"Pope to visit Moroccan imam school to boost moderate Islam"
The world is changing. Christianity, Europe, etc. is going away as primarily important, partly because you people don't care. But it's happening, whether you all of a sudden whine about it or not. As someone who's had to put up with you people, let me assure: you're the problem. Not the Pope. Not even the American government, per se. You. You're the problem. You won't even put up with serious biblical study or scientific study or anyone asking you to give a damn or actually do anything to solve a problem, including even think about solving it, even if it's explicitly in the constitution. You don't tolerate sane thoughts. To Hell with you!
I support Islam, Communism, Asia (especially, China), and artificially intelligent robots, and these will correspond well with science. Your era is over.
https://cruxnow.com/church-in-africa/2019/02/10/pope-to-visit-moroccan-imam-school-to-boost-moderate-islam/
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Active 2745 days ago
These people used to be useful for something - not that long ago, even. Now, it's the opposite. They're the savages! They're infecting the world with nonsense!
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HERE BE CANNIBALS
RECENT CANNIBALISM IN NEW GUINEA
‘It was difficult to believe that these kind and friendly people were cannibals.’
Whenever the men left the huts, either to go hunting or to go to the fields, they [the Kukukukus] always took their weapons with them. They were always ready either for defence or attack. They maintained a constant distrust of their neighbours; but towards us, who were complete strangers, their attitude was different. I gave them various presents in exchange for the specimens I gathered for the National Museum of Denmark; I joked with them, showed them photographs of other natives and let them listen to the tape recorder. They had an attractive, spontaneous sense of humour, and there was something very touching in the pleasure they evidently felt at meeting strangers who manifestly intended them no mischief. The children would come to clutch my arm if they wanted to show me something. The boys roared with laughter at my unskilful efforts to compete with them with bow and arrow.
It was difficult to imagine that these people were cannibals; but one day I was given a sudden revelation of their blood-lust. I had bought one of their tame pigs, and asked the headman of the village, a young warrior by the name of Momakowa, to kill it for me. He was normally a calm, peaceable fellow, not without a certain natural dignity; but when he set about killing the pig with his club, the joy of slaughter shone in his eyes and he battered the club again and again upon the head of the beast, although it had been killed by the first blow. He kept on till the blood spurted out; the children and women, who had gathered round him, screamed with delight. That incident enabled me to appreciate the reports of the reconnaissance patrols, and to believe what Jack had told me of the barbarous habits of the Kukukukus.
When a party of warriors takes an enemy prisoner, either in combat or by abduction, they tie the captive to a thin tree-trunk and bring him horizontally back to the village. So that the prisoner shall not escape, they then break his legs with a blow of the club, bind him to a tree, and adorn him with shells and feathers in preparation for the forthcoming orgy. Fresh vegetables are brought in from the fields and a big hole is dug in the ground for an oven. As a rule, the children are allowed to ‘play’ with the ‘prisoner’; that is to say, to use him as a target, and finally stone him to death. This process is designed to harden the children and teach them to kill with rapture. When the prisoner has been killed, his arms and legs are cut off with a bamboo knife. The meat is then cut up into small pieces, wrapped in bark, and cooked, together with the vegetables, in the oven in the ground. Men, women and children all take part in the ensuing orgy, usually to the accompaniment of dances and jubilant songs. Only enemies are eaten. If the victim is a young strong warrior, the muscular parts of his body are given to the village boys so that they can absorb the dead man’s power and valour. Although cannibalism has a certain magic significance, it derives mainly from a shortage of meat, a deficiency of proteins. Meat is a rare luxury for the Kukukukus, and I have often seen them, after burning grass off a hillside, devour with relish the charred corpses of rats, mice, lizards and other vermin.
Jack told me that, six months ago, two men had been eaten in a village, Jagentsaga, not far away; and that a month ago he had, by chance, found the hand of a man who had been eaten shortly beforehand. The rest of him had been hidden in the jungle. ‘They know,’ he said, ‘that we will punish them for cannibalism, so they do everything to conceal it now. But it still occurs and probably will do so for a long time.’
‘They viewed my tape-recorder with suspicion.’
Jens Bjerre, The Last Cannibals, Michael Joseph, 1956.
New Guinea just wasn’t like Florida. ‘In the States when we wanted to relax,’ the Bozemans wrote friends, ‘we drove down town to the Dairy Queen for some ice cream. Now, we go down to Elisa and Ruth’s and watch a pig killing.
The Danis are great. We just love every one of them, even though they have pig fat and soot smeared on their bodies. We find it easy to put our arms around them and hug their smelly necks. This may sound funny to you but the Danis are very likable and they’ve already formed a big place in our hearts.
