With African Traditional Religions you must be much more careful about speaking about belief systems in the same way, because Africans will actually tolerate quite a wide variety of beliefs as long as it supports the same rituals or certain rituals or ritualistic explanations of why this is being done or why this is being believed. Following the Al Qaeda attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 (often called 9/11), studies of religion in world politics increased sixfold. ...Elements of Religion James Morales REL-133 April 17, 2013 Joseph Becker Elements of Religion Religion is a way of life for much of mankind, and though all religions are not the same, do all religions do the same thing? For example, religious development organisations such as the Aga Khan Development Network (also from the Shia branch of Islam) work in areas of health care and education in countries of Africa and Asia without seeking to control entire political systems. b. African Traditional Religion (ATR): African traditional religion is the belief system that has been handed down from one generation to another. :t\.1biti's approach assumes that "Christianity comes to enhance African traditional religions." Our senses are portals to the spirit. Africa Traditional ... African understanding and the interpretation of Christianity have deep roots in these fundamental beliefs of the African traditional religions. It is the religion which resulted from the sustaining faith held by the forebears of the present Africans, and which is being practised today in various forms and It is no wonder that the anthropologist Talal Asad once observed that what we today call religion has ‘always been involved in the world of power’ (2003, 200). Traditional African religion is very popular and arrived here with our North and West African ancestors. Inter-religious relations, especially, among African Traditional Religion (ATR) worshippers, Muslims and Christians are becoming sources of social tension and violence. What would the benefits and losses be in each situation? Other traditions are low demand, adopting a more flexible approach to the requirements for belonging faithfully to the community. It is embraced by Africans within and outside the continent despite the various ethnic religious practices and beliefs. Thomas Merton once described his experience of watching Trappist monks perform the rituals of the Catholic Mass in very political terms. African Traditional Religion: A Definition (1973), Omosade Awolalu in Yoruba Belief and Sacrificial Rites and John Mbiti in The Concept of God in Africa (1970) are a few examples of postcolonial scholars of religion who have resisted and denounced colonial idea that Africans do not know God. God(s) ... Rosa Parks, an African American woman who famously refused to obey American racial segregation laws and sparked a nation-wide civil rights movement in the 1960s, is often lauded as a heroic individual. Merton’s experience of redefining power and influence through sacred symbols is true for millions of people practising thousands of different religious rituals each day. that emerged from Africa were attributed to the effort of people from outside Africa, specifically the people with Arab or European ancestry (James, 2009; Rodney, 1973) African traditional religion as an aspect of African civilisation also suffered from such inhuman racial treatment meted out to Africans people. Can religion be considered as a way to unite mankind, or viewed as a way to segregate them. For example, both Jews and Christians uphold the idea of ‘Jubilee’ as central to understanding the story and/or future promise of a Messiah who would usher in a new era of justice with peace (or ‘shalom’). The second element of religion are rituals that re-order the world according to religious principle. The traditional values of the African includes among others: large family, love for and practice of the extended family system, respect for old people, ancestor worship, traditional religion, African loves nature and seeks harmony with it. For more information contact us at info@libretexts.org or check out our status page at https://status.libretexts.org. The concept of culture includes not Traditions that we might call ‘fundamental’ propose that politics is a matter of organising society according to divine commands. In these examples, religious politics is adapted to changing circumstances and takes into account diverse interests and beliefs across society. African religions, either from the scientific point of view, ... conscious efforts to reintroduce African cultural elements into Christian worship. Missed the LibreFest? For religious adherents, rituals symbolise spiritual truths but they can also redefine how power can be understood in the material world. hand with the study of the people who practise the religion. The first element of religion is the belief that divine beings and/or forces hold relevance to the meaning and practice of politics today and throughout history. The following are the useful basic themes in exploring the African worldview: Supreme Being In traditional African society, there is implied and widespread belief in a Supreme Being, God. For ... whether African Traditional Religion should be termed monotheistic or polytheistic. In Africa, the traditional belief systems hold the ascription The fourth element common to most religions is the need for believers to belong to a faith community in order to practice sacred rituals and reinforce the truth of sacred stories. Do you think religious influence on global affairs is a welcome inclusion or a significant problem? It is the most popular for decoration and can often be seen printed on cloth or stamped on pottery.The rapid spread of Pentecostal Christianity and fundamentalist Islam has greatly affected the role of indigenous