Towards an African theological ethic of earth care: Encountering the Tonga lwiindi of Simaamba of Zambia in the face of the ecological crisis

HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Towards an African theological ethic of earth care: Encountering the Tonga lwiindi of Simaamba of Zambia in the face of the ecological crisis
 
Creator Kaoma, Kapya
 
Subject — lwiindi; Tonga; ancestors; ecology; culture; Environmental degradation; ecological crisis; Pope Francis; progress
Description The mounting ecological catastrophe and its negative effects on humanity and future generations of life, demand proactive actions. The ongoing crises of deforestation, air and water pollution, land degradation and many other ecological predicaments are critical global moral and justice issues. Although postcolonial Africa’s economic theories undermine the integrity of Creation, Africans are equally responsible. Following Pope Francis’ invitation to Creation care, I argue that the lwiindi [the annual rain-calling ceremony] illustrates ecological concerns and possesses ecological insights that can aid, inform and positively transform Africa’s ecological actions. The article opens with a brief discussion on the growing ecological consciousness in global Christianity and Africa. It employs the lwiindi to illustrate the ecological role of ancestors as guardians of the land. It is from this perspective that the Enlightenment influenced concept of ‘progress’, is examined. The article concludes with some critical reflections on the environment and Tonga culture.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2017-11-30
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/hts.v73i3.3834
 
Source HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies; Vol 73, No 3 (2017); 10 pages 2072-8050 0259-9422
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/3834/10659 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/3834/10658 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/3834/10660 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/3834/10608
 
Coverage — — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2017 Kapya Kaoma https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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