scholarly journals Pauline Imperatives (Eph. 4:31-32): Necessities for the Enhancement of Christian Faith and National Integration.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Ikechukwu Ezeogamba
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Will Emit ◽  
National Integration ◽  
Proper Understanding ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
African Traditional Religion

Eph. 4:31-32 urges believers to, "Put away all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven us." The above is strongly worded. A cursory look at the Nigerian nation reveals that Nigeria as a nation is sectionalized along ethnic, religious as well as gender line. Apart from the three main dominant ethnic groups in Nigeria, there are still very many ethnic groups that are not even recognized and they feel marginalized and out of the equation. There is unwritten and unexpressed anger that exists among all the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria; each claiming to have been marginalized by others. Again, there are three main religious groups in Nigeria namely, Islam, Christianity and African Traditional Religion. Among these three dominant groups, there is deep-rooted antagonism. Hence, each of these religious groups is internally divided. There are so many sects in Islam and in most cases they are at each other's throat. In the same way, there are several denominations or sects in Christianity and each of the sets claim to be with the authentic doctrine to the neglect and detriment of others. African Traditional Religion on her part is localized in each region and each region claims that theirs is more authentic and more godly than of others. The worst hatred is between the so-called infidels and Muslim believers. Any nation that has the above qualities, has unknowingly taken underdevelopment, and godlessness as her second name. This paper sets out to prove that if there is mutual love among all the ethnic groups in Nigeria, among religious groups both ad extra and within, then godliness will prevail everywhere and Nigeria as a nation will be better for it. This paper argues that a proper understanding and appreciation of Eph. 4:31-32 by Christians and none Christians alike will emit so many green lights that could promote nation building and oneness. Significantly, this paper will be of immense benefit to all men and women of good will both in Nigeria and outside Nigeria.

African Traditional Religion and Christian Faith

1973 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-293
Author(s):  
Osadolor Imasogie
Keyword(s):  
Christian Faith ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
African Traditional Religion

scholarly journals Religious education and nation-building in Nigeria

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miracle Ajah
Keyword(s):  
Religious Education ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
National Integration ◽  
Mission Schools ◽  
Pressure Groups ◽  
Nigerian Civil War ◽  
The Government ◽  
High Standards

After the Nigerian Civil War in 1970, the federal government took over schools founded by religious groups because education was thought to be a huge government venture and no longer a private enterprise. Prior to this time, Nigerian leaders benefitted from the free education offered by missionaries, which became the bedrock for Nigerian nationalism and independence. Most people argue that the sudden takeover of the schools by the government brought about the collapse of education that was hitherto reputed for high standards in learning and morality. Hence, the call for return of mission schools by pressure groups became rife. Conversely, in the wake of the return of mission schools by some states in the federation, stakeholders have expressed divergent views, citing denominational sentiments, tribal prejudices and unhealthy rivalry among citizens as problems that could militate against national integration and development. This article aims at examining the divergent views in the light of the role of religious education (RE) in nation building and integration.

scholarly journals The Politics of Accommodation and the Problem of National-Building in a Plural Society: The Case of Malaysia

ICR Journal ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 577-594
Author(s):  
Ruhanas Harun
Keyword(s):  
Nation Building ◽  
Ethnic Relations ◽  
Colonial Rule ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
National Unity ◽  
National Integration ◽  
The Public ◽  
Building Process ◽  
Plural Society ◽  
British Colonial

The issue of pluralism in Malaysia has attracted keen interest among scholars and commentators from this country as well as from outside the region. It is an issue that has pre-occupied the Malaysian government since Malaysia’s independence from British colonial rule in 1957. Since then the Malaysian state has been concerned with containing and managing the ‘vulnerabilities’ that can cause conflicts among diverse ethnic and religious groups in the country. The method used to manage ethnic relations has been termed the ‘politics of accommodation’ which is essentially based on the principles of bargaining, cooperation and accommodation among different ethnic groups. It is argued that while it has contributed to the peaceful - albeit precarious - coexistence between them, it also has had an impact of delaying the nation-building process in Malaysia. The pre-occupation of the state with ‘national unity’ and ‘national integration’ and the constant reminders to the public on the importance of ‘unity’ are proof that the ‘politics of accommodation’ as a tool for keeping the country and its diverse segments together are faced with serious challenges. This article attempts to look at the functioning of the ‘politics of accommodation’ as strategy for managing politics and society in a multiethnic society and its impact on nation-building in Malaysia.  