religion in African society. (Merton 1948, 325). It can be strongly argued that neither scenario exists in pure form. This is enfolded in religious beliefs, partly because religion permeates nearly all aspects of African life. Likewise, when religion has been expelled from the public domain, religious actors and interests go underground waiting for a chance to re-emerge. AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION Religion is a difficult subject to inquiry including attempts at definition and conception. African Traditional Religion (ATR) and cultural practices in most parts of African communities are environmentally friendly and sustainable, contributing so much to natural resource sustainability and conservation (International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), 1992). These elements – interpreting the past, projecting the future, living now – are basic to the development of political ideologies also. African Traditional Religion during my semester at This means that traditional African religion cannot be separated from daily life. ÛzÃ*sxÑ ²äQ*Êk”–ÜÅ׋7Eèâ€Už{wÒ,ó@~•»2@cHÒy뀫$Ød¬d™¤¡§óħX_ðÆ4êÖázא\ØèíńÿÖ+à´Zl{QµV[»ûØJ4i§PœÀ,1ú»æó),“€3=o=5ÖB'@¼ÃJ¶j;Ôdòj1§)Æ%¦6»1ÿ. Some religious traditions could be described as high demand, requiring strict adherence to rules and standards in order to maintain membership of the faith community. If African traditional religion is studied just … This book highlights and discusses the common elements which introduce African Traditional Religion as one unified religion and not a collection of religions. Both forms of faith commitment are expressions of religion as ‘identity politics’ connected to who we are (that is, who we understand ourselves to be) and how we live. For examples of different studies that consider the public rituals of Judaism, Islam and Hinduism respectively see Beck (2012), Bronner (2011) and Haider (2011). Although the word ‘faith’ can be associated with belief in unseen realities, humans throughout time have needed to see, touch and smell the sacred. It is true that based on the consideration of culture as that . This may be true, but as a member of a religious community that affirmed human dignity and the divine principles of racial equality, Rosa Parks was never acting in isolation (Thomas 2005, 230–240). It is often combined with elements of Christianity and Islam. Watch the recordings here on Youtube! The symbol can be found throughout Ghana. In this paper, we shall be dealing with African culture and drawing examples from Nigerian culture. 1. Therefore, rituals function as tangible symbols of the intangible realm. They counteracted various derogatory names given to AIR. protection efforts. In the 1990s members of both communities appealed to one aspect of Jubilee – a tradition of debt cancellation found in the Hebrew Bible – as the basis for addressing the debt crisis facing developing nations. They echoed the fact that “Africans had known God before the missionaries came” (Ray XI). which marks a people out from others, groups one can rightly say that there are many cultures in Africa. The connection between religion and identity politics can have individual and international significance. Local African culture was oppressed for many years by white South Africans, who find their cultural roots in … While some religious rituals are private or hidden, many are performed in public spaces or in ways that are openly accessible to wider society. take more objective view, seeing some value in social functions of African religions • 3. Missiologists have worked more broadly on a correlation of Christianity with African culture as a whole, speaking in terms of an ethnotheology. When religion has been used to dominate the public square, a diversity of groups (non-religious and religious) have risen in opposition. In Iran, for example, the highest court in the land is a religious one, drawing its principles from the Shia branch of Islam – the second largest Islamic tradition worldwide after the majority Sunni tradition. These figures represent peo-ple who primarily follow African traditional religion; however, there are also Christians and Muslims who still practice elements of traditional African religion alongside their professed beliefs. Regardless of where we stand, it appears a closer look at the ‘religion question’ is in order if we are to establish a fuller picture of IR. ó9Ž“ Aõg,¥¶(Óßԏ£jµj*E?ßúÒö Sacred symbols (re)defining what is real, 3. Religion in Igbo traditional society partakes fully of all the features of world traditional religion, including its beliefs, sacred myths, oral qualities, strong appeal to the hearts of adherents, high degree of ritualization, and possession of numerous participatory personages such as officiating elders, kings, priests, and diviners. When we speak of African Traditional Religion, we mean the indigenous religious beliefs and practices of the Africans. Sacred stories connecting past, present and future, 4. The following four elements of religion may provide a useful introduction. African culture has experienced rapid change since the colonial invasion. Egwu (2001) observes religion not only because of the problem of objectivity one encounters in defining but is emotion laden, even more so because of the difficulty of penetrating the "inner essence" of religion. The LibreTexts libraries are Powered by MindTouch® and are supported by the Department of Education Open Textbook Pilot Project, the UC Davis Office of the Provost, the UC Davis Library, the California State University Affordable Learning Solutions Program, and Merlot. When we speak of African Traditional Religion, we mean the indigenous religious beliefs and practices of the Africans. The elaborate rituals of monarchies worldwide are understood by their subjects to symbolise divine blessing for the