Ha! White Settlers were Gods!
Take that Obeyesekere! - Pacific Islanders aren't rational.
In other news the London Prodigal has had time on his hands. While scouring the internet he came across an application that allowed him to represent any world power throughout history. Naturally enough he chose 15th Century Montenegro - the Montenegrin Empire now stretches from Vienna to Kashmir. Various Sunni insurgencies have been quelled and missionaries are at this moment converting her different peoples to the Orthodox Church.
5 comments:
Strong words from the London Prodigal. However, compared to most world religions this 'cargo cult' is fairly rational. They have a faith based on historical event and realistic rewards, not contradictory source texts and theological nitpicking.
I like the sound of this Frum malchick. I must, however, take issue with you, Ham. Christianity is based on an historical event: the existence of Jesus Christ is likely to have been as real as that of John Frum, and it is equally unlikely that either will return to us. I will concede that certain of JC's biographical details are questionable - but any more questionable than the assertion that a '30s ghost was responsible for US troop movements. Think before you open your beak next time.
...in fact, John Frum did not exist. He was an apparition. Which makes my point all the more compelling.
A swing and a miss from Dogtooth, whose ability to miss the point almost matches his ability to consume over the counter medicine. I was not trying to advocate John Frumism as the faith of the future, just pointing out that it's a little silly for us to make fun of Pacific Islanders and their beliefs when our head of state is compelled by law to believe that when we die our 'souls' will be ushered into heaven entirely thanks to the execution of a carpenter two thousand years ago.
The point is Obeyesekere's argument was that the rationale of the Pacific Islanders (in his particular study the Hawaiians) was the same as that of Westerners. It stems from the disputed history that the Native Hawaiians treated Captain Cook as a God upon meeting him. Obeyesekere believed that this was jingoistic and that not only was the story unfounded but that the Hawaiians having a rationality similar to ours wouldn't believe a stranger to be a God. In fact in his opinion the story was reaffirming Western held beliefs of superiority over other peoples.
Well if the Vanuatuans can believe that John Frum was a God then the Hawaiians could well believe that Captain Cook was a God. Thus they lack the universal rationality that Obeyesekere believes all peoples share.
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