When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said 'Let us pray.' We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the impact of colonialism and the loss of land and culture due to religious and ideological imposition.
Desmond Tutu's quote poignantly critiques the historical events surrounding colonialism and missionary work in Africa. It highlights the ironic situation where the missionaries, armed with the Bible and their beliefs, asked the indigenous people to pray, leading to a scenario where the colonizers gained control over the land while the locals ended up with foreign religious texts. This reflects broader themes of power dynamics, cultural exploitation, and the devastating consequences of colonial practices.
In practice
Referencing this quote in a lecture about the effects of colonialism on indigenous cultures.
The fossil reserves that have already been discovered exceed what can ever be safely used. Yet companies spend half a trillion dollars each year searching for more fuel. They should redirect this money toward developing clean energy solutions
As much as the world has an instinct for evil and is a breeding ground for genocide, holocaust, slavery, racism, war, oppression, and injustice, the world has an even greateer instinct for goodness, rebirth, mercy, beauty, truth, freedom and love.
Children are a wonderful gift. They have an extraordinary capacity to see into the heart of things and to expose sham and humbug for what they are.
Religion is like a knife: you can either use it to cut bread, or stick in someone's back.
Gaza is going to test who believes in the worth of human beings.
Where we come from does not determine who we can become. What we look like places no limits on what we can achieve. We should all have the right to express ourselves, all have the right to be heard, all have the right to be what we can be: To reach for the sky and touch the stars. No matter who we are, no matter whether we are man or woman, or rich or poor: _x000D_ My voice, my right. My voice counts.
what sphinx of cement and aluminium bashed open their skulls and ate up their brains and imagination
Bombing is not especially inhumane. War itself is inhumane and the bombing plane, which is used to paralyse industry and transport, is a relatively civilised weapon. 'Normal' or 'legitimate' warfare is just as destructive of inanimate objects and enormously so of human lives.
Many introverts feel there's something wrong with them, and try to pass as extroverts. But whenever you try to pass as something you're not, you lose a part of yourself along the way. You especially lose a sense of how to spend your time.
Do what you will. Even if you tear yourself apart, most people will continue doing the same things.
The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but he who causes the darkness.
Just as a tree without roots is dead, a people without history or cultural roots also becomes a dead people.
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