COMPLIANCE AND CARE:
AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF A FIJIAN VILLAGE
by Emily Sparks

Chapter 5
Religion: From the Vu to Methodism

Chapter 5

Traditional Beliefs

The Methodist Church

Seventh Day Adventists: An Alternative

During one of my first few nights in Fiji, an education officer was presenting a sevusevu at one of the other students' homes. In his presentation of yaqona, he told the family that we are here to study the lives of Fijians. When he translated what he said to the family, to us Americans, he said, "You are here to learn about Fijian life. Here in Fiji, two things are very important to us, our traditional customs, that is, our culture, and our religion." At the time, I remember thinking that this comment seemed odd, since in my mind, I had not pictured religion as part of the everyday life of most Fijians. That was about the third day here, but after nearly three months here, I know that the education officer was correct, for religion does play quite an important role in the day to day life of most Fijians in Navolau #2. Over the course of my stay here, I have learned that religion represents notions of tradition (a very important idea to Fijians) as well as of identity for Fijians, since it is incorporated into the core of their world view. Since religion has been a central part of their belief system even before the days of Christianity, thinking about life in relation to a supernatural power is embodied in Fijian culture.

Even before the times of Christianity, Fijians have always been very religious people, and since the coming of Christianity (over one hundred years ago), Fijians have embraced it, and incorporated it into their everyday life. However, traditional religious beliefs still exist, even though they are perceived by most as a superstitious alternative to Christianity. Thus, Fijian religion today, is for the most part Christian. Fijians, however have made Christianity a part of their tradition by emphasizing these aspects of Christian beliefs which certainly reflect principles of the Fijian world view.

This chapter will give an overview of the religious beliefs of the villagers in Navolau #2. First I will discuss some traditional beliefs, just to give a sense of how often the traditional spirits are discussed, and to give a sense of what the people think about in terms of the traditional spirits. Next, this chapter will discuss the Methodist church as it exists in Navolau #2, including a description of the service. I will show how Fijian Methodists focus on rank within the church because rank is so central in their culture. This will then lead us into a discussion of other areas of the church which have been "Fijianized." Next, I will discuss why some Fijians have left the Methodist church, arguing that they associate Methodism with Fijian tradition and express discontent with that tradition by switching to other churches. Specifically, the Protestant sect of the Seventh Day Adventists is the church that a few families in Navolau have switched to, finding a new, meaningful way to worship God.

Traditional Beliefs

Even though villagers in Navolau #2 do not actively worship ancestral gods, they still respect them. Furthermore, I found that beliefs about the "vu" (ancestral spirits) act to reinforce principles in Fijian society: they remind people they are rooted in the land, reinforce "respect" for social rank, and remind people of the correct behavior according to their place in society. Ancestral gods are believed to have a place where they stay, and thus, "in any traditional Fijian village, certain sites are considered sacred and are treated with varying degrees of reverence and respect according to the importance and influence of each site over the lives of the people who maintain them" (Ravuvu 1983: 87). Thus, as in social relations, Fijians express "respect" for the most powerful supernatural figures by avoiding them.

Stories relating to traditional beliefs also reiterate the importance of respect and communality in the Fijian way of life amongst the village residents in Navolau. The villagers in Navolau do not have any sacred sights within the village (remember that the village is only thirty five years old). However, there are beliefs associated with the mataqali land of those who live in Navolau, as well as a belief, which the elders of the village remember their elders telling them,, about a snake god living in the mountain behind Navolau #1. The land on which my Tata has his farm, is leased from another mataqali within the village, and it has one owl which flies over the farm land often. The "vewa," or owl, is known as "Momo Charlie's Vewa," for the land is on Uncle Charlie's mataqali's land. Tata says that this owl used to look over Momo Charlie's ancestors when they lived there, making sure they lived and worked together fairly. Tata explains, "if they did something bad then the owl would punish them, if they did something good, then the owl would bless him. It's like our God today, but this is the old ancestral belief." Here, the ancestral god looks out for the people who live on or own (or in today's times) the land, and thus that mataqali must respect the god. Momo Charlie's Vewa thus acts like the Christian God, in that he must be respected and that he protects and punishes his people.

