Historicity and creative responsibility
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| Wake Jeo Gerbi |
The concept of
theology of hope has its origin in the 1980s when it was formulated
by Jurgen Moltmann, who believed that Christian hope is something
that we start to experience on the earth, it is not only a hope after
death. Jurgen’s book entitled the theology of hope was first
written in German. The book was translated in to English and
published in 1976. Jurgen was very popular for reinstating the
doctrine of Christian hope in academic discussion. The theme of his
book was connected to the turmoil of 1960s to introduce Christian
hope to the post-war victims. He asserted that Christians hope starts
on the earth.
Historicity and
creative responsibility in this article are used to illustrate that
the Oromo people had been consolidated their unity to protected their
country from their enemies for centuries until the Abyssinian
colonizers annexed Oromia in 1890s and the bitter sacrifices the
Oromo people have been paying to end the Abyssinian colonial power in
Oromia. The ultimate sacrifices paid by the Oromo heroes
and heroines
have resurrected the Oromo culture, language and history
which were buried
by colonizers history.
Indeed, the Oromo heroes and heroines
have been igniting the devouring
fire of Oromummaa.
Since the Oromo
people have been experiencing political, economic and cultural
exclusion under the Abyssinian colonialism, it is important to
develop a theology that gives hope for the Oromo people. Therefore, I
endeavor to contextualize the theology of hope to the Oromo national
struggle for national self-determination. This theology aims to
reconstruct the past and present history of the Oromo people national
struggle for freedom and democracy and connect it to the future hope
of the people. It connects the people to the spirit of the times. It
geared up on two ideas that
have
religious and political connotation.
First, I
establish the concept of this theology of hope in the Oromo political
context based on bible in 1 Peter (1:3) which says, “Praise be to
the God…! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a
living hope...” This verse starts with eschatology not with
creation. This verse also starts with Jesus resurrection from the
dead as we can see it in the previous verse. It demonstrates that the
theology of hope focus on the Christian hope in the process right
now, in the process of fulfillment. In this regard, the idea of hope
in the process of fulfillment is a crucial point where theology of
hope gets room in the Oromo national struggle for national
self-determination. Waaqayyoo
(God), who created and sustains the world, gives hope for his people.
This hope is not confined in the church.
Waaqefannaa
and Islam give hope of freedom for the oppressed. Waaqeffataa
and Muslim accept Supreme Being holds the highest status. Waaqayyoo
who gives mercy and hope for the oppressed is the central focus of
Christianity, Waaqeffannaa
and Islam. They accept that God is the creator, all knowing,
powerful, invisible, and everlasting.
These
religions teach that God will set free the marginalized. God likes
people to live in freedom and he gives them hope.
Likewise,
the
statement of the first African theologians on the conference in 1966
indicates that God is for all people. He is the God who gives hope
for the unprivileged. Mbiti (1989 b: 61) stated that the first
African Theologian’s conference was held in Ibadan on the theme of
“Biblical Revelation and African Belief”. A consensus was reached
“that God whom African religion acknowledges is the same God as in
the Bible”. The participants unanimously expressed this in the
following statement:
We
believe that God and the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…
has been dealing with humankind at all times and in all parts of the
world. It is with this conviction that we study the rich heritage of
our African people and we have evidence that they know God
[Waaqayyoo]
and worship God. We recognize the radical quality of God’s
self-revelation in Jesus Christ… This knowledge of God is not
totally discontinuous with our people’s precious traditional
knowledge of God.
Second, the
sacrifices the Oromo people have been making in the fight against the
Abyssinian colonialism and to reinvent their independent state gave
hope for the futurity of Oromia. The role which has been played by
the Oromo heroes and heroines can be seen as one of the backbones of
the theology of hope in the Oromo national struggle for national
self-determination. Undeniably, their contributions make the Oromo to
become attached to
their
past, present and future histories. It is important to remember that,
today,
because of the unforgettable sacrifices they paid to resuscitate
Oromummaa
from the trashcan of Ethiopianism many Oromo people are able to say
boldly, ‘I am Oromo and Oromia is my country.’ If
the Oromo heroes and heroines had not played a role, this chapter
would have been meaningless. The Oromo people should take this
seriously and stand firm to go forward together following the
footsteps of those living dead heroes and heroines.
