INTERCULTURAL PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM IN NIGERIA

Abstract

One of the most serious challenges facing contemporary Nigeria is religious extremism. Conceptually, religious extremism is the use of force or threat of force to enforce compliance with one’s religious creed. It is motivated by the belief that one’s religion is the only true religion. Thus, since the unbelievers are considered infidels, ignorant, or sinful, the religious extremist sees it as his or her duty to help them save their souls by compelling them to accept the true faith. This religious position is not new or restricted to any particular religion. Christianity and Islam, the world’s most populous religions, have had their fair share of the menace. However, Islamic extremism has assumed alarming proportions in Nigeria. The unwholesome activity of these extremists is provoking reciprocal radicalization of Christians and threatening to plunge the entire country into a Christian Islamic conflict. Deploying the library research approach and the analytic method for data collection and interpretation respectively, the study uses the theoretical framework of intercultural philosophy to interrogate the philosophical foundations of religious extremism in Nigeria. The paper finds that the problem of religious extremism in Nigeria is rooted in three fundamental mistakes, namely, misinterpretation of the concept of God, poor understanding of the nature of divine revelation and the adoption of an inappropriate criterion for determining true religion. Based on these findings, the paper argues that God is a mystery of who no religion, no matter how sublime can claim an absolute knowledge. If God has revealed himself to a particular religion, it remains possible that he has also revealed himself to others. This possibility of multiple religious revelations undermines any claim of absolute knowledge of God and the attendant extremism that goes with it.  Also, the fact that man is made in the image of God suggests that the measure of every true religion should be its respect for human life. Concluding that any faith that advocates the killing of human beings is antithetical to true religion, the paper recommends promoting intercultural philosophy’s principles of dialogue and respect as a way of pursuing and establishing peaceful coexistence among people of different religions in Nigeria.