The belief about Dege the snake god also shows how "respect" is a central part of religious beliefs. Fijians must show properly deferential behavior towards the vu just as they must respect human chiefs. Another belief about an ancestral god, especially pertinent to the people in Navolau also has to do with them respecting a land which is associated with "Rogata," or a snake god under "Dege." (Dege, also a snake god is the leader of the ancestral spirits.) The mataqali "Navaulakise" of Navolau #1 has part of it's land in the mountain behind the village. The belief is that Rogata looks after them, in the same way in which Vewa looks after Momo Charlie's land, and the story goes that this snake has a sacred pond in the mountain. The people of this mataqali, through generations have told others not to bathe in the pond, out of respect for the ancestral god. They say that their respect for the snake god is so high, that even they will not bathe in the pond, even though they are his "people." When I asked some of the elder members of the village what they remember their elders telling them about why they should not bathe in the pond, one said:

Well we don't know what will happen to us if we do bathe in that pond, but it's tabu, we don't want to bathe in it. I don't think anyone ever has, but generation to generation it has been taught to us that this is their mataqali's sacred place, so we respect that.

Indeed, it is easy to believe that respect is enough of a reason for the Fijians to obey a rule, for no one could come up with an answer of what would happen if one did bathe in the pond, the only response was, "we don't know what will happen, but only that we are not supposed to do it," as one put it.

Another example of the way traditional religious beliefs reinforce correct social behavior, and remind people of their correct place in society is through a belief about taking baths at night. One night, as we were preparing for a bath, a young woman she shared with me the story of what happens to young women who bathe at night.

When it's this time of evening, like right now, already getting dark, we are not supposed to bathe, because women are supposed to bathe before dinner. If they do if they do, an evil ancestral spirit, something like the devil, will take the unborn babies away from that woman. The spirit, Dege is attracted to pretty young Fijian girls, and once he "gets you," you can't get rid of it. And once you get it, you will never find any one person to settle down with -- this devil will cause problems within your marriage, and you will always be moving around from one man to the next. The reason for this is that this spirit disguises himself as different men, and can trick women into marriage. Once, my tavale was sitting outside and all of a sudden started hysterically laughing for no reason, in a very giddy way. Her father asked her what was going on, and she said that she was just imagining one cute boy. I also have a cousin whose friend who keeps marrying and divorcing, and we think it is because she has been caught by this spirit.

This belief does not tie a people to a land, or ask them to respect a land, however, it does work to keep remind young women about proper behavior at their stage of life. Another legend she told me also reminds young women about how they should act:

According to this legend, young girls are not supposed to have a rest in the afternoon time, because the spirit is likely to come to them then. Like, for example, one time I was visiting my cousin in Suva, and trying on all her makeup and clothing. I fell asleep in the afternoon, with makeup on my face, all dressed up. Then, that afternoon I had one dream where one very handsome man came into my room, and lay on top of me. I mean, I really felt like something very heavy was on me, and I started screaming. My cousins came to my room and woke me up, and said that they have to go do something, 'no more afternoon sleeping for you, because the spirit might come after you again!'

Again, this belief does not keep people tied to a land, but it does instill fear in people, and thus has control, or "mana," over them. These beliefs demonstrate how the individual fits into the community. In the case of the Vewa and Rogata, they can be seen as devices to control the people -- making sure that they act in a way to please them -- showing respect for each other, as well as for the land. In the latter two stories, the gods, or spirits influence the individuals to act in accordance with what the group dictates. Thus, the belief in the spirit gods nurture the idea of the sociocentric self with in the individual.

The Methodist Church

As Ravuvu says in his discussion of religion in The Fijian Way of Life, "Many Fijians see 'Kalou' (Christian God) in very much the same way as their 'Kalou Vu' (ancestral God). He can both protect and punish, and oversees all that happens in the mortal world and the spirit world alike" (1983: 98). The Christian God thus acts like the ancestral gods. Like all other Fijian villages, Navolau #2 has a Methodist church. A village without a church is considered incomplete, for the village would have "no physical manifestation of their commitment to the church to display to others" (Ravuvu 1983: 94). Thus, an actual church building is very important. The church and the home for the talatala (the church leader) are often built with community funds. The church is the most important place in the village.

In Navolau #2, the church is the highest building in the village. In most villages, the church is in the center of the village, however, because Navolau #2 is on a hill, the church sits on top of the hill, above the other buildings in the village. It is the largest, and the most distinct building in the village, as it can be seen clearly from the road, towering over the rest of the village.

