Human Rights And The Mission Of The Church In Nigeria

The human rights question constitutes a vital link to the mission of the Christian Church. The Church is thereby obliged by principles of the gospel mandate to defend, promote, and protect human rights. Using the Nigerian context as a model, this book examines how the Church exercises its mission towards salvaging the deplorable situation of human rights violations. The Church is accused of intrusive, ethnocentric, and triumphalist tendencies in some methods and structures, which constantly expose it to steady allegations of human rights violations. This scenario evokes an in-depth investigation into the matter to ascertain the extent of the Church's credibility and competence in the human rights question. (Series: TÃ?1⁄4binger Perspectives on Pastoral Theology and Religious Education / Tubinger Perspektiven zur Pastoraltheologie und Religionspadagogik - Vol. 46)

"Military dictators who held Nigeria to ransom for a total of 28 of the 42 years of independence were not only notorious for denying the citizens their fundamental human rights but also for destroying the Nations Educational System. The Catholic Church in Nigeria, represented by the bishops, has to act here as the conscience of the State by means of critique and work for the respect of the fundamental rights of the citizens and the well-being of the human person"--Back cover.

Contents.

This volume offers an empirical perspective on the so-called first generation of human rights. It explores the legitimization of these human rights by individual people, both because of their religion and because of their vision of what constitutes human dignity. The book addresses such issues as the foundation of human rights, the necessity of a broader conversation about human rights, aspects of freedom of religion, and the role of religion in Belarus, Britain, Chile, Germany, Italy, Nigeria, Norway and Tanzania. Taking an international comparative perspective, the volume answers the question as to what extent adolescents in different countries support civil human rights and what influences their attitudes towards these rights. As the diversity of the contributions in this volume shows, the relationship between religion and civil human rights is complex and multifaceted. Studying this complicated relationship calls for a variety of theoretical perspectives and rigorous empirical testing in different national contexts. This book’s empirical approach provides an important complementary perspective for legal, political and public debates.

With the prevailing violent conflict situation of our world, perpetuated sometimes even in the name of religion, humanity today faces extinction. To reverse this ugly trend, humanity has no choice than to build a society where every tribe and tongue can coexist in peace. This work analyzed the violent conflicts from anthropological, behavioral, politico-philosophical, and theological perspectives, and makes a demand on humanity to save herself through proper education and dialogue with all men and religions. Lotanna Olisaemeka is a researcher in Missiology affiliated with the Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule, Vallendar, Germany.

This innovative volume is focused on the relationship between religion on the one hand and political and judicial rights on the other. At a time when the so-called ‘checks and balances’ that guarantee the vulnerable equilibrium between legislative, executive and judicial branches of governance are increasingly under pressure, this book offers valuable insights. It presents empirical work that has measured young people’s attitudes and explains the variety found across their views. Readers will find answers to the question: To what extent do youths in different countries support political and judicial human rights and what influences their attitudes towards these rights? The political rights in this question include, among others, active and passive voting right, the right to protest, and the rights of refugees. Judicial rights refer in general to the right of a fair trial, and include principles like equality before the law; the right to independent and impartial judgement; the presumption of innocence; the right to legal counsel; and the privilege against self-incrimination. Expert contributing authors look at aspects such as religious beliefs and practices, personal evaluation of state authorities, and personality characteristics. The authors discuss contextual determinants for attitudes towards political and judicial rights, in both theory and empirical indicators. Numerous helpful tables and figures support the written word. This book makes an original contribution to research through the empirical clarification of factors that induce or reduce people’s support of political and judicial rights. It will appeal to graduates and researchers in religious studies, philosophy or sociology of religion, among other disciplines, but it will also interest the general reader who is concerned with matters of human rights and social justice.