Underlying Worldviews

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said

 "changing position on China's claims to the South China Sea

 would shame the country's ancestors, 

while not facing up to infringements of Chinese sovereignty there 

would shame its children."

(see this link for background to the comment related to China building a 3km airstrip on a new man-made island in the South China Sea)

As we develop the "HITES of Success" course for workplaces, helping them to identify and overcome and optimise honour/shame vs guilt/innocence intercultural dynamics, one of the issues we are including is that of identifying the various influences in a 21st Century predominantly honour/shame culture.

While such a culture may have a dominance of honour/shame mindset values, the Western guilt/innocence/individualistic way of thinking has so pervaded the world's business sector, that at first glance this sector 'appears' to function similarly world over.

However, below an appearance of world-wide consistency in Western business principles, is a cultural worldview - a mind-set - a perspective, which is most times vastly different and often directly opposing the Western business practice seen on the surface.

Westerners can be lulled into thinking that all the world is really just like it, except for a few 'minor' differences - especially in the modern cities or among the rich and educated.  But what might be assumed to be 'minor' differences can suddenly become 'major' issues when they emerge.

I couldn't help but notice this very problem not only with the airstrip China is building in the South China Sea but also, when I read a recent news bulletin about a group of tourists who climbed a Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia and posted their group photo on facebook.

The headline stated:

Malaysia arrests nudist foreigner for urinating on Mount Kinabalu before quake

A little further down the article I read:

"In the wake of the disaster, Malaysian social media users and some Sabah officials have focused on the nudists, suggesting their actions angered the spirits and led to the earthquake.

People commented on the photos with scathing comments, and even death threats.
"This will certainly bring misfortune... we can't play with the spirit of the sacred mountain," deputy state chief minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan had told reporters."

This is not a comment by someone still living deep in an isolated jungle somewhere, it was made by a high ranking politician.

The situation is not so different across Africa.

We must recognise that external behaviour does not constitute a worldview change at heart level. 

It is worldview which ultimately has the greatest authority in a person's life.  

Whether missionaries, international business or tourists, we have to realise the dynamics which are at work in the country we enter.

This situation in Malaysia came down to a belief that the 'spirits' were not honoured in the way they should be, and that if the 'spirits' (ie ancestors) are dishonoured there are nasty consequences.

The honour of the ancestors was of utmost importance. 

 The slopes of Kinabalu are the home of the hill tribes of Kadazan Dusun who believe the mountain to be the resting place for spirits of their ancestors and therefore remains sacred to them. Earlier attempts to climb the mountain had been forbidden, as to do so would have disturbed these spirits and incurred their wrath.

   It was only in 1851 that Sir Hugh Low led an expedition up the mountain. A compromise with the locals was reached and a sacrifice to appease the spirits was made at the halfway point. This spot was named Panar Laban, a Dusun word meaning 'Place of Sacrifice'. The local guide sacrificed a white cockerel and seven eggs to appease the mountain spirits and is perform annually to this day The name 'Kinabalu' is derived from the Kadazan Dusun words 'Aki Nabalu' - where 'Aki' literally means 'ancestor' and 'nabalu' is the word for 'mountain' - thus, the sacred resting place of the ancestral spirits

The fear of what happens if the 'spirits' are dishonoured, is what ultimately guides a person's reasoning.  Appeasing/honouring the ancestors is of highest priority.  And if foreigners ignore, disregard, dishonour or disrespect such beliefs, there are bound to be consequences that come from local people. Another on-line article about the event quoted a local authority: "They (the tourists) have no respect for local beliefs.  It is only appropriate they be punished for disrespecting and breaking local native laws".

"They (the tourists) have no respect for local beliefs. It is only appropriate they be punished for disrespecting  and breaking local native laws." - See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/tourists-who-allegedly-angered-mt-kinabalu-spirits-to-be-charged-in-sabah-n#sthash.NvVtWHNv.dpuf

"They (the tourists) have no respect for local beliefs. It is only appropriate they be punished for disrespecting  and breaking local native laws." - See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/tourists-who-allegedly-angered-mt-kinabalu-spirits-to-be-charged-in-sabah-n#sthash.NvVtWHNv.dpuf

Despite a degree of 'Westernisation' on one level, there is much below the surface that is very 'non-Western'.

Whether its a modern looking tourist resort or a Western looking business/building or a church in Africa using microphones and keyboards, the 'Western' appearances don't automatically mean there is a worldview change occurring.

And....its the worldview through which even those in the church 'hear' and interpret the gospel.

Or as David J Hesselgrave puts it in his article on Worldview and Contextualisation from the "Perspectives on the World Christian Movement" (1992/C-45)

 "From a communication point of view it is imperative that we analyze the worldview of our respondent cultures.  It is in the context of these worldviews that our message will be decoded and evaluated."  

One of our main goals in ministry is to help both locals as well as international missionaries and business people realise that its 'worldview' and 'internal values' that are the most important, and will be what emerges in 'crunch' situations.  Helping folk to understand what a worldview is and how internal values are developed, lays a foundation for also helping them to understand that behaviour only truly changes when worldviews change.

Who it is, that a person believes deserves highest honour, has wide ranging impact!