Paternalism & Ifa
Major Western religions have always operated on the Paternalism theory. This concept, states that if you are good (adhere to the standards they have set for you ), that God will take care of and protect you. This model, albeit false, was easy to sell because people felt it replicated the Father/Child relationship in a family setting.
Unfortunately, people missed the real point, and evidence, of the Father/Mother/child relationship as it was meant to function. For while it is true that the child must learn from, obey and be taken care of by the Parent, but the greater Truth is that the Parent is ( or should) be raising that child to become an Independent, self-empowered Adult. It is only through this creation of a fully functioning Adult Human being that the teaching and nurturing and raising of the next generation to adulthood becomes possible.
Western Religion created a paradigm where you had to remain childlike and dependent to accrue the benefits they professed to offer. Some might say that our relationship to God MUST be childlike and dependent...they would be wrong. All one has to do is look at God’s construct to see how animals, plants, fish, birds, insects etc. all raise and nurture their young , but invariably set them free to fend and empower their own lives. We are no different.
In Ifa, and even more so in Lucumi/Santeria, this Judeo/Catholic Paternalism has corrupted the self-empowering concept that is truly the basis of the Ifa philosophy. Today Babalawo, Priests, Priestesses, Italaros etc. attempt to create a situation where you are dependent upon their skills or power to survive and prosper. Through secrecy, fear, exclusion and rules, they seek to prevent your growth and knowledge, your own ability to perceive and fix your lives, your God given and God constructed right to self-empowerment and adulthood.
Why do they do it? There are many reasons...all of them dangerous and wrong. It may be for money. It may be for Power. It may simply be because they accepted the Western Religious model and never examined it. Yet, the result is always the same: You fail to grow. You remain a child.
In the greatest sense, there is a genuine and healthy Paternalism. It stems from the Creative Force that we call Oludmare that created this Universe. This force created a world that was inherently benevolent to us, and gave us the tools through Divination, and Orisa, to learn, grow, acquire wisdom, and work with energy to fulfill our chosen Destiny. It was the model of the true Parent...a parent that sees that their children grow into responsible human beings, with good character and control of their lives...not that remain forever infantalized and dependent; fearful and afraid.
At the Ifa Foundation we are devoted to teaching you to take care of yourself and your loved ones. We do not encourage, or indeed permit, a lifelong dependence on us to care for you. We responsibly care for and remedy your immediate problems, but our goal is to teach you to 1. avoid those problems in the future, and 2. to be able to deal with them yourself should the occur. We are in the business of Empowerment, not dependence.
If, as an adult, you feel you want others to care for you, it is because you have accepted this Judeo/Christian model. It is way past time to examine the results of that model, discard it, and begin to become a genuine and self empowered adult.
Blessings,
Oluwo Philip Neimark
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