RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE
Religious Tolerance is the capacity to accept others as unique human persons who have the right to be different especially in religious beliefs and practices. The Concise Oxford Dictionary (1960) defines religious tolerance as recognition of right of private judgement in religious matters or liberty to uphold ones religious opinions and forms of worship, or to enjoy all social privileges etc, without regard to religious differences.
Religious Tolerance entails the loving acceptance of the other as an image of God who has a destiny with God. Addressing Moslem faithfuls in Kaduna on February 14, 1982, the late Pope John Paul 11 said “All of us Christians and Moslems live under the sun of the one merciful God. We both believe in one God who is the creator of man. Eighteen years later, the Pope saddened by the spate of violence in some parts of the country called on Nigerians to stop killing one another in the name of God and learn to live in fraternity founded on respect for individual and religious liberty.
It is sad to note that the experience of horror Nigerians have had in recent times is carried in the vessel of religion and this has continued to give well meaning Nigerians sleepless nights that something urgent must be done to save this nation from total collapse.
What You Can Do
1) Be Tolerant Towards other Religions: A person is tolerant when he respects the right of others to hold different religious beliefs. A person might believe that his own faith is the only valid religion – the one fully approved of and created by a particular God. He might consider all other religions as profoundly evil. Yet, he can still be tolerant towards others if he recognizes that all individuals and religious groups have the basic human right of religious liberty which is o freely follow their faith beliefs and practices.
2) Do not Try to Validate or Prove the Religious of other People: You must try to accept others and tolerate their religion even when you do not understand it, show tolerance even when there is nothing to prove to you that it is right because it is the other persons’ right to believe and practice his own religion. We are religiously tolerant when we give others the freedom to do things and believe things, even though we feel they are wrong.
3) Do not Oppress Others: For religious tolerance to be in place, no religion should use violence to enforce itself because faith seeks understanding and conviction and not compulsion and oppression. Some feel that their religion is the only true faith, and that to oppress followers of another religion is to promote God’s will in society. They have the right to believe this but they must not take action to oppress others.
4) Recognize that God is Lord: If you love your neighbours as you love yourself no matter his religious inclination, you are religiously tolerant. God loves everybody and makes his sun shine on all of us. You win more converts when you show love instead of hate. You must recognize the supremacy of religion. The massacre, mass graves, mass explosions and massive destructions in various parts of the country show lack of love as well as absence of religious tolerance in the country.
5) You Must Preach Peace: The two main religions in the country, Christianity and Islam preach peace. In the Koran, Allah is called God of peace (as-Salaam) and Allah is presented as the one who called all to home of peace. Christianity equally preaches peace and Jesus Christ is called the Prince of Peace. The two religions share a common origin tracing Abraham as their common factor in faith. The two religions share the common ideal of love and the vision of a better world as preparatory for the fullness of life in the world to come. The killings going on in some part of the country have contradicted the very essence of the two religions.
6) Do not Demonize Other People: You must try to see people who belong to other religions as brothers and sisters and cooperate with them. You must not see them as demons and you should try to understand that most people are members of their religious group because they were born into it. The Christian and Moslem leaders must inculcate in their adherents the message of tolerance.
