MISSIONS AND TABOOS.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—I notice, in your review of Dr. W. H. R. Rivers's Essays on the Depopulation of Melanesia, in your issue of January 6th, that Christian missions are charged with destroying the rigorous system of taboos prevailing in West Africa and other countries, and so letting loose a great number of anti-social vices which formerly came under its ban. It has been my observation in West Africa and elsewhere that it is not so much the missionary who destroys this ban as the march of civilization introduced by the trader who invariably follows the missionary. Ere long the fetish-worshipper begins to doubt the power of his ancient fetishes, and consequently these soon lose their control over him. Not so long ago, in order to guard an open field of vegetables, it was enough for the owner to put a potsherd on a stick and declare it a juju. No one dare molest or steal when this taboo was dis- played, but with enlightenment which came from contact with the outer world this easy method could not restrain evil doers.
What is there to replace this check to anti-social vices which has now lost its controlling influence ? The law ; but the law cannot at present reach everywhere, and can be easily evaded in outlying districts. A new moral code and
a public opinion based thereon, can only effectively replace the taboo and make ordinary life safe and happy. The missionary is working to this end, and he should not be given
the whole blame for the breakdown of ancient means of restraint. He sees the present inability of the old methods to effect this, and works to provide a new and better influence.
Previous page
