ABSTRACT
Papua New Guinea is, in some respects, a country ideally suited to conversion movements. Changes in social, political, economic and cultural contexts have combined to significantly destabilise individuals and their understanding of the world and are influencing Papua New Guineans to convert to Islam. The causes of conversions to Islam stem from a wide-ranging and complex set of factors that evolve from within a changing social, cultural and religious context. This widespread contextual change stimulates a number of crises (personal/social) for potential converts (individuals and groups), thus this chapter and the following chapter are closely interlinked. The following four primary contextual themes present in PNG can be extrapolated: globalisation and secularisation, material dimensions, congruence, and resistance and rejection. These concepts reflect the major themes in the conversion environment and the opinions and thoughts of converts. ‘Context’ and ‘Crisis’ are the words used to describe the first two stages of conversion and the complex environment that effectively primes potential converts for conversion. The Context stage is more than simply the first stage of the conversion process; it is the total environment from which conversion emerges, and its extensive influence persists throughout each of the other conversion stages (Rambo 1993: 20). In PNG, specific contextual themes both facilitate and impede Islamic conversion. These include religion, culture, society, politics and economics, and are inextricably linked and intertwined. Although I have teased Context and Crisis stages apart and presented the stages separately, they are very closely interrelated and connected in a symbiotic, rather than linear fashion. In line with earlier work (Trompf 1990; 1991), it became clear during fieldwork in PNG that the rapid state of change in contextual elements is creating a number of social and personal crises for converts, and those who experience higher levels of crisis undertake a more rigorous Quest for a solution, which can take the form of an alternative religion. Three broad hypotheses explaining conversions became apparent through convert interviews. The first hypothesis is based around the receptiveness of individuals or groups when they are affected by widespread contextual change, which can marginalise their position in society. Whilst marginality may have a number of sources, each form relates to being disconnected to particular sources
of power and support (i.e. traditional culture, religious and/or political power). Thus, in general, the more marginalised the individual or group feels, the more likely they are to convert. The second hypothesis highlights the role of crisis in conversions. Indigenous cultures in crisis have more potential converts than stable societies, and the likelihood of conversion increases if the duration, intensity and scope of crises increase. During severe crises, the deficiencies of culture become obvious to many, thus stimulating interest in religious alternatives. The patterns of conversion vary depending on whether the crisis is internally or externally stimulated. The third hypothesis is based on the congruence between cultural and/or religious systems and the similarities or differences between culture and religion. The greater the congruence between cultural/religious systems (in the context of cultural contact), and value and symbols between religious cultures, the more likely it is that conversion will transpire. This dimension has clear linkages with, and implications for, the helicopter theory of conversion. These three hypotheses accurately capture the context surrounding conversions to Islam in PNG when tested using convert statements and evidence from the conversion literature. Many scholars of religion and religious change in the Pacific argue that dramatic religious changes in PNG are underway partly in response to globalisation (Crick 1997; Ernst 1994; Ernst 2006a; Trompf 2006). Gibbs asserts that this general view does not apply to PNG because there is little evidence to suggest a connection between globalising forces and a change in religious allegiance (Gibbs 2006: 148). Yet Gibbs’ assertion is surprising given the existence of three recent PNG-focused ethnographic studies that found that a push back to tradition and the accommodation of new forms of religion are the dominant trends among the many varied responses to globalising forces (Crick 1997). Certainly, the evidence from Islamic conversions suggests that contextual change resulting from globalisation is a major influence on conversion. The impact of globalisation on Islamic conversions must, however be viewed in light of the wider religious context in PNG, which is in a state of flux. PNG is famous for its proliferating new religious movements (NRMs) that are ‘transitional in nature’ and often referred to as ‘cargoist, revitalising, nativist or just plain new’ (Trompf 2006: 32). The statistics previously presented on religious affiliation show that on a daily basis, many Papua New Guineans are leaving mainline churches that were popular in the colonial period, and either converting to evangelical, Pentecostal or charismatic Christian sects (Robbins 2004a), or are converting to other revivalist forms of traditional religion in the form of cargo cults (Lattas 1998). Conversion to Islam is part of this wider trend. Traditional tribal societies in PNG have undergone a large yet incalculable degree of cultural, social, political and religious change as a result of colonisation, decolonisation and modernity. In the pre-colonial societies of PNG, religion was an integral and unifying dimension of an indigenous person’s society and life, and ‘culture was virtually indistinguishable from religion’ (Geertz 1973:
