THE SINS OF OUR FATHER
THE SINS OF OUR FATHER
Mfanukhona Bizzah Dlamini
Copyright©2020 Mbabane, Eswatini
Dedication
This book is dedicated to Sabelo Sikhondze.
"Unless you put down your thoughts into a paper, they will remain just thoughts without any impact."
Mfanukhona Dlamini
Table of Contents
Preface
Chapter I
Was Judas denied his choice?
Chapter II
Are we really in control?
Chapter III 12
Dominion and Dreams 12
Chapter IV 15
The sins of our father 15
Preface
The sins of our father is a very dynamic book in the sense that in its nature is a philosophical book but it also uses scientific tools used in science fields. It is a book that is open to everyone in terms of race, culture and religion. The author as a result of his religion and culture draws his philosophical perspectives in such backgrounds. That’s why sometimes you will see him drawing most of his example from a certain religion and less from other. That does not mean people from other religions cannot read this book.
This book in its nature does not seek to undermine other religion or to glorify any religion albeit it was a tempting thing to do; but due to experience and observation the author has learnt that religion has become a dividing thing among humans. This does not only affect their way of life but it also affects the acceptance of one’s opinions.
The author has made it his principle to give an ear to anyone’s opinions no matter how much he disagrees with him/her. Just like Voltaire has put it: ‘I will defend your right to say it, no matter how much I disagree with you.’ Thomas Paine has put it in another way in his book. He says if we do not listen to someone else opinion we deny ourselves the right of changing ours. So over the years the author has made it his life mission to listen to everyone’s opinion no matter how bad it may sound. After all they are just opinions, what harm can they do to anyone? The point is, many people have denied themselves the right to develop their minds through other peoples work due to race, status, religious prejudice and many more.
The author believes that no matter how much insignificant your thoughts or deeds are; they do make a difference. Ants are one of the smallest animals on earth but humans can learn a great deal from them.
This book therefore is an attempt to address some of the questions that are affecting our life each and every day. Those questions force us to question our mere existence. The author does not claim that this is an exhaustive book on such subjects, but the author seek to open the base for many people to build on or to start the chain reaction to the finishing line.
The author as you will soon learn that he does not rest all his ideas on arguments but he seeks to take a different approach in addressing those questions. In his point of view it is good sometimes to let the reader choose his or her side not through arguments but through eye opening.
The author does not seek to convince the reader that his ideas are true because that will be a waste of time. People believe what they want to believe and accept what they want to accept. If you are familiar with window shopping, take this book as an attempt to familiarise yourself with those questions which you have been asking yourself unknowingly. These are not new questions but are questions which you did ask yourself some time ago but you refused to ponder on them for some reasons you don’t want to remember.
As you are diving into this book you will be introduced into arrays of ideas which are not new but have been there for a long time but you have been ignoring them. Once you start reading this book you should seek to finish it otherwise you will jump into conclusion which might be detrimental to your life. I was once told that a little learning is a dangerous thing. So here that axiom will be proven correctly if you don’t finishing reading this book. Every word in this book counts. For that reason, until you see ‘--------THE END-----’; your quest will be a complete failure.
Chapter I
Was Judas denied his choice?
For the past few days I have been mulling over on different subjects pertaining life in general. Looking back and forth where I am coming from and where I am going to. This is one of my habits which I have developed over time of taking the time of introspection and contemplation. This helps me to realign my ideas and it also acts as a reminder of my quest. It helps me to correct many errors which may become a stumbling block for me in future.
In my time of introspection and contemplation, the question related to Judas Scaliot, have been coming back and forth in my mind. This does not only affect my belief but makes me to question my mere existence. The question is, ‘was Judas denied his choice? was there anything Judas could have done to avoid what he did?’ Some people say it was his fate to betray Jesus. Some say he chose to do what he did. Picking sides is not my thing. Let me start with those who says what Judas did was inevitable. What do they say about the power of choice people have? Do they believe that that our decisions and actions we take each and every day is under a greater power which they call fate? If they believe that, what do they say about life? For as far as I know, life without choices is not a life. Deny humans their ability to choose, deny them life.
Our ability to choose is what makes us different from other species. Without that ability humans are no longer humans. If you believe that Judas was denied his choice then you insinuate that we are not in control of our life. What about your decision to read this book or to do whatsoever you want? Are you trying to tell the whole world that that is just an act of a greater power in control? I don’t know, maybe you are right! After all you are entitled to your own opinion. Wait a minute! If you believe that, are you trying to tell us that whatsoever we have done and we are about to do is destined to happen? For, if by destined you mean fate is in control. If what you are saying is true then the word choice must cease to exist. Without our ability to choose the word choice is void.
