‘Must we quarrel to protect our religion?’(III)
updated: Sunday 05-04-2009
 WE have a great deal to
learn from one another,
which can enrich us without undermining our own identities. Together, listening and responding with openness and respect, we can move forward to work in ways that acknowledge genuine dialogue, for religious harmony and lasting peace.
Collaboration and cooperation of religions should aim at promoting in the community a culture of dialogue, which respects plurality of religions and does not take the “otherness” of the other religion as a threat to its own identity. Committed and open, it seeks to preserve its own identity, but forms that identity not in isolation from but in relation to the other religion. The creation of such a culture of dialogue in the community is the surest way to guarantee harmony.
I strongly suggest that as a matter of urgency each tier of government should reactivate their Advisory Council on Religious Affairs (ACRA), as a platform for regular dialogue. Appropriate legislation should also back it up to make it function effectively henceforth.
(2) Discipline: All Nigerians must respect other people’s freedom within the law to express their beliefs and convictions. We should learn to understand what others actually believe and value, and let them express this in their own terms. We should respect the convictions of others about food, dress and social etiquette and not behave in ways which cause needless offence. We should recognise that all of us at times fall short of the ideals of our own tradition and never compare our own ideals with other people’s practices. We should always work to prevent disagreement from leading to conflict. We should always seek to avoid violence in our relationships.
When we talk about matters of faith with one another, we need to do so with sensitivity, honesty and straightforwardness. Avoid condemning either of the two religious leaders or their books (i.e. Bible or Qur’an). We should always do to others as we want them to do to us. All appointments must be based on merit and not solely on religious sentiments. The politically motivated “Sharia” legal system should be scrapped and replaced with the previously existing penal code in the North.
(3) Finally, we should realize that God in His eternal wisdom has designed Nigeria to be a religiously pluralistic nation, like the developed countries where the various religions have always co-existed peacefully and harmoniously. It is noteworthy that plurality of religions provides spiritual resources for particular communities to survive and retain their identities. In a pluralistic situation disputation will never avail any success. Therefore, one should not dispute the reality or genuineness of the faiths of the other people. Equal liberty should be given to people of different faiths to stand by their own faiths and opinions in order to avert religious crises and make for harmony and peaceful co-existence.
Let us all join hands to pray fervently, both individually and collectively, for an enduring peace and religious harmony in our beloved country, Nigeria. May the merciful Lord God help us, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
(To be Continued)
For further information, counselling, prayer and other help, please contact me at once, on telephone numbers: 08055069284, 02-8100301, 8100248 or 08037878711; write to E-mail: ehlolusheye@yahoo.co.
uk or write to G.P.O. Box 530, Ibadan.
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