89). The foundations of ‘belief ’, ‘social order’ and ‘knowledge’ in traditional PNG tribal societies have been severely affected by these forces of globalisation. For the purpose of this book, globalisation is defined as a historical process of change and ‘the intensification of worldwide social relations [over time] which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa’ (Giddens 1991: 64). Traditional foundations became devalued and begun to disappear as a result of a number of the twin invasion forces of Christianity (spiritual) and Western modernity (material, ideological) (Trompf 1991). Factors include the influence of Christian missions, Western education and loss of traditional knowledge, urban migration to towns that has weakened pre-existing social bonds, changes to women’s traditional roles (emancipation), and traditional wealth and exchange systems giving way to a monetised economy (Trompf 1991). Inevitably, tensions have arisen from the processes of colonisation and Christianisation and led to a clash between traditional and modern value systems (Trompf 1986). This, in turn, has created opportunities for religions that offer an alternative to dominant colonial religions to become more established. PNG is often publicly declared a ‘Christian country’ by Papua New Guineans, which seems reasonable as the available statistics show over 96 per cent of the total population is affiliated with a Christian sect (NSO 2003). This background effectively pits Christianity against any other religion or Christian sect that people may consider converting to. Globalisation theories of religious conversion are useful for understanding religious change in PNG (Huntington 1996; Metcalf 1994; Poewe 1994). They clearly illustrate a widespread global trend that links local factors to the growth in conversions to new religious movements. Globalisation theories focus on fundamentalist Christian groups (Brouwer et al. 1996; Buckser and Glazier 2003; Ernst 1994, 2006a; Robbins 2004b) and Islamic revivalist movements such as the Tablighi Jamaat and Hizb ut-Tahrir (Metcalf 2003; Wagner 2004), as these are seeing the most significant growth. The literature in this category provides numerous examples of how colonisation and decolonisation, international migration, improved communications and travel have stimulated religious revival and facilitated the spread of Islam and Christianity to new locations. The establishment and growth of Islam in PNG is related to contextual dimensions of globalisation that have played a direct role in alerting PNG nationals to new religious options. A key assumption of globalisation theories of conversion relevant to Islamic conversions in PNG is that converts are attracted to a different religion because they view it as modern or new. This factor is even more appealing if the new religion possesses a narrative suited to people who see themselves as dispossessed, displaced, or are searching for spiritual renewal (Hefner 1998; Kaplan 1995; Van Der Veer 1996). Post-colonial theorists have added a deeper understanding of the context around conversions of this nature (Kaplan 1995; Rafael 1988; Viswanathan 1998), arguing that conversions to Christianity and Islam in Africa, Asia and North and South America were a colonisation of people’s
spirituality by force rather than by choice on the part of converts (Kaplan 1995; Rafael 1988; Viswanathan 1998). Indeed Christianity was ‘installed at the national level in PNG . . . as a traditionalized state religion by a departing colonial power and local elites under colonial influence’, even though Christianity today is ‘often used as a key vehicle for the expression of individual and collective identity and indigenous spirituality’ (Douglas 2001: 618-621). From this perspective, change to the religion instilled through colonisation or a syncretic blend of old and new, can be anticipated as a form of indigenous resistance and innovation. It is worth noting here that the contemporary global revival in Islam is ‘targeting societies more than the state and calling to the individuals’ spiritual needs’, with the resultant growth in conversions ‘illustrating multiform expressions of religious practice and discourse that links individuals and groups to larger social movements’ (Roy 2004: 3). Convert sentiment expressed in interviews aligns with Roy’s observation, and Islam does appear to appeal to converts as a means of identifying with larger social movements. Globalisation literature and post-colonial theorists seem to downplay the agency of converts in the initial conversion process, presenting converts as submissive and passive actors