IndexIntroductionNegative ethnicityEthnocentrism in the BibleEthnocentrism in the Old TestamentThe ExodusRahab and AchanAccentRuthEthnocentrism in the New TestamentGenealogy of JesusHistory of ethnicity in KenyaEffects of negative ethnicity and ethnocentrism on peopleEconomic effectsSocial effectsReferencesIntroductionDifferent scholar have given their understanding of the term ethnocentrism. According to anthropologists, the concept combines the belief that one's culture is superior to other cultures, with the practice of judging other cultures by the standards of one's own culture. The Oxford dictionary describes ethnicity as the fact or state of belonging to a social group that has a common natural or cultural tradition. Ethnocentrism, on the other hand, has been defined as the tendency of individuals to elevate their own culture as a standard against which to judge others and to consider their own culture superior to that of others. Ethnocentrism involves the perception of intercultural differences, may underlie cultural conflicts and negative stereotypes, and is probably universal among humans. In the nineteenth century Charles Darwin (1874) noted that tribes were more sympathetic to their own groups, and WG Sumner (1906) first used the term ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism involves the perception of intercultural difference and can be the basis of cultural conflict and negative stereotypes. Ethnocentrism comes from root words that suggest judgments and feelings centered (“centrism”) in an individual's cultural or ethnic (“ethno”) experience. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Ethnocentrism has existed in virtually every society in human history. To feel superior to other peoples you need to be aware of others beyond your own national or cultural boundaries. To feel superior to other peoples it is also necessary to know enough about others to judge their civilization or way of life as inferior to one's own. Therefore, for ethnocentrism to take root and flourish, engagement with the outside world is necessary. A society that lacks the economic, military, or human resources to go beyond its borders and do business with other peoples, whether through trade, conquest, or otherwise, cannot easily be labeled “ethnocentric,” even if it is primarily concerned with or exclusively yes. Ethnocentrism is a universal human phenomenon. Some scholars believe it is as old as the human race. This position is justified in this way: “from childhood we learn what is good, moral, civilized and normal according to our culture (Horton and Hunt 1968)”. As a universal human reality, ethnocentrism is said to be more pronounced in modern nations than in "pre-literate tribes". Negative ethnicity The concept of ethnicity has been intellectually tested with various approaches, most of which do not explain the positive and negative aspects. of the concept. Ethnicity is a concept and reality that is often misunderstood academically and generally always attributed as a negative aspect. Well-understood ethnicity proves positive. This comes from the different cultures, languages, lifestyles and even organizations that humans often spend traveling in search of understanding and learning them. Publications in newspapers and other forms of media have given greater weight to negative ethnicity. Based on the situational approach to ethnicity, negative ethnicity can basically be the way in which ethnic groups tend to situationally use their own identity, superiority or dominance to exploit or interfere with the goals or interests of other ethnic groups toown advantage. Ethnocentrism in the Bible Ethnocentrism can be one of the major obstacles to Christian credibility, even in situations where the classic concept of tribe or “urban tribes” does not apply. Ethnocentrism, when mixed with pride, is one of the most divisive and potentially bellicose of all human traits. But precisely the awareness of his presence in us offers us a new perspective on what it means to be the people of God. Fiction is the natural literary form through which human beings express and define who they are as a people. Therefore, looking at some biblical narratives seems the most natural and appropriate way to see what kind of worldview the Bible wants to form in readers regarding the place of ethnicity for God's people. Ethnocentrism in the Old Testament The Exodus Let's start with l he constitutive event of Israel as a people: the exodus. The biblical author has no problem telling us that a significant number of non-Jews left Egypt together with the Jews: "A mixed crowd also went up with them." Why is this information there? The way this is expressed in Exodus is theologically suggestive. The Hebrew word used here is defined as 'mixed people or race'. So from the beginning of Israel's history as a nation, salvation has been possible not only for Israel, but for all sorts of people. So if ever there was a “peasant