CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
The term Religion is coined from the word “Religism”, meaning “the expression of fear towards, hatred towards, or discrimination against, persons of a specific religion affiliation, usually a minority faith.” The word is gradually catching on. Until English speaking people reach a consensus on a new term we can always use “religious intolerance (Ejiro, 2003, “Rudolph II”, 2007).
Religious intolerance is opposite of religious tolerance. Religious intolerance is the practice of not recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others. Religious tolerance simply means to treat with goodwill and respect people whom you believe hold incorrect religious beliefs (that is, beliefs that conflict with the ones you hold). It is not the ability or willingness to tolerate the existence of opinions or behaviour that one dislikes or disagrees with (Hajo; Hinricsen, Maite C 2011). At times these different believes can conflict each other, thus creating and causing secularism, intolerance, and discrimination towards other religions and cultures. Ever since humans formed different societies and countries, conflicts of power and control have centered our politics, but then as the influence of religion grew on individuals many countries gave religious sectors power and influence; many people tend to reject those who are from different religion. Religious intolerance is often a result of religious expectations and differing opinions. Since religions contain a variety of ideas and beliefs that are regarded so highly, religious members tend to become intolerant.
Religious tolerance grabs at both people’s internal and external lives (Joseph, 2011). The biased media always attempts to push teens’ beliefs one way or another, yet it is the choice of the individual to which counts in the end. If you are a tolerant Christian you believe that Jews, we are wrong to believe that Jesus was not/is not the Messiah, but you acknowledge that within the society at large their viewpoint has as much right to be held as your own.
On the other hand, the notion of tolerance, however, came into being at a time when there was a large degree of homogeneity in religious beliefs. Tolerance also should be extended to those who don’t believe in any god or gods whatsoever. As beliefs and associated practices grow increasingly diverse, it becomes difficult to see how tolerance in our society can endure. Would we tolerate Moloch-style child sacrifice in this country? I certainly hope not. And indeed there are many less extreme practices that we as a society are finding it difficult to extend the umbrella of tolerance to cover.
Religious tolerance assumes that a person does not discriminate against another person’s religious beliefs, even if they think that the person’s belief is wrong (Joseph, 2011). Religious tolerance differs from religious acceptance. A person of the Christian faith may not belief that the Torah is the complete version of the Bible. Each person can disagree silently with the other person’s religious belief system without discriminating against them or making them feel less about themselves or wrong. This is the foundation of religious tolerance. According to John, 2000) religious tolerance does not involve believing that all religions are true.
Religious tolerance can be thought of on two levels:
- Religious tolerance as practiced by governments;
- Religious tolerance as practiced by individuals.
Freedom of belief basically states that everyone is free to think whatever way he wants, and that the State does not endorse any belief over another. Religious tolerance is not restricted to religions, but also cults, sects, and beliefs in the non-existence of something (like God or anything else).
By that, everyone has the right not only to believe in whatever he wants, but to speak out loud about it, and the State has the duty to protect that right against any intolerant people. The theist, the atheist, the pagan, the scientologist, the Rastafarian etc.,(James 2002), all of them have equal rights in the law, and no belief is more primordial in law than another.
As for religion tolerance, it is before anything a tolerance towards the other, towards his culture and everything he is. Also, it is everyone’s duty to respect the other cultures, because all beliefs are fundamentally equal. Even atheists believe in the non-existence of God (contrarily to popular believe, they do believe in the non-existence, not that they do not believe in the existence). All cultures are equally close to the absolute truth, because there is no way to know about it through human understanding. Therefore, it is not only a civic duty, but also a moral imperative not to offend another creed just because he belief his is better. That would be ethnocentrism and supremacism.
We are free to believe what we want, evangelize; organize churches and other religious organizations. Where the Rivers State falls short is when it comes to the “separation of church and state” doctrine, which unfairly and unnecessarily limits the opportunities of religious organizations. Imagine this question”Would you like to start a charter school that places special emphasis on inculcating Christian or Jewish or Hindu or Buddhist values? Hmm… that’s a problem. So long as funds are available to any religious (or non-religious) group that wants them, the (Gokana LGA in Rivers state) government doesn’t have a legitimate interest in discouraging religious education — again, so long basic educational objectives are met. But religious organizations are nonetheless singled out for adverse treatment in this regard — and it’s because of this wrong-headed interpretation of the Constitution known as “separation of church and state.”
- Statement of Problem
Religious intolerance is opposite ofreligious tolerance. Religious intolerance is the practice of not recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others. It is not the ability or willingness to tolerate the existence of opinions or behaviour that one dislikes or disagrees with (Hajo; Hinricsen, Maite C 2011). At times these different believes can conflict each other, thus creating and causing secularism, intolerance, and discrimination towards other religions and cultures. Many people tend to reject those who are different. Religious intolerance is often a result of religious expectations and differing opinions. Since religions contain a variety of ideas and beliefs that are regarded so highly, religious members tend to become intolerant.
On the other hand, the notion of tolerance, however, came into being at a time when there was a large degree of homogeneity in religious beliefs. Tolerance also should be extended to those who don’t believe in any god or gods whatsoever. As beliefs and associated practices grow increasingly diverse, it becomes difficult to see how tolerance in our society can endure. Would we tolerate Moloch-style child sacrifice in this country? I certainly hope not. And indeed there are many less extreme practices that we as a society are finding it difficult to extend the umbrella of tolerance to cover.
