JUSTICE AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua
The Pontifical Council for
Interreligious Dialogue (P.C.I.D), Vatican City and The Center for
Interreligious Dialogue (C.I.D); The Islamic Culture and Relations organization
(ICRO), Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran held the 8th colloquium in
Rome (November 19-21, 2012). The theme was, “Catholic and Muslim cooperation in
promoting justice in the contemporary world”. Papers were presented from the
perspectives of Christianity and Islam.
From the Christian point of view,
The Cardinal President of the P.C.I.D in his welcome address affirmed that “As
religious leaders and intellectuals we are called to meet the needs of the
concrete life of peoples, and to contribute to make social life more human,
more open to transcendence, and more open to the common good. It is there that
justice comes in. When we speak of justice we speak of the capacity to love”.
From the point of view of Islam, His Eminence, The President of the ICRO
remarked that “justice is not only a basic norm for the world management and
international relations, but also it is a causal reason for achieving freedom.
Therefore, issues such as people’s equal right for political-social
participation and the right to choose and determine their own destiny are some
practical examples of social justice and relationship between freedom and
justice in Islamic Republic of Iran. All the presentations from the delegates
of the Vatican and Iran pointed to the reality of justice as a need for the
human person and the human society.
The discussion at this level
ought to touch both the Christians and Muslims in the world. However, the
events of the Christmas of 2012 provoke the question of where we can locate
justice in the context of religious freedom. Stuart Wilde reported on December
28, 2012 that “41 Christians were arrested in Saudi Arabia for the high crime
of, “plotting to celebrate Christmas” with a tree and few presents for the
kiddies”.[1] A
similar report from Russia stated that “The religious police in Saudi Arabia
have raided a house in the Al Jawf Province and arrested 41 people, who were
“plotting to celebrate Christmas.” The
Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported that the police said that the detainees
were Christian guests of an Asian diplomat and that Saudi Arabia forbids any
religious practice that is not Islam.[2]
Many people and nations have
struggled with this question of religious freedom as an expression of justice.
On the 10th anniversary of “Religious Land Use and Institutionalized
Persons Act” (RLUIPA), the Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez remarked
that “Religious freedom is one of the United States ’ founding principles,
protected by the First Amendment and other federal laws. The right against
religious discrimination is likewise one of our basic civil rights. When Congress
enacted the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 at the height of the civil rights
movement, it also barred discrimination based on religion. This affirms the
principles of George Washington that ”a man’s religious tenets will not forfeit
the protection of the Laws, nor deprive him of the right of attaining and
holding the highest Offices that are known in the United States.” [3]
In Nigeria the question of
freedom of religion is still very much in the air. On May 1, 2012 Sahara
Reporters, New York, reported that “Northern Christians cry for Justice and
Religious Freedom” when 25 Church worshippers on the campus of Bayero
University Kano were killed by gunmen.
Rev. Dr. Amb. Sam Kraakevik Kujiyat condemned these attacks and affirms
that this continued onslaught against Christians in the core Northern States is
a deliberate attempt to wipe out Christians from the region”. Kujiyat made a clarion call to all political,
traditional/Islamic religious leaders and asked when all the Northern
Christians will enjoy the religious freedom that is enshrined in the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria? He identified the problem of
religious freedom in the denial of the rights and privileges of Christians by
authorities who claimed to be just and want peace whereas the Christians in the
Northern States are being short-changed as second class citizens. The case is
different in the Eastern part of Nigeria where Muslims enjoy religious freedom
even though they are in the minority. In the West Christians and Muslims enjoy
equal liberty and live together like brothers and sisters who worship the same
God.
The “jingle” that no religion
preaches violence and that there is no compulsion in religion is often
challenged in the face of visible injustice that has a religious colouration
hence the pertinent puzzle that while Muslims and Christians live together in
peace and harmony in some countries with a high regard for human dignity and
religious liberty, others are grossly intolerant? Why is it that the Christians
and Muslims in the Southern, Western, Eastern and Mid-western part of Nigeria
coexist while those in the Northern part of Nigeria are still struggling to
hold a common grip of coexistence? Is the problem in religion, politics or
human nature that has been manipulated through indoctrination? Some people have
postulated that in Nigeria, there are 95% good Christians and 95% good Muslims
and that these high percentage should come together to conquer the remaining
10% of bad Christians and Muslims with dialogue.
It appears that the concept of
justice means different things to different people but Aquinas position seem to
be of universal relevance. Thomas Aquinas asked “Whether justice is fittingly
defined as being the perpetual and constant will to render to each one his
right” as defined by lawyers? He responded that justice is a habit which makes
a person “capable of doing what is just, and of being just in action and in
intention”.[4] God is
Just and all His creatures must be just being they Jews, Gentiles, Hausas, Fulani,
Edos, Yorubas, Ibos, etc. The light of Justice that Jesus came to establish in
the world confirms that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and
co-partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
A world without Justice and
religious freedom is poor. At best, it is a world of slaves. Can anyone imagine
a world with ONE Religion! I wonder how developed that world would be! No one
is an island hence those who hunger and thirst for justice are blessed (Matthew
5, 6). Pope Benedict XVI sees justice and religious freedom as not just a right
but an act of “charity in truth, to which Jesus Christ bore witness by his
earthly life and especially by his death and resurrection”. This is “the
principal driving force behind the authentic development of every person and of
all humanity.” [5] If God
accommodates us in our differences, why is it so difficult for us to
accommodate one another? May no fear of conversion lead any one to perpetuate
injustice against religious freedom?
No comments:
Post a Comment