Limalenden Longkumer
Mokokchung | August 1
To the ordinary listener, his speech was just another speech delivered by a guest speaker representing an everyday association. But to the conscientious listener, the short speech delivered by Dr. Mar Pongener, president of the Ao Baptist Arogo Mungdang (ABAM) during the ‘prelude’ to the Tsüngremong and State Road Show on July 31 in Mokokchung, contained meanings that were much more than mere words in a speech. He underscored the “beauty, importance and relevance of indigenous Naga culture” in the light of Christian perspective.
Many believed, and still do, that tradition and culture are a set of practices and values that negate the tenets of Christianity, archaic ideas that are contrary and often contradictory to the ideals of Baptist distinctiveness. Rarely does one sees the church being on familiar terms with indigenous Naga culture and traditions.
Perhaps, Pongener is one of the very few church representatives who have openly spoken about the misinterpretations many Naga Christians hold about their own culture. He began his speech with the words, “I would like to bring happy Tsüngremong greetings from Ao Baptist Churches Association,” an unexpected expression that made the conscientious listener lend his ears to his speech. He went on to describe the occasion as “where we come together … and continue to appreciate the beauty of our culture.”
During the course of his speech, he tried to explain how the “annexation of the Naga Hills by the British Government and the introduction of Christianity by the American missionaries” have impacted Naga culture, paving way for change. “This inevitably led to the downplaying of various traditional practices and it ultimately led to the disappearance of certain elements and values from our culture,” he explained. Regretting the loss of “certain elements and values from our culture” in the course of time, Pongener professed the need to “restore certain elements and values from our culture because it represents the primary resource for our social and cultural renewal and for the reconstruction of our society.”
The most striking line that was unexpected from a high profile representative of the church was, “Today, we must try to find the relevant meanings and messages from our culture instead of labeling and dismissing them as heathen practices, devilish and outdated.” After conveying the people Tsüngremong greetings on behalf of ABAM, Pongener elucidating this line could clearly be understood as the church recognizing the hitherto dodged-up fact that not all cultural values and practices are heathen, devilish or outdated.
However, he cautioned with great seriousness that while trying to do this, “we should guard against the dangerous tendency to assimilate animistic elements into Christian faith, because such an intrusion may distort the Gospel truth.”
He further explained that the rediscovery of “certain cultural elements” should not be understood as a revival of traditional culture into Christian tradition but it should be understood as a “method of the interpretation of the Christian message comprehensible in the indigenous and tribal languages and ethos… we must be in a position to differentiate good and bad elements.”
He also said that cultural elements found to be contrary to the values of Christian faith must not be automatically restored in the process. That apart, he continued to reiterate on the importance of indigenous culture. “No matter how society continues to modernize and develop, we need to respect our culture and work to preserve it.” He hoped that the occasion would be a time for all to see the need to restore “certain elements from our culture which can be utilized for the enrichment of our society.” He concluded by saying that Nagas must be willing to break free from the misinterpretations and negative concepts they have held thus far towards their own culture.