Religious intolerance has caused devastating results across the world. Religious intolerance is a result of the mistrust that occurs between people belonging to different religions. It is this mistrust that then leads to clashes and in some instances killing of people including innocent people. In some countries we hear of suicide bombers which are done by those people belonging to the Islamic faith who in some cases are angry with their Christian counterparts. In Nigeria the Muslims and Christians are also at loggerheads and people are being massacred. Thus this work is to investigate whether there is any religious intolerance in Gokana local government area of Rivers State.
1.3 Research Questions
1) What are the socio-economic characteristics of religious partakers in Gokana Local Government Area?
2) What are the religious intolerance in Gokana local government?
3) What are the causes of religious intolerance in Gokhana Local Government Area?
4) What can we do about the religious intolerance in Gokana Local Government Area?
1.4 Objectives of the Study are design to find out;
1) The socio-economic characteristics of religious partakers in Gokana Local Government Area
2) the extent of religious intolerance in Gokana local government in Rivers state,
3) the causes of religious tolerance in Gokana Local Government Area and to
4) Find out what we can do about the religious intolerance in Gokana Local Government Area.
- Hypotheses of the Study
HO1: There is no significant religious intolerance in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State
1.5 Significance of the Study
This study is of significance in various respects. It will acquaint Gokana communities and others about the dangers of religious intolerance and conflicts, as well as the need to prevent their occurrences and to ensure proper handling when it occurs.
This study is also particularly significant because it will document the experience of the religious intolerance and conflicts community’s dwellers, particularly the women in agricultural production. It will also identify the extent of religious intolerance and conflicts prevalent in the area. Knowledge to be gained from the findings of this research is expected to translate to increase in religious tolerance and religious conflicts resolution in the study area; particularly for worshipers to be acquainted to the negative effects of religious intolerance, reduce vulnerability, increase religious tolerance, and subsequently increase peaceful co-existence.
Lastly, the study is very significant because it is believed that the findings would be useful for religious groups in Gokana local Government area on religious development; and, also, on issues concerning religion in the study area in general. It will also contribute to the body of literature on religious intolerance and conflicts in the study area. It is also expected to spur more research in this regard.
This study is therefore, designed to provide the information about problems of religious conflict and activities in the Gokana local Government Area in Rivers state, Nigeria. This will help the government, the religious organizations and general public to take adequate steps for preventing religious intolerance and conflict in Gohana local government in Rivers state.
Scope of the Study
This study will be limited to Gokhana Local Government Area of Rivers State because this area is populated by many religious groups. The study will ascertain the extent of religious intolerance and conflicts in Gokana local government in Rivers state.
- Limitations of the Study
Some limitations may be encountered. A study of this nature needs to cover the entire Rivers State, but due to time factor and limited resources, it will be restricted to only Gokana Local Government Area in Rivers State, hoping that this will be a representative of entire whole. Because of the multifarious nature of the occupation of local dwellers, it may not be easy to reach all group members for their responses. Taking advantage of worshiper’s weekend meeting days to serve the questionnaire will help matters as some may be seen at their regular weekly meetings.
Some other limitations anticipated include: Carrying out a research of this magnitude demands a lot of finance. This includes cost of gathering data from the preliminary stage to the fieldwork. In addition, the study is expected to involve travelling to and from the study location in administering the research instruments. Money will also be expended hiring the research assistants and designing the research instruments, as well as other logistics.
Attitude of the respondents is another limitation anticipated due to the lukewarm attitude of people to answering research questions, particularly when it touches their religious dispositions. The research is, therefore, expected to be confronted with the problem of some respondents not co-operating fully in the providing answers to the questionnaire, seeing the exercise as an unnecessary distraction. Some respondents may also have some misconception about the whole exercise, because they will think providing certain information about them on issues will implicate them.
The literacy level of the respondents may also pose some challenge as it will make it more difficult to explain the objectives of the study and what is required of them. In this respect, the enumerators will be of great assistance in putting the respondents through on the questionnaire. Also, a few of them may have the problem of recall that is, not being able to remember their religious activities in the past, as may be demanded them by the study. The proportions that are likely to have this problem will be quite insignificant and this may not seriously influence the study.
Finally, paucity of literature on the subject of this research will further impose limitation on the study. Accessing essential literature like books, journals, documents and other relevant sources for secondary data collection will be a daunting task. On the whole, therefore, there is both hope and confidence that the researcher will take all caution in eliminating, or at least minimizing, the potentially negative consequences of the problems enumerated above.
1.8 Definition of Terms.
Belief in something sacred for example, gods or other supernatural beings. Ritual acts focused on sacred spaces and/or objects. A moral code believed to have a sacred or supernatural basis. Prayers and other forms of communication with the supernatural. A social group bound together by and around the above.
Religious Intolerance.
There is no clear definition of the word religious intolerance. However it can best be described as the absence of being unwilling to put up with someone else’s beliefs. In clear and simple terms we can thus posit that religious intolerance means not tolerating beliefs that differ from one’s own.
Religious Conflict.
Means to come into collision or disagreement; be contradictory, at variance, or in opposition; clash: to fight or contend; do battle; a fight, battle, or struggle, especially a prolonged struggle; strife controversy; quarrel: conflicts between parties, discord of action, feeling, or effect; antagonism or opposition, as of interests or principles: a conflict of ideas, a striking together; collision. Incompatibility or interference, as of one idea, desire, event, or activity with another: a conflict in the schedule, Psychiatry, A mental struggle arising from opposing demands or impulses.