In the Methodist church, the congregation can rise through a clear set of ranks, involving greater responsibility and respect, through displaying dedication. Like secular life in Fiji, the church also places a high precedence on rank. The talatala is the highest church figure. A "talatala qase," or a senior talatala is the highest ranking, and has gone through the most formal education. The talatala qasi for the Ra province is in Rakiraki. Under this talatala, there are a number of junior talatala members in the area, however, one does not reside in Navolau. Narewa, Nakovadra, Nokunoku, Nanulekua, Matawalevu, Navuira, as well as Dogoloa all have junior talatala in their villages. The next step below a talatala, and the level that leads the Navolau #2 Methodists is a "vakatawa." Right now the village vakatawa is from the next village (Navolau #1), but has been sent here because this village does not have a religious leader. Next, is the vakavuvuli, a helper to the vakatawa, however, this village does not have one. Next are the "dauvunau," or lay preachers. In Navolau #2 there are ten lay preachers, including four women. These members of the congregation have taken on the responsibility to be more committed to the church, giving sermons, and trying to teach others what they have found. As one villager, a young woman of twenty-eight years said about the lay preachers, "They have to wait for Jesus to call upon them. Once they feel that they feel that call, then they should take on the responsibility and learn and study, and teach this to other people." This particular person believes that someday she wishes to be a dauvunau, but is waiting for the right time. Below the dauvunau are several levels of people having displayed dedication and a willingness to learn religious doctrine. In order to ascend to the next level, a test must be passed each time. People wishing to take a new rank have to appear before a regional group of vakatawa, talatala and dauvunau and be tested on their knowledge and dedication. This system is intended to help distribute the leadership of the church, and to offer people a way to engage in a stronger commitment to the church and to God. It also complies with the Fijian ethos, since in their societal patterns as well, the order and rank of people is very important.

Rank is also apparent in the physical positioning of people in the church. The church is white, and the entrance has a stone wall in front of it which people walk around to enter. It is a one room building, with windows lining the sides, and at the front end there is a blue and green stained-class window. There are about fifteen rows or wooden pews on each side facing the front, and about seven in front running parallel to the podium, for the choir. The raised section in front of every church is where the higher ranking church members, such as the talatala, the vakatawa, a visiting dignitary, or a chief will sit. When church is in session certain seating habits must be followed. As I mentioned, the higher ranking members will sit in the raised section of the church. The pews in front which do not face the front are occupied by the choir, with the women sitting in front, and the men in back. The main pews on the left are occupied by the men, with the youngest members in front, and the elders in the back. On the left are the women, also with the young children in front, and babies scattered throughout the section, with the elders generally in the back (though for the women, there is more of an age integration). The physical ordering in the church reflects and reinforces the ordering and rank of people in the village.

Church services also reinforce the idea that people should be committed to the community and that they should respect its rules and traditions. Church service includes an opening prayer, and an opening hymn, during which people may not enter the church. If there are late churchgoers (and there always are), they will wait outside the church until the doors are reopened for the late comers. Next are another prayer and hymn, followed by a reading by the weekly dauvunau. After this, a sermon is given by either the dauvunau, or the vakatawa. After this, a member of the church goes to the front and calls each household by household name, to ask for a donation. A representative from each house (usually a child) will donate a coin or two (twenty cents is an average figure), and the amount is recorded in a book. The collection of the soli and church is similar to the collection of donations at the Adi, for each house publicly donates an amount which is recorded each week. After this, the talatala gives another small speech, another hymn is sung, and the service ends with a closing prayer. The whole service lasts just over an hour.

The sheer amount of time devoted to church services is a strong reminder that people should publicly do their "duty" for the community. Prayer services are held Monday through Friday at 4:30 a.m., as well as in the evenings for various groups (Mondays are youth nights, Tuesdays for women, Wednesdays for everyone, Thursdays for men, and Fridays a special service). Saturdays service is held at 7:00 am., and on Sundays, a service at 7:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m., and 3:00 p.m. Church gatherings are called first by bell, and then by the playing of a large wooden lali (a long, hollow wooden drum), which sits next to the church under a shed.

Hymns in the church particularly are beautiful, as the church members, led by the choir, almost automatically split up into four part harmony, filling the building with loud melodies and harmonies. Since the church is on top of the village, perched on a hill, there is also usually a breeze which comes down off of the mountain and carries these melodies through the village. Even on an evening with few people in the church, the singing can be faintly heard throughout the village (and very clearly from Nacilou!).

