Forum Preaches Love Among Faithfuls
Lagos
By Andrew Ahiante
A one-day forum on religion and violence held at the Lagos Airport Hotel yesterday recommended that adherents of religions should love one another.
The seminar put together by Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), had as participants Alhaji (Chief) Kola Animashaun (chairman), and guest speakers Dr. Murziq Adeyemi of the Department of Political Science, Lagos State University (LASU), Dr. (Prophet) Olurotimi Olulana, Divine Messengers of Christ, Lagos among others, explored the various religious violence and crises which have engulfed the nation over the years.
Stressing that all religions preach against violence, the forum said faithfuls of different religions should engage in exchange of programmes to enable them understand the goodness of the various religions.
Other areas of convergence among world religion particularly, Christianity and Islamic, the forum expressed, were the love for one another, tolerance, peace and harmony, while linking most of the religious crises in Nigeria to political crisis.
"State governments should have no hand in the promotion of religion. They should stay away and allow the religious leaders themselves do that", the forum submitted.
The forum agreed that most of the religious violence were sponsored by unscrupulous individuals, stressing that such people were never affected in any way by such violence, but helpless individuals in the society.
Accordingly, the forum tasked government on poverty alleviation scheme, through job creations so as to get the youths who are mostly recruited by politicians to unleash terror on innocent people engage in meaningful activities.
Speaking on his project, the director of MURIC, Dr. Is-haq Akinola lamented that whereas religion was expected to generate love, forgiveness, tolerance, forbearance, sharing and caring, the reverse has been the case in Nigeria as people these days. now misapply religion to kill, maim, burn and to bomb.
"Contrary to the teachings of the two main religions, Christianity and Islam, adherents of the two religions now engage in wars of attrition. Certain geopolitical zones in Nigeria are hated by the rest just because of religious affiliation. The same applies to the world generally where Western culture clashes with that of Islam. Palestine, Kashmir, Afghanistan and Iraq now bear indelible mementos of this gross misapplication of faith", he further said.
Accordingly, he appealed to Muslim youths to rally round MURIC in its effort to reengineer the sociological setting of the average Muslim mind.
"We call on Imams and other scholars of Islam to lay emphasis on the positive and lifegiving teachings of Islam. We also urge Christian clergies to preach love between their followership and their Muslim neighbours", he said.
He also urged the Federal and State governments to hold the Imams of mosques and pastors of churches responsible in areas where religious violence occurs in future.
"There can hardly be any outbreak of religious uprising without the knowledge or input of such leaders. Traditional rulers should also be made answerable particularly in case of ethnic clashes. Nigerians have the right to live and work unimpeded and unmolested in any part of the federation", he declared.
|
