tion of the particular laws. For instance, the Fang and many other
people consider that proper behavior, toward one's family for instance,
is clearly what the ancestors want. However, there is no fixed descrip-
tion of what they want. People intuitively agree that a certain course
of action is the right, proper, time-tested way of behaving, so it must
be what the ancestors wanted in the first place.
A second, very common way of connecting religion and morality is
that some supernatural agents provide a model to follow. This is the
paragonmodel in which saints or holy people are both different
enough from common folk that they approach an ideal and close
[172] enough so their behavior can serve as a model. This is the way people
conceive of individuals with supernatural qualities such as Buddha,
Jesus, Muhammad or the many Christian and Muslim saints as well as
the miracle-working rabbis of Judaism. The life of the Buddha gives a
clear indication of the path to follow: renounce worldly attachment,
display compassion, escape from the false appearance that is reality.
Another, third connection is present in many circumstances. This
is the idea that supernatural agents are interested parties in moral
choices. All this says is that the gods or the ancestors are not indiffer-
ent to what people do, and this is why we must act in particular ways
or refrain from certain courses of action. Interaction with the Kwaio
ancestors or Fang spirits is mostly of this kind. We also find the "inter-
ested parties" model in many world religions. Most Christians enter-
tain the notion that every single one of their moral choices is relevant
to their personal connection to God. That is, God not only gave laws
and principles but also pays attention to what people do. For obvious
reasons, the notion that supernatural agents are interested onlookers
is generally associated with the idea that the gods or spirits are power-
ful and that it is within their capacities to inflict all sorts of calamities
upon people—or help them prosper—depending on people's behavior.
These three ways of connecting gods and spirits to moral choices
are not exclusive. In many places people combine them. The Fang
think of the ancestors as interested parties but also as lawgivers. The
Christians may think of Jesus as lawgiver and paragon, but also very
often as an interested party, in that he is said to hear their prayers,
know of their suffering, etc. However, to say that the legislator,
paragon and interested party models are combined is a bit misleading,
because in people's actual reasoning about particular situations, in the
practical business of judging people's behavior and choosing a course
of action, the interested party model is largely dominant.
RELIGION EXPLAINED