Culture and morals are inseparable

Whether or not we have a culture, is easily likened to if we have morals or not. What is our culture? Have the different cultural values of different communities melted into a unitary and modern global culture? The ferocious desire for the latest and ‘fashionable’ trends is all to blame for the ever-increasing moral degradation. It is very hard to identify someone in the street as belonging to a particular culture in the modern world. All you see is similar dress patterns in the most recent trends. For many people, the latest is all that matters not what is appropriate or culturally acceptable. Moreover, with the loss of values as a result of cultural erosion, what is conventionally acceptable regardless of its impact on the social fabric becomes the pious norm. It is amazing how the modern society has become gullible and insensitive to moral consciousness. The ever increasing support for gay marriages as evident by the vociferous calls for the so called ‘gay rights’ is nothing more than a campaign to bend reality and the laws of nature. Cultural imperialism, the domination of one culture over another, is to blame for Africa’s loss of moral fortitude. With the iconic depositaries of our cultures quickly sweeping past the meridian of life, we are left without a scintilla of our traditional heritage to pass to the new generation. Schools can be very important vehicles through which cultural values are passed on to the young. Perhaps, the big question is how to do it. It may sound a bit ridiculous if someone says that we introduce a subject called ‘culture’ in schools. That in a way may be opening Pandora’s Box as examination oriented teaching is always tagged with varied attitudes. Now what? Let us take it upon ourselves to get back to our roots and inculcate that to our siblings and the unborn. I do not mean we start sleeping in ‘nyakatsi’ and wear hides, throw away gas cookers and use firewood. No. We can borrow some life transforming cultural values like science and technology and shun gay marriages and ‘improper’ dress codes. It is also our prerogative to embrace ‘community’ as it is the centre bolt of the African tradition. Let us not pursue capitalistic interests at the expense of unity and good neighbourliness. The author is the Director Of Studies at Nu Vision High School. znyamosi@yahoo.com

Education

Culture and morals are inseparable