Abstract the purpose of this paper is to investigate the reasons behind the proliferation of new religious movements nrms in nigeria. Mission and religious pluralism pepperdine university. This research contributes to increasing understanding of the ways in which christians think about religious pluralism in the united states. This cluster synopsis focuses on pluralism and religious diversity, social cohesion and integration in europe, featuring projects funded under the 6th and 7th framework programmes for research. Before proposing his theory of religious pluralism, however, he has made major contributions in religious epistemology and other religiophilosophical issues.
This paper identifies nigeria as religiously pluralistic and the importance of engaging in dialogue to surmount. Religious pluralism in religious studies amanda porterfield religious pluralism is a term for religious diversity that imputes positive meaning to religion and encourages appreciation of religion s many forms. To some outside observers, this is a volatile religious fault linethe site, for example, of alqaedas first major terrorist strike, the bombing of the u. Accepted 3 may, 20 this paper examines cultural pluralism, reconstructive education and nation building in nigeria. The majority of the population is muslim but there is also a substantial indigenous christian minority, who form a majority in some local government areas. Pdf the trouble with nigeria download full pdf book. Pluralism as a way of thinking emerged with the ancient greeks. However, with the increased interaction between followers of different religions and interfaith dialogues, religious pluralism has taken a new life in the stream of current thought. Religious pluralism in religious studies amanda porterfield.
This is because nrms are growing in an environment in which mainstream religions have. Will the likes of pasteur and edison go to hell whilst indolent people who have spent their lives in a corner of the masjid go to heaven. The philosophy of religious pluralism and the security question in nigeria. This book offers rational answers to questions such as. Submitted by francis acquah to the university of exeter as a thesis for the degree of doctor of philosophy in theology in december 2011. Ethno religious pluralism and sustainable national development in nigeria seem a paradox as well as an unattainable goal. It does so by empirically uncovering the relationship between interfaith contact and the willingness of white christians to support tenets of religious pluralism. Religious pluralism, cultural differences, and social stability in nigeria rose c.
Pdf ethnoreligious pluralism and its management in. The philosophers democritus and epicurus posited a plurality of worlds. Here i will look more closely at how religious diversity and religious pluralism represent different modes of contact that present very different. An excellent collection on the philosophical import of religious diversityincluding cases both for and against religious pluralismis the philosophical challenge of religious diversity by quinn. Religious pluralism generally refers to the belief in two or more religious worldviews as being equally valid or acceptable. The idea of pluralism in the united states richard norman, ph.
Pdf ethnoreligious pluralism and sustainable national. Finally, i offer some concluding reflections on whether muslimchristian contestation in nigeria should be construed as a matter of religion qua religion or of religion by proxy, on the prospects for moderate sharia and juridical pluralism in nigeria, and on the importance of identity for understanding religious conflict in nigeria and. While the primary issues in nigerian reform have had mostly to do with the structure of the federal system more than with issues of religious and legal pluralism, the religious and ethnic composition of the population in the proposed restructuring of federal states has been an important background issue in the debate. Religious freedom and restriction on church proliferation in nigeria 6. Religious pluralism has at least four different meanings. Bolaji akinyemi points out that, there was no nigeria before flora lugard coined the name there were fulani, hausa, tiv, idoma, igbo, ogoni, ijaw, urhobo, and yoruba nationalities before there was a nigerian nation. This spiritualray post explains this concept further with the help of some examples. An african scholar, simeon onyewueke eboh, asserts that. It is the coexistence of various religions under the same roof, and celebrating the presence of other religions without losing ones own identity. P luralism is often perceived as a threat to faith, associated with relativism and a loss of religious substance. These traditions were maintained in subtle ways in the united states, most notably in the christianity of black americans.
The impact of african traditional religious beliefs and cultural values on christian muslim relations in ghana from 1920 through the present. Muslimchristian dialogue in postcolonial northern nigeria. Religion, despite its concern with the spiritual, affects us socially, and religious rights thus remain an important topic in contemporary society. Nigerias religious diversities feature mainly christians, muslims, adherents of. Understanding the concept of religious pluralism with examples. On the contrary, this is because nigerians are deeply religious.
This book features a compilation of scholars exploring the timeline of religious pluralism exclusively from the second half of the 20th century to modern times. As a term used to describe religious diversity in the united states, religious pluralism conveys respect for. A country of great diversity because of the many ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups that live within it borders, nigeria is also a country with a long past. The difference between religious diversity and religious. Pdf religious pluralism has always posed a problem to national development in nigeria determining the level of religious crises and violence over the. Faculty, staff, and students at elon university have engaged in sustained work toward building our own inclusive community since our most recent strategic plan, the elon commitment 2009, articulated an unprecedented universitywide commitment to diversity and global engagementincluding interfaith engagement and religious pluralism. This may be due to immigration of people belonging to another religious tradition, or it may be that people in a certain society begin to drift away from their traditional religion. Christianity and religious pluralism are there multiple. Cultural pluralism, reconstructive education and nation building in nigeria amali, ismaila o. The rise and proliferation of new religious movements nrms in nigeria. The historians herodotus and xenophon emphasized the cultural differences between greeks, egyptians and persians. A kind of religious pluralism existed in the indian subcontinent when the hindu.
