Religious Practices and National Development

Johnson Olusegun Ajayi; Bodunde David Oluwafemi

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ss.20140304.11

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Religious Practices and National Development

Johnson Olusegun Ajayi, Bodunde David Oluwafemi

Published in Social Sciences (Volume 3, Issue 4)

Received: 15 June 2014 Accepted: 30 June 2014 Published: 20 July 2014

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Abstract

Nigeria is a multi-religious society. These religions can be grouped under three principal and dominant types which are Christianity, Islam and Traditional African Religion. Religion is held with utmost passion, devotion, reference and sacredness in Nigeria, so much so that it has become a veritable tool in the hands of both political and non political leaders for the psychic and emotional manipulations of adherents. No wonder Marx sees religion as mere illusion, a way of rationalizing man’s frustrations, an opium that sedates and placates the pains of exploitation and oppression by the nuveaux riché, whereas Durkheim saw it as a social institution that serves to give meaning to man's existential predicaments. Nigeria today is one of the most religious societies in the world, but these various beliefs and teachings have not changed to any appreciable extent the lives of the adherents and the nation as a whole. What is witnessed instead is one form of religious crisis or another leading to; maiming, looting, massacre and horrendous bloodshed of innocent and unprotected citizens. Every religion in Nigeria plays the blame game, to an extent that the practice of the same teachings of love, peace, unity and brotherhood each religion claims to instruct becomes a dirge and mirage. This study is therefore set to investigate religious practices in Nigeria and the effect on the development of the society using exploratory method. Though religion could be a source of social unity and cohesion in a social setting, it was discovered that over the years in Nigeria, religion has merely led to persecution, torture, wanton bloodbath and destruction of social and economic materials.

Published in	Social Sciences (Volume 3, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.ss.20140304.11
Page(s)	105-111
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Religion, Christianity, Islam, Morality, Sacredness, Religious Crisis

References

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Johnson Olusegun Ajayi, Bodunde David Oluwafemi. (2014). Religious Practices and National Development. Social Sciences, 3(4), 105-111. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20140304.11

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Johnson Olusegun Ajayi; Bodunde David Oluwafemi. Religious Practices and National Development. Soc. Sci. 2014, 3(4), 105-111. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20140304.11

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Johnson Olusegun Ajayi, Bodunde David Oluwafemi. Religious Practices and National Development. Soc Sci. 2014;3(4):105-111. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20140304.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ss.20140304.11,
  author = {Johnson Olusegun Ajayi and Bodunde David Oluwafemi},
  title = {Religious Practices and National Development},
  journal = {Social Sciences},
  volume = {3},
  number = {4},
  pages = {105-111},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20140304.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20140304.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20140304.11},
  abstract = {Nigeria is a multi-religious society. These religions can be grouped under three principal and dominant types which are Christianity, Islam and Traditional African Religion. Religion is held with utmost passion, devotion, reference and sacredness in Nigeria, so much so that it has become a veritable tool in the hands of both political and non political leaders for the psychic and emotional manipulations of adherents. No wonder Marx sees religion as mere illusion, a way of rationalizing man’s frustrations, an opium that sedates and placates the pains of exploitation and oppression by the nuveaux riché, whereas Durkheim saw it as a social institution that serves to give meaning to man's existential predicaments. Nigeria today is one of the most religious societies in the world, but these various beliefs and teachings have not changed to any appreciable extent the lives of the adherents and the nation as a whole. What is witnessed instead is one form of religious crisis or another leading to; maiming, looting, massacre and horrendous bloodshed of innocent and unprotected citizens. Every religion in Nigeria plays the blame game, to an extent that the practice of the same teachings of love, peace, unity and brotherhood each religion claims to instruct becomes a dirge and mirage. This study is therefore set to investigate religious practices in Nigeria and the effect on the development of the society using exploratory method. Though religion could be a source of social unity and cohesion in a social setting, it was discovered that over the years in Nigeria, religion has merely led to persecution, torture, wanton bloodbath and destruction of social and economic materials.},
 year = {2014}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Religious Practices and National Development
AU  - Johnson Olusegun Ajayi
AU  - Bodunde David Oluwafemi
Y1  - 2014/07/20
PY  - 2014
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20140304.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ss.20140304.11
T2  - Social Sciences
JF  - Social Sciences
JO  - Social Sciences
SP  - 105
EP  - 111
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2326-988X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20140304.11
AB  - Nigeria is a multi-religious society. These religions can be grouped under three principal and dominant types which are Christianity, Islam and Traditional African Religion. Religion is held with utmost passion, devotion, reference and sacredness in Nigeria, so much so that it has become a veritable tool in the hands of both political and non political leaders for the psychic and emotional manipulations of adherents. No wonder Marx sees religion as mere illusion, a way of rationalizing man’s frustrations, an opium that sedates and placates the pains of exploitation and oppression by the nuveaux riché, whereas Durkheim saw it as a social institution that serves to give meaning to man's existential predicaments. Nigeria today is one of the most religious societies in the world, but these various beliefs and teachings have not changed to any appreciable extent the lives of the adherents and the nation as a whole. What is witnessed instead is one form of religious crisis or another leading to; maiming, looting, massacre and horrendous bloodshed of innocent and unprotected citizens. Every religion in Nigeria plays the blame game, to an extent that the practice of the same teachings of love, peace, unity and brotherhood each religion claims to instruct becomes a dirge and mirage. This study is therefore set to investigate religious practices in Nigeria and the effect on the development of the society using exploratory method. Though religion could be a source of social unity and cohesion in a social setting, it was discovered that over the years in Nigeria, religion has merely led to persecution, torture, wanton bloodbath and destruction of social and economic materials.
VL  - 3
IS  - 4
ER  -

