Matthew Hassan KUKAH, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Kaduna
To call someone a monkey – even among the best of friends – could cost you your life or earn you a severe beating, depending on the mood or the mental state of your friends. Most consider it a great insult to be associated with even the noblest of animals: they are inferior to human beings and since we are homo sapiens, we believe that we are next to God. Animals, in our judgment, have no morality, no sense of what is right or wrong and cannot speak. We believe that they mate with no regulation of their conduct. However, even without being an aficionado of National Geographic, most of us, especially those who own animals, must definitely have been humbled by watching our pets. I want to share with you a conversation that allegedly took place among three monkeys as they relaxed one evening.
The first monkey said to the other two: “Now listen you two, there is a rumour that can’t possibly be true. There are allegations that humans descended from our noble race. The very idea itself is shocking and a disgrace. For example, no monkey ever deserted his wife, starved her babies or ruined her life. You have never known a monkey to leave her babies with another monkey for a bunk, or pass them from one to the other until they scarcely know who the mother is. Another thing you will never see among us monkeys is another monkey building a fence around a coconut tree and letting that coconut tree go to waste, forbidding any other animal to taste. If I put a fence around a tree, starvation would force you to steal from me, and that is not right. Another thing a monkey would not do is to go out at night disgracing his life by drinking and then reel madly home and beat up his wife. Humans call this pleasure and they make a big fuss that they have descended from something but it is certainly not from us.”
Age, wisdom, honour and integrity are now no longer what we associate with individual character; we no longer have to respect a man or a woman because they are old, wise and honourable.
I think it is clear that no matter how we view our world, from one end of the globe to the other the rising concerns about the collapse of values dominates most conversations. Before our eyes, things we did not dream about are now happening. We can check the entire spectrum of our lives and there will be very little that will not generate a sense of shock and hopelessness. We can run through an inexhaustible gamut of issues that yesterday were unthinkable.
Our traditional values concerning family, community, procreation, commitment, respect, honour, integrity and so on have all collapsed or changed tremendously. We can no longer speak of family in terms of a man, a wife, wives, and children. We can no longer assume that sex is a shared value only between a couple. Homosexuality has changed that. Duty to community and the role and place of elders and the young have given way to new values. Age, wisdom, honour and integrity are now no longer what we associate with individual character; we no longer have to respect a man or a woman because they are old, wise and honourable.
The idea that a thief cannot be considered a member of the community or that an adulterer or a murderer who has poisoned the community deserves to be exiled until they have purged themselves of their misdeeds is now a laughable proposition. The notion that the leader of the community should be elected by consensus and based on certain identifiable values will elicit shock. The very notion that money is not everything and that it is secondary to honour will earn you derision. Money has conquered each and every intangible indicator and has been crowned itself king and queen. Thus, age, honour, integrity, wisdom etc, have become servers on the altar of Money.
Today, the youth consider their parents old fashioned in matters relating to duty and responsibility. The old restraints surrounding social and sexual conducts have been unhinged. Children now know more about sex and how to make quick money than their parents do. Today, the idea of children having children at tender ages no longer elicits shock and has reduced the value of human life and family. Teenage pregnancies have become so common that you will be considered a fool if you show signs of surprise. Some people will be wondering where you dropped from if you imagine or try to argue that abortion is not a mother’s human right or that an unborn child has any rights at all. Take any newspaper today and the headlines no longer shock. Newspapers are replete with stories of children being snatched from the breasts of mothers and their human parts being used for rituals. You read stories of innocent infants, toddlers and children of various ages being raped by adults or their own parents.
The list is limitless. It seems that the horrors have become part and parcel of our daily lives and their ubiquity has dulled our consciences and we are now at a stage of resignation. Parents and individuals seem totally helpless and you often hear the following refrains: “Everyone is doing it”, “Our children are now out of our control”, “There is nothing we can do now as parents”, “We are not alone”, “These are the signs of the times” . However, is what we are witnessing really a sign of the times, or it is reversible? Are we set on an inevitable course of the curve of history that is spinning out of control or do we have the power to negotiate better outcomes? Let me turn my attention to a few propositions.
