A Future for Africa: Critical Essays in Christian Social Imagination
2007; Boston University; Volume: 40; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2326-3016
Autores Tópico(s)African cultural and philosophical studies
ResumoA Future for Africa: Critical Essays in Christian Social Imagination. By Emmanuel M. Katongole. Scranton, Penn.: The University of Scranton Press, 2005. African Theology Today Series, Vol. 2. Pp. xix, 264. $25.00/£17.50 paper. Emmanuel Katongole is a Ugandan Catholic priest, a professor at Duke University, and editor of the newly introduced book series African Theology Today. With Africa's problems as its backdrop, Katongole's A Future for Africa, the second volume in the series, explores a Christian social ethic that transcends tribal, religious, and national boundaries. One recurring theme in this wide-ranging exploration is that Africa's hopeful future cannot be achieved without the church. Katongole successfully captures and retains our attention with his lucid writing style in this book, which is arranged around the general themes of memory, performance, and imagination. Naturally, since he is Ugandan, Katongole's point of departure is from the perspective of the Ugandan and Bugandan understanding of Catholic theology. He confesses that present day Uganda is forced to live with Amin's ghost (p. 4) and the stigma of being a country with a significant incidence of HIV/AIDS. With respect to both these issues, however, Katongole's fails to deliver on his promise of unveiling probing insights. For example, explaining Idi Amin against the background of the Congo's colonial King Leopold of Belgium is rather far-fetched; (why not megalomania and mental depression, as captured so well by the Oscar-winning movie The Last King of Scotland?). Second, his reflections on the use of condoms in combating the AIDS pandemic is based entirely on Catholic social ethics, which may not necessarily be the most comprehensive approach to the problem even in his own country, Uganda. Katongole is at his best when he examines 11 from an African and third world perspective. In Chapter 3, September 11: Why Do They Hate Us So Much?, he places the tragedy in the context of global suffering and challenges Americans to be more engaged in the world at large. Using the Biblical Job motif, Katongole asserts, as God did, that one's life is surely significant but must be lived within the context of the lives of others, even the mountain goats (p. 57). The discussion of African theology per se highlights the role of the church. Differing with Ghana's Bediako and Kenya's Mugambi in their identity and reconstruction motifs, Katongole instead follows the philosophical approach of Tinyiko Maluleke and Jean Marc Ela. …
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