Question: What should we do when we are confronted with other cultures?

This answer to the question above does not only sticks to the book, but also can come from our real life. What have I done when I first when to the school in the States? How did I handle such different culture? How did I manage to get along with the foreigners just fine when I was in a culture I have never experienced? The answer is simple: I have treated them with respect and with familiarity, regardless of my conceptions of them and regardless of their prejudices of my ethnicity or my nation.
It is same of every culture. The answer to the question is very simple. We should not give importance to their culture when we confront other people. Before recognizing them from their culture, we must acknowledge them as breathing, living people, just like us. It is then when we appreciate their culture.
The second step can be considerably hard. We have to understand their culture. This can be challenging according to how unique the culture is. In the case of Don Richardson and the Sawi, this would have been very difficult. Since we have acknowledged them as human beings, we need to give our full respect to them. However, at the same time, we need to appreciate their culture, no matter how inhumane and brutal their culture is.
Once we have recognized them as human and fully understood them as human, and their culture no longer stands in our way to do so, no more problem lies between the two cultures. We can fully appreciate them and so can they. All it takes for two cultures to become friendly are some respect and pure understanding.

Question: What does Jesus want us to do for the Sawi?

One can only believe that what Don Richardson has done is the will of God, since He even speaks to Don Richardson and even helps him throughout his stay in the Sawi village. God has helped Don Richardson prove false the state of aumamay by helping Warahai to become conscious again. God has answered Don Richardson’s every prayer by creating a miracle, or what it seemed so to Sawi’s eyes. Thus, I say that God wants to assimilate Don Richardson and actualize what we have learned from him.
Don Richardson, even though he was introduced the Sawi village as “unhealthy as it can be” (77), showed his enthusiasm for the place by “Yes, we are happy to go to one of the tribes in the south! How soon can we leave?” (77) God wants us to show our determination in following His will. Don Richardson did not hesitate to go help those ‘uncivilized’, and neither did he have any worries about any unfavorable accidents. Don believed his trip to the Sawi village as the will of God, and thus he decided to trust it and follow it without questioning it. Jesus wants us to reflect our ultimate faith in our actions by gladly helping them.
What God has always wanted us to do for the Sawi is very simple. There will be a time when the chance will come; the chance to bring Christianity among the Sawi. God wants us, when such opportunity arrives, to banish all worries and with a smile on your face, say, “Yes, I am happy to go to the Sawi tribes. How soon can I leave?”

Question: How does Faith relate to the world in which we live?

After the escape from Egypt, Moses was given the Ten Commandments from God on Mountain Sinai. It was the list of commandments which all men should live by. From then, humans have developed governments and rules. Now, it is a common sense for us to live according to these rules. They are considered ultimate. All the laws that restrain us from committing any crime are all based on the faith of Moses and the Israelites.
Whether one notices it or not, faith has been a major part of our life and is embedded inside our heart. It is faith that stops our hand from stealing the wallet from the back pocket of a stranger. It is our faith that makes our eyes look away from seductive women. It is our faith toward God that makes us kneel before the cross and pray. One may not notice his faith easily. However, as I said before, it is always within us. One’s faith is easily expressed in case of committing a crime. He/she will shortly deny his misbehavior, but will ultimately come to forgiveness. This forgiveness derives from the belief that there is an ultimate existence: God. He/she is asking God for His forgiveness and mercy, in the acceptance of his sin.
It is faith that has restrained us from committing more evil. It is our faith that keeps us actualizing our every instinct. It is our faith in God that creates the laws to even restrain others from upsetting God. Faith in God has brought the ultimate peace, to our society in which we live, and eventually to the world, and soon to the entire globe.

Question: What should society do for “uncivilized cultures” like the Sawi?

