WEEK 3 : Religions and Superstitious

• Karl Marx once commented that 'religion is the opium of the people'. Do you agree with him? In the case of Umuofia, do you think their native religion stunts their development? Is the 'new' religion seen as a way of bringing development to Umuofia?
  
  Apart from religion, superstitions play an important part in the Ibo culture. Do you have your own sets of superstitions which you find difficult to discard?
  The following points can help you as you write your reflective post on the role of religion and superstition in the novel and in your life:
  ·                     Analyse how superstitions and religions play in the life described in the  novel. 
  ·                     Do superstitious beliefs and religion affect the development of a country? How?
  ·                     How does one's beliefs affect the nation in terms of politics and culture?

NUR SAFAWANIE BINTI MOHD. SYAHRIL

Karl Marx once commented that 'religion is the opium of the people'. He implied that people are anxious and worried, but they feel better about the future after they've gone to church and gotten a weekly sermon, even though they are (according to Marx) being sold a fantasy of an afterlife in exchange for their financial support now. The church administered its sermons like a pusher administers a drug to his junkies, in Marx's view. I am agreed with him because every time we are hesitating we will go the mosque or church (depends on the religion) to seek peace.

In the case of Umoufia, I think their native religion stunts their development. This is because they believed in superstitious that prevent them from developing. For example they will not go out at night because at that time, the evil spirit was everywhere. How can Umoufia develop if they only work in the morning? Besides, whenever villagers have questions about the source of their misfortune or the future, they consult the oracle and learn the answer through its priestess. They will listen to the priestess, not their own thought.  By doing so, they are not developing their thinking. Other than that, Igbo people also believed that the twins bring bad luck to the parent. So, they will be left in the Evil forest to die. This kind of superstitious will not bring the Igbo people anywhere. They keep killing the innocent twins. Hence, the society will not develop.

Based on my reading throughout the novel, I believed that the ‘new religion’ bring development to Umoufia. The religion does not allow anyone to kill and whenever someone did a crime, they will be judged fairly by considering their reason. Besides, the new religion also exposes the Igbo people to education. With education, they can develop themselves and their country.

As for me, I don’t have any superstitious that I can hardly discard because when grow older, we will realize what is wrong and what is right. 

SITI AMERAH BINTI RAMLI

According to Karl Marx, “Religion is the opium of the people”. It means that religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. Somehow, I do agree with his statement as religion actually gives support, help and protection to the people. When someone is in despair, they seek peace from God.

In the novel Things Fall Apart, the superstitions and religions can be seen widely among the people in Umofia. They extremely believe in superstitions and have so much faith in their religion until it has stunted their development. For example, they afraid of night time (except on the moonlight nights) because they think that it is the time when the evil spirits come out. Because of that, they probably won’t be out of the house during that time even though it is necessary to do so. Other than that, they also believe that twins must be desecrated and disposed of in the sacred forest. It is not a good thing as they actually have sinned by doing so.

It showed that superstitious beliefs and religion has affected the development of the country. There are things that they should not do but they have to because of their beliefs such as the killing of the twins. As a matter of fact, it caused them to lose more people in the society without knowing that the twins which they had killed can actually bring some benefits towards the people. Apart from that, I agree that the ‘new’ religion is a way of bringing development to Umofia. One of the proofs is when they built the church in the Evil Forest which was said to be a cursed land. Instead of getting cursed, it managed to develop the ‘new’ religion among the society.

In my opinion, there are no sets of superstitions which I found hard to discard in my culture. Before, I used to avoid clipping nails at night. But, now I realized that the real reason of that belief is because during the past, they did not have electricity. So, it was dangerous to clip nails at night because of the darkness. Through times, the superstitions also faded as I managed to think logically about it. 

ROSMAN BIN DRAHMAN

Karl Marx once said that "Religion is the opium of the people". I totally agree with his statement. I understand, that religion gives support, help and protection in the face of God. On the other hand, religion is used in bad ways by some people. Marx wanted to show us that religion has a great power over people. Although religion is hope, faith and belief in sacred for people, it also causes conflicts between different religious, controls people and kill individuals.

