Tradition preserves memory, but when treated as authority, it can silence thought. A philosophical and historical reflection on tradition, power, and questioning in Ethiopian society.
When Memory Becomes Command
Tradition is one of Ethiopia’s greatest strengths. It carries stories, identity, language, and meaning across generations. It connects the living to the dead and the present to the past.
But tradition was never meant to rule. It was meant to remember.
When tradition shifts from memory to authority, it stops guiding society and starts governing it. In Ethiopia, this shift often happens quietly—wrapped in reverence, defended by emotion, and protected by fear of change.
The Cultural Weight of “How It Has Always Been”
Few phrases end conversations faster than: “This is how it has always been.”
In Ethiopian society, this sentence carries moral weight. It discourages inquiry, shuts down debate, and places the past beyond examination. Questioning tradition is often interpreted as rejecting identity, community, or respect itself.
Yet tradition without reflection becomes repetition. And repetition without understanding is not preservation—it is stagnation.
Faith Spaces and the Inheritance of Custom
Orthodox and Protestant communities differ in expression, structure, and history, yet both inherit traditions that shape behavior and authority.
Some practices are ancient, others relatively recent. Yet once established, they gain protective status. Over time, people defend customs more fiercely than the values they were meant to represent.
This is not about belief—it is about habit. When practices are repeated long enough, they feel unquestionable. Tradition becomes automatic rather than intentional.
History’s Role—and Its Limits
Ethiopia’s long history explains why tradition holds such power. In times of external threat and internal instability, continuity mattered. Traditions provided identity when institutions collapsed and certainty when leadership failed.
But history explains tradition—it does not sanctify it.
Every tradition was once an experiment. Someone, somewhere, made a choice that later generations inherited as law. Forgetting this turns memory into command and custom into control.
The Psychology of Traditional Authority
Tradition gains authority not only through age, but through fear—fear of exclusion, of disrespect, of being labeled rebellious or immoral.
Many remain silent not because they agree, but because challenging tradition risks social consequences. Belonging becomes conditional on compliance.
Over time, people stop asking whether a tradition serves justice, dignity, or truth. They ask only whether it is accepted.
When Tradition Protects Power
Unchecked tradition often ends up protecting authority.
Leaders appeal to custom to avoid accountability. Institutions resist change by invoking history. Harmful practices are defended because they are familiar, not because they are right.
In such environments, tradition no longer carries wisdom—it carries immunity.
Reclaiming Tradition as Memory
Tradition is most powerful when it informs, not when it commands.
Healthy societies treat tradition as a conversation with the past, not a verdict from it. They honor memory while allowing conscience to respond to present realities.
Respecting tradition does not require obedience to every inherited practice. It requires understanding why a tradition existed—and whether it still serves its purpose.
A Thoughtful Challenge
Ethiopia does not suffer from too little tradition. It suffers from too little reflection on tradition.
Memory should guide judgment, not replace it. Identity should strengthen conscience, not silence it.
Because when tradition becomes authority, the past governs the present—and the future is denied a voice.
Wongelu Woldegiorgis Reflection
Let us approach the Truth .