The Ricci Legacy: Finding God in Cultures
Ignatian Symposium – Hong Kong, December 2-5, 2010
Workshop 1: Peter McIsaac, SJ
Inculturation and Praxis: The Process of “Negotiation”
In my introductory remarks of the panel presentation, I referred to the process of “negotiation” that effected the creation of unique cultural form of Christianity in Jamaica.[1] There are a number of features of that process that I think would benefit from the discussion of this workshop.
- Negotiation is different than the “Juxtaposition of Cultures”
The intersection of European and African “worlds” in the slave colony of Jamaica was characterized by brutal forms of violence and subjugation, but at the same time became the opportunity for the emergence of a distinct Jamaican identity. This identity – marked, I suggested, by a “continuum of culture” – was not merely a juxtaposition of worlds, but involved the formation of new reality that underwent transformation as Jamaicans interacted historically to a greater or lesser extent with other cultures. Thus, there are obvious identifiable elements of both a traditional European Christian culture, as well as elements that can be traced to their African roots. Michel De Certeau made this general observation about colonial peoples that would certainly be appropriately applied to Jamaica:
[Colonized people have] often made of the rituals, representations and laws imposed on them something quite different from what their conquerors had in mind; they subverted them not by rejecting or altering them, but by using them with respect to ends and references foreign to the system they had no choice but to accept. They were other within the very colonization that outwardly assimilated them; their use of the dominant social order deflected its power, which they lacked the means to challenge; they escaped it without leaving it.[2]
Christianity was originally introduced to Jamaica as part of a hegemonic social structure to which the African slaves were largely alienated. The Church – in the first instance, the Roman Catholicism of the Spaniards and then the Anglicanism of the British – largely represented and perpetuated a socio-racial hierarchy in which mobility and integration were not possible. The evangelizing efforts of the British Baptists were the most successful in the early period; and in the first part of the twentieth century the Pentecostals were able to attract significant numbers of converts (in both the British colonial, and Neo-colonial periods).
The Christianity of the British Baptists would seem to have been an unlikely “dialogue partner” of the African-descent slaves. As mentioned in the panel presentation, there were obviously contrary cosmologies and ontology that were operative in the two cultures. But more importantly, eudemonic character of African traditional religion with its emphasis on enthusiastic ritual could hardly be more different than the ethical rationalism of the British Baptists. But to the extent that the Baptists were able to surmount the social impediments to conversion, the process of dialogue and “negotiation” became possible.
In the later ascendency of Pentecostalism in the twentieth century, some of the dynamics of this “negotiation” are more easily recognizable. Most important of these is the process to which Michel de Certeau alludes in the quotation I cited above: namely the transformation of the meanings intended by the symbols, rituals and laws introduced by the hegemonic religious institution. Older elements of African origin and “Revivalism” are appropriated and integrated into an American Pentecostal tradition which evolves into a uniquely Jamaican form. An excellent example of this process would be the transformation of the older baptismal rites and meanings, and the pre-eminent place given to repeated baptism by immersion that appears more akin to older forms of African cleansing and healing rites.
Thus, apparently irreconcilable intellectual tensions, or even apparent contradictions, that appear to the “objective” outsider dissolve in the creation of a new set of theological meanings and liturgical practices. The prohibition of music and dance in daily life, for example, as an element of the rigid moral discipline of these churches, is suspended in the liturgical rites that provide the opportunity for spiritual enthusiasm, music and movement that would otherwise be precluded in the religious practice in the original, American context.
- Negotiation as Praxis
It has been suggested by the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (and the field of anthropology,by Clifford Geertz) that meaning comes through the logic of practice.[3] In the creation of new Jamaican forms of Christianity, it would seem that most of the developments were a consequence of shifting meanings that were created by practice, rather than as a result of anexplicit strategy or theological reflection. Simply put, signs acquire new meanings through the process of everyday use.
In the Jamaican context, this meant that the adaptation that was necessary for “success” in the conversion of new members depended on a form of liturgical praxis that was open to various meanings. As I indicated in the panel presentation, this kind of “negotiation” indicates that we can distinguish two forms of ideology: as ideology as “explicit discourse”and ideology “lived experience”.[4]
The origins and development of Rastafarianism in the early part of the twentieth century represents a dialogue in which the relations of domination are made explicit, and, in this case, challenged by a system of beliefs that proposes and intends an alternative social reality. The new interaction with the Americas in the period produced an awareness of the plight of Africans worldwide that had changed little with Emancipation. Rastafarianism was born as a religious movement with explicit political overtones: the unification of Africans and their equal place on the global stage (politically and economically) is the will of Jah (God) – to be realized through the leadership of the Messiah, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia. While assimilating elements familiar to Christianity (redemption themes, messianic elements, etc.), orthodox Christianity is rejected as part of the hegemonic structure.
