THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF M’MUOCK PEOPLE
The religious beliefs of the M’muock people are diverse and include traditional beliefs, Christian religion and a blend of the two.
The traditional beliefs of M’muock people are similar to those of the Bamileke. For example, they, like the people of Bafou and Bangang, believe in family gods (Belem) and worship the skulls (Atsobepheu) of dead loved ones or ancestors. However, since the coming of Christianity to M’muock in the late 1930s and early 1940s, traditional beliefs have progressively been influenced by Christianity, making the M’muock people’s belief system a mixture of tradition and Christianity. Three categories of religious beliefs are therefore common in M’muock society today.
1. Pure Traditional Beliefs
Typical M’muock traditionalists believe in a supreme creator (ndem) as well as other (smaller) gods (belem). They worship these belem and make supplications to them, to intervene in the lives of the people and put things in their right perspectives. Sometimes they pass through ancestors (atsobepheu) and call upon them to channel their prayers to the belem. These gods are represented by objects like stones, tree trunks, etc., positioned at the entrances of compounds. The typical traditionalists would not pray to the Almighty Father and Supreme God or to His Son, Jesus Christ, because they don’t know them in the sense of having a relationship with them.
2. Christian Beliefs
In M’muock society, there are people who have acquired sound Christian doctrines. They believe that the Almighty and Supreme God exists and the only way to reach Him is through His Son, Jesus Christ, who is the only mediator between Him and Man (1 Timothy 2:5). These Christians believe that the gods (belem) and the ancestors (atsobepheu) have no role to play in their relationship with the Almighty God. Their prayers are therefore, directed to Jesus Christ the son of God who channels them to God the Father. This category is headed by the mainstream churches like Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, and recently, some Revival Movements.
3. Mixed traditional and Christian Beliefs
Presently in M’muock society, and contrary to pure traditionalists who do not acknowledge the existence of the Christian God (Almighty God) modernised traditionalists believe that He exists but they do not know Jesus Christ as the son of God. This is similar to other forms of religion that claim to know the Supreme God but do not know Christ. The modernised traditionalists address their prayers to the village gods (belem) or ancestors (atsobepheu) who then channel their prayers to the Almighty God. In this wise, they strive to integrate the traditional heritage of gods (belem) and ancestors (atsobepheu) into Christianity. Although they worship the Almighty God, they believe that their own gods and ancestors play vital roles in their prayers, and are closer to the Supreme God. They argue that if Roman Catholic Christians pray and ask Holy Mary and other Saints to channel their prayers to God, then their own gods and ancestors can do the same with their prayers.