Majumdar and Madan explain that the word religion has its origin in the Latin word Rel (I) igio. Thus, within the broad umbrella of Christianity as a religion, Christian beliefs vary widely as each denomination subscribes to its own set of doctrines and practices. Population . The religions practiced by the majority of people living in Africa are Christianity and Islam. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to explain the origin of life or the universe. The four basic elements (sometimes called "temperments") are air, earth, fire, and water. Religion should be disaggregated into a number of different values which relate to the law of the liberal state in different ways. Some call these supernatural forces God, other call them Gods. Common Beliefs Religious resources are contained in the four main elements of which religions consist. Darlene Clark Hine (1990) contends that a sound African-American studies … These are the four essential elements of a State. Culture exists anywhere humans exist, and no two cultures are exactly the same. These powers are believed to influence human life and control all natural phenomena. In the process of creating this state the Zulu had usurped smaller tribes and conquered their lands leading to a social ... Jim ‘ The impact of white settlement on African traditional religions’ in Prozesky, Martin and De Gruchy, John . Especially in Africa, religion has been at the heart of much of the contemporary conflicts. The state has four essential elements: Population; Territory; Government; Sovereignty; What follows now is a brief elaboration of these elements. Liberia is a country in West Africa which was founded by free people of color from the United States.The emigration of African Americans both free and recently emancipated, was funded and organized by the American Colonization Society (ACS). Contemporary African culture is a mixture of traditional elements and alien features. These are: (1) population, (2) territory, (3) government, (4) sovereignty (or independence). State, Nigeria, Email revekekemekus@yahoo.com 2Senior Lecturer, ... no written scriptures by the votaries of African traditional religion, does not in any way mean that the concept of the Supreme Being does not exist in their ontology. Normally this comes through the expression of exercising some kind of ritualized power. By this label serious damage was done to the gospel in Africa. Neighboring countries include Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe. African beliefs in reincarnation differ from those of major Asian religions (especially Hinduism) in a number of important ways. A State comes to be a state only when it has all these elements. Haar identifies these elements as: religious ideas (content of belief), religious practices (ritual behavior), social organization (religious community), and religious--or spiritual--experiences. These dimensions can all be used in the service of peacemaking. Definition of Doctrine. The history of Africa begins with the emergence of hominids, archaic humans and—at least 200,000 years ago—anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens), in East Africa, and continues unbroken into the present as a patchwork of diverse and politically developing nation states. Today, Africans profess a wide variety of religious beliefs, the most common of which are Christianity and Islam; perhaps less than 15% still follow traditional African religions. These definitions draw attention to the fact that the state has four essential elements. No state can be imagined without the people, as there must be some to rule and others to be ruled. Culture is a huge topic of study for sociologists. Out of these four elements, Sovereignty stands accepted as the most important and exclusive element of the State. We pick out, from the complex notion of “religion” that we have inherited, distinct elements and values that democratic law has good reason to protect. ISSN: 2411-5681 www.ijern.com 42 1.0 PREGNANCY RITES: In my area Ika North East L.G.A of Delta State, a lot of rituals precede birth and immediately after birth. It is estimated that 12 per cent of the total of African traditional religion followers are in South Africa.7 In April 1997, Kauuova gave the figure of 17,7 per cent as the percentage of African traditional religions,8 but he did not specify whether this percentage was in relation to the total population of South Africa or in relation to the religious population in South Africa. connotes some element of primitiveness, I have nevertheless used it in this essay for lack of a better term. Living Faiths in South Africa. Totemism is manifested in various forms and types in different contexts and is most often found among populations whose traditional economies relied on hunting and gathering, mixed farming with hunting and gathering, or emphasized the raising of cattle. Traditional African religion is very popular and arrived here with our North and West African ancestors. It is often combined with elements of Christianity and Islam. The following are the useful basic themes in exploring the African worldview: Supreme Being In traditional African society, there is implied and widespread belief in a Supreme Being, God. “Africana philosophy” is the name for an emergent and still developing field of ideas and idea-spaces, intellectual endeavors, discourses, and discursive networks within and beyond academic philosophy that was recognized as such by national and international organizations of professional philosophers, including the American Philosophical Association, starting in the 1980s. 1. Doctrine is something that is taught; a principle or creed of principles presented for acceptance or belief; a system of beliefs. African literature, the body of traditional oral and written literatures in Afro-Asiatic and African languages together with works written by Africans in European languages.Traditional written literature, which is limited to a smaller geographic area than is oral literature, is most characteristic of those sub-Saharan cultures that have participated in the cultures of the Mediterranean. The curriculum preferred by these departments was to be an ordered arrangement of courses that progressed from introductory to advanced levels. Chapter four 128 History of Islam in Nkusukum-Ekumfi-Enyan 128 ... 