ABSTRACT
Although indigenous religion in Africa is practiced in customized ways by thousands of ethnic groups, Teresia Hinga argues that commonalities make it possible to speak of African Indigenous Religion or AIR. For her, AIR as well as Christianity and Islam are Africa’s Triple Heritage. Hinga holds that a life aligned with the moral wisdom of indigenous Africa enhances the growth of human persons in dignity since it nurtures Ubuntu, the quality of being authentically human. Hence, a return to an Ubuntu ethic can help Africa resolve some of its most challenging issues. Hinga offers several examples of applied Ubuntu ethics, including the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians. Moreover, these women, Hinga finds, have put the Global Ethic’s Fourth Directive into practice and modeled strategies by which it, and the other directives, can be implemented. In his response, Ralph A. Austen wonders whether Hinga slips into essentialism by grouping African indigenous religions into AIR but agrees that it is possible to accept what Hinga calls “communality” as one of their common traits. As for Hinga’s various case studies, intended to show how indigenous values like Ubuntu have been mobilized in public life, Austen finds that she describes the aspirations of these projects rather than their actual outcomes.