I know that I said earlier on that picking sides is not my thing but in the absence of choices I am left to stand with those who believe that Judas had a choice. At least they give us hope. At least they give us the courage to keep on living. What would life be like without our ability to choose? What about the consequences of our actions. Who will be held responsible for our actions if we did not choose to do what we did. I refuse to believe that Judas was denied his choice for that will mean Hitler is innocent. I refuse to believe that, for that will mean some people are destined to fail. I refuse to believe that because that will mean I should stop trying. I refuse to believe that, for that will mean that I am not different from a blind man for I see only what I was destined to see just like the blind man, to see unending darkens.
Hope is what I need now more than anything else and that hope is choice. For with my choice I can reorganise my world there way I want to. With my choice I will not be overwhelm by sudden disasters. For nothing beat preparation, and without choice preparation is impossible for every step of preparation requires us to make choices. As I have said earlier on, I will stand with those who believe that Judas had a choice; for Judas was a human and human have a choice.
Without choices, humans will turn into an irresponsible animal. Without choices life will turn into chaos. There will be no order in the world. Choices govern how will live. Laws exist solely because humans are believed to have the power of making the right decision given an array of choices. The system of our entire nation is created based on the idea that humans possess the greatest gift; the gift of free will. Which is their ability to choose. We choose to wake up and we choose to go to bed. And that is the beauty of being a human. That is what makes us special.
So, believe whatsoever you want to believe as long as you believes does not affect someone else life I have no problem. Any belief that cannot make your life better is not a belief but it is a cancer that needs to be cut off before it spreads. Good belief brings forth fruits into other peoples life. It creates a better society where people can live and flourish.
Chapter II
Are we really in control?
Having talked about choices it seems reasonable to ask the million dollar question: ‘are we really in control?’ having establish that man possess the gift of free will, then the troubling question is that, does the choices we make each and every day really matter? Or is there uncontrollable power somewhere up there that alters our choices. If that is true what does it says about ability to choose. Does it mean that what we do is in vain?
We started our quest by drawing example from the Holy Bible so it will be wise to hear what it has say about choices; and for us to do that it will be good to start from the beginning. I hope we are all familiar with the story of Adam and Eve. I am very sure you have heard of it countless times, even if you haven’t go to church. If not, it wouldn’t hurt to read it from the Holy bible. But to make you Job easier I will paraphrase the story. It is said God created Adam and Eve. God then place them in the Garden of Eden. In that garden He commanded them to eat every tree in the garden except for the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We all know how the story ends. The serpent which is the devil came by after and restated what God said to them and then accused God of being untruthful. He told Eve that they will not die but they will be like gods and they will know what is good and evil. So Eve convinced Adam to eat the tree and they ate it.
Some people say it was the devil which made them to eat the tree and I don’t disagree with them neither do I agree with them. But in the scripture I don’t see people being forced by the devil to do something. The devil only convinced them that God lied to them and they believed the devil. So in short there were faced with two choices; to believe the word of the devil or the Word of God. And they made the wrong choice and there were consequences for that. Just like today, if you make the wrong choice the will be consequences.
Coming back to our original question; are we really in control? To be honest I am not sure. Let me tell you what I know. Here on planet earth people decide what they want to do. Good or evil. Despite the fact that man back in the Garden of Eden submitted themselves to the devil and from that day onwards they were under his dominion. Being under dominion does not mean that you are denied the ability to choose. The basic principle is, two powers exist on earth: God power and the devil power. Subjecting yourself to any of the two powers means your decisions will be influence by that power. Unfortunately there is no neutral ground. You are either under God influence or you’re under devil influence. But that does not mean man is denied his ability to choose.
The point is, the answer to this question is in two ways. The first is yes and the second one is no. On the yes part; as long as we possess our ability choose whom we want to listen to we are in control. On the no part; if any of the powers I decide to subject myself into influence the outcome of my decision that means I am not in control. For my ideas were not solely mine so are the outcome. So if you want to understand it better take for instance the things you do each and every day. The choices you make each and every day. You education background, friends, family and religion influence the choices you make. Which career you want will be determine by your exposure in life.
