Westernization: A mental Process

By Muhammad Umar Ndagi

Conservatism may not absolutely be a negative tradition. It has its significance in the cultural history of any given society. Without yesterday, there wouldn’t have been today. And you also require today in order to shape tomorrow. The theoretical concept of westernization, however, is a crusade against cultural identity and determination of any given people which conservatism to a reasonable extent seeks to promote.

No human culture has universally impacted on all nations of the world as westernization did. It has transformed virtually all aspects of human life. It is a deliberate mental process that is systematically, strategically and revolutionally infused into the traditional thoughts or spirit of a people without them actually having knowledge of how and when they unconsciously imbibed western norms and values. It is strategic because the “old wine” is always turned “into a new bottle” whenever the west realizes any form of resentment from the target groups. At a time, westernization was called modernization. And now, it is named globalization. Another label, it seems, would be tagged to it in the near future. Westernization is revolutionary because it succeeded completely in replacing nearly all and in some cases wiping away the traditional outlook of our society. It is systematic because none of those influenced can explain the process of transformation.

Westernization is basically a premeditated package of three ethical principles designed to effect philosophical transformations in the mode of thinking of non-western peoples particularly in Africa and Asia. They are the principles of empiricism, secularism and democracy. Those ingredients are translated into the minds of target groups from the early stage of life. And gradually, they grow and develop with these elements until such become the basis for all their thoughts and actions.

As a child begins the study of nature or elementary science, his mind is teleguided towards separating natural phenomena from God. This in essence is called secularism. The process of secularization can be completed through a calculated system of school curriculum and the use of conspired scheme of methodology. Nature operates within certain laws put down by God as a guide for man, and to help him understand and appreciate God’s supremacy, potency and sovereignty. Yet, God has the prerogative in the otherwise functions of these laws. The innocent child learns from his religion that God’s power and authority both underline the existence of any natural law, which may be discovered by man. Whether the law works systematically according to the order or within the framework known to us or not, the fact remains that all are subjects of the Allah’s divine wish and command. Unfortunately, the child under the influence of western system of education is made to learn and believe that such is so either because one thing is there or not there. Every attempt would be made to offer explanations on why a thing is so or not so. For instance, if physical laws specify that rainfall within a particular region would be experienced at certain periods of the years; and God wilfully decides to extend the period or cause the rain to cease before the end of the period or even causes it to fall at a time it was never expected, the modern scientist would look for one reason or the other to explain the situation without linking it to the will of God. We also learn from Qur’an 3:37 that it was the will of Allah (SWT) to provide Maryam, the mother of Prophet (AS) with Food obtained only during winter at a time of summer and vise versa. This caused Prophet Zakariyau (AS) to ask Maryam from where such sustenance had come every time he entered her chamber. We are yet to hear of any scientific explanation of this incident. If Allah, the Omnipotent, so desires, He can make us experience winter at a time of summer. His command when he intends a thing is “Be” and it is. But the methodology of modern science would not allow our young ones to think along this line. They are rather made to grow and develop with secularist thoughts.

The traditional innocent child is immediately introduced to empiricism as soon as he begins the study of science. The introduction is done through the conduct of practical lessons. These lessons are administered with a view to injecting into the child a philosophy that “you only believe in what you can prove experimentally.” When the mental process of empiricism is completed and the child fully imbibes the concept, he consciously applies to it all issues with regard to the fact that religious beliefs are not based on proofs. The danger in this sort of mental metamorphoses or transfiguration is that it can put man’s religious faith in serious jeopardy because the empiricist mind would want to subject all his convictions or hypotheses to empirical or philosophical questions that may likely lead him to inconclusive arguments. A child could manifest the influence of empiricism by asking his parents unnecessary questions over what they intend to do for him which in effect may absolutely be to his own advantage.

Democracy is the third process by which the traditional human mind undergoes mental conversion or transmutation. Beginning from the primary stage of western education or sometimes even earlier, the child is made to believe that he is an individual with certain democratic rights and duties upon which he could decide and choose a pattern of life he deems fit for himself. The essential ideals of democracy flowed logically from liberalism even though liberalism was the political philosophy of a middle class that was generally hostile to democracy. Eventually, democracy became a later stage in the evolution of liberation. Human beings naturally like freedom. This is why most federal constitutions speak of freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of this, freedom of that. It may not be impossible if in no distant future, the alien civilization extends the breadth of this concept to include freedom of indiscipline and corruption. But the question one may ask is: Can man actually be free?

It is as a result of this sort of democratic setting in our modern schools that the tone of discipline in such schools degenerated miserably over a period of time thereby creating an enabling ground for breeding scoundrels. The Western form of education is a system, which for democratic reasons, seem to unnecessarily condone laziness and seriousness on the part of students. If a student, an unserious one for that matter, fails in an examination, it is the teacher that is responsible. But if on the other hand, he passes, it is the student that is credited even when the pass cannot be justified. If a student plays truancy in school, it is still the teacher that is to explain. The abolition of corporal punishment in schools invariably illustrates a system in which authority is given to a school teacher/administrator but usurps the power to exercise it. It is a system where expelled students of a secondary school can sue their principal to a court of law for wrongful dismissal even when their offences range from drunkenness to arson.