Christianity also reinforces the social order when people pray to God to help them find their strength to fulfill their duty. People have personified him as someone who will answer their wishes if they pray, and show utmost respect to him. As Ravuvu says, God, to the Fijians, is "emotionally gentle, calm, reasonable..., stern and lovable" (Ravuvu 1983: 101). Many women in the village have told me, that the only way that they made it through the first five or ten years of their marriage is by praying, otherwise, life would have been too hard. Even today, when my Nana has a house full of people, and more visitors to cook for and feed, she prays to God so that she will be able to complete all her work. Here, one mother with grown children explains why she prayed so much in the beginning of her marriage:

When I was a young mother my husband used to be very rough with me, and it was difficult, I just prayed all the time. I just stayed at home and prayed. In 1992 he was in an accident, and he nearly died, and that's the time when he changed his life. He asked me how he was going to make it through, and I told him, "nothing is too hard with Jesus, you have to sit and pray," and that changed him, and things have been good.

According to Fijians God is one who listens to the church members. Following with the Fijian core values of a "good person," the Christian God makes sure that no person "wants too much, strives too much, too ambitious and hoards for individual and person use and enhancement, who is stingy and hardly shares with others, or is aggressive rather than humble" (Ravuvu 1983: 99).

Examples of how the church and traditional Fijian ways have been intertwined, is seen through the ranking of church officials, (as discussed earlier), as well as through the connection between the soli and an Adi. Although everyone in the village is asked to donate a significant amount of money, the fund is usually used for something pertaining to the church. For example, this year it will be used to build the talatala his own house (right now he's staying with another villager). This week my Nana went to Rakiraki to attend a joint church service for the area. She brought with her a soli of nearly forty dollars that the women of the village had raised over the course of a few months, and each district was called up, as in though it was an Adi to contribute to the large donation. This presentation of a gift upon arrival fits with the traditional Fijian idea of bringing a gift when arriving some where. Thus soli giving reflects an emphasis on the exchange of goods and services in communities.

Another way in which the church institution reflects Fijian secular life is when church evens allow for interaction between different communities just as traditional festivals do. Through monthly competitions of choirs from different mataqali, villagers reaffirm relations with each other, and get a chance to visit other villages, seeing other family members. For example, on the first Sunday of every month, there is a combination service held for these four related villages in the afternoon -- Navolau #1 and #2, Nakorokula, and Namuaimada. After the service, the mataqali branch off and compete in front of village members selected to be the judges. This not only provides for active interaction based around the church, but also helps reaffirm social ties across villages, since many of the mataqali are shared between these villages. Thus, in this way, the church acts as a catalyst for social relations of the mataqali within these four villages.

Clearly, religion plays a central part in the lives of most Fijian villagers, but obviously it plays a different part in every individual's life. In Navolau, some people are very active Christians while some do not even attend church. For my Tata, church going is one of his favorite activities in life. He attends the 4:30 am. service several times a week, and he is also a dauvunau, or a lay preacher, and he says that his favorite part of church is "the whole service!" Indeed, those who are lay preachers certainly have made a commitment to the church, and thus it is willingly a central part of their lives. Parents also put a high premium in teaching their children about God. The children attend Sunday school an hour before church starts on Sunday, and during the service sit in the front, under the watchful eye of the adults, making sure that they behave. Here, one father explains how important the teaching of God are in raising his children:

It is very important to raise a family, and to take care of them. As a father, I think that the most important part is to educate the children up to the highest standard that I can. And also for them to know God, to tell them this. But in some cases, while they get older, some do not follow what we have said, what we taught them to do. But we have to teach them what the Bible says as a basis, and from there, they will know right and wrong.

Thus, to instill in children the teachings of God is very important. Another "nana" (mother) also shared with me that in order to be a "good person" in the community, she and her husband teach their children about the bible every day: "We teach our children to be good people in our devotion to the church, when we are in our house, we can teach them by reading the bible, and praying." Thus, their community will view them as a conscientious and respectful member of the community if they raise their children this way.