The rise and proliferation of new religious movements. Pluralism according to laguda 20 suggests divergent views. Northeast nigeria is an area of great ethnolinguistic diversity and religious pluralism, with islam and christianity both having a strong presence. Ethnoreligious pluralism in nigeria nigeria, by the virtue of the amalgamation event of 1914, became an embodiment of diverse ethnic and religious groups. Hence, because this writer believes that his theory of religious pluralism can be appropriated by nigeria for peaceful coexistence among the religions, the religious epistemology suggested by him can also be appropriated. Nigeria being a multireligious state is currently bedeviled with a lot of crises which range from political and religious to socioethnic problems. Some consider religious pluralism and religious diversity to be synonyms. More than mere tolerance, religious pluralism accepts multiple paths to god or gods as a possibility and is usually contrasted with exclusivism, the idea that there is only one true religion or way to. Although its land mass is less than 7 per cent of the total area of the african continent, most scholars concur that about 20 per cent of africas more than 2,000 languages are.
Ethno religious pluralism in nigeria nigeria, by the virtue of the amalgamation event of 1914, became an embodiment of diverse ethnic and religious groups. Pdf religious pluralism and national development in nigeria. Federalism and groupbased inequalities in nigeria the nigerian federation. Religious and legal pluralism in recent african constitutional reform, presented at the conference law and religion in africa. Known for its extreme linguistic diversity elugbe 1994, nigeria is home to languages numbering about 400. Ethnoreligious pluralism and sustainable national development in nigeria seem a paradox as well as an unattainable goal. Lives and properties have been recklessly destroyed with unabated zeal. For several years now, my work as a sociologist has circled around the phenomenon of pluralism.
Get free research paper on religious conflicts in nigeria. Here in east tennessee, surely in the bible belt, a hospital chaplain can expect that most patients and their families will want aprotestant ministers attention. If religious pluralism is true, jesus claims to deity and biblical teaching about his atoning death and resurrection cannot be true. The most populous country in africa and the largest in area in the west african state, nigeria was an early twentieth century colony that became an independent nation in 1960. Using this definition, religious pluralism is a statistical fact according to data collected by census offices and public opinion pollsters. The impact of african traditional religious beliefs and. John hick is wellknown among philosophers and theologians for his philosophy of religious pluralism. Religious diversity has appeared to prompt religious intolerance in nigeria when we view the country from a distance. His later philosophy of religious pluralism is based on his earlier proposal on religious epistemology.
During the brutality of the slave trade, many enslaved africans brought their religious traditions to the united states and the caribbean. Religious pluralism is basically accepting that all religions are equal, valid, and ultimately lead to god. Nigeria is currently acutely divided along ethnic, religious and regional cleavages. Issues and solutionsproject topics and materials in nigeria. Pluralism should not be understood to mean godlessness or irreligiosity. This, then, is my third objection to religious pluralism, namely, that religious pluralism is incompatible with christianity because it demands that christians deny the central truths of scripture.
The importance, how to, effect causes relationship, comparison, history, role, solutions are discussed. Religious pluralism, cultural differences, and social. This is approved for students in accountancy business computer science economics engineering arts. A case study of nkusukumekumfienyan area of the central region. Cultural pluralism, reconstructive education and nation. The challenges of inclusive cultural and religious pluralism. Department of religions, nigeria religious pluralism and policy formation in nigeria. However, this article reveals important subnational variation. It gives a historical rundown of religious pluralism from a general sense. John hick is one of the leading proponents for religious pluralism, and his 1989 book, an interpretation of religion, is broadly considered to be the seminal case for the view. Rather, in the language of martin buber, there is a complete failure of the fundamental principle of the dialogical encounter based on the ithou relationship of considering. This type of religious education tends to be challenged, however, when religious pluralism appears in the society.
An indepth discussion on the islamic perspective of religious pluralism. The cluster addresses themes of central importance to europe, particularly in relation to inclusion and social innovation. Like most african peoples, nigerians are, generally speaking, deeply religious peoples and religion shapes their lives significantly. Religious pluralism threatens nigerias social stability and its hardwon democracy by pitting different religious and cultural beliefs, particularly of new, radical christian evangelical and fundamentalist muslim sects, against one another. Norris religious pluralism presses even on local congregations in todays world. Over the next two centuries, black americans have explored their connection to african heritage and religions. Pluralism and religious diversity, social cohesion and. Religious pluralism existed in medieval islamic law and islamic ethics, as the religious laws and courts of other religions, including christianity, judaism and hinduism, were usually accommodated within the islamic legal framework, as exemplified in the caliphate, alandalus, ottoman empire and indian subcontinent in medieval islamic societies, the qadi islamic. The division manifests in lack of cohesion and violent religious ethnic and communal conflicts that have been experienced in different parts of the country in which thousands of people were killed. Such clarification appears necessary, given conflicting disciplinary usages and slippages between the factual notion of plurality and normative accounts of pluralism. Ethnoreligious pluralism and its management in ghana and liberia. Comparative practices, experiences, and prospects, convened by the international center for law and religion studies and cosponsoring organizations at the university of ghana, legon, accra, ghana, january. This article seeks to understand the impact of religious diversity on religious tolerance in developing countries and draws lessons from the case of nigeria. That is, pluralism is a simple recognition of the fact that there are many different faith groups active in the country.
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