Riku Khutso
Much of the corruption that we quote today are invented traditions from the family lineage or home itself. We are living in a time where people mindfully ignore the moral principles, the enlightenment ethos and the basic Christian mores. However, in order to trace the root cause for most of these oblivious attitudes, primarily we need to critically observe the base level- family or home. Much of what could be wrong and unwanted or contradictory to the accepted cultural ideals are apparently handed down from the basic institution.
Let us take for example the genuine date of birth that is widely distorted and manipulated by many parents time and again. Perhaps in our part of the world, this has become so popular a trend that most of us don’t consider it a mistake or for that matter even unusual. Some people does it to include their children in the electoral voters list before proper time- in the villages commonly; some do it in order to secure maximum service time in the government sector by altering their children’s academic records and inserting the minimal possible age, etcetera. Thus, the ambiguity and complexity of a person’s identity becomes ostensible when the church has a record, the office says another and the school has a different documentation. So next time you meet somebody, ask them separately the Official age, Church age, Voter age and so forth. Many do have that.
But this is wrong! Wrong for the very fact that a child’s ‘genuine’ date of birth is distorted ‘consciously’ and ‘mindlessly’ with fabricated data for selfish and unscrupulous purposes. Strict sense of the term, it is forgery in the first place. And thus in the light of the modern law, it is a crime and deserves punishment and penalty. Secondly, as Christians we have greater moral obligations and commitments to attend for that matter. Furthermore, in the discourse of modernity and time, morality and ethics are always basic and fundamental ideals. The parents have to bear the moral responsibility for much of the ‘child system-corruption’ because of the very reason that, children are ostensibly too young to understand conscience and morality when it got altered. Thus, the distorted gets documented and validated officially and to reverse it on realisation at certain point of time would prove illegal and invalid. What a paradox? Hence, to describe it simply, people generally are modern in look yet still primitive and pre-modern in ideals and values.
Ridiculous enough that some people take the Church as different and the official as something else. Many have, ‘we ought to be right in and for the church but for the government and secular circles it’s alright,’ kind of mentality. While preaching one would say it is wrong nevertheless in private milieu it’d be right on its own conditions and terms on the contrary. Then how do we explain this? When we expect that morals and ethos are simply priced or paid for in the form of salary and popularity, then it’s impossible for trust and faithfulness to prevail. Many people have this approach in our society. We ought to underscore the very fact of ‘Christian Living’ and ‘Christian Home’ before what is material culture or popular trend. Let your children not have the ‘sick conscience’ and experience ‘embarrassing moments’ and similar spectre that could haunt them when they grow up. Beware!
To apply logic, much of these unhealthy and immoral invented traditions are home-made and thus it ought to stop right from home itself. The fact that home is the most fitting place to influence and inculcate the popular human values and knowledge system in children will always remain uncontested.
Nip in the bud, else their tribe would increase.
