Social and Cultural conflicts in the Colonial Society

Social and Cultural conflicts in the Colonial Society

Introduction

It is an indisputable fact that the European culture and those of the colonies they ruled had a significant difference. This is taking into consideration the imperialistic nature of the European nations in the colonial era. In this case, the attempt that existed in creating and maintaining unequally established relationships in the modes of civilization caused the difference. This comes with the idea of the perception that a more powerful civilization has the favor. This means that the Europeans had the perception that their cultures were far much superior to the less civilized nations. The nations on the other hand in the quest to protect the culture that they believed was right and not blending into the western culture brought the heat in the conflicts.

Taking a case in the difference in the religious systems that existed. It goes without saying that wherever there is an existence of two distinct religious systems, conflict would always exist. This is in terms of the ideologies and the socio-religious characters that arise in the two systems. The western culture demanded the acceptance of Jesus Christ and a God who lived in heaven as the creator and controller of the universe and had a divine power. Sharing the same doctrines to traditional culture that had a completely different way of view in religion was the bone of contention.

The mode of worship, that is the way of expressing feelings towards the divine power was so different. The traditional religion included worship of a supreme being through divinities and minor gods that would even include objects. Traditional worship places included built shrines. On the other hand, western culture professed Christianity which involves worshipping God directly through songs and prayers in a church. The traditional worship practices such as blood sacrifices, twin killing, and human sacrifices were greatly condemned by Christianity. The traditional worshippers deep in their consciousness had it that whatever they did was right to please their gods.

Another source of conflict that existed was in the aspect of witchcraft, charms, and sorcery. The traditional society had that any wrong that came up in a family or a person’s welfare was caused by someone. In this situation, someone would be suspected and accused of using witchcraft or magic against the individual or the family. The only way to terminate the sufferings was to appease the gods to eliminate the evil forces The forces are believed to be true by the and in most cases cause a lot of fear to the people. The western culture, that is Christianity differs from the belief that witchcraft affects people and community sufferings. The colonialists condemned magic and anyone who was suspected to be in the delusion of such would be arrested. This is because colonialists advocated for Christianity that believed prayers were the only way to solve problems among the people.

Another area of conflict in colonial society was the initiation rites that were conducted in some cultures. Some traditional cultures dictated the initiation of youths to masqueraded cults that the European culture vehemently opposed. They were considered heathenish and did not conform to the doctrines of Christianity. The Christian doctrines had no rites of passage and only demanded an individual be baptized as an infant or later in life. This created intense feuds as the colonialists coerced the people to join their way of life that did not conform to theirs

In conclusion, the social and cultural differences in the colonial society developed into a civil struggle with the given ideological differences. That is, between the colonialists and the traditional cultur