HUMAN CLONING AND HUMAN RIGHTS: AN ETHICO-THEOLOGICAL DISCOURSE

Ethical and theological debates concerning human cloning are getting more intense as cloning technology continues to develop. This has led to debates originating from both secular ethics and Christian theological perspectives. This paper aims to coordinate the debate according to these two perspectives. It will draw from the positions of Christian theology, the position of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the positions of scientific authorities. It will conclude by stressing the importance of regulating new technologies in a manner which recognizes the shared ethico-theological concerns for human dignity, rights, freedoms, and the moral growth of humanity

Divine Reality and the Principle of Sufficient Reason: A Philosophical Analysis

The cosmological postulation that there cannot be an “effect” without a “cause” is the underlying predicate of the Principle of Sufficient Reason (PSR). PSR states that everything must have a sufficient reason, cause, or foundation. Some theologians consider the above notions to be fideism, preferring to think that God's knowledge is founded on human reason, whereas “intelligent design” is a two-tiered argument that uses design to show the existence of a “Divine Realty” (God). Reality is subjective and is built indirectly depending on human perspective. The paper, therefore, aimed to philosophically analyze the Principle of Sufficient Reason to explain the notion of a divine reality. This analytical philosophical research employs the descriptive and conceptual analysis approaches and reveals that PSR, like other concepts, is not only improbable, but is also contradictory to divine knowledge. It concludes that although PSR uses contradictory terms such as “necessity” and “contingency” and fails to provide adequate justification for the existence of a divine reality, it could be justified that a “Divine Reality” (God or necessary being) must have a “sufficient reason” to exist

A PRUDENTIAL PERSONALIST ETHICAL APPRAISAL OF HUMAN CLONING

Numerous uncertainties are hanging over the biotechnology of human cloning which has prompted medical ethicists and religious organizations to ask questions that bordered on its ethical and religious considerations. In cloning humans, ethical and religious issues arise both in its clinical and laboratory settings hence, the morality of manipulating human genes is the foremost ethical issue among scientists and religious scholars. Therefore, this paper evaluated the human cloning technology using the personalism and prudential personalism ethical-religious models to arrive at a workable moral paradigm. To achieve this objective, the paper employed the phenomenological and critical-literary literature review methods. The paper argued that previous ethical and religious researches have not adequately employed the ‘ideal’ ethical models to appraise the morality of human cloning hence; using the personalism and prudential personalism ethical-religious models were appropriate to reveal that every human life has worth and its commodification is an aberration. The paper concluded that based on the paradigm of prudential personalist ethics, cloning humans (especially, human reproductive cloning) negates respect for human life, human dignity, and communal goods hence it should not be practiced.  &nbsp

RADICAL ISLAMISM: TRAJECTORIES OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AND ABUSES IN AFRICA

In Africa, radical and extremist Muslims are striving to transform society through violent change, claiming that African rulers are dictatorial and anti-Islamic; as a result, many African countries are experiencing serious human rights violations and abuses. Therefore, this paper examined radical Islamism and its trajectories of human rights violations and abuses in Africa and proffered workable solutions to the dilemma. To achieve the above aim, the paper employed historical and evaluative methods. The historical method was used to critically review the scholarly literature on radical Islamism and its human rights violations and abuses antecedents in Africa. At the evaluative level, the paper critically discussed the impact of human rights violations and abuses on the African nations and their citizens. The paper revealed that radical Islamism in Africa is driven by bad political leadership, poverty, poor education, unemployment, and religious exclusivism among others. The paper concluded that good governance, economic enhancement, and religious inclusiveness are key tools in discouraging and curbing radical Islamists in African countries. &nbsp

Moral Assessment of Violations of Marital Vows Among Christian Couples In Urhoboland

The majority of people, especially among the Urhobo, seem to view marriage as their final resort when it comes to getting over issues like loneliness, sexual tension, and social, cultural, economic, and political constraints. However, marriages built on these flimsy foundations frequently end in a string of breakdowns when faced with difficulties, which results in the breaking of marital vows. Due to the above, this work examines the morality of Christian couples in Urhoboland, Delta State, and Nigeria who break their marital vows. The inquiry made use of both analytical and phenomenological approaches. This work was evaluated using a systematic questionnaire and unstructured oral interviews. As a result, 12 churches in six local government areas were selected (Ethiopia East, Ethiopia West, Udu, Ughelli North, Ughelli South, and Sapele Local Government Areas). The phenomenological and analytical procedures were used due to the versatility of survey designs, which allow for a wide range of data collection techniques. The investigation in this work was done under two headings: factors responsible for violations of marriage vows and effects of marriage vow violations on couples, families, and society. This study shows a number of elements that contribute to marital vow breaches as well as the repercussions such violations have on individuals, families, and society. The participants agree that, in general, Christian married couples who divorce have a sense of autonomy and freedom from abusive marriages. This essay contends that since they broke their marital vows, both partners frequently experience severe spiritual regression

