Humankind as a creature of the earth is part of the natural order. Humans share the universe with animate beings and inanimate objects which are all part of God’s creation (Finnegan 1965:107; Sawyerr 1968:12). Since humans are a part of nature, they are “expected to cooperate with it” (Opoku 1993:77). It is “the need to remain in harmony with nature” (Opoku 1993:77) that has caused the African to incorporate the environment and its inhabitants into his/her “religious perception of the universe” (Mbiti 1989a:90). For the Africans, “sacredness extends to their environment and all the means of sustaining life, that is,
the sacredness of all creation” (Okorocha 1994:80). To be in harmony with nature is “to be on good terms with one’s entire social and spiritual world” (Zuesse 1991:178). Therefore, in Limba view, humans as the highest and most intelligent creatures, have the responsibility to take care of God’s universe and “all that is in it.”300 Every individual must be a caretaker of God’s creation because if humans “do not take care of the earth and God’s entire creation; the animals do not have the ability to do so”301
Limba people are both spiritually and physically connected to the earth. It is the place where their ancestors are buried, and it is the source of their livelihood. It is from this perspective that the Limba speak out and take a tough stance on ecological302 issues. One interviewee made her frustration known this way:
There are two things that are paining me about the way we treat the earth and what God has given to us. People are going from bush to bush cutting down trees for firewood to cook food. If you go now to some villages in my chiefdom, they look like deserts. The trees which are protecting these villages and giving them other benefits have been cut down. We know that wood is vital to cook our food; I believe that there are other available means of providing fire for cooking.
The other problem is with the pollution of some rivers and streams. Just take a walk along the shores of the stream around us. Without a doubt you will see trash and at least a dead domestic animal floating on it. There are a few more things that happen on rivers and streams that I cannot say here. If we are saying the
300Sorie Sesay (Interviewed July 2002: Madina Town). 301Sorie Sesay (Interviewed July 2002: Madina Town).
302Although ecology is a wide and complex field that requires the study of organisms in their environment and the study of relationships among organisms, the various issues that are being discussed by science and religion are interrelated and both disciplines are trying to restore a common relationship between animate and inanimate existence.
earth is God’s and He has delegated the upkeep of it to us, then let us do it the right way.303
From these words, it is clear that some Limba are “treating nature as a mere object of exploitation for the satisfaction of human needs” (Opoku 1993:77). As a whole, the Limba strive to maintain a physical and spiritual balance with nature. The goal is to live with sacred awareness and an ethic of eco- sustainability. However, for economic reasons and because of negligence and apathy, some are not putting to practice the teachings and beliefs they have inherited. The frustration expressed above is on two issues which call into the question Limba stewardship of God’s earth:
303Ya Almamy Turay (Interviewed August 2002: Freetown).
(1) The indiscriminate cutting down of trees for firewood has led to forest depletion and has left some villages looking like deserts. They have been stripped of their trees making these communities vulnerable to even the mildest storm that blows. While wood is the most common fuel used for cooking by people without electricity or kerosene stoves. However, there is an alternative for the less fortunate in the country which is charcoal. Charcoal stoves, locally called “coal pot”, are much more affordable than kerosene stoves.
(2) The pollution of many rivers and streams through the improper disposal of garbage and other waste. Most people think that because rivers and streams empty into the ocean, anything dumped into them will be carried there and eventually rot away.
Some traditionalists believe that the prevalence of diseases like cholera and tuberculosis in Sierra Leone is caused by the careless handling of nature by humankind.
Although most of the published series on ecology,304 have not addressed ATR and ecology, the contribution of ATR to the “ongoing world-wide concern with environment cannot be overemphasised” (Opoku 1993: 78).
Limba traditionalists believe that animals were created by God, are a very important part of nature, and should be treated with respect. Every Limba clan, like those of many African societies,305 has a taboo (thana/kasi) which forbids clan members from eating particular animals or birds (Finnegan 1965:52). The infraction of a taboo is a sin called kad]k]/kak]. In general the intentional destruction of any animal, reptile, or bird is considered a sinful act known as kamal].
However, in spite of these and other restrictions that are intended by the Limba to prevent the abuse of animals, and to foster harmonious relationships between humans and animals, the actual maltreatment of both domestic and wild animals is prevalent in Limba societies. This is because, as we noted earlier in this chapter, the Limba believe that humankind is superior to animals and far more intelligent than them.
In Judeo-Christian tradition, although different from God’s other created beings, humans are “not so sharply distinguished from the rest of them as to have no relationship with them,” they are
304The Harvard Divinity School’s “Religions of the World and Ecology” series, and the World Wide Fund for Nature’s “World Religions and Ecology” series have nothing presently or upcoming on ATR and ecology.
“part of the sequence of creation, as are other beings” therefore there should be harmony between humankind and “the rest of the creatures” (Erickson 1992:160).
The word ecology is derived from the Greek oikos (“house”). Ecology suggests the idea that humankind and all creation forms “one great household” (Erickson 1992:160). “Religious life and the earth’s ecology are inextricably linked, organically related” (Sullivan 2000:xi). “Environmental destruction is not only a danger” to human existence, it is also “a sin against God” (Rajotte with Breuilly 1992:2). Humankind is God’s agent in “caring for the earth” (Achtemeier 1996:442).
Because humankind is uniquely created in God’s image, he/she is placed over the rest of creation, to have dominion over and take care it (Erickson 1992: 160; Achtemeier 1996: 442).