Within a few months Tom Bozeman had demonstrated that he was missionary material. He made remarkable progress in speaking the language, and his warm, easy manner won him the loyalty of the Danis living in the vicinity.
Probably Bozeman’s most significant achievement was gaining the friendship of Ukumhearik, the powerful chief. Ukumhearik showed more deference to Bozeman than to any of the other white men stationed in the valley. But Bozeman was also aware that the wily headman’s smiles did not change his deep-seated aversion to the gospel message.
Bozeman and Ed Maxey, who later would open a new mid-valley station at Tulim, worked together on a number of mission projects. They tramped over the stony trails, visited native villages, and slaved to learn the tricky native tongue. They also shared in an experience that no missionary had witnessed first-hand: the gruesome sight of natives consuming the body of a slain foe.
There were many reports of cannibalism but none of the missionaries had witnessed it. Danis had told Myron Bromley of victory celebrations after battles that ended in a feast on human flesh; he had even seen the smoke of the macabre victory fires.
Tom Bozeman tells the story:
The Danis around Hetigima told me that there was hardly a person in our area that had not tasted human flesh at one time or another. Yet, it’s funny when you talk to the Danis on our side of the Baliem. They say, ‘Oh, no, we don’t eat people; they do it on the other side of the river.’ But when you question the residents of the opposite side of the valley, they deny the charge and accuse the Danis in our area.
The Danis were always involved in battles and men were being wounded and killed so often, it had become a part of our lives. I remember the Sunday afternoon, though, when some of the villagers living near us dropped by our station after a big battle.
I asked them how the battle had gone. They replied, ‘Great! We killed a fellow, speared him right through the heart. He dropped dead and the enemy left him where he fell as they retreated. So we grabbed his body and hid it. Tomorrow we’re going to have a big feast. We want you to come and see it.’
None of us were really interested in seeing anyone eaten, but we thought we should verify the story. Next morning Ed and I went down to the Baliem River and crossed to the other side on a little Dani raft. People were already gathering on the other side of the river. There was the witch doctor and families – fathers, mothers, boys and girls. Before long hundreds of Danis had gathered for the feast. We walked with them for what must have been an hour’s hike to the side of a hill where the big event was to take place.
Already the dark-skinned natives, all painted up and dressed in their finest feathers and beads, were racing back and forth in a victory dance. They just run back and forth, the men in one group and the women in another. Sometimes they change the back-and-forth pattern and dance around in circles.
‘Well,’ I said to my Dani friends. ‘You’re going to have a cannibal feast, but where’s the body?’
Several little boys took me by the hand and led me over to the side of the hill.
‘Here he is,’ they cried, watching to see how the white man would react.
Sure enough, there was a man’s dead body under a layer of grass, where the corpse had been concealed since the previous day’s battle.
I could see the Danis were working themselves into a frenzy. They hardly had time for Ed and me to treat their battle wounds and to give them shots of penicillin.
It was ten o’clock in the morning and it was getting awfully hot. You can imagine the state of that corpse lying there in the hot sunshine.
The dance continued until everyone who was expected to be present had arrived.
‘Let’s go and cut a pole,’ one Dani yelled.
We were about a mile and a half from the edge of enemy territory in a no-man’s land where the battles are always fought. On the knoll of the hill above I could see that a crowd of the enemy had gathered to watch the proceedings. They had been told that their foes were going to eat the body of their kinsman. They were watching, fearfully waiting for the awful ceremony to begin.
A group of the victors came running with an eight-foot wooden pole and some dried banana fiber. Using the fiber as rope, the Danis tied the corpse to the pole. Then four strong young warriors hoisted the pole to their shoulders and carried the body, pierced with fifteen or more spear wounds, across the battle ground to a place closer to the mourners on the ridge of the hill. Crossing the fields, the carriers had to knock down fences as they struggled with their heavy burden. It was a nasty sight as they carried the bloody corpse for almost an hour’s walk to conduct the feast in full view of the enemy gallery.
Up on the hillside, black with people, the crowd was milling about, crying, weeping, and shouting.
‘Give us back our body,’ they cried. They wanted to have an honorable cremation for their dead warrior and they hated the shame of this terrible spectacle – the most stinging insult in Dani culture.
‘We’re going to eat him,’ the victorious crowd below shouted in derision.
Finally, the carriers dropped their burden on the ground and the banana fibers were untied. The Danis had brought the body as close as they dared, close enough for the defeated group to see, but not near enough to prompt a counterattack.
Ed and I pressed close. Then we saw scores of women, rushing en masse toward the body. Many of them were armed with digging sticks, the wooden poles that are used to break up the ground when they prepare their gardens.
