Whiteness in Christianity and Decoloniality of the African Experience: Developing a Political Theology for ‘Shalom’ in Kenya
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Date
2021-11
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Religions
Abstract
The decolonial discourse around Christianity must not avoid dealing with Whiteness if
there is going to be any fruitful decolonization. Colonialism and the Western missionary enterprise
were not necessarily two distinct and unrelated entries to precolonial Kenya. How then did Christianity, for decades, live side by side with colonialism? In this article, we contend that Colonialism
in Kenya could not have been possible without the missionary enterprise activity. The impact of
that unholy relationship is felt and sustained in contemporary forms of violence. Unfortunately,
critics of such a discourse dismiss the decolonial efforts in African Christianity citing intellectual
activism. Such voices of dissent may not be far from the truth as Jesus’ ministry involved elements of
activism. Whenever he confronted oppressive institutional structures, he used activism tempered
with a degree of pacifism. Looking at the history of historical injustices in Kenya, we see instances
whereby missionary Christianity conveniently abetted injustices for colonial structures to sustain
the oppression of the indigenous Africans. Such injustices have been unresolved to date because
the oppressive structures are still in place in the shape of neocolonialism. Land, for example, is a
present source of conflict in Kenya. In the precolonial African ontology, the land was in harmony
with the people. For land to be taken away from its owners, a separation of the people from the
land had to happen. This was facilitated by a Christian theology that created existential dualism,
violently separating the African bodies from their souls and the person from the community. Hence,
Christian doctrine that emphasized ‘saving souls’ and ‘personal salvation’ was entrenched. This
separation and fragmentation are fundamental to Whiteness. Whiteness universalizes truth, even
theology; it puts a face of neutrality that obscures specificity. Such has made the church uncritical of
oppressive and unjust political structures. Whiteness realizes that it is hard to enter into something
that is in harmony. Therefore, separation needs to happen for Whiteness to succeed. Unfortunately,
much of our theological understanding today is tempered with a neocolonial mindset that separates
the soul from the body for Christian triumphalism. It anesthetizes the pain of oppression with the
eschatological promise of future deliverance. This paper will analyze the impact of Whiteness in
Kenya during and after colonialism to demonstrate how the British explorer–settler–missionary
alliance ‘oiled’ the religious and economic disenfranchising of African people. Secondly, it proposes a
political theology that will restore ‘Shalom’ in a socially, economically, and spiritually broken country.
It is such a theology undertaken in Africa that will confront oppressive structures and identify with
the marginalized communities in Kenya
Description
Journal Article
Keywords
Whiteness in Christianity, Decoloniality, African Experience, Political Theology, ‘Shalom’, Kenya
Citation
Munyao, Martin, and Philemon Kipruto Tanui. 2021. Whiteness in Christianity and Decoloniality of the African Experience: Developing a Political Theology for ‘Shalom’ in Kenya. Religions 12: 1006. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/rel12111006