The concept of society has always bothered me. It is singular, but is always overflowing with intense disputes. Society is composed of many people, each with different ideology and belief. It is merely impossible to come up with one solution for an issue, such as what to do for ‘uncivilized culture’ like the Sawi.
Most readers of the novel, Peace Child, will support the actions of Don Richardson, transforming the culture when it is considered immoral. Such ideas are from our own laws, which states that no human shall kill other human.
On the other hand, there is the relativist point of view. People of such point of view will argue that Sawi are practicing their unique culture and should not be disturbed by our ideology and we should even try our best to preserve and appreciate their unique culture. Since the idea that Sawi should not kill each other is based on the Ten Commandments, which the Sawi were not even introduced to, the Sawi do not have to follow them.
These two arguments are so contradictory that reconciliation seems distant. However, I believe that there is one solution for the dispute. What if we let the Sawi decide? What if we only introduce the Sawi to our ideology and let them decide whether or not to fall under the kingdom of God? Upon observing closely, we can realize that this is what Don Richardson had done. He did not force the Sawi to believe in God nor tried to ban the practice of cannibalism, waness, and other immoral cultural attributes. Rather, he spoke in the words of God and gave the Sawi the chance to transform into holy figures. The Sawi ‘decided’ to conform to Don Richardson. The Sawi ‘decided’ not to believe in aumamay, not to take revenge on other tribes anymore, and ‘decided’ to please God in their actions and words. This decision has created all the changes among the Sawi society.
Our society should not force other society to change, nor just ignore their immorality. We should solely open their eyes to the moral and immoral, and ultimately to God. However, we should always leave the room for the ‘uncivilized’ to choose whether they want to accept Christ or ignore His presence.

Question: What concepts in the Sawi culture intregued / reviled / saddened / angered / surprised you?

“Tuwi Asonai Makaerin!” (31)

This was said to Yae at the moment the creeping menace became vivid to him. This phrase is translated to “We have been fattening you with friendship for the slaughter.”
Many people mistake cannibals to those who depend on human flesh for the satisfaction of their body. However, this is not the case for the Sawi. The Sawi tribes headhunt for the satisfaction of their mentality, not their physical state. As they chew on the flesh of their victim, who was being eaten by whom he trusted to be a true friend, they gain pride in how great his Tuwi Asonai Man was. Tuwi Asonai Man, the concept of fattening a victim with friendship for the slaughter, greatly astonished me. This means, as it is proven in the book, the hero in the Bible, according to the Sawi culture, is Judas, who committed a “real tuwi asonai man.”(151)
A question was raised as I read this scene: if we, the people of the modern society, were not introduced to the Bible, would we also have become like the Sawi tribes? Would we be living without the ultimate peace? The decisive distinction between the Sawi tribes and us is not the development of technology, but the presence of ultimate laws based on morals. We have had the Ten Commandments since Moses and had the ability to restrain ourselves from actualizing unethical practices, such as headhunting. On the other hand, with great grief, the Sawi tribes have never had the chance to accept Christ into their life. Thus, the cannibalism, along with many immoral practices, was executed. Fortunately, Don Richardson came among the Sawi tribes with the words of God, and greatly affected their culture. The words of God completely banished the evil deeply embedded inside one’s culture.

Question: How different is your modern culture from the sawi tenents?

The modern culture has many laws to restrain us from committing evil to others. These laws are highly based on the Ten Commandments. The below are the Ten Commandments:

1. Have no other gods before me.
2. Have no idols and worship no idols.
3. Do not take the Lord’s name in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
5. Honor your mother & father.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not lie.
10. You shall not covet.

This list conveys the central ideas of all the laws of any nation. The next list is of the Sawi tenants.

1. The survival of the fittest.
2. Honor your in-laws.
3. You shall murder, but none from your own tribe.
4. Treachery is prized.
5. Peace child is the ultimate ‘peace.’
6. Worship the river spirits.
7. Be wary of friendship.
8. Eating the flesh opens eyes to the good and the evil.
9. The unknown/unexplained is supernatural.
10. Become friends with the Tuans.