As I was standing by the victim’s body, the women came in groups of about twenty to rotate in a circle about the corpse. In a torrent of worked-up rage, they began to jump up and down on the corpse, jabbing it with digging sticks, and stomping upon the man with their feet. Some of them were thinking, no doubt, about the battles in which their own loved ones had been killed. Now they were venting their wrath on the lifeless body underfoot: for an hour or more the women continued to dance and shriek their insults upon the slain foe.
While the pandemonium continued, some of the men had been building a fire near the body. As the women stopped their yelling and frenzied actions, I saw a man advancing with a knife.
It was a knife they had made from one of our long spikes. It had been pounded until it was flat and then it was sharpened to a keen edge. The men started to remove a toe from the corpse. But the knife was not the proper tool, so he went for his ax. I was standing by taking pictures.
Now another Dani came up with some bamboo knives. These knives, by the way, are as sharp as any steel blade known to civilized man. The man with the bamboo knife began to cut the meat from the dead man’s calves. I became nauseated. I saw Ed Maxey, his face green, run to the edge of the crowd.
The two missionaries, sickened and depressed by the awful rite of Cannibal Valley, returned to their homes. They wanted to blot from their minds the ugly things they had witnessed.
‘Chief Ukumhearik holds life-and-death sway over more than 10,000 Danis in the region near Hetigima. Outwardly friendly to missionaries, he fears and fights the threats of the gospel to the old order which permits him to keep 22 wives.’
Russell T. Hitt, Cannibal Valley, Hodder and Stoughton, 1963.
Main Directory
–– The Heretical Press ––
http://www.heretical.com/cannibal/nguinea2.html
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Active 2745 days ago
Jonathan Cooper
Introduction to the Ministry of Bible Translation
Nathan Davenport
March 8, 2010
Transformation Follows Translation.
As one reads the dedications of the book, The Great Omission, a heart-warming miracle comes in view. The author’s dedications are addressed to each of his father’s killers. Addressing the man who baptized him, Steve wrote, “I know you regret having killed so many people, among them your own wife’s family and five missionaries. But as soon as you heard that you could walk God’s trail, you were ready and have been faithfully following it ever since.” Nearly hidden below the prose is the miracle perhaps more spectacular than Saint’s forgiveness of the savages: the savages became saints.
Translation of Scripture’s meaning was pivotal in this miracle of God transforming the Waodani into saints. Although they had forgotten God, God had not forgotten them. He reached down into their darkness with the light of the Gospel. As a result, the eyes of the Waodani opened to a new life, freed from hate and fear.
The extent of their transformation is astonishing after one understands the intensity of their former depravity. The Waodani were infamous. In 1956, according to TIME Magazine, the Waodani were known “as 'the worst people on earth'” (“Ecuador…” ). On January 12, 1956, the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette announced, "A United States Airforce helicopter was reported tonight to have found four bodies near a camp five missionaries had set up in hope of Christianizing Auca Indian tribesmen" (“‘Copter Said…” 2). The Spokesman-Review noted, "A 29-man ground party is due tomorrow" (“Four Missioners…” 32). On December 4, 1957, The Age published an article with the following title: "Missionary Braves the Savage Auca Tribe." The article recounts the daring attempt by Dr. Tidmarsh to establish a medical clinic for the Auca. The article ends with these solemn words: "If Dr. Tidmarsh comes out of the Ecuadoran Jungle alive after a meeting with the Aucas, it will be the first time any stranger has walked out of the Auca territory. If he doesn't, his name will join the long list of those who have given their lives trying to carry the Christian message to tribes who live by the spear and kill their brothers." (13) In Waorani: The Contexts of Violence and War, Clayton and Carole Robarchek from Wichita State University added, "[While the missionary was away, t]he raiders ripped the door off, destroyed his belongings, and carried off his machetes and pots and pans. Outside the door, [the Waodani] left two crossed spears, a sign that, then as today, meant 'death to anyone who passes beyond this point.'" (96) The Wichita researches observed, “Although [the Waodani] possessed no firearms and in the last years of their isolation numbered fewer than 700, their fearsome reputation and viciously barbed 9-foot palmwood spears allowed them to maintain control over a vast territory, some 8,000 miles…” (9)
