The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1924, Page 21

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The ILutheran Pioneer.

21

At the beginning of this year the church was or-

ganized. Mr. Ed Timmons was elected president;
Teacher G. Ferguson, secretary-treasurer; Miss
5 2 ay 3

Rosa Ll. Harris, missionary deaconess; Mrs. Carrie
Tidwell, sick-deaconess. All the newly elected
officers are performing their duties diligently. The
attendance at the last service was fine, and the col-
lection was surprising. We hope these officers will
keep up the good work, so that our Lutheran Zion
may flourish in Monroe.

Rockwrtn, N. C. — The Rev. Shufelt moved
here with his family the latter part of December,
1923, and serves the congregation here, as well as
Gold Hill and Rocks.
tically into his work, has a warm heart for the
Colored people, and is well received by them.
Under his leadership new life has been infused into
the churches. ast month Mrs. Pauline Mitchell
departed this life. ‘The Rev. March, her former
pastor, and the Rev. Shufelt officiated at her funeral.

Cirartorre, N. C.— On January 6 Herman
and Telen Mclllwain were added to St. Paul’s by
baptism. On February 10 Mr. Claiton McDonell
and Miss Maud McRay were united in marriage.

J. McD.

Animism.

In some parts of Africa, Asia, South America,
and Australia there exists a system of religion
which is called animism. It is a form of heathen-
ism based on the worship of souls; the worship
of souls and deceased spirits, especially ancestral
spirits, is the real essence of a religion that plays
an important part in all heathen religions. Aside
from this belief in the existence of spirits may be
added a hazy and very indistinct belief in the exist-
ence of a “Great Spirit” or “Supreme Being.”

Fear is the basis of animism. Its adherents are
ever busy in their endeavor to secure the favor of

the fickle and often spiteful spirits and to avoid

their anger and hatred. ‘The animistic heathen are
not only in error, they are the slaves of constant
fear. “Iear in various forms tyrannizes over the
Animist in every situation of life. Even his own
soul is a hostile power against which he must ever

be on his guard. It is fond of leaving him... ._

The souls of relatives are easily wounded; and woe
to him who even unintentionally offends them!
Primitive man has to wind his way amid the
throng of the souls of the people around him and

He has entered enthusias-*

must continually bargain or fight with invisible and
sinister powers. ‘I'o this must be added fear of the
dead, of demons, of the thousand spirits of earth,
air, water, mountains, and trees.... Ghosts of the
most diverse kinds lurk in house and village; in
the field they endanger the produce of labor; in
the forest they terrify the woodcutter; in the
bush they hunt the wanderer. From them come
diseases, madness, death of cattle, famine. Mali-
cious demons . . . lie in wait for the child from the
day of its birth; they swarm round the houses at
night; they spy through the chinks of the walls for
their helpless victims. The dead friend or brother
becomes an enemy, and his coffin and grave are the
abodes of terror. It is fear that occasions the wor-
ship of the departed. Fear is the moving power
of the animistic religion.”

The creed of the Animist, as far as spirits are
concerned, may be thus summarized : —

“When a man dies, his spirit becomes a god that
can bless or punish his descendants.

“Certain spirits of the departed, generally of
a foreign tribe, can take possession of a man and
cause a special disease, which is treated by exorcism.

“A living man has the power of going during
the night in a spiritual form and bewitching other
people.

“Certain animals and also the human body have
a spiritual essence called nura, which is to be feared
when they are killed, and against which protective.
measures have to be taken.

“Certain natural objects, such as the sea, the
bush, fire, are more or less personal and have to
be propitiated.” *

Animism gives no satisfactory answer to the cry
of the soul and offers no comfort; its beliefs and
observances are dictated by, bodily necessities alone.
It is expected to help only bodily distress and
trouble and bring temporal blessings. All that the
Animist expects from the spirits whom he worships
is that they avert illness, banish other spirits, give
him bountiful crops and the victory over his enemies

in battle, and provide him with many children. He ~

has no thought of forgiveness of sins or of con-
solation.

The Animist’s morality is an altogether outward
matter. Fear, which is the basis of his religion,
prevents him from committing many deeds of vio-
lence; for the spirit of the victim, in the shape
of a crocodile or leopard, or by some evil smell or
some mysterious noise, might return to trouble him.