Not Me: Suffering, Religion, and Release in Central Uganda
China Scherz, PhD, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Virginia
Enduring and finding meaning in suffering are important themes in many religions. Yet, for many people the possibility of being released from suffering in this life constitutes an equally important focus of prayer and faith. In Uganda, this focus on being released from suffering is equally true for Charismatic Catholics, Pentecostal Christians, and people involved with traditional spirit mediums known as basamize. In this talk, I draw on three years of collaborative qualitative research on alcohol use and addiction to explore how people involved in a diverse range of religious practices conceptualize and respond to addiction. Whether they talk about addiction to alcohol using idioms of possession, bondage, curse, or dedication, many Ugandans see at least some addictions as resulting from the actions of supernatural others. What differs between Pentecostals and Charismatic Catholics and those who engage in practices of kusamira and kubandwa mediumship as it is for Pentecostals and Charismatic Catholics. What differs is the moral valence ascribed to these beings and whether exorcism or accommodation is prescribed for the resolution of the problem.
While researchers working in other contexts have spoken of addictions through the metaphor of spirit possession, these ideas have rarely been explored in places where addiction is literally conceptualized in this way. When Ugandan Pentecostals speak of addiction as a spirit, they are not speaking metaphorically. For these Ugandan Christians and spirit mediums alike, addiction is not like spirit possession, to be addicted is literally to be under the control of spirit that comes from outside the self. Further, as opposed to more secular contexts, or even more mainstream Christian models such as those found in Alcoholics Anonymous, where this sense of lost agency can only be countered by pharmaceuticals or an alternation in the workings of the will, our study has given us an opportunity to see how people who understand the cause of their addiction to be an effect of a spiritual force have used prayer and other rituals to stop drinking.
This talk will end by exploring the implications of this work for further research looking at the possible effects of engaging with forces experienced as “not me” in places in the United States where such ideas also have cultural salience. Though spirit mediumship is not commonly found here, the ideas of deliverance and spiritual warfare being deployed by Ugandan Pentecostals and Charismatics have emerged through a dialogue with Christians in the United States. While spirituality and mindfulness have, to some degree, been embraced as potential resources for healing, this sort of prayer may be less familiar to clinicians. In the context of the present opioid epidemic, such work may also present opportunities to find ways to broker new and more equitable alliances with churches in the regions hit hardest by this crisis.
While researchers working in other contexts have spoken of addictions through the metaphor of spirit possession, these ideas have rarely been explored in places where addiction is literally conceptualized in this way. When Ugandan Pentecostals speak of addiction as a spirit, they are not speaking metaphorically. For these Ugandan Christians and spirit mediums alike, addiction is not like spirit possession, to be addicted is literally to be under the control of spirit that comes from outside the self. Further, as opposed to more secular contexts, or even more mainstream Christian models such as those found in Alcoholics Anonymous, where this sense of lost agency can only be countered by pharmaceuticals or an alternation in the workings of the will, our study has given us an opportunity to see how people who understand the cause of their addiction to be an effect of a spiritual force have used prayer and other rituals to stop drinking.
This talk will end by exploring the implications of this work for further research looking at the possible effects of engaging with forces experienced as “not me” in places in the United States where such ideas also have cultural salience. Though spirit mediumship is not commonly found here, the ideas of deliverance and spiritual warfare being deployed by Ugandan Pentecostals and Charismatics have emerged through a dialogue with Christians in the United States. While spirituality and mindfulness have, to some degree, been embraced as potential resources for healing, this sort of prayer may be less familiar to clinicians. In the context of the present opioid epidemic, such work may also present opportunities to find ways to broker new and more equitable alliances with churches in the regions hit hardest by this crisis.