THE ROLE OF RELIGIOUS INTERACTION IN MAINTAINING WORLD ORDER IN A MULTI-RELIGIOUS YORUBALAND
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Date
2020-12
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Publisher
Al-Hikmah Journal of History and International Relations (AJHIR)
Abstract
Religion is a dynamic institution and an integral part of every society in Africa. This study does not in any way deny the conflict theory, it rather seeks to place premium on the positive understanding of religion and lay conscious emphasis on the adoption of religion as a cohesive tool in the hands of religious leaders. Findings reveal that in spite of the proliferations of mosques and churches in Nigeria with the major aim to teach the law of God via copious quotations and stories; the country seems sinking under unending incubation of shocking vices and decadence. Hence, as religion performs a cohesive function, it can equally be an offensive tool in the hands of religious leaders where there is no understanding and tolerance by the adherents of African Traditional Religion, Islam and Christianity. The study concludes that if religions are considered to be functional to nation building and individual wellbeing, it becomes expedient for all agents of socialization to give the crusade on the need to use religion as a vehicle to engender peaceful co-existence the seriousness it deserves. This research fuses the investigative approaches of a range of disciplines including both the primary and secondary sources.
Description
The greatest challenge of the 21st century international system is how to maintain ‘world order’. All concerted efforts made towards co-operation among the member-states of the international (United Nations, Commonwealth), continental (African Union), regional (ECOWAS), national communities and Non-Governmental Organisations have not yielded the desired results. In the history of humanity, religion has been used as both the tool for cohesion and dis-integration. The function of a thing can be divinely or structurally determined while its use can be humanly determined. The positive understanding of religion vis-à-vis integration, cognition and adaptation has conspicuously made religion a tool for co-habitation in the Yoruba states. Cultural cum family link and religious liberalism have been strong cohesive forces that would guarantee continuous indispensability and interdependent interactions of religions among them. On this note, where all the religions emphasize strictly on the golden rule, religious conflicts would be thinking of the then and not of the now. Comparatively, he who knows one knows none. In the science of religion, the knowledge and belief of Christianity can never be used to justify the knowledge of belief in others, and neither can the others be able. It is therefore important that adherents of the trio religions see themselves as human, regardless of the belief and other knowledge. This is the aspect of religious culture which needs to be emphasized in the overall interest of the Yoruba as a cultural group, Nigerian state at large in an attempt to achieving global order.
Keywords
Religion, Religious Interaction, Maintenance, World Order, Yorubaland.
Citation
MLA, Pp. 1-17