revolt,” it happened in Egypt and was very inclusive. The pervasive biblical warning against “mixing with the nations” lies neither in the mixing nor in the nations themselves, but in “doing as they do.” '. The same Hebrew root used in Exodus 12 is also used in Psalm 106 and Ezra 9:2. This is clear in the Psalm, but not so in Ezra. It may be that in Ezra we see the beginnings of a distorted idea of ​​purity. Or maybe something else. We should not forget that one of the great problems after the return of the exiles was the oppression of the Jews. This shows that it is possible to do as nations do without mixing with them; which brings us back to the spirit of the Law. What gives identity and permanence to God's people is faith and obedience to the word of God. Rahab and Achan The book of Joshua is not easy to read today. The way out is not to fix the text or the theology of those who wrote it. We must consider, however, that the book is neither as nationalistic as some critics have thought, nor as triumphalist as some Christians think. Two personal and elaborate stories in this book address the issue of inclusion and exclusion. Rahab is the Canaanite prostitute who becomes part of Israel, along with her relatives, because she understood what God was doing at that moment in history with Israel. It has become Israel. Achan on the contrary, was an Israelite who did not understand what God was doing with Israel, bringing souvenirs from Jericho that he should not have brought. He was excluded. The Canaanite woman enters the hall of faith while Achan joins the hall of shame. In both cases the only criterion is a combination of what they believed and what they did. Another example in Joshua is the Gibeonites, where a whole group of people become part of Israel, tricks and all. In Acts we find parallels with the stories of Rahab and Achan. Ananias and Saphira (Acts 5) are the Acanians, while Cornelius (Acts 10) and many others are the Rahabs of the New Testament. The latter are those who manifest regulated speech about God and regulated actions in the name of God, as Vanhoozer defines theology. In all these cases we find "insiders" involved in greed and "outsiders" as models of mercy. Accent It is difficult to imagine that accent played a role in Israel's history as a way to differentiate tribes. This is the cruel case in Judges 12: the pronunciation of a Hebrew consonant became to a certainIt's a matter of life and death. When the Israelites seemed to have lost track of who they were as a people16, the way to establish identity was, as unfortunately happens today, accent. Due to some confusing circumstances, the Gileadites went to war against the Ephraimites. Many Ephraimites died at the hands of the Gileadites. They were apparently unable to distinguish one another by height, color or clothing but only by their accent. The Ephraimites pronounced the word grain as 'Sibolet', while the Gileadites said 'Shibolet', apparently the 'right way'. RuthRuth was from Moab. Moab was one of Israel's enemies for much of Israel's OT history. The feelings of hatred were mutual. Moab oppressed Israel for a time at the hands of Eglon. Mesha was the Moabite king who refused to continue paying tribute to Israel; Israel attacked with a coalition of two other kings (Judah and Edom) but failed to subdue it (2 Kings 3). Mesha later celebrates its deliverance from Israel by its god Chemosh. The story of these bad relationships is found in Numbers, chapters 22-25 and 31. Here Moab does two things that seem to justify Israel's grudge against them: Balak hires a seer (Balaam) to curse Israel; later some Moabite women led the Israelites into idolatry, an issue in which Balaam appears to have been involved. So Moab is a different ethnic group and is also an enemy of Israel. But this is where Moab Ruth comes from! She not only became Israel, but also the grandmother of King David. Why? Simply because this woman showed her mother-in-law divine and "biblical" love and adopted her mother-in-law's faith and destiny. His ethnicity was not an issue. Ethnocentrism in the New Testament Genealogy of Jesus Most people have a tendency to boast about their ethnic and cultural background. This is something that has value in and of itself and helps people measure themselves against other people. But it's really shocking to see the people Matthew selected for Jesus' genealogy. It's pretty scary. Those who speak of Jesus as a "full-blood Jew" when he speaks to the Samaritan woman (presumably a "half-breed") should reread their Bible. This genealogy is particularly disturbing because here Matthew is establishing the legitimacy of Jesus as the Messiah, someone of the lineage of David and Abraham. But to do so, the first evangelist includes people who some would consider not so “legitimate.” There are five women in Jesus' genealogy in Matthew 1: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary. All of these women had some type of “marital