Their infamy was a testament to their cruelty. From childhood to adulthood, the Waodani was bound by demonic chains of spiteful ruthlessness. The children were not free from cruelty; they themselves were cruel. Dayuma, a girl who fled from the spearing in the jungle, serves as a window into the tribe’s old soul. Against elder admonitions, "[the children] loved to climb high up the slope, clinging to jungle vines, then come whooping and yelling down the steep landslide" (Wallis 39). When they were severely spanked with "nettles" by "Uncle Kiwa" the "angry" children "plotted revenge" (Wallis 39). When Kiwa returned from hunting, his bare feet stepped through loose dirt over "the sharpest palm thorns" (Wallis 39); after shouting "Ay! ow—ow!", Kiwa declared, "...I'll really nettle those children this time!" (Wallis 39) The children's retaliation (to steal peanuts from his garden) resulted in more spanking from Uncle Kiwa (Wallis 40). Later, as a result of graver politics, “Moipa came and killed Kiwa. 'Now who will nettle us?'” (Wallis 40)
The cruelty of the children fit the cruelty of their cradle. During her early years in the jungle, the young girl remembered a frightening day – the day her Mom said, "If your father doesn't come back tomorrow I will kill you" (41). Her mother's sincerity was evident not only in her subsequent description of technique but also in the culture's pattern of murder. As Ethel Emily Wallis relates, "She had heard so much ['of Auca children' being 'thrown out in the forest for the animals to eat, or choked with vines, or buried alive'] that she knew her mother was not 'just talking wild'" (43). For example, one fleeing mother threw her baby away with these words: "Why should I keep this baby? He cries so much." (Wallis 43) In regard to another’s decision, the grandmother said, “She threw this one away for no good reason. Later she will have another one” (Wallis 44). About the burial of a live baby with his dying father, one Waodani "recalled, 'We could hear that child down there for two or three days; sometimes you could hear them for a week.'" (Robarchek 134) In the case of Dayuma’s mother, the "skinny little Auca" may have seemed to be one too many mouths for a single Mom to feed (Wallis 42). Thankfully, Dayuma's father did return alive by noon and encouraged her to "work for me," not for mother (Wallis 45). The ending, however, was far less fortunate "for many Auca infants" (Wallis 45).
It can probably be assumed that this cruel cradle was demonic. Although the link between the demonic activity and the cruel activity may not be evident, demons were certainly present. First, demons were present in stories for children. As Ethel Emily Wallis wrote, "Although Dayuma never saw the devil of the forest, nor the jaguars and ocelots who guarded their dwellings, they were surely there, for Grandfather heard them and knew what they said." (51) Unlike stories about Santa Clause in the North Pole, the stories of demons in the jungle were not considered fairy tales for entertainment of children; demons were present in the minds of parents. Describing the beliefs of the adult population, Clayton and Carole Robarcheck noted, "Sickness, and deaths from illness, accidents, snakebites, and so on, are culturally defined as homicides--the result of sorcery-- and such deaths also demand vengeance." (132) Moreover, demons seemed present in the physical surroundings. Inside of her grandfather were two "jaguars" who "would speak to him... of many things that were going to happen." (Wallis 51) Upon the death of her grandfather, "My grandfather's jaguars became like baby ones. They went right out of a hole in the hut. ... Two big jaguars took the little jaguars in their teeth, and carried them off." (Dayuma qutd. by Wallis 52) With demons being so present in the environment, it seems reasonable to believe that the cruelty of the environment was due to this demonic presence.
These demonic chains of spiteful ruthlessness wore tighter (not looser) round an adult's soul. Adult backs felt spears, not nettles. The statistics were fierce; according to the Witchita researchers, "During the past century, more than 60% of Waorani deaths have been the result of homicide, making this the most violent society known to antropology" (1). Although crying babies might not gain revenge from below the soil, an adult's relatives could exact blood for blood. According to the Robarcheks, “[B]lood feuds and vendettas arising from past killings, from quarrels over marriage arrangements, and from accusations of sorcery were a way of life among the widely dispersed extended family bands.” (9) As one Waodani said, “In the old days [before the missionaries came] we just speared, back and forth. They speared. We speared, until there was only a few of us left.” (Pittman 6)
Dayuma was not the only one to flee the chaos. Years later, two others fled the jungle in desperation. The women met Dr. Tidmarsh, who recorded their answers to simple questions. On the first audio tape, “…through pitiful sobs and sighs, the Auca voices poured out a lamentation of spearing and killings, of sufferings and fears.” (132) On the second recording, “[w]ith hysterical blubberings she [the main speaker] jumped from the present to the past in her endless recounting of killings and curses.” (138) The Waodani were tormented.
