hi, i feel the need to discus this issue because am worried that we are fast loosing most of our beautiful cultural heritage to religion due to ignorance. I am very sure that religion doesnt prevent one from observing their culture,provided it is not worshiping idol and associating anything with God. But Some clerics have label most of our cultures as bad even though it is not in the holy books,this has lead many people to abandone our culture to adopt foreign cultures in the name of religion. We have to seperate the traditional religion from our cultural heritage. Lets list out culture and seperate it from religion. Thanks

bilms: I am very sure that religion doesnt prevent one from observing their culture,provided it is not worshiping idol and associating anything with God.

bilms: But Some clerics have label most of our cultures as bad even though it is not in the holy books,this has lead many people to abandone our culture to adopt foreign cultures in the name of religion.

lol.. why are u contradicting yourself? in one statement u seem to think 'idol' worshipping and associating anything about your ethnic background with God is bad (which i guess is the christian God, Jesus) then you go ahead to blame clerics for labelling same thing as bad? and now, you are seeking a way of how to separate religion from your culture?

your whole thought process is moulded by your religious affinity and it influences your morals, what you see as good and bad, how you see yourself and how you carry yourself in the society. so there is no way you can actually separate religion from culture because if culture is a way of life, then your religious affinity helps mould that way of life.

so the most you can do is adapt any religion to fit your ethnicity. for example, the early Binis were introduced to Catholicism by the Portuguese who they traded with, but since they already believed in a supreme God, Osanobua, they were able to transform Catholicism to fit their ethnicity and they have the Holy Arousa where the Omo N’oba is the spiritual head of the church instead of the pope in rome. and with the Omo N’oba as the spiritual head of the church, they worship God through someone who is the guardian and custodian of their customs and traditions...so everything is included, including what u think is bad, like 'idol' worshipping that you and the clerics who are trying to fit into a religion instead of transforming it to fit you.

bilms: hi, i feel the need to discus this issue because am worried that we are fast loosing most of our beautiful cultural heritage to religion due to ignorance. I am very sure that religion doesnt prevent one from observing their culture,provided it is not worshiping idol and associating anything with God. But Some clerics have label most of our cultures as bad even though it is not in the holy books,this has lead many people to abandone our culture to adopt foreign cultures in the name of religion. We have to seperate the traditional religion from our cultural heritage. Lets list out culture and seperate it from religion. Thanks

I understand where you're coming from. Colonialism has forced many people into thinking that anything indigenous is contrary to the beliefs of Christianity and is therefore wrong.

Personally, I believe that the same God that my ancestors worshiped (Chukwu/Obasi) is the same God that exists in Christianity; the only difference is the name. When people pour libations to Chukwu, they are worshipping the same God as thee Bishop of Canterbury; the only difference is the method.

There are many cultures created off beliefs, theories, religions, and idealogies. As Odumchi stated that no matter how vary the method...the deity is still the same.

I am by no means religious because I have seen what so-called Christians professed and behaved, so-called Muslims professed and behaved, so-called Jews professed and behaved.

I have no issues with culture and religion of others however if one doesn't practice what the preach...why should I respect and listen to you? People need to understand what is the religion they practices and live by it fully or just be honest with yourself by accepting that karma and live life the best as you can within the bounds of the law of course.

Mrs..Chima:
There are many cultures created off beliefs, theories, religions, and idealogies. As Odumchi stated that no matter how vary the method...the deity is still the same.

I am by no means religious because I have seen what so-called Christians professed and behaved, so-called Muslims professed and behaved, so-called Jews professed and behaved.

I have no issues with culture and religion of others however if one doesn't practice what the preach...why should I respect and listen to you? People need to understand what is the religion they practices and live by it fully or just be honest with yourself by accepting that karma and live life the best as you can within the bounds of the law of course.

[size=28pt]
AMEN!!![/size]

i cosign 100 percent.

Culture/tradition and religon cant be saperatd. Even in d bible,some of d laws are just d tradition of d people.