First of all, we must concede that we are not here by accident. Contrary to what the monkeys claim, we are a step higher than them. However, we must also at least accede to the fact that we created our mess. It is possible for us to trace back to where it all began to go wrong. It has never been a perfect world and it was perhaps never meant to be. However, from the very beginning, values have always shaped our relationships. It is also important to note that conflict was always bound to be with us and that the changing dynamics of our environment would naturally create tensions and crises even among blood brothers including Cain and Abel (Gen 4: 8), Abraham and Lot (Gen 13:8) and Joseph and his brothers (Gen 37).
It is evident that with time, individual, family and community life will face new challenges. Meeting the other, the stranger, whether in the course of war or friendship was always bound to pose challenges as yesterday’s friend could become today’s enemy. Processes of interactions with the other were bound to create new tensions especially in the course of giving, taking and accommodation. However, mechanisms of restraint have always been part and parcel of community life as far as the human person is concerned. These were often cast within the context of the community’s totem, rules and codes. Community mechanisms of restraint as well as culture or religion always sought to place the individual below the community although the protection of the individual was often the duty of the community. However, the coming of universal religions and the emergence of the nation state, the subsequent changes of boundaries and the imposition of new cultures led to the shattering of community cohesion. But this is another subject altogether and it will take us away from our topic if we focus too much on these processes. It suffices for the sake of our discussion to merely take note of them. Let us return to the question that we need to try to answer? First, how did we get here and should we negotiate an exit or seek accommodation?
Today, irrespective of where the human person came from and whether we subscribe to Darwinism or Creationism, values have always been the cornerstone, and the guarantee, of community cohesion. Whether as in the Catholic Church, we speak of values as the Four Cardinal Virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance), or we speak of the gifts/fruits of the Holy Spirit (charity, joy, peace, patience, goodness, mildness, faith, modesty, chastity) or whether we speak of the golden rule (do unto others as you would expect them to do unto you) human existence requires some kind of moral anchor to hold it together.
The world is concerned now about how to fix the economy after the meltdown. Popular thinking is that actually the economic meltdown is a symptom not a disease. The real disease, it can be argued, is the moral meltdown. Therefore, it is plausible to argue that the economic meltdown is collateral damage. I do not believe that there is any inevitability about the collapse of values. I believe that we can climb out of the abyss and that indeed, like a recovering addict, we can make a case for the fact that if we turn the corner, we could and should actually have a better society. I therefore wish to make a few suggestions.
First, you might ask how we got into this mess? I think it is important to note that sometimes, the media over-dramatizes things. The truth is that things are not what they seem on the celluloid. There is no need to be nostalgic about the past as if it was an idyllic island of innocence. The Garden of Eden had its own problems when there were only four human beings. What we need are clear mechanism for identifying those values that are eternal and those that are either ephemeral or subject to change and modification by circumstances and communication with others. Love, kindness, neighbourliness, honesty, integrity and honour will continue to be desirable values even when criminals seek to subvert them. We must therefore continue to inculcate them and insist on them as the Holy book says, in season and out of season.
Second, the media is a force for good and it is definitely not to be seen as a force for evil nor should it be held responsible for all our sins. People often say that money is the root of all evils, but, somehow, the lack of it is actually a greater source of evil. What we should do, by regulation and parental guide, is seek to ensure the positive values of the media.
Third, values will continue to shift as a result of the challenges of modernization. With the new gospel of human rights and the role and place of the individual, what seemed like a value yesterday may have to give way to other developments. New laws and legislation regarding the rights of children, the dignity of women, the environment and so on may pose challenges especially if they take us away from what we are used to. However, we must learn to face these realities by opening ourselves up to challenges.
Fourth, many people continue to associate the collapse of values or morality with the declining role of religion in the State. If truth be told, values are not necessarily guaranteed in a theocratic state. On the contrary, it is only a secular state that can guarantee a space for the fruition, interplay and growth of values from the various communities that make up the society. In a plural society therefore, there needs to be enough space for this contestation.
Fifth, parenting must be given pride of place well beyond the drudgery that mothers face in our society. The challenges of managing, balancing a career and motherhood are enormous especially in the kind of society we have where the extended family system poses its own challenges too. We must create a more flexible environment for mothers and ensure that children have an environment that helps to nurture their sense of community.
Finally, with a bit of effort, we could turn the corner, turn away from our bad ways. With some patience, we could clean up our act. Then, at least we can repent, mend our ways, get back our respect and prove that our cousins above have exaggerated out degeneracy. Perhaps.
Reverend Matthew Kukah is the Vicar General, Archdiocese of Kaduna