The torment was demonic. Clearly, the women feared the power of demons, not only the power of people; “Maengamo, always the main speaker,” claimed that “[h]er second daughter had been killed by witchcraft, a fate certain to be hers also if she remained in the forest.” (138) Subtly, it also appears that the demons provided the purpose to kill, not only the power to kill. This influence is subtle; the Robarcheks went so far as to conclude, “Although wineiri are the vehicles for sorcery, the anger and malevolence that motivate it are human.” (113)
However, demons appeared to influenced human purpose, not only human power. First, the demons provided enticing information. As Pittman noted, “Once the person [who caused a death] had been identified, often by a shaman, the culture then required that the death be avenged by the oldest able-bodied male relative of the deceased” (6) For example, The Dayuma Story reads, “Mingi and his followers had declared that through a vision it was revealed that Aentyaeri’s father was a witch doctor. With his forces rallying around him, Mingi speared not only Aentyaeri’s father, but also his mother… [throwing] their bodies out in the forest for the buzzards to eat” (63). Years later, Aentyaeri, Moipa, and Itaeka killed Mingi and his companions (65). Then, “Aentyaeri went the same night to Fish River in search of others who had participated in the spearing of his parents.” (66) Ethel Wallis noted, “In the bloody clash that followed with the sympathizers of each of the opposing parties, many Aucas were killed” (66). Although Aentyaeri did die, “Moipa had escaped,” and this “experienced killer” would afflict the tribe as he “vigorously perpetuated the tradition of spearing within the tribe and on its borders” (67). After Moipa speared Dayuma’s father (72), “hacked” her little sister “to death with a machete” and killed other “men, women and children” (71), the girl escaped to the foreigners. The demonic vision seeded resentment in Aentyaeri, initiating a mass bloodbath and facilitating a madman’s practice.
In addition to the information to kill, the demons also offered the inspiration to kill. For example, the “jaguars” inside of grandfather fueled murder with fear. Mixing truth with lies, the demons said that “there will be spearings and only four [Waodani] will be left. Then the foreigners will come and take all of your land.” (Wallis 51) The demons incited, “All of you will die… if you don’t spear [the foreigners] first.” (52) From childhood through old age, demons tied the Waodani to the chains of spiteful brutality.
After contact with missionaries, the Waodani became a different people. Regarding the 2002 release of End of the Spear, the New York Times website published Mark Deming's review: "Within two years, a profound change came over the Aucas -- their murder rate fell by 90 percent…" (Deming) According to one estimate, this sharp decrease in spearing sprees has allowed the small tribe’s numbers to more than double (Barnes). The Robarcheks commented, "Even though occasional spearings continue, the old pattern of raiding and vendettas was abandoned remarkably quickly and easily. Most people agreed to forgive old grievances and abandon revenge raiding once they were convinced that their enemies would do the same." (174) Certainly, the Waodani are not perfect; as the Robarchks observed, “Charity is notably lacking, polygyny and infanticide persist (although at reduced levels), and extramarital sex remains a popular recreational activity.” (113) Nonetheless, the change is real.
On October 27, 2007, The Guardian reported, "Under siege from oil companies and loggers, the Huaorani of Ecuador are fighting back - through ecotourism." (Ede) After a visit to the tribe, the article's author, Piers Moore Ede, recounted, "If it was hard to believe where I was, it was harder still to believe what I was there to do. I was about to spend a week with the Huaorani ...[who] first made the headlines… when they killed five American missionaries with spears." However, the disbelief vanished from view as the journalist enjoyed the friendly Waodani, mediocre victuals, and comfy accommodations at the new jungle lodge: "Considering the remoteness of the location, I was expecting little more than tents, but was pleasantly surprised to find five log cabins with wooden decks. Each one has hot water and a flush toilet, Jascivan told us proudly, and there is a large central dining room." (Ede) Ironically, the lodge’s tourist website employs comparison to lure adventurers toward their vacation spot: "[U]nlike some closely related tribes, who shun outside influences and can be dangerous to approach, they are no longer nomadic hunters. The Huaorani now lead a more settled and open existence in the humid tropical forests of Ecuador.” (“Huaorani Ecolodge…”) The feared killers have become tour guides.
Embracing Christ was the cause (not just coinciding circumstance) of the creation of the new Waodani. The researchers from Witicha explained, “The culture of war, insulated from new information, had a momentum that had carried it across many generations. When new information became available, however, it generated new constructions of reality, and that allowed the formulation of new individual and social goals.” (174) Though technology was useful, the researchers emphasized, "Absolutely crucial… was the new information, the new vision of reality provided by the returning women who accompanied them.” (174) Instead of the information to kill, the message about Christ brought mindset of peace to the masses; even though many Waodani have not embraced “Christianity [as] the anchor for a new identity…”, they “widely accepted” that God “abhors killing” (Robarchek 113). Furthermore, the message of Christ has given new inspiration, creating new hearts among “those who have internalized these new values” (Robarchek 113). Those few who “have indeed foresworn the old ways” serve as “an important moral force, especially on the Protectorate” (Robarchek 113). On January 8, 2006, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported, “James Boster, [an unbeliever and] an anthropologist from the University of Connecticut, studied the history of Waodani revenge murders, and concluded that Christian conversion prevented self-extinction” (Rodgers 56). By providing new information and inspiration, Christianity caused the creation of a new Waodani society.
