A few winters ago during a seminar hosted by a reputed theological college in Nagaland, one of the key note address was delivered by an elderly Reverend, who had spent most of his life in the North East, more precisely in the Garo hills. If fact, his parents were among the first western missionaries along with Rev. EW Clark to bring the Gospel to this region called the North East. Having been born and raised in the Garo hills, he traveled frequently to what was then known as the Naga Hills; and over the years developed good relations with Naga church leaders.
In the course of his presentation, the elderly Reverend shared his observations. From the encounters and experiences his family had with the Nagas, he came to learn that the belief and practice of values such as honesty, respect, equality, tolerance, forgiveness and sharing were all very much revered and part of the culture; but were however found to be limited and confined to one’s own family, clan, or village.
He stated that such positive and egalitarian values were rarely extended to the perceived ‘other’ – whether clan or village. In other words, he implied, seldom were these values practiced and shared beyond one’s own kin. And therefore, in the initial stages, the role of the churches, he said, were predominately peace missions, with the objective to universalize these positive values with the perceived ‘other.’ In those days, Nagas were predominately organized into village republics – the concept of tribes came later through the British – and so the primary focus of the Church then was to build understanding between village republics.
In some other unrelated event, another senior and respected Reverend made an incisive remark that, Naga Christians generally have a very ‘narrow perception and concrete understanding’ of what salvation means for them.
Today, as we witness and experience the frailty of our socio-political reality and theological roots, one can’t help but recall the profound insights made by these two Reverends. We are currently struggling to overcome the narrow walls of ism and to nurture ideals of inclusiveness and pluralism. Even far more challenging has been our reluctance to engage with faith based issues, especially those which do not necessarily fall under our ‘narrow perception and concrete understanding’ of the Christian faith.
These internal contradictions are issues that need to be confronted, lest they threaten the very foundation of our understanding of the world around us. It is therefore time for Nagas to objectively and critically revisit the core values such as honesty, sharing, respect, forgiveness and to recognize that these values become meaningless, unless it is practiced and lived, not just within but with the perceived other.
As a people it will be prudent to return to the scriptures and realize that to be Christian, means to emulate the revolutionary values and principles that Jesus lived and died for. This implies dismantling the powers, the powers of civil religion, a civil religion that Nagas are so hastily building today.
