Abstract:
The practice of religions and spirituality is common in Africa. In many ways, religion may
be considered as a routine of life, living and practising it either as inherited or borrowed.
Religious pluralism is a reality in Africa, dating back to the 1st century up to the 19th
century when Africa became a bedrock of traders and colonisers both from Europe and
Asia. The paper explores plural religiosity with a view to developing a conducive
atmosphere that may promote a suitable inter-religious dialogue in Africa. Largely, the
most pronounced and practised religions are Christianity symbolised by the cross, Islam
symbolised by the crescent, and African indigenous religion that does not have a common
symbol nor sacred scriptures. We note that, for generations, religions have caused division
among communities, but have in the recent years developed the quest to create good
relations and dialogue with each other. Because of the diverse nature of insecurity in Africa,
it is hoped that inter-religious dialogue may cause community cohesion, integration,
inclusivity, and co-existence. In the wake of different types of inter-religious dialogue that
are globally being researched, this paper suggests a specific inter-religious dialogue that
Africans can exercise: ‘dialogue for life’.
CONTRIBUTION : Inter-religious dialogue for life is contextual in that, it touches upon the life
situations of ordinary people in society. The author argues that, by embracing it religiously,
inter-religious dialogue for life shall address crucial issues such as poverty, radicalisation,
terrorism, climate change, bad governance, and human trafficking that adversely affect
African society.
Description:
DATA AVAILABILITY : Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data
were created or analysed in this study.
The author/s is participating in the research project, ‘Religion, Theology and Education’, directed by Prof. Dr Jaco Beyers, Head of Department Religion Studies, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Pretoria.
Special Collection: Interreligious Dialogue, sub-edited by Jaco Beyers (University of Pretoria, South Africa).