Contrasted with the Rastafarianism’s “explicit discourse” is the ideology of “lived experience” that more accurately describes the development of Jamaica’s Christian Pentecostalism. Here, the coercive elements of the hegemonic structures of society are taken for granted, and go unchallenged. In the words of de Certeau quoted above, “their use of the dominant social order deflected its power… they escaped it without leaving it”. The negotiation of the system comes through the daily use of symbolic mediations, only partially subject to explicit reflection, and perhaps even unintentionally.
- Roman Catholicism and contemporary “Dialogue” in Jamaica
It is often a presumption that the inculturation of faith and inter-religious dialogue are largely a process of identifyingconceptual “correlations” or analogies across cultures. In the case of Jamaica, some appreciation for essential anthropological elements is important to the process, but even more vital is the creative discernment or interpretation of elements that find resonance among the people – more often than not on the practical level of worship. Spiritual discernment, more than intellectual or theological interpretation, is more effective in this regard.
Given the context that I have developed both in the opening panel presentation, as well as in the reflections above, we can appreciate the complexity of the forms of dialogue that the Roman Catholic Church must engage in order to develop a strategy for evangelization and pastoral ministry in Jamaica. I identify three main dialogues in this regard:
a)An Ecumenical dialogue: Pentecostal Protestantism
The dialogue with a predominantly Pentecostal form of Protestant Christianity would coincide with a consideration of the Roman Catholic Church’s capacity for greater inculturation – particularly of its liturgy. To the extent that the Christianity developed a unique character and liturgical style by a process of negotiation (on the level of praxis) with the British Baptists and the later American Pentecostals, the implementation of certain elements essential to the success of prior evangelization strategies would be vital for this “dialogue of lived experience” that operates on the level of “daily use”. I will explore some of these elements in a subsequent workshop: an evangelical style of preaching; the introduction of liturgical “space” for personal testimonies;the use of familiar rhythms and “stock” songs; and the focus on themes of emancipation (and the corresponding emphasis of the Old Testament).
The adaptation of the liturgy would precede a more theological and conceptual dialogue, insofar as Roman Catholicism still remains a marginal church, and to a large extent represents a minority group connected to the socio-racial hegemony. A very practical strategy for liturgical adaptation and later theological dialogue would be the greater use of the Spiritual Exercises – that not only provides imaginative and symbolic dimensions for the “pre-discursive” encounter with Christ; but also provides for opportunities for the “charismatic” and affective unity among the various Christian dialogue partners.
b)An Inter-cultural Dialogue: The “Non-Denominational Poor”
In more recent years, it has become clear that the Roman Catholic Church has three distinct “groups” which make up its membership: a “traditional” set of Catholics who occupy a small minority of the privileged classes; a group of “rural poor” who would be familiar with and, in some sense, rooted in the Revival Church traditions; and finally, an urban poor whose “culture” is favourable to a more Pentecostal form of Christianity, but who are often not affiliated to any denomination. Clearly, the most significant development of liturgical adaptation has occurred among this population. But along with liturgical adaptation, however, the character of the agent of evangelization is a vital consideration: “presence” and residence over an extended period of time among the urban poor (in situations of extreme poverty and violence) is a necessary precursor to both effective evangelization as well as to real forms of inculturation. Solidarity would be a principal form of this dialogue, which I will develop in a subsequent workshop.
c)An Inter-religious Dialogue: Rastafarianism
Rastafarianism emerged, I observed above, as an indigenous religious movement of Jamaica in response to the new consciousness of the plight of Africans historically. This “ideology of explicit discourse,” which effectively rejected the hegemonic injustice that was associated with mainstream Christianity would benefit, it would seem, less from a theological dialogue, than it would a “collaboration” in forms of social justice ministries that would promote aspects of equality and justice through the preservation of Jamaica’s unique culture.
Discussion Questions
There is clearly a successful adaptation/inculturation that we associate with Ricci’s dialogue with the Chinese.
In what sense did it follow a process of “implicit negotiation”?
In what sense was it the fruit of spiritual discernment of on the level of praxis?
Was it more an intellectual or theological process for Ricci?
What were the key elements of the dialogue that Ricci engaged?
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[1] Austin-Broos, Diane J. Jamaica Genesis: Religion and the Politics of Moral Orders. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1997, passim.
[2] De Certeau, Michel. The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1984.
[3] Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Philosophical Investigations. Oxford: Blackwell, 1968. Cf. Geertz, Clifford. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books, 1973.
[4] Comaroff, Jean. Body of Power, Spirit of Resistance. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago, 1985.