In the case of Umuofia, i think that their native religion had stunted their development because of their superstitious belief. From chapter 2, the villagers afraid to come out during night. They believe that night is the time where evil spirits come out. Because of this belief, even the tough and bravest people in the village area afraid to come out. Besides, they also believe that the all the dangerous animal become more sinister and wild during night. Because of this belief they only hunting during day only. They scared to hunting during night. Because of their native religious, their development will never develop.

Based on my understanding about the novel, their "new religion" had bring a lot of changes to Umuofia. One of the changes is the build of the school. Children in Umuofia will be more educated and be able to think wisely because of school that had been built. Besides, because of the "New" religion, Igbo people are able to think which is right and which is wrong. Before arrival of "new" religion, Igbo people always kill twin. They think twin will be brings bad luck to the family. However, after the arrival of the "new" religion, they can keep and take care their twins.

In my opinion, there are no sets of superstitions which I found hard to discard in my culture. Before, i had been taught by my parent that i should not study or reading  during night without light. My parent will tell that my eyes will be blind by evil spirit. But now, i had realized that they told me like that just because they does not want my eyes to be get a sore eyes. For me, all the superstitious that had been told to us is just to prevent us to do something that will gives a bad effects to us. 

HASFIYAH BTE ASSAN

1.    Analyse how superstitions and religions play in the life described in the novel.

The people of the Ibo village have many strong superstitions that they believe in.There is the belief of ogbanje, which are wicked children who usually die at an early. The Week of Peace is the week before the people of the village start to plant their crops, such as yams. It is called the Week of Peace because they believe that you have to be nice to everyone and not use any violence at all. Also, no work would be done during this week. All people did was to talk with their neighbours and drink palm-wine to relax. By doing so, then it will bring good luck for a good crop season. However, if someone were to break the rule of the Week of Peace, then there will come a bad crop season, and most of the crops will die. There is also the Oracle of the Hills and the caves in which the oracle is called Agbala. The Agbala is a woman who then gets possessed by the spirit when the people come to consult the oracle. When people have troubles or anything, they may travel to the oracle and ask for advice. The people will usually listen to everything that the oracle says because they believe that it is very wise. The Evil Forest is a forest near the village in which the people believe all of the bad spirits live. If someone bad dies, their body is usually put in the evil forest. Then, their spirits are believed to roam around the forest. For example, you committed a sin, such as killing yourself, and then your body would be buried in the evil forest. Also, if you were to kill yourself, the people of the village would refuse to touch your body because you committed such an unthinkable sin. They believe the body should be respected, and for you to kill yourself would be one of the worst things you could do. They would have to have someone from another place to remove your body. The Ibo people firmly believe in all of their passed down superstitions.

2.    Do superstitious beliefs and religion affect the development of a country? How?

            Numerous superstitions continue in human society. For example, in Western societies, Friday is an unlucky day and thirteen is an unlucky number. Contrarily, Friday is an auspicious day to Muslims and Hindus. Similarly, crossing of black cat on one’s path is bad omen in Western countries and India. But, it is a good omen in Egypt. Thus, the kind of superstitions varies from country to country. All superstitions are harmful since they inactivate the reasoning capacity of human beings. Secondly, they arrest human endeavour and initiative. Thirdly they make people waste their energy, time and money in worthless rituals and ceremonies. There things lead to decline and decay of civilization. So, we have to be vigilant and guard ourselves against the superstitions. If this continues, the people who live in the country will leave behind than the other developed country. This is because they still believe the superstitious beliefs that brings them nothing.

3.    How does one’s belief affect the nation in terms of politics and culture?

        All religious beliefs and practices may seem superstitious to the person without religion. Superstitions that belong to the cultural tradition are enormous in their variety. Nearly all persons, in nearly times, have held, seriously, irrational beliefs concerning methods of warding off ill or bringing good, foretelling the future, and healing and preventing sickness and accidents. Even people who claim they have no superstitions are likely to do a few things they cannot explain. A superstition is a behaviour that has no rational basis or history or a history that is long-lost. A few specific folk traditions, such as beliefs in the evil eye or in the efficacy of amulets, have been found in most periods of history and in most parts of the world. Others may be limited to one country, region or village, to one family, or to one social group.