realm and its citizens, redefining where the real power lies. The most important thing is that in the new South Africa religion and spirituality are used to create greater understanding and harmony rather than to divide people as was done in the past. Such a view also seems supported by the numbers as ‘worldwide, more than eight-in-ten people identify with a religious group’ (Pew 2012, 9). By contrast, traditions that adopt a ‘contextual’ approach hold that politics is a matter of influencing society according to divine principles but as part of a wider tapestry of influences. Likewise, in Myanmar (formerly Burma) an influential group of religious monks has started a movement intent on imposing Buddhist principles on the whole country, including non-Buddhist minorities. It is a tolerant, accommodative and peaceful religion that … For instance, empowered by belonging to a faith community, individuals can act in ways that they might not otherwise have done in isolation. Contemporary African culture is a mixture of traditional elements and alien features. This implies that there is no tension between the major elements of African Traditional Religions and … In the words of Robert Keohane, the events of 9/11 provoked the realization that ‘worldshaking political movements have so often been fuelled by religious fervour’ (2002, 29). Rosa Parks, an African American woman who famously refused to obey American racial segregation laws and sparked a nation-wide civil rights movement in the 1960s, is often lauded as a heroic individual. Lines are drawn by religions even though many look to religion as a way of life. Have questions or comments? This contrasts strongly with secular approaches that demote, and sometimes deny altogether, a role for religion in political affairs. African Religions Philosophy. It is embraced by Africans within and outside the continent despite the various ethnic religious practices and beliefs. Only a few years later, this sacred story was used for very different purposes by US president George W. Bush, who celebrated the 2003 invasion of Iraq by quoting a Jubilee text from the Book of Isaiah: ‘To the captives come out, and to those in darkness be free’ (Monbiot 2003). For example, over one-fifth of states today have a monarch (such as a king, queen or emperor). Do you believe that religion has a role to play in public debates or should it be confined to private spirituality only? It will show that traditional practices disclose that African societies were conscious of the need to protect their environment in the past. Legal. European Christian missionaries from 16th century onwards see African religions as demonic, primitive, evil & stupid • 2. worth. The traditional African religions or traditional beliefs and practices of African people are a set of highly diverse beliefs that includes various ethnic religions. Native African historians and scholars, from mid-20th c. African scholars like John S. Mbiti and E. Bolaji Idowu, in 1970s and 1980s, set out to refute some of the erroneous claims about African religions. Africa's influential university departments of religion have usually approached the theme in terms of establishing correlations between Christianity and Africa's traditional religions. This Ghanaian Adinkra symbol means \"except for God\" and symbolizes the supremacy of God. [ "article:topic", "showtoc:no", "license:ccbysa", "authorname:smmclincheywalters" ], https://socialsci.libretexts.org/@app/auth/2/login?returnto=https%3A%2F%2Fsocialsci.libretexts.org%2FBookshelves%2FSociology%2FBook%253A_International_Relations_(McGlinchey)%2F09%253A_Religion_and_Culture%2F9.01%253A_Elements_of_Religion, Stephen McGlinchey, Rosie WAters & Christian Scheinpflug, 1. He wrote: The eloquence of this liturgy [communicated] one, simple, cogent, tremendous truth: this church, the court of the Queen of Heaven, is the real capital of the country in which we are living. The third element of religion is teaching traditions based on stories of significant figures, events and ideas from the past and beliefs about the future of time itself – like a spoiler alert about the end of the world. Beyond the experience of individuals, states also seek divine blessing. Sacred stories, ideas and teachings from the past have a richness and power that can influence political affairs today and the aspirations we hold for tomorrow. Traditional Religion as a source of African theology just as Christian theology is. This site is like a library, Use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Are you numbered among the 20 or 80 per cent? Like almost all civilizations and cultures, flood myths have been circulating in different parts of Africa. Unless otherwise noted, LibreTexts content is licensed by CC BY-NC-SA 3.0. The Main Characteristics of African Traditional Religion.ATR) to the two mission religions. For many Africans and Ghanaians, in particular, it is religion more than anything else that shapes their worldview and participation in … What is common to both fundamental and contextual religious traditions is an understanding that politics is in some sort of interactive relationship with the intentions of, or traditions shaped by, gods (or God) and spiritual forces. Therefore, sometimes religious and political groups can appeal to the same stories or ideas even though the interpretation or intent may differ significantly. This view gave Africans and their religion, which was battered and religion a vehicle through which Christianity could be propagated had for long dominated the thought of the African indigenous Christian theologians who could aptly be described as confessional scholars” ( Onunwa, 1990 ). Click Download or Read Online button to get African Religions Philosophy book now. Traditional African Religion • 1. Great African civilizations such as Pharaonic Egypt, etc.