The legacies of
our heroes and heroines teach the Oromo people to say, ‘NO’ to
the TPLF-led Ethiopian government’s false ideologies that
fabricated a demand to abandon the Oromo demand for statehood.
This article
explains that the Oromo have a strong history. The Oromo themselves
direct their destiny and shape their history. The article
demonstrates that the theology of hope urges active and peaceful
participation of every able-bodied Oromo in the Oromo national
struggle for freedom and democracy in order to end colonial power and
bring peace and hope for all in Oromia. Considering the Oromo
experiences of struggle for freedom, justice and peace in the past
and present, I argue that liberation is not beyond the Oromo’s
reach.
Courage in the Oromo History
The distinctively
Oromo safuu
(ethical and moral code) of responsibility means that we must never
forget that historicity of the Oromo people struggle for freedom,
peace and democracy is an essential dimension of the Oromo existence.
Like any society,
the Oromo people’s experiences always mediate the passage from the
past into their future. The current national movement for national
self-determination of the Oromo people truly indicates the increasing
identity awareness of the people both in Oromia and in the Diaspora.
It also proves the strong desire of the people for freedom is
galvanizing the Oromo from different walk of life. This movement,
indeed, evidences that the double challenges: external and internal
political crisis they have been experiencing can bring creative
direction to what the Oromo have learned from the past as their
common heritage. Nevertheless, this is only possible if the Oromo as
the whole and particularly the political and religious leaders are
willing to accept the challenge of the present Oromo political trauma
and the expectation of the future, they act responsibly and are
creative.
I would like to
strongly express my view that to stick to the status quo with its
false security is to obstruct the history of the Oromo people. I dare
to express this because there is no way to begin the Oromo ethical
and religious existence outside of the Oromo people common
past
histories
and their present histories. Reinhold, Niebur (1960: 112, 124)
support this argument. He states that human beings can get knowledge
from history. This is true for the Oromo people. As moral beings, the
Oromo can learn from their past and present histories, and this helps
them to receive the capacity to reflect critically on the past and
present situation and to meet history consciously, gratefully and
critically for the futurity of Oromia. It is very important to know
and consider for the apolitical Oromo and some Oromo religious and
political actors to deceive the Oromo people to ignore their past
histories and remain under the Abyssinian colonial yoke is not
acceptable. In addition the entire Oromo people should also know that
the propaganda of the Abyssinian either political or religious actors
to preach the Oromo to forget their past history and start new life
from now under the umbrella of Ethiopiansim
is just delicacy and malicious. The Abyssinian colonizers do not want
to recognize or ask apology for the wrong they have done against the
Oromo people since they colonized Oromia, yet they preach the message
to forget it and be passive when they are exploiting human and
natural resources in Oromia, killing Oromo students and
intellectuals, and evicting tens of thousands of the Oromo farmers
from their ancestral farm lands and setting it to foreign investors
with cheap price or give it to their cabinets. Accepting slavery is
not the will of Waaqayyoo.
It is godly to refuse oppression.
