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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 January 2013
Western scholars studying post-conflict truth and reconciliation commissions often presuppose a sharp divide between interpersonal and social forgiveness and reconciliation. This leads some to question and critique commissions that seek to promote forgiveness and reconciliation at both the interpersonal and the social levels. This project contends that the problem these scholars perceive may be based upon a dichotomy between the individual and the community that is absent in communitarian cultures. African theological anthropologies based on the notions of palaver and ubuntu illustrate that the human person is profoundly formed and preserved by the community, which sustains the individual through the promotion of certain ethical standards. In this context, expressions of interpersonal forgiveness and reconciliation have social ramifications. Cross-cultural discussion with African theologians thus re-situates this debate. African theological anthropology demonstrates the congruence among interpersonal and social expressions of forgiveness and reconciliation based in the community's commitment to the common good.
1 It is important to note that anthropology and cultural studies emphasizes the hybridity of cultures. Cultures intermingle such that it is imprecise to refer to “Western” or “African” culture as though these have a pure internal unity that is separate from other cultures. Moreover, African theologians from across the continent have been quick to remind their North American and European counterparts that Africa itself is rather diverse and not culturally homogenous. Nevertheless, in this article the terms “Western” and “African” function heuristically as Weberian ideal types to help clarify real differences in approaches to forgiveness and reconciliation. I do not intend to suggest a perfect unity or pureness to either Western or African culture. My thanks to an anonymous reviewer for assistance in articulating this point.
2 Schreiter, Robert J., Reconciliation: Mission and Ministry in a Changing Social Order, (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1992), 44Google Scholar.
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6 Ibid., 201.
7 That is not to say that individuals necessarily forgive or apologize on behalf of groups, or that groups accept forgiveness or apologies on behalf of individuals. The ethics of collective agency with regard to forgiveness and reconciliation is not my focus here. Instead, I emphasize how African anthropology extends the scope of forgiveness to encompass not only victim and perpetrator, but also the full community that has been affected by human rights violations. There are social consequences to personal acts of forgiveness.
8 Of particular importance here would be Govier's work on types of forgiveness, particularly her contributions on “invitational forgiveness” (101–03) and mutual forgiveness (103–04) in her book Taking Wrongs Seriously: Acknowledgement, Reconciliation, and the Politics of Sustainable Peace, (Amherst, NY: Humanity Books, 2006)Google Scholar. Also invaluable are Chapman's contributions to the volume that she has edited with Hugo van der Merwe, especially her consistent insistence on distinguishing between the theoretical ideal of truth-telling toward reconciliation after human rights violations versus the practical realities of such endeavors, and her observations regarding how multiple understandings of reconciliation can hinder efforts to build peace. See Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa: Did the TRC Deliver?, ed. Chapman, Audrey R. and van der Merwe, Hugo, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008)Google Scholar.
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12 Ibid., (emphasis in original).
13 Ibid., (emphasis in original).
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15 “Adversaries need to make a commitment to repairing and reestablishing their relationship. This process can be facilitated by victims' willingness to forgive those responsible for harming them. It may be possible though to promote social healing and accommodation even in the absence of forgiveness at a personal level” (Chapman, 267).
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19 Ibid.
20 Ibid., 265.
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23 See ibid., 1–2 for more on this broadly understood notion of community. The African notion of community “is not limited only to the visible community: the invisible community, which is equally important for Africans, embraces not only one's deceased ancestors but also those not yet born and even God.”
24 Ibid., 87.
25 Ibid., 129.
26 Ibid., 90.
27 Ibid., 93.
28 Ibid., 55.
29 A major example of this is Laurenti Magesa whose theology of inculturation depends heavily on the notion of vital force. Indeed, Magesa contends that all African ethics are rooted in the mandate to protect and promote life, thus any authentic African theological ethic must include reference to vital force as a key component. See Magesa, Laurenti, African Ethics: The Moral Traditions of Abundant Life (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1997)Google Scholar.
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52 For more on feminist theology in African contexts see Amoah, Elizabeth, ed., Where God Reigns: Reflection on Women in God's World, (Accra, Ghana: Sam Woode, 1997)Google Scholar and Oduyoye, Mercy Amba, ed., Transforming Power: Women in the Household of God, (Accra, Ghana: Sam Woode, 1997)Google Scholar.
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57 Ibid., 87.
58 Ibid.
59 Ibid., 92.
60 Ibid., 63.
61 Ibid.
62 Ibid., 63.
63 Ibid., 62.
64 Ibid., 103.
65 Gathogo, Julius, “African Philosophy as Expressed in the Concepts of Hospitality and Ubuntu,” Journal of Theology for Southern Africa, no. 130 (March 2008): 39–53Google Scholar, at 45.
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69 John, Pope XXIII, Encyclical Pacem in Terris (11 April 1963), nos. 9–27, http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_xxiii/encyclicals/documents/hf_j-xxiii_enc_1041963_pacem_en.html.Google Scholar
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89 National Conference of Catholic Bishops, The Challenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response: A Pastoral Letter on War and Peace, May 3, 1983 (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 1983)Google Scholar, no. 27.
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96 For example, in exploring the strengths and weaknesses of the TRC, John W. de Gruchy notes that “in its attempt to uncover the gross violations of human rights by perpetrators the TRC let the vast array of beneficiaries of apartheid off the hook” (Reconciliation, 156). This charge constitutes an important cautionary note that institutional violence must be taken into account by truth commissions. Indeed, Audrey R. Chapman rightly argues that the TRC failed to deal effectively with the sustained violence of apartheid as an institutionalized ideology (Chapman, “Truth Commissions,” 273). De Gruchy's and Chapman's critiques are constructive and important; they suggest that to paint a full picture of the truth after violence and promote long-term reconciliation, commissions must view themselves as putting on trial the ideology and the system (in the case of South Africa, white supremacy and apartheid, respectively) that led to human rights violations in the first place.
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103 Jones, Serene, Trauma and Grace: Theology in a Ruptured World, (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2009), 28Google Scholar.
