Essay On African Traditional Morals

757 Words4 Pages

when one is sick. In a community, a greater number of traditional morals deal with social conduct that involves life of the society at large. African traditional morals put a greater emphasis on the social conduct of the community than the individual. The African view is that the individual exists only because others exist. Therefore, the community may pressure the individual to seek help from the medicine man. Morals are there to keep the society not only alive but living in harmony. People say without morals there would be chaos and confusion. Morals guide people to do what is right and good for their own sake and that of the community and to keep society from disintegration. African cultural morals are not written but are passed on from one generation to another. In general, people do everything possible to follow traditional laws and find it much easier to ignore biblical laws even when they are Christians. From the tribe of the researcher, the Lenje speaking people is a requirement that the dead body …show more content…

A woman is married to her husband and by extension to the community. In reality a woman belongs to the community because of the strong group concept. A widow, therefore, is required to conform to the cultural practices of the society. In death, African traditional beliefs are neither debatable nor negotiable. After a husband dies, the widow, who is viewed as an outsider, cannot make independent decisions. Many decisions are made by brother in-laws including the disposal of family property. People say a woman’s relationship to her husband was bought so the husband’s family takes over on major decisions and the widow is expected to comply. This traditional requirement puts the widow at a disadvantage and is not sympathetic to someone who is going through a time of grief. Traditional requirements for widowers are not as demanding as for

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