In my view, any culture dat doesnt contravene ones religon belief shud be encoragd

saintvc: Culture/tradition and religon cant be saperatd. Even in d bible,some of d laws are just d tradition of d people.

exactly!
...take male circumcision for example, it was already part of african tradition and since it was also part of judaism and later christianity, that culture did not conflict with each other...but since female circumcision is not part of christianity but part of some african traditions, what do we have today? an outcry against it. i bet if male circumcision is not part of christian traditions, there would also be an outcry against it and it would have been crudely termed 'male gen.ital mutilation'.

lol.. why are u contradicting yourself? in one statement u seem to think 'idol' worshiping and associating anything about your ethnic background with God is bad (which i guess is the christian God, Jesus) then you go ahead to blame clerics for labelling same thing as bad? and now, you are seeking a way of how to separate religion from your culture?



It seems you read from the other side of the page. lol...


How is my statement contradictory?


How is idol worshiping relate with your ethnic background? they are two different thing my brother...that is what i want us to separate..if you assume that idol worshiping is the same as your ethnic background,then, you are on the same page with the clerics who misplaced our tradition to mean the same with the traditional religion....


even the whites who brought Christianity also worshiped idol,the same with the Arabs...so,worshiping idol is not synonymous with Africans,but the world.. but we must separate idol from culture....

why cant the mod take this to the front page so we can hear the opinion of others?

@ bilms

different ethnic groups worship different idols..the idols worshipped by the hausas will not be the same worshipped by the igbos. so the idol u worship is related to ur ethnic background. if someone is to say 'i just came back from an okija shrine'...can't u guess his ethnic background without him telling u?

and unless u want to clarify ur statements i think they are at odds with each other. if on one hand u don't want idol worshipping that is part of ur culture which i guess is unacceptable in ur christian belief coz im assuming u are a christian, then why do u have problems with clerics who do not want same thing or other aspects of ur culture that are not welcomed in christian or muslim traditions?

bilms:
even the whites who brought Christianity also worshiped idol,the same with the Arabs...so,worshiping idol is not synonymous with Africans,but the world.. but we must separate idol from culture....

but are they still worshipping the idols today? no, they lost it all to another idol, jesus. while the arabs lost theirs to another idol, mohammed. so whites built their life around jesus and while arabs built their life around mohammed, and their cultures were developed around tenets of the bible and the quran.

europeans do not marry more than one wife at a time because jesus said so... and that became part of their culture, while arabs can have up to four wives because mohammed said so, and it also became part of their culture.

now, the culture of most african societies were polygamous so the african societies that adopted islam were not in conflict with the polygamous culture of islam and it worked out well for them.. but those that adopted christianity will have to drop that aspect of their culture to fit into the tenets of the bible.

they still worship idol till date. Am on phone

bilms, when i said they lost it, i didn't mean literally. it is no longer a dominant part of their culture. but when u get off the fone, i'd be interested to know how u can separate religion from culture without coming off like the clerics. and the traditions u intend to do away with and what u intend to keep.

and something that just occurred to me is that our quest to become more christ-like may have affected our architectural designs.. coz all the old houses were built like a courtyard no matter the status of the person that we called 'oteghodo' and it catered to all the wives who had different sections in the house. but these days nobody builds like that again because now the ideal family is one man, one wife and few kids..so the need for a courtyard type of house with an oteghodo is dying out.

odumchi:

I understand where you're coming from. Colonialism has forced many people into thinking that anything indigenous is contrary to the beliefs of Christianity and is therefore wrong.

Personally, I believe that the same God that my ancestors worshiped (Chukwu/Obasi) is the same God that exists in Christianity; the only difference is the name. When people pour libations to Chukwu, they are worshipping the same God as thee Bishop of Canterbury; the only difference is the method.

Hello dear friend!
A few months ago, I felt the same way in a thread.
I totally agree with you.
I'm convinced that the only difference is the way to worship God ...
I have observed that Christians speak and ask God directly ... I understand that a god is very immense ... do not think any human being has the right to talk to him ...
But are interpretations, and everyone is his own opinion.
A warm greeting dear friend!

Culture and religion are inseparable.
Africa is the proof.
Were imposed foreign gods, and the gods (in turn) imposed the existing cultures ....
Today, attends the African masquerades and festivals. But with Western or Arab concept imposed on them.

