Cady Barrett
SOC 202
18 November 2008
Religious Conflict
On November 18th, 2008, two former gang members met for a conference in Cyprus, Nigeria. Both native to Nigeria, Muhammad Ashafa and James Wuye were both leaders of opposing religious youth gangs. Now they are friends and working together for a brighter future. Their country is being torn apart by religious conflict and they are trying to have the religions work together and find peace. The inter-faith dialogue included the pair wearing their traditional religious clothing. The country of Nigeria is almost equally split among its 140 million populations. The two religions are Christianity and Islam. There have been violent outbreaks, particularly in the Muslim-dominated north. Thousands have already been killed in the violence as recently as 2004. Two decades ago the two men hated each other and attempted to kill the other. They were both thrown into a government-sponsored child immunization program. They both say that it changed their lives and they have found peace within the other for their difference in faith and overcame the violence. They do say though that they will not compromise on their respective faiths. Having created peace within the other is good enough to create space for communication. Ashafa and Wuye, who founded the Interfaith Mediation Centre in Kaduna, northern Nigeria in 1995, use grassroots contacts to help reconciliation, particularly when the conflict appears religion-based. Both agree that the best way to get rid of an enemy is to make the foe a friend and accept and tolerate differences.
http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnLI504586.html
1 comment:
I love reading the positive blogs! Sociology can be sooo depressing. I think its wonderful that they be proud of their beliefs, and respect others. Especially Muslims and Christians that have had issues with one another for centuries. Unfortunately,things such as hate, violence, and intolerance can stem from a beautiful concept such as religion. Its almost sort of ironic.
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