Religion politics and ethics: Moral and ethical dilemmas facing faith-based organizations and Africa in the 21(st) century-implications for Nigeria in a season of anomie.

Abstract

African peoples value social order and peace as essential and sacred. This is because of the traditional communalism of African societies. To maintain this sense of community and solidarity and avoid disintegration, there are many laws, customs, rules, and regulations constituting the ethics and moral code of African communities. These are believed to be instituted by God or derived from ancestors. This idea gives sanctity to these customs and morals, which are enforced by the traditional leaders, priests, or elders of the community. Any breach of this code of behavior is, therefore, considered evil, wrong, or bad because it tends to destroy the accepted social order and must be punished by the corporate community. Therefore, traditional African life is dominated by religion, morals, and ethics. It is religion that influences the Africans' understanding of the universe and the individual's participation in it, making life itself a religious phenomenon. Every adventure of life including governance and survival is clothed in rituals and symbolism, and African peoples did not traditionally differentiate between the sacred and the secular. Every facet of life was defined in religious terms and in religion the society found its unity and progress. It is within this traditional social order that foreign religions and ideology were introduced, according to Mbiti, "without warning and without physical and psychological preparation Africa has been invaded by a world revolution," bringing with it modern science and technology including telecommunications, mass media, schools, universities, and urbanization. Further, foreign religions such as Christianity and Islam came to Africa as complex phenomena made up of Western culture, politics, technology, medicine, education etc. It has been argued that African peoples experienced these modern changes as a religious phenomenon, which disrupted the prevailing peace and social order, described proverbially by The Mupun people of Plateau state, Nigeria as: "a world that had turned its tail into its mouth… a world that has completely turned around."