A simple glance at the two lists allows you to find a difference between these two lists; the former restrains us from more troubles, while the latter provides a straight way to a chaos. God has provided these rules for the protection of the humanity from itself. However, the Sawi tenants seem to be made for a tribe’s own survival over other tribes. In addition, the Sawi tenants are highly ‘porous’ in the way that they have open spaces for evil deeds to live. Such great honor in in-laws, combined with the concept of prized treachery, waness was created.
If one is still uncertain of what’s the difference between the Sawi tenants and the modern culture, one can simply look around oneself, and then take a trip to a primitive village where headhunting is prevalent. Following the Ten Commandments, our society has grown into the current state, with a systematic, comparatively safe and protected environment. On the other hand, the Sawi constantly move their home in order for protection from other tribes and even acquired the concept of cannibalism as an honorable act. The modern society and the Sawi village can not be any more distinctive.

Question: How did Christianity change this culture?

“…he too headed home with that joy throbbing through his being. A tiny crack had opened in the base of the first pillar.
The ascendancy of the second pillar had begun.”(197)

Many may argue that all culture should be appreciated for its uniqueness and should be preserved. However, Don Richardson did not hesitate to ‘crack’ the culture that did not accord with God’s will.
These ‘pillars’ that were broken down in the presence of Don Richardson and the words of Christ, can be interpreted as the basis of the Sawi culture. Don Richardson, even in his own words, declared that he cracked a pillar of the Sawi culture, and the second pillar was soon to break.
Can this be justified? Don Richardson took away the Sawi belief in aumamay, the traditional waness, the concept of tuwi asonai man, and ultimately their pride in cannibalism. All of these were removed from the Sawi culture, in the presence of the Lord. One might say that Don Richarson, without realizing, distorted the Sawi culture. However, I assert that no one will ever like to be burnt with coal while unconscious, experience such great shame by the mother-in-law, or be eaten by his/her best friend. These attributes were not worth the preservation. Therefore, the answer to my question is ‘yes.’ Banishing traits of a culture that brings nothing good, but only tears to others, can be justified.
This is what Don Richardson did as he spent time in the Sawi village. Just one family was able to expel all these evil, with the help from the words of God. Headhunters became devoted Christians and no more evil lied in their mind or their nature.
The pillars were definitely broken. However, were those pillars necessary? The evil was dwelling with evil already, and was soon to rot. Though not mentioned in the book, Don Richardson did not only crack the pillars. I believe he rather replaced the pillars with the words of God and the ultimate peace child, Jesus Christ.

Choose a representative passage from this novel that holds particular significance toyou. Type it in and comment on its significance.

“I hurried home and found Carol radiant. O told her about Hato and she replied, “Hato’s daughter, Kimi, prayed with me this morning. She said her father told her he wanted God’s Peace Child, and she decided she did too!” …
“Honey,” I whispered into Carol’s golden hair, “this place has… it has…” How could I express it? “It has the feel of the center of the will of God!” (200)

The above excerpt is from the dialogue between Don Richardson and his wife, Carol Richardson, as more Sawi decide to accept Jesus Christ, the ultimate and everlasting peace child, into their heart. Don and Carol are amazed at how holy this primitive village has become, how pure their beliefs are and how much they want to accept God in their life. This passage was particularly significant to me, because I was particularly shocked in the exposition of the novel. Here is an excerpt from the second chapter.

“Then he yawned and stretched out for a midday nap on his grass mat, pulling half of it over him as a shield from the damp, cool air gusting through the frond wall. Yae’s jawless skull, already polished to a smooth sheen, rolled against Maum’s shoulder as he drew the mat over him. He took it and placed it under his head as a pillow and was soon asleep.”(36)

These people, who later become devoted Christians were once headhunters who comfortably sleep using human skull as their pillows.
I have had the chance to read the novel several times during the break. Thus, when I read the exposition of the novel again, I remembered how brutal and crude the Sawi once were. To be frank, I’ve only guessed the Sawi to be the antagonist of the novel and Don Richardson as the protagonist. These two passages, accompanied by their dramatic contrast hold particular significance to me.