Question 6.112

6.112 Could you say that a society that rejects God always ends by seeking replacements in various superstitions and magical rites? From your personal experience, are you not acquainted with a traditional society that is still largely built on pagan foundations without Christian hope?

For a long time I have thought that superstition is born of fear and that true serenity comes from God. If we do not know our Father, or if no one has taught us about him, there is a more or less significant situation of anxiety. In order to ease the fear, rituals, beings, or objects are invested with sacred powers. Paganism can occur in traditional societies or in modern countries, but its manifestations remain identical. To curb depression, the ritual becomes a tranquilizer.

In Africa, paganism was often based on animal sacrifices offered to invisible forces or on the veneration of sacred trees and mountains, which were supposed to contain the presence of deities and spirits. Hence cults seek to mitigate the violence of negative forces. But superstition leaves people in anxiety, ignorance, and doubt. In Guinea, I was able to realize that the fear resulting from animism was being transmitted from generation to generation; it had become cultural. And even some Christians, although saved from death and fear by Jesus, had difficulty in freeing themselves from paganism.

The result is an irrational continuum in which society constantly indulges in libations and sacrifices of all sorts in order to appease the spirits. If man becomes open to the knowledge of God, superstition tends to disappear. I am aware that many Christians may remain bound by old fears. Animism, which looks at the world as being ruled by spirits, is still powerful. Some Christians, weakened by a superficial faith, may be tempted to offer pagan sacrifices to the spirits in order to draw down their favors.

The second type of superstition is connected with the abandonment of God. When man turns away from his fundamental roots, it is necessary for him to commend himself to other forces. Paradoxically, modern materialistic societies are based on magical beliefs. Men make false gods for themselves. The search for power without God generates a greater susceptibility to the thirst for liberating illusions. In this context, it is clear that the first words of John Paul II after his election, repeating Jesus’ invitation: “Be not afraid!”, seek to bring man closer to God so as to restore to him his true liberty.