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[QUOTE]Originally posted by AncientGebts: [QB] [QUOTE]Originally posted by the lioness,: [qb]what are some examples of real religions? [/qb][/QUOTE]AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION From the Nigerian book, "Essential Topics In African Traditional Religion," by Dr. M. Y. Nabofa, B.A., Ph. D. Ibadan, and lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria... Religion is found in every human society in the world. In all the established human societies it is one of the most important institutional structures that make up the total social system... Because religion is concerned with the divine its institutions have been the most viable forms of human association. Religion concerns itself with the most sublime of human aspirations; it is regarded as the source of morality and public order and the inner peace of the individual persons. It is also regarded as a civilizing element... However, it is capable of changing or revolutionizing an already established system... In the West African context religion is regarded as one of the cohesive factors in the society. Its major aim is to bring peace and harmony among men. No traditional society in Africa can do away with [its] religion because it permeates all the activities of life ...God is the Source or Ground of all existence, power and harmonious living among men. Peace, prosperity and harmony can only come through pious life and religious rites... ...in traditional Africa there was no religious conflict, it was the [Western Europeans] who introduced conflict into religion but not religion that introduced conflicts into men. Religion per se which is always pure always seeks to unite men rather than divide them. Before... missionary activities[beginning in Africa as early as the 1500s], African religion [lived] as an absolute truth and undisputed belief... The church taught the Africans that their religion was a false one without convincing them of the truth of Christianity. The missionaries failed to understand that African traditional religion reaches far beyond the rational and intellectual sphere... They failed to understand also that the traditional African religion is a life to be lived rather than obeying dogmatic laws which are in themselves burdens. As Idowu succinctly put it "Where a religion becomes cramped with the framework of dogma and thus becomes a law to be obeyed and not a life to be lived, such religion has become an aberration, it ceases, in fact, to be religion, and thus has become a mere system, a yoke upon the neck' ...When individuals accept religious values and the beliefs about human nature and destiny associated with them, they develop important aspects of their own an self-understanding self-definition. Secondly, as they participate in religious and worship, they act out significant elements of their own identity. In these various ways religion affects the individuals' understanding of 'who they are' and 'what they are'... religion gives the individual a sense of identity with the distant past and the limitless future. ... The Various rites of passage of life: birth, naming ceremonies, puberty, circumcision, initiation, marriage and burial rites in Africa have religious significance. They all help to integrate man fully into the society to which he belongs. In concluding this theoretical section we may say that religion integrates or links the individual with his group, supports him in uncertainty, consoles him in disappointment, attaches him to society's goals, promotes his morale and thus makes him feel that he is truly a human being. It helps to enforce the unity and stability of the society. It may also play a prophetic role and prove itself a disturbing or even subversive influence in any particular society. The contribution of religion to society may be either positive or negative; they may support the continued existence, or may play a part in undermining the continued existence... (i) The following are the elements that makeup the structure of West African Traditional Religion. (a) There is a strong belief in the Supreme Being who is "Wholly Other' than otheres. He is not of the same rank and file with the other objects of worship. (b) Belief in the Divinities who are regarded as God's ministers and intermediaries between God and man. (c) Belief in spirits. There are good ones and bad ones... (d) Belief in ancestors and relationship with the Supreme Being. (e) There is also the belief in the practice of magic and medicine. (ii) (a) All the above are interrelated, because it is the strong belief that the world is under the unitary control of the Supreme Being. (b) The structure links man with the Supreme Being. The divinities are God's immediate representatives. They are near or close to man and they are functional, and as such they could be approached directly by man. (c) the spirits manifest the whole spiritual universe. It is the general belief that all the divinities and even the [African people's actual] Ancestors are all spirits. Sometimes they act between men and the Supreme Being. (d) The ancestors are personal Beings with intimate relationship to man. They are therefore intercessors between the living and the dead, and the Supreme being and all the divinities. (e) Magic and medicine help to align man with the Deity. They are man's means of utilizing the forces of the Universe for his well-being. Magicians and [traditional doctors] rely upon God, divinities, spirits and ancestors for their successful functioning. (f) All the elements in the structure emphasize the Supreme Being's sovereign rule over the whole universe and man. Without Him other elements in the structure have no life, meaning and successful operation." 1. Belief in God "We can speak of a multi-sided concept of God in Africa. That is because in each locality, the concept of God usually takes its emphasis and complexion from the sociological structure and climate. It is therefore necessary to understand the variations in the sociological patterns in order to see clearly the reasons for certain emphasis and tendencies. In societies which are well organised into a hierarchical order [for example] the Yoruba, Edo and Ashanti God is concieved as the king at the top of the hierchy, while in stateless, or less organised societies such as the Igbo and Urhobo God is not so regarded. Also whereas in most places in Africa, God is concieved in masculine terms, there are localities where he is regarded as feminine. Among the Ijo and some Ewe speaking people Tamuno and Mawu, or in particular Nana Buluku - ancient Deity respectively God is thought of in feminine terms. In societies in which the woman is the breadwinner for the family and also in societies where women do a lot of moulding Deity is conceived as a female. e.g the Ijo. While the local variations in the African concept of God should be appreciated and given due recognition, and in spite of variations, and unmistakable basic pattern stands out. These features are the ones which Idowu examines under four main comprehensive attributes. GOD IS REAL TO THE AFRICANS In each society, the people have a local name for God and theses various names of God clearly show His character and emphatic of the fact that he is a