Charles Mbo

TRADITION Tradition is defined as: A) The passing down of elements of a culture from generation to generation, especially by oral communication. B) A mode of thought or behavior followed by a people continuously from generation to generation; a custom or usage. C) A set of such customs and usages viewed as a coherent body of precedents influencing the present. But legend is: A) A traditional narrative or collection of narratives, regarded as historically factual but actually a mixture of fact and fiction. B) Is net a specific placing at a specific time and often takes a historical personage as its hero. From the middle of Ages come legends about Arthur, King of Britons. In moderns times, legends have grown up around such presidents of United States as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and, more recently, around figures from worlds sports (for example, Péle, a Brazilian soccer player who led Brazil to three world titles), motion pictures (John Rambo), and popular music (for example, Michael Jackson, a American musician and composer, Wendo Kolosoy a Congolese musician and composer…). According to the Greek legend, Minos, the son of Zeus, father of God, and of the princess Europe. In the story, Minos refused to sacrifice a certain bull, and the god Poseidon punished him by making his wife fall in love with the animal. She subsequently gave birth to the Minotaur. In an effort to avenge the death of his son Andregeos as the hands of the Athenains, Minos regularly required seven men and seven women from Athens to be sacrificed to the Minauter. After his death Minos become one of the judges of the dead in the underworld. C) Legend is also a story that many people are talking about, which concerns people, places, or events that are famous at the present time. It is a very old and popular story that may or may not be true. Legend is used to refer to all the stories of this kind considered as a group or type. The legend on a picture, coin, map, etc consists of the words, which are written on it or next to it that state its title or purpose or explain something about it. But many local legends are actually well known folktales that have become attached to some particular person or place. But the new usage is common journalistic hyperbole and in such contexts is acceptable to 55 percent of the usage panel. Tradition is used for many reasons: 1) Transfer property to another (in law) 2) A body of unwritten religious precepts (according to the Jews tradition before eating meal, people must wash their hand). 3) Ancient wisdom, the way of our forefathers (according to my tradition, when your uncle died you must marry his wife. In ancient time people respected that, but at the present time many people did not respect that tradition because they are Christian, responsible, reasonable men, and so on; an other tradition is this: when the new moon appear, people didn’t go to the field, if you didn’t respect that tradition, wild animals must devour your field). In narrative there are no difference between legend and tradition In Africa, many oral traditions, particularly those associated with traditional ritual, are disappearing, and poetic forms are gaining new content and application. For example, praise names, applied to politicians, songs of abuse during elections, often taking the form of incantations. Nationalism and higher education tend to make. Africans are more conscious of their cultural heritage and the collection and conservation of oral traditions is no longer left to foreign anthropologists. Some of the best collections are by African writers and scholars, and many universities in Africa are, engaged in recording and interpolating this material. For instance, on Safari in Ghana the women of this tribe have the curious custom of artificially enlarging their lips. Although nowadays the tradition is slowly dying out as young girls are influenced by modern civilization, many women are still proud of the size of their lips. Not all traditions are bad but there is others traditions that are not bad. However, God does not approve of them if they come from false religion or are against Bible’s teachings. For instance, any traditions that have to do with fear of or worship of the dead are wrong according to the Bible. In the religious Islam (a monotheistic characterized by the acceptance of the doctrine of submission to God and Mohammed as the most important and the last prophet). If a women prostitute she is punishable by penalty to death, but in the Christian religious when she prostitute, they will give her the time to change but after this time if she doesn’t change, she will be removed from the religion. (1 Corinthians 5:11-13) Many traditions lead people in a wrong way. Some persons say: I learn the legend because I take moral lesson. In other hand, people look after their tradition particularly the old men. According to me for many reasons I don’t believe in tradition. Because, I’m Christian and I believe only in the tradition which is in harmony with the God’s Word, and I’m also a reasonable man who can’t believe in tradition much less legend and many tradition are not true, and so on.