Let‘s take for instance, a child who grew up and have been educated from the sugar belt company e.g. Mhlume; that child when she or he finishes form 5 his or her career option(s) will align with the environment he grew from. That is why a great percentage of students educated in those schools nearby those places decide to do agronomy and other agriculture related careers. Their choices are influenced by the exposure and the environment.
In short, this thing is a paradox; when I come to think about it. It seems like we have limited power. With our limited power we find that we have no control over many things we do in life. We don’t control what we learn from school and who raises us from childhood. In fact it is valid to assert that our control is delusional in the sense that our outcomes are mostly determined by our background in life. Even if you may or do try to change the wheels as you go on in life the changes you make will be infinitely small. Because the small changes we want to make in our life are determined by our past.
So, are we in control? Hell no! I don’t think so. If the choices we make are mostly not ours then we are not in control. Either you make the choices you make for your children or for your parents sake; the outcome is still the same. We are damned. At least we chose whom to worship.
Chapter III
Dominion and Dreams
We are told that God after creating the first human beings He told them to have dominion over everything on earth. The mere mention of the word dominion gives us a sense of control. In the previous chapter we defined the word dominion as an influence over our life specifically with respect to God or the devil. So now we will be looking further to the subject of dominion as it has a great impact in our daily choices. In this part we will put God and the devil out of the picture to avoid making these book religious crusades.
In our previous chapter we did also mention that the choices we make in our life are influenced by many factors such a family, friends and environment, only to mention a few. Now the big challenge is that every person on earth has dreams; young or old. While adult may retain more control over their life; to children that is a different case. Unlike adults, children’s choices (if there are any) are mostly dominated by their parents or guidance if not the community. Given their mental maturity and the overwhelming information they have to digest in their childhood their childhood is overwhelming. So do they really have dreams, and if yes do their dreams belong to them.
In my humble opinion the dreams we have determine the part we will want to take in life. If I cannot take the part I want can I dream? What is the point of dreaming if you are going to create a road you will never use? This is not only foolish and barbaric but it also shows that one lack the ability to prioritise. To make your life more enjoyable I believe one has to recognise what is important in his life and what is not. By isolating cabbage from your priorities will make your burden lighter and it will speed your success. The real question is, should children dream? Just to make sure that we are in the same page; I am not talking about those things you see at night when you are asleep. I am talking about dreams like ‘when I grow up I want to be a doctor.’ Those are the kind of dreams I am talking about.
This is a very complex question when you want to fully answer it. It requires that one must have a full understanding of how parents treat their children in different families. The standard of living and educational background of the children’s parents will determine the philosophical perspective of those parents. By philosophical perspective I mean how they define life and what they believe is the right way to raise children.
Some parents believe that children should be raised by hand and they also believe children do not know what they want. As a result their children grow up in a condition whereby their path and dreams have been planned decades ago before they were even born. On the other hand some parents believe that children should choose their own part. This is evident from the childhood of those children. You would see the parents of that child organizing different kinds of toys for their child to play with so that they will know what the child likes to do the most. In that way the child is being assisted to choose his/her own part.
Deducting from the two statements, one may say that it depends. Some children have dreams but other children do not have dreams. Those who have dreams are those who are being assisted by their parents to choose their own path. Those who grow up finding their parents already planned and set the dreams do not have dreams. In fact they have their parent’s dreams. Over the years I have been trying to find out what might be the cause of parents to force their dreams to their children. I have come up with quite a few reasons. The first one is that some parents were unable to achieve their own dreams. A parent who wanted to be something in his/her childhood but never got the chance to do so or failed when he got the chance is prone to force his/her children to be what he/she wish she/he was. So, with this point in mind we can reason that unachieved dreams from childhood can be dangerous to the child’s future.
The second reason is that some parents are not open to suggestion. Some parents believe that they are right and their word is final. They forget that time is changing and what they thought used to work some time ago may not work today. They behaviour may be due to educational background and culture. For example in the African culture adults are always right and the child is always wrong. Children’s opinion in African’s culture do not count (You hear them saying, what do you know as a child? ‘Uvasebatsi, watini ungumntfwana?’). This is very true to the uneducated elite. Although there are some people who are educated but still act that way. Should I say trained because education goes hand in hand with a change in character?
The last reason is that some parents are patriotic. Those parents who believe that values and culture and love of that country should be held above all people’s dreams and wishes. I am talking about those parents who believe that the greatest pursuit in life is to save your own country. Police and soldier are the most valued profession to them. This type of parents raises their children for the sole purpose of serving their own country. I hope many of you can relate to these examples.