irregularity” and the first four were not of Israelite origin. However, they all deserved a place in the Messiah's genealogy. So Jesus counted Moabites, Hittites, and Canaanites among his ancestors. One author states that the emphasis of this genealogy is not in the women themselves but in the stories they embody. Maybe so, but these women are their story. No woman, no story. These women, their story, and the resulting biblical theology tell us that the inclusion of non-Israelites among God's people is nothing new in the New Testament. Ethnicity, like that of the past, is not a problem for God nor an impediment for anyone to have a worthy place in God's salvation history. If God's Messiah can come from such a genealogy, he can also be the redeemer of all sorts of people, even if their past is “questionable”. This appears to be an important element in the theological agenda of the evangelists. The reason is that ethnocentrism is very difficult to overcome. The Bible consistently states that the foundation on which the identity of God's people rests is not ethnic, nor geographical, nor linguistic, but theological. Thus Matthew does theology with a genealogy. History of ethnicity in Kenya Kenya is onemulti-ethnic society and has around forty-two communities or ethnic groups that have coexisted for a long time. The dominant ethnic groups in Kenya are the Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Luo, Luhya, Kamba and Kisii. However, many other “smaller” ethnic communities exist in Kenya. Therefore, this explains why ethnic issues are so fundamental in Kenya's linguistic landscape. The history of ethnic conflicts in Kenya is traced back to the colonial era. One of the long-term causes of the clashes in Kenya is attributed to the colonial legacy. It is a historical fact that the indirect rule administered by the British colonialists who applied the divide and conquer strategy polarized the various ethnic groups in Kenya. The strategy has led to the creation of administrative structures such as districts and provinces without regard for the wishes of Kenyan communities. These structures were later inherited by the postcolonial administration. This contributed to the subsequent incompatibility of these ethnic groups in Kenya. It is unfortunate that the first independence or nationalist movements in Kenya had regional and ethnic bases and leadership from an early stage. Their names represented ethnic interests. Early political parties had ethnic conglomerates: the Kikuyu, for example, formed the Kikuyu Central Association (KCA), the Kamba: Ukambani Members Association (UMA), the Luhya: The Luhya Union (LU), the Luo: Young Kavirondo Association ( YKA), the Kalenjin formed the Kalenjin Political Alliance (KPA), the coastal tribes formed the Mwambao Union Front (MUF), Taita formed the Taita Hills Association (THA). At independence, the British administration worked out a formula to cede land to Kenya's indigenous ethnic group. They established a special grant aimed at facilitating land redistribution. The obvious expectation during the struggle for independence was that land would be distributed freely to the population since it had been forcibly taken from them in the first place. But in the independence agreement with Britain, the Kenyan government was supposed to purchase it from the colonists. This in turn meant that there was no free land to distribute. The price made land scarce. This is the tipping point where; land ownership became an ethnic factor and thus ethnic animosity intensified. It is known that the major beneficiaries of this land distribution program were the Kikuyu and their Embu and Meru allies through the GEMA alliance which was a bargaining body for these communities. GEMA communities formed societies and cooperatives to purchase land with the blessings of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. Effects of Negative Ethnicity and Ethnocentrism on People Economic Effects It is always difficult to quantify the total economic impact of ethnic conflicts in Kenya. Ethnic conflicts, like all other conflicts, lead to a gigantic waste of human and economic resources. For example, during the 2007/08 post-election clashes in Kenya, land ownership patterns were changed. Economic production, for example, decreases, agricultural activities become obsolete. Ethnic conflicts also lead to the problem of overvaluation or undervaluation of properties as individuals try to escape conflict-affected areas and therefore sell their vast properties at non-normal prices. Other subsequent economic problems related to ethnic/negative conflicts are such as food insecurity, property destruction, land grabbing, misallocation and unexpected disruption of infrastructure, resource diversion, inflation and price fluctuation and environmental destruction, among others. Economic instability may result from such conflicts. Local and international investors fear investing due to conflicts. Also the