7.6 The influence of other indigenous elements 276 7.7 Conclusion 287 ... especially, among African Traditional Religion (ATR) worshippers, Muslims and Christians are becoming sources of social tension and violence. Population: The state is a human institution. In Scripture, doctrine takes on a broader meaning. Healers have found that focusing on the elements can often be helpful when seeking what course of treatments would best address our problems. No other organisation or institution can claim sovereignty. The term totemism has been used to characterize a cluster of traits in the religion and in the social organization of many peoples. WEST AFRICAN RELIGIONS. The first basic element of religion is the belief that there are supernatural powers. For many Africans and Ghanaians, in particular, it is religion more than anything else Religion is also often being blamed as a tool to mobilise people during conflicts. African-American studies departments were created in a confrontational environment on American universities with the rejection of traditional curricula content. However, there were many traditional religions practiced prior to the arrival of these two religions. KEY WORDS: pregnancy, birth rites, naming rites, puberty rites, ritual . An institution can have population, territory and government but not sovereignty. Local African culture was oppressed for many years by white South Africans, who find their cultural roots in western countries. This left the African people with the idea that God could not handle the hostile spirits that attacked people on a daily basis. By chronicling diverse African struggles to disentangle and encounter it anew, and by teasing out a thread of descent that predates colonialism, Isichei lays a foundation for a more conscious and critical encounter with Christianity's enculturation outside Africa as well as in. This is derived from two root words. The third level in African Traditional Religion is the earthly tier, which is the functionaries who are responsible for maintaining the harmony, balance, and order in the African traditional system. made mention of the various ceremonies which accompany puberty and its significance in African traditional religion. These elements are usually referred to as the 4Ps and they are Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. In many parts of the world people from different religions live in peace and coexist without any conflict. Here's a closer look at the different types of religions … Despite the drastic decrease in native African religions, some modern art in Africa has worked to reincorporate traditional spiritual beliefs, such as in modern Makonde Art depicting spirits. Today, around 10 percent of the African population still practice some form of traditional religion. Get an answer for 'What was the influence and impact of colonialism on Africa in terms of culture, religion, politics, economy, education, and theater? ' 1. It also includes a small, sub-Atlantic archipelago of the Prince Edward Islands. African Religion and its Influence on Christianity and Islam Traditional African religion has been the basis of spirituality for the people of Africa. Each religion has its own unique set of principles and ethics, yet all of them unanimously preach universal peace and goodwill. Hence population is it’s first and foremost element. It covers about one-fifth of the territory of sub-Saharan Africa and has a population of slightly more than 120 million people, about half of the total intertropical population of Africa. The geography of South Africa is vast scrubland in the interior, the Namib Desert in the northwest, and tropics in the southeast. The most important thing is that in the new South Africa religion and spirituality are used to create greater understanding and harmony rather than to divide people as was done in the past. African religions, either from the scientific point of view, as a phenomenon to be studied, or from a missionary point of view. In four countries, for instance, half or more of the population believes that sacrifices to ancestors or spirits can protect them from harm. Elements of Culture. ADVERTISEMENTS: The State is a human institution. 1995. South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of the African continent. Religion is often depicted as a trigger factor in many conflicts. The first two elements constitute the physical or material basis of the state while the last two form its political and spiritual basis. Understanding what each element represents helps us evaluate where our individual strengths and weaknesses are. The marketing mix simply refers to the planned mix of the controllable elements of a product’s marketing plan. Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. In the African traditional religions, ancestors were never considered demonic or as part of evil spirits (2007;383). The mortality rate of these settlers were the highest in accurately recorded human history. 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