Our understanding of what we see as evil will facilitate the efforts put in place to combat evil in the society. Africans in their traditional ethics place some level of emphasis on goodness of character. Goodness of character consist of virtues such as kindness, generosity, hospitality, justice, respect for elders while the elders ensure that they stay off anything that is capable of bringing disrespect; others are obedience to legitimate authorities and humility. Evils to the Africans are vices like killing, stealing, adultery, and disrespect for elders, telling lies, incest, and cruelty or doing harm in any way to other people.
However, a distinction between customary behavior, taboo and morality, each with its own rule of conduct, is a necessity at this point. There are some actions that are regarded as customary. Customary actions are justified on the basis that it is the custom of the people to perform such action. That actions are customary because they have been done from time immemorial as enough reason for continuing to do them. Some actions are referred to as taboo. The justification of taboos is always in terms of the adverse consequences that would follow if they were done. If any forbidden act by taboo is performed, adverse consequences are believed to follow with certainty. For example, that it is a taboo among our people, for a man to have sexual intercourse on a farmland. No scientific explanation is given as to why actions forbidden by taboo are wrong except that the gods hate such things and anybody who gets involved in them would incur the wrath of the gods. Like in the case cited above about our people, the reason given by the elders is that it affects fertility, the gods of fertility will be offended if sexual intercourse takes place on a farm land. Today, what place do we refer to as farm land? Can we call a garden park where we have fruits, oranges et cetera a farm land? Notably, sexual intercourse take place in these farm lands now, is the taboo still in place or modernized?
Subsequently, is the step taken to discourage adultery especially among our women. If any woman is caught in the act of adultery, the eldest woman (wife) in the family stead will be informed. She will in turn bring the information to the knowledge of the eldest man in the family. He will give approval to her to carry out the necessary actions geared towards putting a stop to the ugly act. What are the necessary actions one may ask? Before now, it should be that the woman who commits the act (adultery), will be paraded half naked through the major streets of the village; after which she will provide a sizeable she goat and a chicken to appease the gods. This was the effort made towards putting to an end such disgraceful evil acts. In contemporary times, the idea of getting the woman half naked and walk through the streets in the village in broad day light like that has been stopped. She will only be asked to make provision for a goat for the elders and she will be prayed for.
...to be continued.
By Prince Kelly Udebhulu.
You can tweet to @princekelly75
skype id: princekellyudebhulu
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