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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The Christian religion as catalyst for community mobilization
Author:Boer, John H.
Year:1993
Periodical:Orita: Ibadan Journal of Religious Studies
Volume:25
Issue:1-2
Pages:48-63
Language:English
Geographic term:Nigeria
Subjects:Church
society
farmers
political education
Abstract:As a pastor and evangelist, the author has worked for over a decade with villagers in southern Gongola State, Nigeria. He has concluded that, despite the presence of powerful and real external causes for the oppression of the peasantry, the basic causes are internal. Peasants continue to remain passive because of strongly ingrained attitudes of servility and fear, even amongst those who are Christian. And the colonial/missionary legacy, with its emphasis on loyalty and obedience to those in authority, and its dualism, which separated the world of religion from the world of men and prevented missionary participation in politics and missionary recognition of various forms of injustice, has meant that the Christian community did not consciously develop programmes for the emancipation and the empowerment of the poor. Dualism, which has led Christian leaders to concentrate on church and other spiritual affairs, must be overcome if the Christian religion is to become a positive force in mass mobilization towards emancipation. In the final part of the paper, the author describes the development programme of the Institute of Church and Society, Northern Area Office, Jos, as an example of a religious programme for community mobilization. Bibliogr.
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