The Oromo people
need religious actors who can nurture unity, tolerance and who can
make their voice heard through nonviolent struggle. Certainly,
freedom from Abyssinian atrocities needs creative response that
emanated from the Oromo’s past and present histories. The response
should come from every Oromo individuals. As far as Oromia is under
Abyssinian colonialism the Oromo people automatically insert into the
history of colonization and this makes the Oromo to consider their
past, present and future histories and put all their powers together
to strengthen non-violent struggle for freedom of Oromia in which
everybody will enjoy equal rights and share equal responsibilities
with indigenous people. The Oromo people will get nowhere without
unity to destroy century lasting Abyssinian colonialism to reinvent
Oromia in which all will live in peace. It is similar to what
P.Tillich (1960: 32) said about Christian hope. He argued that there
is no way that Christians reach eternity except the precious gift of
Jesus of history. Likewise, in openness to the present, the Oromo can
come creatively in contact with the state they demand, which reaches
the Oromo people out of the past and leads them into freed Oromia in
which the Oromo generation will live without fear of colonizers’
bullets. In no other way, can the Oromo people reach out their
destiny except their past, present, and future histories. Those who
sing that the Oromo people should forget their past histories and
start new life under the Ethiopian colonial Empire which TPLF
attempted to reinvent by the name of fake federalism in which
political and economic power failed and suffered in the hands of
Neo-Yohannesites, should know that the past connected to present and
present is connected to future. There is no society without past
experience. There is no society which predict about it futurity
without reflecting on it present experience.
The
Oromo People have a Past and Present Colonial Memory
Naturally, human
beings experiences are mediation of the past and into the future. It
is not different with the Oromo people. The Oromo people’s
achievements and failures of the past in their national struggle for
national self-determination come to them through their culture and
through the whole formation of the Oromo collective memory. As
individuals and as communities, the Oromo gain their creativity and
freedom through their memory of the past. On top of that the
questions, how, why, when, where, whom, and who to interpret the past
memory and relate it to the present struggle to end the Abyssinian
colonialism, also plays a significant role for the freedom of Oromia
which has already begun. By this creativity and freedom the Oromo can
overcome obstacles that are set by the colonizers and their
collaborators, and they can also inherit the achievements which
creative liberty has invested in the past.
The TPLF ruling
elite’s propaganda message, that the Oromo should forget their past
history under the Ethiopian Empire as it has never happened and start
new life does not work. The Oromo people clearly know that their
history did not start with the TPLF led dictatorial regime that took
political power in 1991. The Oromo have a history spanning centuries
in Oromia and they have at least a century of experience of the
Abyssinian colonial rule. In addition the Oromo also know that TPLF
is exploiting human and natural resources in Oromia, killing,
torturing, imprisoning thousands of Oromo nationalists is ruling
over them by force.
In the Oromo
culture there is moral principle of time which guides them to react
or act against the past and the present where and when it is needed.
The Oromo people are the subject of their histories under Abyssinian
colonial ruling elites. Their cosmic philosophy teaches that the past
can affect the present and the future. The Bible (Isa 57:15; Heb 13:
8; 1 John 2:17) also teaches that Waaqayyoo
is God of the past, present and future. Waaqayyoo
is God of history. It is only human beings who are created in the
image of Waaqayyoo
and have capacity to rethink, reconstruct and reinterpret history.
Hence, I argue that the memory of the past and balanced judgment
together are the forces of creativity that conduct a constant battle
against the influence of the past colonial atrocities and their
present human rights violation in Oromia. Of course, the Oromo memory
gives to many a new meaning and new direction to the current Oromo
horrific political situation under the TPLF regime. To the extent
that the colonizers exploit Oromia and to the extent the Oromo people
continue to struggle for the freedom, the Oromo will determine the
way to create a free Oromia.
Future Oromia has already begun
The Oromo
cultural memory is a source of their present activity. The Oromo
never celebrate the memory of their heroes and heroines without
thinking about the reason why their heroes and heroines sacrificed
themselves in order to inspire a hopeful and creative response to the
Oromo national struggle for national self-determination. The legacies
of those who perished for the sake of Oromia can guide the Oromo
people to realize the weight of the Abyssinian colonial yoke on the
shoulders of the Oromo. This legacy challenges the present Oromo
national struggle and the possibility to emancipate the Oromo. The
idea of the kingdom of God can be used as good illustration here. The
reign of the kingdom of God has already begun and it is in the
historical process. It has both present and future relevance.
