
dead husbands – to give them a progeny and to ensure that the widow’s
procreative powers was fully available to the family into which she had
married. “Ghost-marriage” ensures that men, who died unmarried and without
legitimate heirs, could, still acquire wives and heirs. “Woman marriage”
ensures the continuance of the line, where no children were born or when only
female children survived. In some cultures, a daughter could be left at the
father’s house without being married to procreate children for the family,
especially where there are no male children. The motive was to bear sons that
will inherit the father’s property and other customary rights. However,
such arrangements were inevitably a second best. In fact, the African in general was not
satisfied with someone else’s children. For him or her, life should normally be
reproductive, and being alive meant transmitting life. For this reason, many families are yet to accept
adoption of another’s child today as an alternative to childlessness or absence
of a male child.
Among
African peoples and cultures, therefore, there was procreative emphasis on
marriage and this emphasis pervaded the whole of society till date. Virginity at marriage was highly esteemed,
but not ultimately as highly as the capacity of having children. It is, therefore clear, that even the concept
of celibacy opposes a number of central values in traditional Africa, such as
the concept of “the complete person”, the notion of life and personhood, the
prospect of immortality, the relationship with God and the ancestors, the
social ideals of the total community of the living and the dead, and the
socio-economic adequacy considered necessary for life in the world.17 An individual was simply not alive, if he/she
was not engaged in transmitting life to another human being. Procreation was an essential aspect of being
alive, and personhood was the attribute of living, reproductive people. To be
alive, to be a person, therefore, one had to generate children biologically. To
opt for celibacy (priesthood and religious life) appears to be the most heroic
sacrifice an African man or woman makes.
The Destructive Nature of “sexual and reproductive
health and rights” Advocacy in Africa
Of course, some of the
practices above are less practiced today such as polygamy, ghost marriage, or
levirate marriage on account of our Christian values and beliefs of which we
very much appreciate. Also contact with western culture has its negative impacts
on the cultures. But it is important to stress where Africans are coming from, what
marriage and family mean to the people, and to make the point that every group of
people has its past on which they build the present and ensure their
future. Any nation that neglects their
past can never have a future.
I have attempted
to highlight the above facts about African worldview, marriage and family
particularly, to show that Africans are procreation-oriented and that family
life - (not just between a man a woman), but in its extension to include all
the relatives of the married couples - are ingrained in African peoples and
cultures. Any programmes coming from
anywhere that do not respect this procreative value are at worst insensitive
and destructive to the psyche of the Africans.
This is exactly what the “sexual and reproductive rights” advocacy does today
to unsuspecting Africans. Again, this exposition explains quite vividly
the reason behind African’s procreative emphasis, dissipating the false
argument that poverty pushes Africans to have more children: remove poverty, it
claims, and Africans will bear fewer children. But as can be seen, poverty is not the reason
for her procreative mentality. To ask
Africans, therefore, to kill their children – their future – amounts to
sterility and infertility which are highly dreaded among the peoples of Africa
till date.
The preceding insights on the deadly effects of “sexual
and reproductive health and rights” advocacy on Africa’s familial, procreative,
and moral values reveal the unhealthy imitation of other cultures, notably, of
the west. Pope John Paul II has since
observed this trend among Africans.
While addressing the present-day problems of the Church in Africa, he
identified among other things, this unhealthy imitation of other cultures and
accordingly exhorted Africans:
I put before you today a challenge – a challenge to
reject a way of living which does not correspond to the best of your
traditions, and your Christian faith.
Many people in Africa look beyond Africa for the so-called ‘freedom of
the modern life’. Today, I urge you to
look inside yourselves. Look to the
riches of your own traditions, look to the faith which we are celebrating in
this assembly. Here you will find
genuine freedom – here you will find who will lead you to the truth18)
John Paul II is unquestionably correct. To look inside ourselves and to look to the
riches of our own traditions are what this research advocates. Therefore, Africans need an indigenous
Procreative Health Policy that incorporates our traditional values about human
sexuality and human life in all their ramifications. To abandon our “culture of
life” to embrace the “culture of death” which is inherent in the “sexual and
reproductive health and rights” programmes is catastrophic. It can never augur well with posterity. In fact, posterity may never forgive this
generation of Africa for killing millions of its future citizens today!
Above all, it is imperative to stress people’s
right to have their culture and religious convictions respected, as well as
their right to disagree with the principles of “sexual and reproductive health
and rights” promoted by these feminist groups, the USA, international bodies, and
various arms of the United Nations.
LIFE QUOTE
|
In African culture and tradition the role of the family is everywhere
held to be fundamental. Open to this sense of the family, of love and respect
for life, the African loves children, who are joyfully welcomed as gifts of God.
"The sons and daughters of Africa love life. It is precisely this love
for life that leads them to give such great importance to the veneration of
their ancestors. They believe intuitively that the dead continue to live and
remain in communion with them. Is this not in some way a preparation for
belief in the Communion of the Saints? The peoples of Africa respect the
life which is conceived and born. They rejoice in this life. They reject the
idea that it can be destroyed, even when the so-called 'progressive
civilizations' would like to lead them in this direction. And practices hostile
to life are imposed on them by means of economic systems which serve the
selfishness of the rich".(50) Africans show their respect for human life until
its natural end, and keep elderly parents and relatives within the family. (Ecclesia in Africa, no. 43)
|
References
1Celestine Ofoegbu, Human Development: Family Behaviour, Parenting, Marriage & Counselling Skills (Enugu: Snaap, 2002) 85.
2Chukwuemeka Nze, Aspects of Igbo
Communalism (Onitsha: Veritas, 1989) 26.
3Laurenti Magesa, African
Religion: The Moral Traditions of Abundant Life (Nairobi: Paulines, 1998)
110-111.
4John S. Mbiti, Introduction to
African Religion (Nairobi: East African, 1991) 104.
5John Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy (New York:
Anchor, 1970) 174.
6A.K.H. Weinrich, African Marriage
in Zimbabwe and the Impact of Christianity (1982), cited in Magesa, 115.
7Mbiti 110-112.
8Mbiti 112.
9Mbiti 175.
10P. Bohannan, African Outline. Cited in Marius Chukwuemeka Obiagwu, Healthcare
of the Sick among the Igbos of Nigeria vis-à-vis the Healing Ministry of the Church
and the Pastoral Challenges Today (Rome: Camillianum, 2000) 43.
11E. Obuna, African Priests and
Celibacy (1986), cited in Obiagwu, 43.
12N. Ndiokwere, The African Church
Today and Tomorrow 1 (1994), cited in Obiagwu, 43.
13Alyward Shorter, Celibacy and
African Culture (Nairobi: Paulines, 2002) 18.
14Cf Austin Flannery, ed. Vatican
Council II: The Conciliar and Post-Conciliar Documents 1, Gandium et Spes,
835-836; The Code of Canon Law, (1983), Can 1055; The Catechism of the Catholic
Church (1994), 1603.
15Shorter 19.
16Angela Molnos’ “East African Survey
on Marriage”, cited in Benezeri Kisembo, Laurenti Magesa, Alyward Shorter, African
Christian Marriage (Nairobi: Paulines, 1998) 95.
17Shorter 17.
18John
Paul II, “Ecclesia in Africa” 1995, no. 43.
