RELIGION AS A UNIFYING FORCE FOR PEACE

The great philosopher karl  marx wrote that ‘religion is the opium of the people’. He was of the view  that religion  is a tool of  oppression used by our owners of means of labour  to suppress their workers. In religion, people are told to accept their fate in the society as God-given ,irrespective of how they may be suffering grievously under their yoke.

However ,it is believed that the chief aim of all faiths is to explore the nature of man’s  existence  on earth his relation  to things around him and his  happiness .All the great thinkers believed in and taught about  these  same  great  underlying universal truths. But the different or peculiar cultural lenses through which these great thoughts have  been  expressed   make them appear superficially different in their widest forms.

When religion runs along the ethnic lines of a particular group of people, there is usually a special attachment to that religion, which in turn becomes a highly cherished value for such people. And when value comes into play in any conflict, it is usually difficult if not impossible to resolve such a conflict.This is because ,it is very  rare  for people to be persuaded to change the value  or identities they  have  grown  up with  and hold sacred .One successful way  in  which  such  conflict  have been resolved is  simply, by showing respect  for  each other’s values and tolerate them .

All over the world and even in Nigeria, leaders have been  known  to use religion to further their  selfish  ambitions  to the detriment of  the whole society. In pursuing such ambitions they use religion to fan  ethnic  sentiment and ferment conflict  between  people.

This is why it has become imperative to urge religious leaders in the country, and world at large .to embrace ECUMENISM, especially through educating their followers on the need for religious tolerance and peacemaking. These leaders should begin to explore with  their followers the many  commonalities of the  different  religions. This could foster good and healthy relationships between  them instead  of amplifying  their  few differences to divide them. Infact, the leaders of the different religious groups should be in the forefront of working to reconcile such divided people or groups.

In this country, we have witnessed lots  of conflicts which   emanated from deep rooted  religious intolerance .This is unnecessary because ,religion should  be used  as an instrument of peace making  instead  of as  a divisive and  destructive tool .it is  only through this means that  we can achieve peace  and development.             By Ifesinachi nwoko