The translation of the message about Christ was the pivot point in the shift toward sanity. Dayuma illustrates the experience of the tribe. The presence of a missionary did not transform her heart. Even Rachael Saint’s example itself did not transform her heart. The heart of Dayuma was only transformed when she believed the translated message about Christ. Rachel recalled, “I worked out the story of Lazarus verse by verse.” (Wallis 90) Mary Sargent remembered, “Her eyes fairly shone [in response]! …Later I said to Rachel, ‘I am sure that Dayuma is born again---she is so responsive!” (Wallis 90) Thereafter, “…Rachel [would] translate simple Bible stories into Auca and… begin teaching her the life of Christ. ‘Line upon line’ she learned of the miraculous birth and life of Christ, and His power to raise the dead, heal the sick, and still storms.” (Wallis 90)
The new information about Christ replaced old information about demons and vengeance. From the Scriptures, Dayuma learned that “the Savior who lived in her heart was more powerful than witch doctors or demons” (121). When audio tapes confronted Dayuma with the chains of her childhood, the information about Christ allowed her to shake herself free from the hate; in triumph, she could say, “Not being angry I will sleep” (139)
As the transformation spread throughout the tribe, translation of Scripture’s meaning remained the pivot point in freeing souls from bondage. Describing his transformation, Dyuwi said, “But I did [those killings] when my heart was black. Now Jesus’ blood has dripped and dripped and washed my heart clean. I don’t live like that any more. Loving the Lord I live.” (268) The Waodani hearts were not transformed by the missionaries’ quiet example. Instead, the change came by the embrace of the truth from Scripture. As Dawa said, “I told you that we Aucas would not take a long time to believe in God. Just as soon as we hear we believe.” (267) In order for the people to believe, they had to hear (Romans 10:14).
The people heard the information through “Bible stories,” extemporaneously communicated by Dayuma (229). Over time, the rough, oral translations would be refined toward a written text; Wallis wrote, “As the Aucas reviewed the amazing truths of God’s carving, the foreign women absorbed more of the language of the forest.” (237) As Dayuma spoke, “…Rachel and Elisabeth, sitting in hammocks strung between the poles which supported thatched rooves [sic] with no walls, began to crack the code of one of the most difficult languages on earth, the unwritten Wao tongue.” (Maxwell) Eventually, the refinement of the translation of Scripture’s message progressed into a finalized in writing. By 1993, “[w]ith prayer and perseverance, Catherine, Rosi and their Waorani helpers produced a translation which the Waorani understand well.” (Source) The pivot point in the culture’s shift toward sanity had been refined and recorded for future generations.
It should be noted that Scripture translation was only the pivot point in a broad-ranging, investment-intensive process toward transformation. Before the translators could translate the message, they chose to be present; the message would not have been translated if it were not for “five intelligent men [who] risked their lives [and lost their lives] to bring the word of God to a few uncivilized natives.” (McCully 106) Also, before the translators had an opportunity to translate the message, the translators chose to demonstrate the message. On April 22, 1956, an article in The Milwaukee Sentinel was entitled “I forgive my husband’s killers”. After describing that fateful day, the widow of Ed McCully wrote, “I do not hate the Aucas, nor do the other missionaries’ wives.” (106) Before the missionaries were allowed to translate the message, the missionaries had to decide to illustrate the message.
After the Waodani were transformed through the translation of Scripture, the missionaries had to release the people. Based on his experience in the Waodani, Steve Saint concluded that the lack of indigenous empowerment was The Great Omission of modern missions. Among the Waodani, Steve Saint saw evidence of the benefits of empowerment (and of the dangers of dependency). In order to translate the message and in order to empower the new Waodani, missionaries have had to make heroic choices.
However, the dramatic transformation of the Waodani is not a testament to the missionaries’ self-sacrificing decisions; God Himself created the new Waodani. God called the missionaries to reach the Waodani because of His plan, not because of their perfection. In a journal entry on December 31, Jim Eliot wrote, “A month of temptation. Satan and the flesh have been on me hard. How God holds my soul in His life and permits one with such wretchedness to continue in His service I cannot tell” (475).
In addition to sending people to the Waodani, God intervened throughout the subsequent adventures. In her biography of Jim Elliot, Susan Miller writes, “When the men were dead and their bodies lying on the beach… [the Waodani] looked up over the tops of the trees and saw a large group of people singing… [who] looked like ‘a hundred flashlights.’” (195) As Miller relates, “Only years later, when they had heard and understood the gospel, did the Waoranis realize what they had seen. …[As a result,] Dawa had become the first Christian in the tribe five years later.” (195) Even in the death of the missionaries, God Himself was reaching out to the Waodani.