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Author Information

Johnson Olusegun Ajayi

Department of Sociology, Faculty of the Social Sciences, Ekiti State University, PMB 5363, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria
Bodunde David Oluwafemi

Department of Intelligence and Security Studies, College of Social and Management Sciences, Afe Babalola University, PMB 5454, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

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Johnson Olusegun Ajayi, Bodunde David Oluwafemi. (2014). Religious Practices and National Development. Social Sciences, 3(4), 105-111. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20140304.11

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ACS Style

Johnson Olusegun Ajayi; Bodunde David Oluwafemi. Religious Practices and National Development. Soc. Sci. 2014, 3(4), 105-111. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20140304.11

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AMA Style

Johnson Olusegun Ajayi, Bodunde David Oluwafemi. Religious Practices and National Development. Soc Sci. 2014;3(4):105-111. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20140304.11

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ss.20140304.11,
  author = {Johnson Olusegun Ajayi and Bodunde David Oluwafemi},
  title = {Religious Practices and National Development},
  journal = {Social Sciences},
  volume = {3},
  number = {4},
  pages = {105-111},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20140304.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20140304.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20140304.11},
  abstract = {Nigeria is a multi-religious society. These religions can be grouped under three principal and dominant types which are Christianity, Islam and Traditional African Religion. Religion is held with utmost passion, devotion, reference and sacredness in Nigeria, so much so that it has become a veritable tool in the hands of both political and non political leaders for the psychic and emotional manipulations of adherents. No wonder Marx sees religion as mere illusion, a way of rationalizing man’s frustrations, an opium that sedates and placates the pains of exploitation and oppression by the nuveaux riché, whereas Durkheim saw it as a social institution that serves to give meaning to man's existential predicaments. Nigeria today is one of the most religious societies in the world, but these various beliefs and teachings have not changed to any appreciable extent the lives of the adherents and the nation as a whole. What is witnessed instead is one form of religious crisis or another leading to; maiming, looting, massacre and horrendous bloodshed of innocent and unprotected citizens. Every religion in Nigeria plays the blame game, to an extent that the practice of the same teachings of love, peace, unity and brotherhood each religion claims to instruct becomes a dirge and mirage. This study is therefore set to investigate religious practices in Nigeria and the effect on the development of the society using exploratory method. Though religion could be a source of social unity and cohesion in a social setting, it was discovered that over the years in Nigeria, religion has merely led to persecution, torture, wanton bloodbath and destruction of social and economic materials.},
 year = {2014}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Religious Practices and National Development
AU  - Johnson Olusegun Ajayi
AU  - Bodunde David Oluwafemi
Y1  - 2014/07/20
PY  - 2014
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20140304.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ss.20140304.11
T2  - Social Sciences
JF  - Social Sciences
JO  - Social Sciences
SP  - 105
EP  - 111
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2326-988X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20140304.11
AB  - Nigeria is a multi-religious society. These religions can be grouped under three principal and dominant types which are Christianity, Islam and Traditional African Religion. Religion is held with utmost passion, devotion, reference and sacredness in Nigeria, so much so that it has become a veritable tool in the hands of both political and non political leaders for the psychic and emotional manipulations of adherents. No wonder Marx sees religion as mere illusion, a way of rationalizing man’s frustrations, an opium that sedates and placates the pains of exploitation and oppression by the nuveaux riché, whereas Durkheim saw it as a social institution that serves to give meaning to man's existential predicaments. Nigeria today is one of the most religious societies in the world, but these various beliefs and teachings have not changed to any appreciable extent the lives of the adherents and the nation as a whole. What is witnessed instead is one form of religious crisis or another leading to; maiming, looting, massacre and horrendous bloodshed of innocent and unprotected citizens. Every religion in Nigeria plays the blame game, to an extent that the practice of the same teachings of love, peace, unity and brotherhood each religion claims to instruct becomes a dirge and mirage. This study is therefore set to investigate religious practices in Nigeria and the effect on the development of the society using exploratory method. Though religion could be a source of social unity and cohesion in a social setting, it was discovered that over the years in Nigeria, religion has merely led to persecution, torture, wanton bloodbath and destruction of social and economic materials.
VL  - 3
IS  - 4
ER  -

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