The past memory,
which unites the living Oromo with the living memory of dead Oromo
heroes and heroines, supports the development of nationalism and
recognition of their history. This spark ignites the Oromo people
national struggle for national self-determination. This kind of
prophetic spiritual connection helps the Oromo to communicate with
those who perished for the sake of freedom of their people and to
understand their feelings and loves for the nation. It helps them to
reflect on them critically in relation to the current Oromo political
situation. The Oromo people are struggling to end Tigrayan-led
Ethiopian brutal and oppressive government in Oromia. Indirectly, the
Oromo people are in the battlefield against the tremendous domestic
and international support which the TPLF receives to exploit the
resources of Oromia. Oromia is under an unacceptable regime of
systematic exploitation. Even though it has been suffering from
external and internal problems, the talk about the Oromo national
struggle for national self-determination is being heard from Oromo in
almost all walks of life. Now it seems that even a new born Oromo
baby’s first cry is ‘Oromia’, ‘Oromia’. The past memory
connects them to the present and the future.
The determination
of the Oromo heroes and heroines to fight against injustice in Oromia
gives the Oromo people hope of freedom. This hope is not a mere hope.
It is a hope of emancipation from colonialism which can and should be
an energizing attitude, the bringing of part of the joy about some
future event into the present so that, by anticipation, the Oromo are
more alive and more able to act in the present to reach their
destiny, freedom from all these kinds of colonization. The colonizers
still need Oromia but they do not need the Oromo people. As a result
of this the Oromo are determined to join life or death struggle for
their Waaqayyoo
given freedom as I have mentioned elsewhere in this book.
Aptitude of the Past Experience and Present MomentThe Oromo proverb says, ‘Namni kaleesa isaa hin beeknee fi borii isaa hin yaadnee, har’a isaas hin beeku’. This roughly translated as, ‘One who does not know his past and who does not think about his future, does not know his present’. This proverb illustrates that the past experience radiates an incredible amount of emotion on the present and the future makes it all more challenging. In other words, hope for the future is hidden in the present opportunities. Future hope is formed and born of the present. The past and the future are precious things in the Oromo national struggle for national self-determination. Their past memories help the Oromo to recall their experiences under Abyssinian colonialism. These experiences lead to ask the question why the Oromo continue to live as a colony. It also helps to fix their eyes on that very clear goal of liberation of the Oromo people and examine how they are working and learning from their failures and from others to reach their goal.
Therefore, the
past and the future are valuable. They provoke the creativity of the
Oromo people to overcome the political trauma which the colonizers
placed on their shoulders. The past cast lights on the present and
the future makes it all the more challenging. Thus the Oromo people
should use the present opportunities that lead them to their
independent state with their maximum effort, knowing that future
Oromia is formed and born of the present national movement. The Bible
gives metaphorical or allegorical advice that relates to the
discussion. It teaches us to sow the seed now hoping that it will
give fruit (Ecclesiastes 11:6). Naturally, the farmer gets the
multiplied seeds or fruits of the same type seed he sow. Likewise,
the Oromo people struggle for freedom will never end up with
remaining under Abyssinian colonial reign but it will be accomplished
with the independent state, Oromia.
I argue that
theology of hope in the context of the Oromo national struggle for
national self-determination gives zero guarantees for spiritual
megalomania and nausea that blindly expect Waaqayyoo
to directly come down from heaven to punish the oppressors and
reinvent Oromia. Rather, this theology urges the apolitical Oromo
Christians and the entire Oromo people to continue the non-violent
struggle to fight against injustice to bring justice and peace for
all.
History confirms
that, since they annexed Oromia in the 1890s, the Abyssinian ruling
elites have been using violence to subdue the Oromo people (Markakis
1998, Lewis 1996, Baxter et al. 1996, Bulcha 2011 and 2005, Jalata
1993 and 2007, Senbeto et al. 1998/2005, Legesse 2005 and 2007).
