"Die by Fire": A Mentality of Nigerian Christians

(By Adesegun Damazio) - Die by fire. 

No, no one has to die by anything, not especially when death is invoked through a religion that promotes peace.

Save for a few times when I've had to attend other churches either out of compulsion or eventful engagements, I've been a Catholic all my life and owe my religious views to the teachings I've imbibed from Catholicism.

This belief, is one which triggers boredom when I come across people who pray for an unhealthily long period of time. As our faces are different, so are our needs. But on closer inspection, it's quite easy to tell that these prolonged prayers are often a repetition of litanies, with only the wordings changing. If I had my way, the Nigerian version of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal will be reformed to a point where members begin to pray more peacefully.

This belief, is one which triggers discomfort when I hear people pray death and destruction over people they consider "enemies". But then, have you ever bothered to ask why you alone might have so many enemies to start with? Could it be because you're one heck of a troublemaker yourself who can't help but offend "them" or do these "enemies" just pick on easygoing people because they can?

Of Cultures, Taboos, and Chief Priests

My father always told me that "a deity is as benevolent or fiendish as its chief priest or priestess." Recently, I was re-reading Mary Douglas's seminal work, Purity and Danger, and her analysis of how dominant sections of a society determine its taboo system reminded me of my father's wisdom. Douglas writes: "The study of taboo impinges inevitably upon philosophy of belief. The taboo-maintained rules will be as repressive as the leading members of the society want them to be. If the makers of opinion want to prevent freemen from marrying slaves, or want to maintain a complex chain of inter-generational dynastic marriages, or they want to extort crushing levies -- whether for the maintenance of the clergy or for the lavish ceremonials of royalty -- the taboo system that supports their wishes will endure. Criticisms will be suppressed, whole areas of life become unspeakable and, in consequence, unthinkable. But when the controllers of opinion want a different way of life, the taboos will lose credibility and their selected view of the universe will be revised." The mindset and worldview of these "mouthpieces" of the gods, with the support of secular powers within the community, ultimately dictates the social tone of the community's sense of morality.

Mary Douglas, 1966 (2002): xiii

Purity and Danger: An Analysis of the Concept of Pollution and Taboo 

15 Facts on African Religions

Religion Distribution in Africa

(By Jacob K. Olupona) - African religions cover a diverse landscape of ethnic groups, languages, African Religions: A Very Short Introduction shares an interesting list of 15 facts on African religions.
cultures, and worldviews. Here, Jacob K. Olupona, author of 

1. African traditional religion refers to the indigenous or autochthonous religions of the African people. It deals with their cosmology, ritual practices, symbols, arts, society, and so on. Because religion is a way of life, it relates to culture and society as they affect the worldview of the African people.

2. Traditional African religions are not stagnant but highly dynamic and constantly reacting to various shifting influences such as old age, modernity, and technological advances.

3. Traditional African religions are less of faith traditions and more of lived traditions. They are less concerned with doctrines and much more so with rituals, ceremonies, and lived practices.