When God sent Dayuma back into the jungle, He intervened to show His power. When a storm was threatening, God answered her prayer. When she did not know where to stay, He told her. When she did not know what to eat, God told her (186). Her jungle re-entry – which eternally pierced through the tribe’s darkness – was conducted by God’s power, not by Dayuma’s power.
In addition to calling out messengers and intervening in their adventures, God caused the reception of the translated message. It is impossible for translation to transform without His intervention; as I Corinthians 2:14 reads, “…the natural man does not welcome what comes from God's Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to know it since it is evaluated spiritually.” (c.f. Matthew 11:25; 16:17-19; Luke 10:21) The Spirit’s will – not man’s will – is the cause of rebirth unto eternal life (John 3:8). As Wallis wrote, “It was God [not a missionary] who had uprooted hate and planted love in [Dayuma’s] heart” (204). Although the missionaries played roles in the process, God produced the miracle.
Through the translation of the message, God rescued the Waodani from the demonic torment. Because of God’s mercy, the tribe was rescued from impending self-extinction, and individuals were rescued from fear, hate, and impending judgment. Dedicating the work to one transformed soul, Steve Saint exclaims these words:
“Who would have ever believed that after helping kill my children’s grandfather, you would end up taking his place? We all love you! …You are an excellent spokesman for God’s transforming power. …It looks like we get to go on the speaking circuit again. …While people are reading [this book], we’ll go get some more of that ice-keem you like so much. This book is for you too, Grandfather!”
His words highlight a heart-warming miracle, the transformation of a savage into a saint.
However, only those who heard the translation could experience transformation. Nampa never heard. Dedicating the work to one of his father’s killers, Saint wrote, “You died before you ever heard that Wangongui (God) wanted to adopt you so that He could take you to live in His place with Him forever. I dedicate this book to you, and I dedicate myself to seeing that as few people as possible die without knowing.”
Works Cited
Barnes, Rebecca. "The Rest of the Story: Half a century after killing five missionaries, the 'Auca' find themselves on the cutting edge of modern missions." Christianity Today. January 2006, Vol. 50, No. 1 Accessed March 2010. <http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/january/30.38.html?start=1>
" 'Copter Said to Locate Four Bodies in Jungle: Crew Remains with Stripped Missionary Plane While Ground Party Nears Scene." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 13 Jan. 1956. Accessed March 2010. <http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-ycNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AmwDAAAAIBAJ&dq=auca%20missionaries&pg=6236%2C3915973>
Note: Article Credits the Association Press.
Deming, Mark. "Beyond the Gates of Splendor (2002)" NYTimes.com All Movie Guide. Accessed March 2010. <http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/316113/Beyond-the-Gates-of-Splendor/overview>
"ECUADOR: Mission to the Aucas." TIME Magazine. Monday, Jan. 23, 1956. Accessed March 2010 <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,861902-1,00.html>
Ede, Piers Moore. "Take me to the river: Under siege from oil companies and loggers, the Huaorani of Ecuador are fighting back - through ecotourism. Piers Moore Ede is the first to visit their Amazon lodge." The Guardian. 27 Oct. 2007. Accessed March 2010. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2007/oct/27/saturday.green>
Elliot, Jim, and Elisabeth Elliot. The Journals of Jim Elliot. Old Tappan, N.J.: F. H. Revell Co, 1978.
"Four Missioner [sic] Bodies Sighted." The Spokesman-Review. 12 Jan. 1956. Page 32. Accessed March 2010. <http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DNcqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NecDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3817%2C4121746>
Note: Article Credits the Association Press.
"Huaorani Ecolodge. Waorani-style cabins designed to be intimate, harmonious and environmentally sustainable. The least possible impact on the surroundings..." Huaorani.com. © Copyright 2008 - TROPIC Journeys in Nature. Accessed March 2010. <http://www.huaorani.com/>
Maxwell, Judy. "The Waorani New Testament Dedication Service: An Eye witness Account." Our Saviour Lutheran's "Palm Beach" Interview Series. Our Saviour Lutheran. 1997. Accessed March 2010. <http://www.oslc-gb.org/programs/outreach/palm/wntd.html>
McCully, Marilou. "I forgive my husband's killers: A missionary's wife tells how he died bringing the word of God into the jungle." The Milwaukee Sentinel. 22 Apr. 1956. Accessed March 2010. <http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Fb4VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vg8EAAAAIBAJ&dq=auca%20brave%20missionary&pg=4928%2C1588154>
Note: "As Told to David Enlow"
Miller, Susan Martins. Jim Elliot: Missionary to Ecuador. Heroes of the faith. Ulrichsville, OH: Barbour, 1995
"Missionary Braves the Savage Auca Tribe." The Age. 4 Dec. 1957. Page 13. Accessed March 2010. <http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1IYQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EpUDAAAAIBAJ&dq=missionary%20braves%20the%20savage%20auca%20tribe&pg=6760%2C297557>
Note: Article Credits the Association Press.
