Religious convictions are a source of bitter confrontations between especially the Muslims and Christians ofNigeria. The problem is so endemic that there are conspicuous spillovers into the political and social sphere...Religious convictions are a source of bitter confrontations between especially the Muslims and Christians ofNigeria. The problem is so endemic that there are conspicuous spillovers into the political and social spheres ofeveryday living in the country. This reality threatens the already fragile unity and social health of the country andhence becomes one that needs special attention. The need to proffer solution to this cankerworm demands that wetake a historical survey of similar or near-similar situations in the human civilization and excavate ideas that weregiven as a way forward. It is in this bid that the ideas of John Locke in his book A Letter Concerning Tolerationbecome very useful. Locke argued for a secular state with a clear dichotomy between government activities, whichbelong to the public domain and hence involve every citizen and matters of faith which are private and devoid ofany form of coercion. Such differentiation is meant to remove the force of compulsion from religion and thepractice thereof as well as keep the government ＂undefiled＂ when the need for adjudication in matters that pertainto religion eventually arises. Locke＇s ideas in the book were aimed at forging peace and decorum in an Englishsociety that was virtually turned asunder by the demon of religious intolerance. This scenario exactly qualifiespresent-day Nigeria, hence there is much need to x-ray these ideas and apply same in our desire to nip the menaceof religious bigotry in the bud. The nature of this work made it necessary to apply the method of text analysis andevaluation to enable us to get an adequate appreciation of Locke＇s intentions and how these can serve our purposein present-day Nigeria.展开更多
文摘Religious convictions are a source of bitter confrontations between especially the Muslims and Christians ofNigeria. The problem is so endemic that there are conspicuous spillovers into the political and social spheres ofeveryday living in the country. This reality threatens the already fragile unity and social health of the country andhence becomes one that needs special attention. The need to proffer solution to this cankerworm demands that wetake a historical survey of similar or near-similar situations in the human civilization and excavate ideas that weregiven as a way forward. It is in this bid that the ideas of John Locke in his book A Letter Concerning Tolerationbecome very useful. Locke argued for a secular state with a clear dichotomy between government activities, whichbelong to the public domain and hence involve every citizen and matters of faith which are private and devoid ofany form of coercion. Such differentiation is meant to remove the force of compulsion from religion and thepractice thereof as well as keep the government ＂undefiled＂ when the need for adjudication in matters that pertainto religion eventually arises. Locke＇s ideas in the book were aimed at forging peace and decorum in an Englishsociety that was virtually turned asunder by the demon of religious intolerance. This scenario exactly qualifiespresent-day Nigeria, hence there is much need to x-ray these ideas and apply same in our desire to nip the menaceof religious bigotry in the bud. The nature of this work made it necessary to apply the method of text analysis andevaluation to enable us to get an adequate appreciation of Locke＇s intentions and how these can serve our purposein present-day Nigeria.