So, coming back to the issue of dominion and choices; many people grow up without any choice. By the time they are free to choose what they want it is too late. What they will do is to force their dreams to their children. This chain reaction may go for some years before it can even be braked. Have you ever heard someone saying ‘My father was a soldier, grandfather and my great-grand-father.’? That is the type of chain reaction I am talking about. Most people grow up under the dominion of their parents and they also dominated their children’s life. Many people have no control over their life because of their parents. They were robbed their dreams.
The remaining question is now: should children be allowed to have their own dreams? As much as it is good for parents to have plans for their children their plans shouldn’t involve robbing them their dreams. In my experience it is difficult to make future decisions and choices if your present condition was not created by you. The past and the future intertwine to form one thing which is the future. If you still my past, how can you expect me to make the right decisions? So children should be assisted to make their own choice irrespective of their age. Allow them to choose what they want.
Chapter IV
The sins of our father
We are all running to tomorrow; with the idea that tomorrow will bring a better future. Is there tomorrow without today? Is there today without yesterday? These are the questions we should be asking ourselves because all this questions bring us to the same question we had before: are we really in control? We said many things in our attempt to answer this question and we can all infer that the answers we had bring us to the same place, the past.
As much as we can claim that we have the power to make our own choices, the truth is, the choices we make are not really ours. Even the choices we make are based on somebody else choices. Look at our education system, some people are sitting out there deciding for us what we have to learn and what we shouldn’t learn. They claim to bring order and prosperity to the society. Where are my choice in that? When do I say this is my choice? We did mention that some of our dreams are not really ours. The dreams we have belong to the society. The society puts down everything it thinks it needs; and then says here are your choices, if you want to be ‘anything’ in life you can choose from this. The dreams we have are not really our, they belong to the society.
The greatest thief of them all are our parents. They still our dreams and choices; for their dreams and ours are intertwined. Whatsoever they choose will indirectly or directly affect us. If you don’t believe me look at yourself. If you are born with a silver spoon in your mouth you will go to fancy schools with better education, better lunch box, better influence, better dreams, and better choices. The list is endless. If not, you are damned. You will struggle all your way to the top. There are some things you cannot be because of your standard of living. Who to blame? Your forefathers; many of us are the results of the sins of our father. And we cannot go around whining that I am like this because of my family.
It is a known fact that we cannot change our past, but our future is ours. It may need some hard work but you will get there. I liken our life as a relay. The first person needs to push the stick long enough for the next person to win. In a relay if the first person is not fast enough you can push back to take the stick; and this is the same principle we use in life. You may not be a billionaire in your first quest but I am very sure that your seventh generation will be. It will take a miracle for a person who is born very poor to die a billionaire more especially if he has to count on his family support to be successful. Look at Bill Gates! He is a billionaire, and wouldn’t be surprising to learn that his family has a history of being wealth. You can argue all you want but the truth is clear. You want to be like him, good. Let me ask you, are you going to a better school now? No. Do you have a computer at home? No. Do you have Wi-Fi access at home? No. As expected, a big NO. I think writing a song will be good for. You know, the many ‘No’ produce a good melody.
So, as you can relate we are where our parents left us. You can blame whomsoever you want and you won’t get anything in return. Call your condition bad luck, witch craft, bad omen and if that makes you feel better it is okay. To me I say: to hell with curse, to hell with bad luck, to hell with bad omen, to hell with all negative thoughts. If I stand up today and make the choice which will leave my children better than I was; I will feel great. That is what it takes. I know that opportunity knocks at the door for everyone and it is up to you how you use them.
Some people keep on enslaving themselves by believing in superstitions. I myself I am a man of faith. But I am one person who likes to look at the good side of things. I couldn’t believe it today that there are some people who believe that there are curses. Not that there are wrong but I don’t believe that what a man says determine the fate of a man. If what a man says determine the fate of a man then we are all prisoners of hell. For I know that at least once in our life someone did curse us. You can believe in curse for all you want but I believe that if you make the right choices with your God, all things will go well.
So what should we do? Should we sit down and mourn over the sins of our father or should we stand up and make our own choices. Ok let’s say they did curse your father, but they didn’t curse you. And if you think they did I hope your God can take care of that, so that you will take care of the choices you make. Your choices your life.
----------------------THE END----------------------