To understand the concept of these cultural beliefs helps to
understand the culture of one group and it make it easier for us to
build relationships. It increases communication between two people or
two groups of people who have different cultures. The concept of fate
and destiny part of cultural beliefs and it is understood differently
in different cultures. For Malagasy people, there are some proverbs
and examples which can illuminate how this concept functions.
Fate is a power that some people believe controls every that happens
in their lives. Someone's fate is what happens to them. Destiny is
everything that happens to someone during his life including what
happens in the future. For Malagasy people, they believe that God and
their ancestors plan their lives. Everything which happens in their
lives is their destiny and it is always planned and there is no
choice.
"An'olombelona ny fikasana fa an'Andriamanitra ny lahatra" means
"Human beings can have some wishes but it is god who has the final
decision. One person may want to do something in his life but if it
is not in Gods plans it will never be accomplished.
"Ny tody tsy misy fa ny atao no miverina," means "What happens to you
is from what you have done. This means that what will happen in your
life is the result of what you have done before. Everything will
return back to you—if you do something in a good way you can hope for
success for example. Malagasy people take death as destiny from God.
It can help people to mourn when they believe in this. Human beings
cannot refuse death, they only can accept it. It is not possible for
us to counter God's plans. If someone fails in what they do then they
should move on and do something else because it was not their fate to
succeed.
As a conclusion, Malagasy people think that their lives are already
planned, no matter what happens and they do not have a choice. Many
factors are the source of our destiny such as God, our ancestors, our
past behavior. Malagasy people are passive. Sometimes, people do not
make any effort to ameliorate their lives and people can be too
passive.
I do agree that God has the ultimate plan for us. However in our culture, we believe that He gave us choices. Choices are the decisions that we make throughout our daily life. He has given us his list of rules to abide by. It is up to us to follow them. At the same time, if you fail at something,it is not His fault. We do not give up. In our culture, giving up falls in 'unexamined identity which is the first stage of the majority identity which is to go with the flow whether it is good or bad. I on the other hand am in the 'integration' stage, where you respect the beliefs but still question them. We believe in fate also but it does not dictate our lives. Our philosophy is to keep trying until you succeed no matter what someone says. I hope that you will not give up. Rather, you will learn from your mistakes and use those errors to improve your chances the next time you try.
ReplyDeleteYou have an interesting culture. I hope that someday, I can visit your beautiful country or vice verse.
Until next time.
NBD