at the mercy of proselytes of the new religious alternatives. Yet Horton’s microcosm/macrocosm framework (embedded in Rambo’s conversion framework) refutes aspects of globalisation and post-colonial theories of conversion. His case studies of conversion in Africa offer a nuanced and balanced understanding of the complex interaction and agency of both proselytes and converts. In PNG today, conversions occur because individuals actively seek to understand, control and predict their everyday world. Horton’s work shows that as globalisation brought greater outside interaction and mobility, the traditional microcosms of small African communities expanded. Local understandings of the wider world were understood through the expansion of existing myths, symbols and rituals to align the local realities with global events and knowledge (Horton 1971, 1975a, 1975b). The growing body of research that applies globalisation theory to the growth of fundamentalist Christianity in PNG (Ernst 2006a; Eves 2008; Robbins 2004b) suggests that conversions to new religious alternatives is occurring as a result of individuals’ efforts to understand and explain globalisation and modern concepts (Eves 2000, 2003). These PNG studies align with Horton’s theory describing how converts attempt to reconcile local and global knowledge in a two-way process that allows them to attach local significance to global events and viceversa. Based on the data, it appears that in PNG the single biggest effect of globalisation has been secularisation. Secularisation has pierced ‘the sacred canopy’ of religion that was previously the central dimension of social life, and has resulted in religious culture becoming more diverse and religion losing its social authority (Berger 1967). Despite the influences of globalisation and secularisation, many people in PNG today still see religion as an essential part of an integrated cultural system
(Geertz 1966; Trompf 1991). Papua New Guinean philosopher and politician Bernard Narokobi once explained this dominant local perspective, claiming that people in PNG still do not differentiate between religious and non-religious experience and have a total and living encounter with the universe (Narokobi 1980, 1985). This view that human life is a unified spiritual and material world is shared globally by all Muslims, and interestingly, prior to the reformation, Christianity also shared such a view (Asad 1993). Many contemporary academics agree with Narokobi’s perspective and point out that the integrated worldview held by most people in PNG is at odds with Christianity and Western science (Gibbs 2006; Trompf 1991). The response to secularisation in PNG has been similar to that in most other parts of the world, with a rise in conversions to fundamentalist religions, particularly Christian and Islamic forms, which paradoxically contributes to even greater secularisation (Appleby et al. 2003; Bruce 2000; Emerson and Hartmann 2006; Marty and Appleby 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995; Riesebrodt 2000). Over the last 40 years in PNG there has been a proliferation in the number of new Christian sects, with the number currently exceeding 200 (Gibbs 2006). Where it was previously usual for communities to have only one church, ‘today it is quite common for people even of villages in remote areas with populations of fewer than 500 souls to be co-existing with a variety’ of new religious groups and churches (Ernst 2006a: 5). This situation has led to the development of a commonly held view among many people that ‘Christianity in PNG is characterised by disunity, bitter interdenominational conflicts, and the endless intrusion of man-made customs in the praise and veneration of the almighty’ and that, ‘in the hands of feeble men Christianity has become fragmented into a thousand shards, like remnants of a shattered stained glass cathedral window’ (National 2003). ‘Splitting’ and sectarianism is dividing tribes, clans and families and even erupting into violent conflict at times involving arson, assaults and murder (De’Ath 1981; Pamba 2002a; Wakefield 2001). In the past, some analysts argued that Christian churches provided the basis for national unity in PNG (Douglas 2002; Trompf 1991), however it is hard to see unity on the basis of religion against a background of increasingly complex sectarian divisions. A number of PNG Christian leaders have spoken about this issue publicly, highlighting disunity and growing secularisation as a major problem with Christianity in PNG and stating ‘churches are highly suspicious of each other and can only find unity in matters that are of no importance one way or another’ (Trompf 1991; Sasere 2003). There are numerous examples of the sectarianism problem and as many reasons for why it is occurring (Alphonse 2007). The most common disputes appear to be over resources, internal religious institutional politics and theological issues. Some PNG church leaders claim sectarianism is increasing because Christian churches are corrupt (Walters 2007a, 2007b), whilst others go so far as to assert that Christianity should be ‘put on trial’ because ‘many who go to church also drink, smoke, and [have] immoral relationships’ (Kolma 2002a).