Religious Education's Relevance in Nigeria's Tertiary Institutions

This study aimed to determine how important religious education is in Nigerian schools, especially in tertiary institutions in the Delta State of Nigeria. To reach this goal, eleven colleges and universities in Delta State were chosen for the research. Research questions and hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The data for the study was collected from primary sources using a structured questionnaire. Twenty-two questionnaires were administered to the selected institutions' twenty-two heads (and deputies). Means and Standard Deviations (M & SD) were used to answering the research questions, and the hypotheses were tested using the t-test statistical method. The findings of this study led to the conclusion that there are significant differences in tertiary institutions' heads' perceptions of the relevance of religious education in tertiary institutions in Delta State for the effective curbing of moral decadence in the state and the Nigerian society as a whole

Migration and religious socialization in Nigeria: the Fulanization dilemma

Migration has remarkably influenced the development of civilization and the establishment of cultural borders throughout history. In the case of Nigeria, one of the negative impacts of migration has been the violent seizure of ancestral lands by the Fulani as part of a strategy to 'fulanize' and 'Islamize' the Nigerian nation. This study investigates the links between human migration and religious socialization in Africa, particularly Nigeria. The paper employs the descriptive and phenomenological approaches and bases its arguments on the theoretical foundations of Durkheimian and Weberian theories. The paper argues that regional mobility, with its religious socializing effects, affects national politics, government, the economy, and other national domains. It concludes that African countries should include international migration in their plans and national development goals to make their countries safer

Democracy and Western imperialism: towards decolonizing religionism in Nigeria

The way allied Western nations protect their interests has been a major problem and factor in the demise of governance and democracy in the Nigerian state and other African nations. This has made Nigeria’s democracy, like that of other African countries, unstable since independence. Therefore, this article examined Western imperialism, which used religion as a tool and barrier to a strong, viable democracy in Nigeria. The article used critico-historical analysis as a method. The results showed that although Western imperialism and globalization, along with religion, have an expansionist and civilizing nature, they have also exhibited traits of dominance over other countries and systems of governance, thus making democracy weak and less rewarding. We argued that Nigeria’s democracy and religion must be independent and self-sufficient to avoid Western exploitation and imperialism and provide a context for religious inculturation. We concluded that for Nigeria and other African nations to thrive in true and strong democracies, religion should be decolonized through pulling down colonial religious presumptions, de-internationalization of religion, reorientation of religious education, restoration of indigenous languages, authentication of religious freedom, non-governmental funding of religion, and provision of theologically motivated research to a more legitimate position within religionism

Xenophobia in Africa: origins and manifestations

The issue of xenophobia is fast becoming a negative uprising on the African continent with the recent cases of Zambia and South Africa. This xenophobic tendency in Africa is based on prejudice and hatred directed towards foreign nationals, specifically fellow black Africans. Foreign nationals are deemed by the natives as persistent threats to employment security, accommodation and resource distribution, to mention a few. This alien attitude towards fellow humans, and especially fellow Africans, is against the ethic-theological attitude of live and let live, embedded in African communal worldview. Africans are said to be notoriously religious, though African religious consciousness was originally derived from African Traditional Religion, while Islam and Christianity have given further impetus to this consciousness. With African Traditional Religion, God is at the apex of the ontology, and He expects humans to thrive in a mutual complementary fashion with all other beings within the environment. This gives the background to the ethic-theological spirit of live and let live, where Africans are to put the interest of the community above their individual interest. However, with the recent xenophobic uprising on African soil, there is a need for a critical study on the new wave of individualism taken sway on African soil and natives. The purpose of this research, therefore, is to expose the ethic-theological implications of xenophobia for the twenty-firstcentury humanity in Africa

Communication in Religion and Its Integrative Implications for Society

Looking at religion from the lens of social theory system, one cannot but, postulate that religion is an expression of the relationship that exists between human beings and the divine. This religious expression by individuals accumulates into plethora of communication within a given society. This paper is solely concerned with communication in religion and religious communication and how they play integrative role in the social cohesion of human society. Methods adopted to achieve the above task are the phenomenological and evaluative methods with support of secondary sources. The research reveals that communication in religion and religious communication are strong and essential agents of social change in any human society; and that, they have also enhanced the lives of individuals in terms of social, moral, mental, spiritual, economic and cultural well-being. The paper concludes that the communicative power of religion should not be underrated by individuals, society and government. And that religion should be used to communicate effectively and positively for the integration and development of modern society