The Abyssinians’
use of violence to exploit the resources in Oromia and violation of
human rights is a challenge to the Oromo people as to choose between
violence and nonviolence, between evil and good or lesser evil and
greater evil. As I have discussed in detail in chapter six and seven,
if the aim of the struggle is to end injustice, to help the
oppressed, to punish evil and to bring peace for all and indeed not
to avenge, some violence is unavoidable. In this regard, it is vital
to distinguish what violence is and is not. In fact, it is violence
for the one who want to exploit others’ interests to be confronted.
On the other side, it is not violence for those who attempt to punish
evil and bring justice and peace for all. For instance, what Jesus
accomplished on the cross is perfect and legitimate for me. Jesus
mercilessly pushed His chief enemy, Satan and He gave me spiritual
freedom which has social and political meaning and implication.
Certainly, Jesus did not give me only spiritual freedom nor made me
subject to colonialism. Rather He gives me spiritual and political
freedom that should be practiced in everyday life. It is my duty to
exercise my rights to ensure that I am created to live in freedom,
not to be enslaved. On the other side, for Satan, what Jesus has done
on the cross is an unacceptable violence since he (Satan) lost his
interest and power to rule over those who were under his influence
(Matt 8). No matter how his interest is morally supported or not, no
one remains passive when his interest seemed to be taken away or
snatched from him.
Some scholars
argued that Jesus was violent and aggressive. For instance, Ellens
(2004) described Jesus as a violent and aggressive according the
narrative about his cleansing the temple and chasing out those who
had selling and buying in the temple (Matth 21). Also, he argued that
Jesus spoke aggressively to His mother Mary at the wedding in Cana
(Luke 8). Moreover, Ellens contended that Jesus rebuked Peter
violently (Mark 8).
Likewise, many
Abyssinian colonial ruling elites and writers often consider the
Oromo struggle for freedom and justice as violence and often attempt
to defile Oromo history. It is not surprising that one’s own
freedom fighter is one’s own enemy. Nonetheless, in reality,
colonization is violence. On the contrary, liberation is a godly
thing and gives hope for the unprivileged and oppressed. The
combination of these two terms; colonization and liberation needs
further dialogue with regard to the emancipation of the Oromo people
from the Abyssinian oppression, which is must, by whatever means the
Oromo deem necessary.
The Oromo people
should continue an uninterrupted peaceful struggle against the
Abyssinian colonial rule in Oromia. Oromia should be a country in
which everybody enjoys equal rights. It is also important to know
that our opponents have equally inviolable
and unalienable
dignity
with
us.
This
theology teaches the Oromo people that they and the colonizers have
equal inviolable and unalienable dignity. Indeed, it depicts that the
Oromo nation lacks freedom, and view of the futurity of Oromia. It is
a theological prophetic voice that tenderly comforts the people that
Oromia is in making. Bulcha (2011:
656) supports this argument and asserted that “The Oromo nation is
a reality and the Oromo state is in making”. Moreover, it is not
false comfort and hope. It awakes the apolitical Oromo not to allow
themselves to be lulled into sleep by the sweet promises of the TPLF
propaganda of bogus democracy which is keeping the Oromo people in a
situation of exploitation, injustice and poverty and to await for
Waaqayyoo
to make all things new. It urges the oppressed people to work on
their God given freedom everywhere and every time. The theology of
hope encourages the Oromo people that they are the power of
themselves that can emancipate them. Rather it challenges the entire
Oromo people to think critically and reflect on the past, present and
the future so that the Oromo national struggle for national
self-determination will be achieved. And this will bring the sorrow
and agony of the colonized people to an end before our eyes.
In
short, Democratic Republic of Oromia is already, but not yet.
Waaqayyoo
bless Oromia!
*Wake Jeo Gerbi: *The author is currently studying a dual masters degree program in Theology (MA) and in Society and Global Issues at the Norwegian School of Theology and can be reached at waktheophilaw@gmail.com
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