However, this strong, positive belief in the church as an institution is not a feeling shared by all villagers. Some villagers, although they believe in God, and in the Bible do not go to church, or do not like going to church because they feel forced to go by social pressure. For example, one 30 year old, unmarried man in the village who was studying to become a talatala in Suva, found church life back in the village to be superficial:

I find that studying the bible is good, but during the time when I was studying in Suva, I became discouraged about Methodism because I thought that so many people went to church for social reasons, rather than religious reasons. I believe Jesus is the Savior, and the bible, or course, going to church isn't for me anymore. I think that too many people go to church for the wrong reason, they go to be social, so that people won't say, 'did so and so go to church, hey, why not?' But I think that church should be a place where people go to understand God and be closer to him. When I go to church these days, I don't really feel closer to God. But when I read the Bible on my own, when I spend my time studying the bible, I feel closest to God then.

Thus, just as some villagers actively embrace their role in the community while others feel forced to behave in ways they would rather not, some people are more actively committed to Methodism than others. Here again, people's ideals about Methodism are closely intertwined with their ideas about community.

In fact, because Methodism is so closely associated with the traditional community in people's minds, those who are discontented with traditional society often express their discontent by joining other churches. It is particularly revealing that people who leave the Methodist church often say Methodism involves just going through the motions with no active commitment. This exposes the idea that they associate Methodism with being forced to do things which have no meaning for them. In Fijian culture, the society dictates strict roles that people of certain genders and ages are expected to play with in the community. These roles that the community expects of them are often not roles that they personally identify with. Likewise, the community expects most people to be Methodist, yet some do not identify with the practice. This is why, in the village of Navolau, there are five Seventh Day Adventist homes. Still, while Christians, these "SDAs", as the religion is referred to in the village, have broken away from Methodism to find what they consider a more true relationship with their God.

Seventh Day Adventists: An Alternative

Seventh Day Adventists believe that the Sabbath is on Saturday, so from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday they observe their Sabbath. This includes a service on Friday evening, as well as resting Friday afternoon and evening, and studying the bible. On Saturday morning bible study group starts at 9:30 am. at the church. This lasts for about forty-five minutes to one hour, and then they sing hymns. At 11:00 a.m. the service begins, and this lasts for an hour, until noon. From there my informant comes home and has lunch and rests, and then in the afternoon, at 5:00 p.m. another service is held until sunset, when the Sabbath is over. There is also prayer service held Tuesday nights.

It was clear in my interview with this woman that she felt an active commitment to religion as a Seventh Day Adventist which she had not felt as a Methodist. She stressed that she had to learn for herself the meaning of the religious doctrines and demonstrate an active choice to believe. As a young wife, she found her new religion an avenue by which to exercise her personal choice and autonomy through actively learning about the doctrine. This was implicitly opposed to her experience with Methodism which is imposed from the outside. The Seventh Day Adventist church emphasizes education in its doctrine. Every three months the members of the church receive a lesson book, with different lessons from the bible to study every week. The lesson book tells the verse to study, and also gives a lesson on the meaning of the verse for every day of that week. The book also gives the user one verse every morning to read and think about before one starts their work for that day. One young mother in the village who that has converted to SDA says that she enjoys the education aspect of the religion the most, "I feel like I am actively learning and getting closer to God when I study the booklet." She said that when she first changed over, she would forget to read the morning verse, because it was not yet her habit. But now it's become part of everyday life and she reads the book over with her mother in law every morning.

This woman also noted that the talatala talks about just concentrating on the studying, and not get caught up in gossiping around the village. She said that she appreciates these words, along with when the talatala, or other preachers talk about God, because she feels that it is really from the heart, and this is why she listens so dearly and closely to his advice. She says that when she was growing up in the Methodist church, that the words there just went in one ear and out of the other, whereas now she feels that she holds on to the words, because of how the minister speaks them -- "I can feel that he really means what he is saying from the bottom of his heart." Thus, she feels that the connection to God, through the Seventh Day Adventist church is a stronger one than when she was a Methodist. She explains, "When I was a Methodist, what the preacher said just went in one ear and out the other, but now when our preacher talks, I really listen to what he's saying, because he's saying it with such feeling."

Overall, she said that she feels closer to God now, and that religion plays a much bigger part in her life than it every used to when she was a Methodist. She concentrates on the lessens every week, and says that she understands them, and this helps her in her everyday life:

It's something for me to think about during the day, you know? Like when everything gets busy and crazy, I can just think for a moment about what I read this morning, or what I learned yesterday, or what the bible study taught me on Saturday or Tuesday, and I can have more patience with work every day -- because you know, here in Fiji, we do a lot of work every day. It's something that I trust now too. Like I trust God, I trust what he's doing, and I trust that when I pray to him, that he will hear me and understand me.