Ptolomeus:
Hello dear friend!
A few months ago, I felt the same way in a thread.
I totally agree with you.
I'm convinced that the only difference is the way to worship God ...
I have observed that Christians speak and ask God directly ... I understand that a god is very immense ... do not think any human being has the right to talk to him ...
But are interpretations, and everyone is his own opinion.
A warm greeting dear friend!

Exactly.

Thanks, Ptolomeus.

[size=32pt]YOU CANNOT SEPARATE TRIBAL CULTURE FROM TRIBAL RELIGION! IT IS ALL LINKED!

THERE WONT BE ANY CULTURE LEFT ONCE YOU START TRYING TO SEPARATE RELIGIOUS ELEMENTS![/size]


just look at he Gulf Arab tribes! most of their original culture is lost, thats is evident from observation. today most tribes have a similar standardized "islamic culture". this is because they did the mistake of separating tribal religion from tribal culture.


except maybe for some far-dwelling Yemeni tribes such as Banu Yafa Himyarites who still have pre-islamci culture and still partly worship ancient Arab Gods.

same with the europeans. none of the original tribal culture, dress, lifestyle, etc exists today.

religion and culture can be seperated. Coming soon.

^^^maybe among other (mixed) people such as europeans, etc. but NOT Tribal culture and religion. Our Cultural activities are mostly reigious in nature.

am on now typing

bilms: religion and culture can be seperated. Coming soon.

Let me see you try.
Ezotik used Okija Juju. I bet you know who a Hindu is. Or a Muslim.A Catholic.An Aladura.

That we have African Catholics is ludicrous.Once again, imagine yourself or any close relative(I am speaking to Nigerians)being a Taoist or a Sikh.
My African Catholics as laughable applies to Christianity and Islam. Some Nigerian Muslims even sit on mat s in their living room.Seriously,are we so dumb as not to realise that Islam is part of Arab culture and in their treeless environment sitting on the floor is the norm?
I admit that most Nigerians are at a crossroad. They are being bombarded everyday by images of western civilizatition together with its decadent permissiveness.In the far north of the country,our brothers are even more fanatical about their new found religion that they want to outdo Mohammed himself.
When we accept a religion we are actually being drawn into the vortex of that culture from which the religion originated.Hausa facing Mecca!Igbo praying to Virgin and taking holy communion!The nun was a vestal virgin in a Roman temple!
We Toby ourselves and we are not even being forced to.

'Once your name was Bimbicokak
And everything was fine
Then you became Victor-Emile-Louis-Henri-Joseph
And bought a dinner set.

We used to eat together.
Now we are seperated by a table.


You used to be Bimbicokak
and everything was fine
becoming Victor-Emile-louis-Henri-Joseph
as far as I can see
doesn't make you kin
to Rockefeller!


"Dear Husband" By Yambo Ouloguem



Poem was shortened by Poster.

Ancient cultures, based the laws on their religious beliefs.
In turn, the traditions are influenced by religion.
I think we all agree.
But in the case of colonialism, many traditions and religions were banned. It produces great social, cultural, and religious.
They are different situations.
When the British banned the Yoruba cult Somponnó ... obviously there was a break in the religion and traditions.
Also the laws were changed, according to the culture of the colonialists.
It's more ...
For hundreds (or thousands) of years, tradition expressly forbade a woman exercised the charge of Babalawo (Ifa priest), the charge of Iyaonifá not exist. Today, "thanks" to the intervention of W. Abimbola, against all the foundations and traditions, the charge of Iyaonifa is accepted in IFA ...

Religion continues ... but I wonder where were the traditions?
My respects.

bilms: religion and culture can be seperated. Coming soon.

We are still waiting. You might have something that some of us have never thought of or could learn from.

^^^dont worry he is trying to make up a lie. i he had an answer , he would have typed immediately.

PAGAN 9JA:
^^^dont worry he is trying to make up a lie. i he had an answer , he would have typed immediately.

Lying is not a religious sin. You could lie and still go to 'heaven'. Oya,Oga bilms,come out with the seperation.

I am sorry for not posting all this while..i shallget back on in the morning.

^^^^^^^^^^^^

ok so it will take you another night to think and try to scrape up an answer.

Hehe. Funny replies.