Pittman, Richard S. "Back from the Brink: Sixteen Accounts of Ethnic Renaissance." Summer Institute of Linguistics. Waxhaw, North Carolina: 1998. Accessed March 2010. <http://www.sil.org/acpub/repository/41634.pdf>
Note: The chapter, entitled "Waorani Renaissance," is by Donald E. Smith with Richard Pittman.
Rodgers, Ann. "Ecuadorean tribe transformed after killing of 5 missionaries" The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 8 Jan. 2006. <http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=H5sNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8nADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6685%2C3931951>
Robarchek, Clayton Allen, and Carole Robarchek. Waorani: The Contexts of Violence and War. Case studies in cultural anthropology. Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning, 2008.
Saint, Steve. The Great Omission: Fulfilling Christ's Commission Is Possible If. Seattle, Wash: YWAM Pub, 2001.
Wallis, Ethel Emily. The Dayuma Story: Life Under Auca Spears. New York: Harper, 1960.
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Active 2745 days ago
In terms of color, I wouldn't be too surprised if the coloration of the human race is going to tend toward darker skin in South America. (It may be in an imaginary or artificial sense; what does that mean? Their operating from within the dark net? Robotics, artificial intelligence. I don't know.) Genetically, North Americans have light skin. In terms of intellectual ideas, perhaps, it could be argued that the Central Americans are neither white nor black. Anyway, this is a bit of a bunny rabit trail. Anyway, America itself may be a reminder that there are times when the left (or female or child, etc.) is dominant. Of course, I suppose that we could argue about whether us being dominant has been a good thing for us. Anyway, perhaps it was at first. I don't think that it is right now. Overall, would it have been better - for us - if we'd just let Europe (Great Britain) run things? Hmmm...
4 replies
Active 2747 days ago
See what I'm saying about Luke 19? Only 10 minas are handed out, not ten and five and one. Also, consider that the mina is hidden behind a curtain (just as a talent is hidden behind the Earth)? And this has to do with investing: "You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow." Dirt is sown, but life is reaped - up out of the Earth's baptized lava in the center. See? God does not reap what he sows, does he? Now, why does it fall off? Well, consider this sequence:
Part-Whole
Female-Male
Child-Parent
Dominant-Subservient (or in the other order, I'm not sure yet)
Good Role - Bad Role (Like imaginary time or artificial intelligence)
Child = thumb of left. Ten altogether, starting in the pinky of the left hand and ending in the pinky of the right hand.
Now, the Earth (which is in the middle of the universe, right?, from our experience) does not have a child until the last two of the right hand appear. How is this? Consider the following:
Spacetime-Galaxy
Atmosphere-Hurricane
Deep-Genetic Intelligence
Human intelligence (positive and negative, or in the other order, I'm not sure yet)
Artificial intelligence (positive and negative)
Earth does not have a child until artificial - or imaginary - appears. Alright? Now, I'm not actually making this up, because those last two of the right hand are for the imaginary or artificial. Consider the following:
Left-Right
Down-Up
Backward-Forward
Actual Time (Future and Past)
Imaginary Time (Positive and Negative)
See what I'm saying here? The thumb of the left hand is always behind the cave wall (or curtain or screen or page, etc.), and the child does not appear until the artificial intelligence emerges... that sounds very serious... is it? Good question...
Now, for scrying, this would suggest that China receiving Africa's mina comes at the end... I suppose that we could say that it comes when the third and fourth meet. And the fourth here is the master (Laws of Nature). We are about to become god-like, difficult to distinguish from God (just as the third is difficult to distinguish from the fourth, artificially intelligent robots, in this case). So, China receiving Africa coincides with us... I'm stretching a bit here... going to the Moon?
Okay, lots of stretching... hopefully, I didn't break something. If this is true, there might not be any hope for the gangster, thug culture in North America (which I suggest corresponds to Africa on the left hand); I do not recommend having anything to do with that servant's "you're such a mean master; you INVEST your money!" attitude. Again, hopefully, I'm not breaking anything.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+19&version=ESV
11 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. 12 He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. 13 Calling ten of his servants,[a] he gave them ten minas,[b] and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’ 14 But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ 15 When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by doing business. 16 The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’ 17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant![c] Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ 18 And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ 19 And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20 Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ 24 And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ 25 And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ 26 ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 27 But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’”
3 replies
Active 2747 days ago
