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Heavy responsibilities for elder aunt among the Logooli

With Seenge Fonesi. She is the elder grand daughter of Isagi and elder daughter of Amugasya. She is often present in functions involving the family of Amugasya. Pic taken on 18/4/2024. The elder sister soon becomes the elder aunt. It is this “seenge munene” (elder aunt) tag that she is tied to many cultural responsibilities – back home. To her marital family she may appear as any other woman, but she is not so in the eyes of her people. Marriage does not steal her away as it would happen with other daughters of the old man. To her, as days go and the old man and woman of the estate are dependents, she becomes increasingly present.  Her brothers also need her for almost all traditional markings. They are marrying, she needs to welcome the new wife. They are giving birth, she needs to come to midwife or “bless” the new born. They are paying dowry she needs to lead the women delegate. There is a conflict she needs to come for a hearing.  And many others. Traditions does not expect her to

God is God. Not a source of Morality.

To think of God as whether He is a determinant of morality or not in its very sense is to question His role in our lives- whether I believe in Him or not. The statement in discussion cites a situation where majority of people believe God as the source of Morality. Terming this a modern discussion- for more and more people are expected to be atheists in future-it could have been an abomination to raise such a question some years ago when every happening was related to a supernatural cause. This article is of the view that God is not the determinant of morality.

If a child was raised in a vacuum of religeous identities, the child would grow up knowing what is wrong and good alike. Long before children begin to understand meanings in words, they are already introduced to the world of cry (bad) and laugh (good). If an elder shows symptoms of discontention before a child, the child will retrieve from an activity with the sense that it is bad because my mother (that elder person) sees it so. A child only comes to know of God sometimes after such experiences when some questions seem to lack answers.

The belief in God as the Moral being raises questions to some of historical injustices that were speared in the name of Holiness. This contradicts the nature of the supposed God- of no evil. The Bible and Quran among other tales speak of killings, slavery and suffering as God sent. It is of no use therefore to say one is morally right because he believes in God for the very God may be harmful to another.

A God who does not change in Principles and ideas assumes that everything is predetermined and set for eternal. We live in a changing world of changing views. What was termed as wrong can be justified and be right. An instance to this was the traditional subordination of women. Bible writes that the man is the sole authority bread winner. Present times disaprove subordination as descrimination and equality as morally fair. Clinging to the past in the name of God would therefore be disastrous to such people and societies in adapting to changing times.

The inefficiency in God’s act and application to overall human activities creates spaces that are prone to human understanding and interpretation. Holy writings  have been identified ideological and in some instances philosophical- depending on you and how you understand.  The contradiction in God’s view of loving  everyone and still inducing judgement to wrong doers lets human to do what fits for them.


As the idea of an existence of God may be shared among many people, the idea of Him as the source of morality is prone to debate. The understanding of God that varies from one person to another can also be the interpretation of whom He is. Leaving the idea at the mercy of Him as a source of morality may be harmful to progressive universal understanding of the chaging times.

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