reality and that he is not an abstract concept or Being. These names also convey the purest expression of the Africans' religious thinking and religious experience. The various African names of God result from the total experience of the people about Deity. ...African names of Deity... reveal to us that they are not mere labels, but they are descriptive of His nature and the experience of Africans about him and their belief in him. ...Apart from names, Africa is very rich in attributes of God which show clearly that to them Deity is the Living One who is the ever-present, ever-active, and ever-acting reality in the world. (b) GOD IS UNIQUE To the Africans God is unique; he cannot be compared with any being. There is none like him... The [uniqeness] of Deity is one of the reasons why there are no images - graven or in drawing or in painting of Him in Africa. We have symbols of his attributes but not of his images. (c) GOD IS THE ABSOLUTE CONTROLLER OF THE UNIVERSE The Africans believe that God is the absolute controller of the Universe... (d) GOD IS ONE, THE ONLY GOD OF THE WHOLE UNIVERSE The Africans have no belief in a world created by many Gods but One. Hence all over Africa, there are places each of which is considered to be the sacred city, the sacred grove, or the sacred spot, especially because it is believed, according to the people's cosmology, that the place is the centre of the world, the place where creation began, where the human race has its cradle, and from where the race dispersed to all over the earth. (e) HE IS THE CREATOR In this respect we are going to give a careful and critical account of Yoruba myth of creation as told by E.B. Idowu in his book Olodumare God In Yoruba Belief pages 18 - 28; and 39 - 40. 2. Belief in the Divinities: The other element in the structure of [African traditional religion] is the belief in divinities. Divinities are believed to be being or powers brought into being by Deity and they have no absolute existence of their own... What is their relationship to God and what is their place in the... world. (i) They were brought into being by God and they are generally regarded as sons and daughters of God. (ii) They have no absolute existence apart from God. Their powers and authorities are meaningless apart from deity. (iii) Each divinity has his own local name in the local language, which is descriptive either of his allotted functions... (iv) They are ministers in [God's] government (v) They are regarded as intermediaries between Deity and men. They are conventional channels through which man believes that he should normally approach Deity. They are only a half-way house which is not meant to be the permanent rest for man's soul. Thus technically, the divinities are only a means to an end and not ends in themselves. although the Africans pray... to the divinities, they believe that the ultimate approval belongs to the supreme Being. 3. Belief in Spirits These are apparitional entities which form separate category of beings from those described as divinities and ancestors - which could be described as "domesticated' spirits. These spirits are ubiquitous, dangerous and harmless. Spirits are of various categories: to wit ghosts... i.e., born-to-die children. The traditional explanation is that there is a company of spirits whose members are under an agreement to take in turn this errand of mischief. Before those who are thus assigned leave the group temporarily, they enter into a pact that they will return, i.e., die at certain named dates and times. Protection is usually sought against this category of spirits especially when women are pregnant. It is believed that a child who is an incarnation of one of such spirits may be detected through divination and steps by medicine or magic, often combined with maltreatment to prevent it from going back. We also have the spirits of witches. The witch with her pervertedly strong will-power always operates psychologically and psychically to cause, first psychial and then physical disasters to men. We also have guardian -spirits or man's double. This is known as Ehi, Ezi and Erhi among the Edo Beni, Isoko and Urhobo respectively, it is known as Chi among the Igbo and Ori or Enikeji among the Yoruba. Spirits ar believed to posses man and put him under a state of ecstasy. 4. Belief in Ancestors This springs from the idea that death does not mean the end of human life among the Africans. Thus there is the general belief that communion and communication are possible between the living and the dead. According to the African belief the deceased are truly members of the family on earth; but they are no longer of the same fleshly order as those who are still actually living in the flesh on earth. They are closely related to this world; but are no longer ordinary mortals. They have become spirits and are therefore not restricted by time and space. They are factors of cohesion in African society. They can protect and punish evil doers. They are guardians of morality. It is not every person that dies [that] becomes an ancestor. Only good people become ancestors after they have received the "Well-done' judgement of Deity... Generally, it is only those who have offspring and become old before their departure and properly buried who become ancestors. 5. The Practice of Magic and Medicine This a general practice all over Africa in order to meet up with the most immediate needs of man. Man believes that there is a power "Wholly Other' than himself. In order to make use of this force man resorts to the practice of magic and medicine. Magic is an attempt on the part of man to tap and control the supernatural resources of the universe for his own benefits. While the motto of Religion is "Let thy will be done' that of magic is "Mine will be done'... ANCESTORS i. (a) The ancestors are regarded as or believed to be the past heroes of a community. (b) They are believed to be still present in life and are the guardians of the family property, traditions, and customs. They are the the custodians of the tribal laws and morality. They are the unseen presidents of the family meetings, and they are believed to be still in communion with the living and the intercessors between the living and the Supreme Being. They are not affected by space and time, therefore they could operate easily as they like. Because space and time are no barriers to them they can easily contact or deal with anyone who is even in distant places at any time. (c) They can punish the living and inflict disasters on them. Therefore they must be given befitting burials to avert evil and their anger... ii. (a) They are given significant [recognition] in rituals (... marriage, birth, festivals, naming ceremonies, etc.)... iii. Yet the Africans do not take place their ancestors on the same level with the Supreme Being and the divinities. However, some ancestors have been deified and thus have become Divinities, and so passed on into the Pantheon... The Divinities are not so closely related to the world. The Ancestors are the spiritual superintendents of the family of which they remain members. This idea is based on the strong belief that death is not the end to life, they can reincarnate in new born children... [/QB][/QUOTE]
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