Who’s holding up the sky? On Rymba, a novel by A. Bushkovsky

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-158
Author(s):  
A. V. Zhuchkova
Keyword(s):  
Gender Politics ◽  
The State ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Central Question ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Flood Zone ◽  
The Social ◽  
Russian North ◽  
And Gender

The article deals with A. Bushkovsky’s novel Rymba that goes beyond the topics typical of Russian North prose. Rather than limiting himself to admiring nature and Russian character, the author portrays the northern Russian village of Rymba in the larger context of the country’s mentality, history, mythology, and gender politics. In the novel, myth clashes with reality, history with the present day, and an individual with the state. The critic draws a comparison between the novel and the traditions of village prose and Russian North prose. In particular, Bushkovsky’s Rymba is discussed alongside V. Rasputin’s Farewell to Matyora [ Proshchanie s Matyoroy ] and R. Senchin’s The Flood Zone [ Zona zatopleniya ]. The novel’s central question is: what keeps the Russian world afloat? Depicting the Christian faith as such a bulwark, Bushkovsky links atheism with the social and spiritual roles played by contemporary men and women. The critic argues, however, that the reliance on Christianity in the novel verges on an affectation. The book’s main symbol is a drowning hawk: it perishes despite people’s efforts to save it.

African Traditional Religion and Trans-Saharan Migration from Ghana

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Seth Tweneboah ◽  
Edmond Akwasi Agyeman
Keyword(s):  
Family System ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
Livelihood Strategy ◽  
East Region ◽  
The People ◽  
The Family ◽  
Youth Migration ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
African Traditional Religion

Abstract This paper interrogates an unexamined component of the religion-migration nexus in Ghana. Using African Traditional Religion as a case in point, the paper examines the function shrines play in sustaining youth migration to Libya and across the Mediterranean to Europe. The paper relies on interviews and fieldtrips to migrant sending communities in the Nkoranza area of the Bono East region of central Ghana. The paper gives an account of the daily realities of prospective migrants, returnees and their families. Among other key findings, it is shown that there is an intricate connection between youth migration, the family system and the deities in sustaining the trans-Saharan migration. This migration, we observe, has become a livelihood strategy, the perpetuation of which reassures the survival of not only the people, but their gods as well.

Three Generations of Italians in New York City: Their Religious Acculturation

1969 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-17
Author(s):  
Nicholas John Russo
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
York City ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
American Society

Renewed awareness in ethnic groups as well identified, persisting and active participants in the political and social life of American society imposes a new task on the social scientists to define better and more cogently measure the implications of pluralism and integration. This article by Russo—presenting the findings of his doctoral dissertation: The Religious Acculturation of the Italians in New York City—evidences the fast disappearance of the cultural identity of an immigrant group in relation to their rural religious tradition and behavior. At the same time, it notes the survival of social identity. In the light of this evidence, we can ask ourselves if ethnic religious institutions might have led the immigrants to religious forms more in keeping with their new environment and how the acculturation described should be evaluated. Above all, we are forced to search for those variables which maintain the ethnic groups’ identity even in the third generation. In this way, the process of the inclusion into American society of different ethnic and religious groups may reveal some clues for the more complex test of inclusion of different racial groups.

Racializing a New Nation: German Coloniality and Anthropology in Maharashtra, India

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-51
Author(s):  
Thiago P. Barbosa
Keyword(s):  
Nation Building ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Human Difference ◽  
New Nation

Abstract This paper deals with the transnationalism of racial anthropological frameworks and its role in the understanding of human difference during India’s decolonization and nation-building. With attention to the circulation of objects, I focus on the practices and articulations of Irawati Karve (1905–1970), an Indian anthropologist with a transnational scientific trajectory and nationalistic political engagements. I argue that Karve’s adaptation of an internationally validated German racial approach to study caste, ethnic and religious groups contributed to the further racialization of these categories as well as to the racialization of nationalistic projects in Maharashtra and India. I conclude with a reflection on the transnationalization of the coloniality of racialization.

scholarly journals The Burning Bush (Ex 3:1–6): A study of natural phenomena as manifestation of divine presence in the Old Testament and in African context

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
David T. Adamo
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
Natural Phenomena ◽  
Divine Presence ◽  
African Christianity ◽  
African Context ◽  
African Traditional Religion

The purpose of this article is to attempt to sketch a new reading of Exodus 3:1–6 in African context. After the analysis of the text and various interpretations of the burning bush, this article attempts to survey the various uses of the word fire/lightning/thunder in the Old Testament and in African indigenous religious tradition (Yoruba tradition). In this case, the legends of Sango, the Yoruba Divinity, are important examples of interpreting the existence of fire/lightning/thunder as a sign of God’s presence. Although the meaning of fire/lightning/thunder in the Old Testament and African traditions is very similar, the author does not subscribe to the notion that African Christianity and African traditional religion are the same. However, the similarity has some important implications for African Christianity despite the differences.

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