Dr. Shako Otto’s View of the Impact of Christianity on Konso Traditional Culture
In 2004, twenty years ago, the late Medical Doctor and political leader, Dr. Shako Otto, published an article titled “Traditional Konso Culture and the Missionary Impact.” He wrote the article with a polemical purpose. Several foreign anthropologists had previously written about Konso, its people, religion, and socio-cultural traditions. Otto said these foreign anthropologists had not properly presented Konso and its traditional culture. As outsiders, they had limited knowledge and access to the traditional Konso culture, resulting in a distorted presentation of Konso and its traditional culture.
Moreover, Otto strongly disagreed with and refuted the anthropologists’ presentation of the Protestant missionary impact as entirely positive and beneficial to the Konso and the development of its traditional culture. Contrary to their conclusion, he argued that the Protestant Mission, which came from Scandinavian Europe through an organization called the Norwegian Lutheran Mission (NLM), was anti-Konso traditional culture. The Protestant mission was seen as a Western cultural invasion disguised as evangelization. Otto narrated the damages caused by the mission, supporting his claims with practical instances. He acknowledged the fact that other foreign actors were also anti-Konso traditional culture. The indigenous people resisted them. These included the Menelik II expansion with Amhara culture, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church’s religious impact, and Italian occupation.
Even though the Protestant Mission was the last foreign actor to arrive in Konso, it was blamed for every kind of damage that might have been primarily caused by the others. The Protestant Mission became Otto’s scapegoat for the damages caused to the traditional Konso culture. Otto did not discuss the damages caused by the predecessors of the Protestant Mission.
Was his critique influenced by political, personal, or cultural factors? Was the Protestant mission blameless? Are there lessons to learn from Otto’s critique to improve Christian mission methods? This article aims to carefully investigate the facts.
