Although, Nathan Price is a man of God he subconsciously believes that he is superior towards the Congolese people. His mission that he has been sent to do by the Church is to “save” the Congolese through religion.
“Father said, “They are living in darkness. Broken in body and soul, and don’t even see how they could be healed” (Kingsolver 53).
When Price faces difficulty with attempting to convert the natives in his village he simply labels them as “broken” and “blind”. Instead, of trying to possibly assimilate to the local culture and slowly preach Christianity to them he continues to force his morals on them. Eventually, Price fails to convert the villagers to Christianity.
Nate's Take
If I was placed in the shoes of Nathan Price, I would have a much different approach than he did. I would slowly assimilate myself into the local culture and begin to offer my views to the villagers under their conditions. I would not force my religion on the villagers if they were against it. I wouldn't label them as blind or broken but I would offer to them stories of what western society is like. I would set up a "roundtable" discussion amongst the villagers and myself comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences in culture. Personally, that is why I believe the Catholic missions in Africa have been far more successful than the Protestant ones. The Catholic missionaries would assimilate to the local culture and would offer more humanitarian teachings than biblical teachings to the locals.
Question
Do you feel Nathan Price is truly an arrogant westerner? In your response consider that it is the 1960s and technological knowledge of other cultures wasn't as readily available as it is today.
I absolutely agree with you that Nate is truly an presumptuous westerner. I also like your resolution if you were put in Nate's situation. I think sharing culture is a wonderful thing that people get to know more about each other's tradition and rituals. We have the right to believe in what we choose to believe, yet still learn and appreciate other beliefs. Therefore, Nate should not blindfully imposes Christianity on the natives and accuses them as "broken" and "blind".
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI would not say that Nathan is arrogant actually. I would describe Nathan as an impatient Christian zealot who does not believe in beliefs that go against his. Many people believe so strongly in their religion that they consider other religions and beliefs the wrong ways of living, and Nathan here is one of them. In the 16th Century, when knowledge was not easily accessed like today, it is easy to understand that Nathan could not respect others' beliefs because he couldn't and wouldn't find a way to understand them.
ReplyDeleteI believe the time period plays a huge role in Nate's approach to dealing with the Congolese people. We must understand the true passion and desire for religious advancements that Nate and others of this time period possessed. Was it a healthy approach? Maybe not, but it was Nate's personal interpretation of what needed to be done in order to serve his God. So I feel as though he was only trying to do right by God but unfortunately wasn't successful. Very informative and well thought out blog!
ReplyDeleteI do believe that Nate is Arrogant. Though I am a Christian I do not believe in disrespecting others' beliefs and forcing ideals down their throats. He believes himself and his beliefs to be better than theirs instead of respecting them and taking a more tactful approach..
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jaylen about how Nathan was only trying to do what he thought would be right by God. However, I still think it's very wrong what he did. It is the most arrogant thing to force others to share your beliefs. Even if he wanted to encourage conversion and try to spread the word of God, he could've done so more passively. What's interesting is that history shows situations like this repeatedly. Is it possible to try to make people agree with you calmly, and just let them be if they don't agree with us, or does our ego keep us from respecting others in the religious sense?
ReplyDelete