Some differences that she mentioned in the "technicalities" of the religion are the fact that she doesn't drink black tea, or coffee, that some do not scale their fish, some to not eat meat, and that they must not smoke or drink, and this includes yaqona. She also said that form time to time she will fast for a day to concentrate on praying. These are all things that separate SDA adherents from the community where social drinking and eating are important in traditional Fijian society.

Normally this woman attends the church in Navolau, but for the past month the SDA church set up a shelter in Rakiraki. This is not where they normally have their service, but there were special teachings and sermons to try to attract people to the church, and this year, according to her, it was very successful -- as they baptized 80 new members in the Rakiraki area.

Seventh Day Adventists believe that one must be baptized as an adult -- as their commitment and dedication to the religion must be a conscious decision, not something that they are told to do as children, as wirh the Methodist and Catholic religions. My informant herself was baptized just recently. Her baptism was held at the SDA church, and there were 14 members baptized with her.

Like Methodists, however, she sees her religion as giving her the strength to perform her social duties. She says that her mother often asks her why she still married to her husband -- he drinks and stays out late, and she is looking after her sick mother in law. She said, "The reason why it's ok is because I know that God will answer my prayers. When I pray to him, or when I go to church, or when I listen to the talatala I do not feel worried, I feel that God will take care of this all someday." She said that she feels that through her religion she is more focused on the Bible, and on what should be important in her life. She said that when her husband goes out, and she stays home with the kids and her sick mother in law and prays for him, that she thinks of her family -- so in this way it has brought her to do good things for her family -- she does not worry about taking care of her sick mother in law, or always watching after the children when her husband is out with the boys.

This same woman also said that another part of her religion is supposed to be getting others interesting in converting to SDA. She says that "many people are against us, you know? They don't want to hear about what we have to say. This an be hard sometimes, but we pray for them, and I understand that everyone has their differences, so it's ok."

Seventh Day Adventism clearly gives those who have given up on Methodism, or who are looking for a new way to be close to God, an avenue to do so. However, as she says, "A lot of people don't like us." The Methodists are often confused as to why they have chosen another path of spirituality.

Some Methodists understand that religion of course is their choice, but do not see the point in converting, since the same God is being worshipped. Since the Seventh Day Adventist church has just come to the village in the past five years, feelings about this new following are still ambivalent. No other religions have ever caught on in the village (such as Assemblies of God, or other Protestant sects), and the Methodists wonder why this one has stayed. As one elder member of the village said:

I don't know why these people have changed over. Some say it's because they don't like to cook when we have a big church function, but I don't think that's the reason. Some say that the Methodists require too much of them -- but they are always in the village anyway, they don't work, most of them just stay in the village.

From this Methodist's comment, one can tell that he is confused as to why these five families have converted to a new religion, when they are both Christians.

As of right now there have not been any confrontations over the past five years about the different religions, since SDA first came to Navolau. The religion is quickly spreading, however. This past year, the Rakiraki area baptized into their church 80 new members. This area is also home to one of the only Hindu-converted SDA families.

Religion in Fiji plays a major part of most people's lives. Since Fijians have been religious people from early on (since even before the days of Christianity), religious ideology has been passed down through generations as a part of their world view. Currently in Fiji, Christianity -- specifically Methodism -- emphasizes rank, an important part of secular Fijian society. Christianity also emphasizes the commitment to the community an individual is expected to make, which is also another important part of Fijian society. In this commitment to the community, Christianity is seen as a way of helping people carry out their proper duty within the community -- people have rules to follow, and duties that they must perform to the church, and to the community, for which they pray to God for his assistance. In Fijian society, Christianity also has ways to bring communities together just as traditional secular society does. Thus, in many ways, Methodism (the main religion in Fiji) reflects traditional Fijian practices, including expectations of how people should act in the community. However, today in Fiji there are alternative churches that offer people a separation from the traditional church. In this separation, those that convert feel that they have freed themselves from the same pressure that they feel both from the Methodist church and community have placed on them. Thus, those that are rejecting Methodism are partly rejecting Fijian tradition, and the roles which the society ask them to fulfill.

On to Conclusion...