Introduction
Spirituality is functional in connectivity with the belief system (a set of ideas, principles, and meanings attached to them. These, gradually, reinforces the development of mental and behavioral structures towards new personality-self. According to Father Musaala, A. (2010) Christians believe in 3-oned God –consisting of a person (mind, will and soul) –soul, (emotions, intuition and conscious) –spirit, body (fresh, blood and bones), and God –the Divine person.
There are other persons called angelic persons called demons or fallen angels –and without body. Then, there is Jesus Christ (with both Divine and Human Nature); and lastly, God –the Divine Nature. The spirit is said to be more powerful than the body, and some writers think it was Jesus’ spirit that rose, not the body in light of the Egyptian religious traditions (Nijel BPG, 1999).
Conflict is widely understood as actual perceived threat or opposition to one’s needs, interests, and positions –involving disagreements between two or more parties. Conflicts can refer to internal disharmony within individuals, disagreements between individuals, fighting, or wars between countries. And peace is the state of harmony and tranquility experienced by the individual at all levels –that may be family, community, national, regional and global.
Human growth and development is undisputedly characterized by conflict. This, though, cannot be accepted as a norm, but transformed for the human or social good, or otherwise resolved and prevented. But, according to the Wikipedia.org (2010), peace describes a relationship or society that is functioning harmoniously and without violent conflict. Peace is believed to be an outcome of a conflict after lessons have been taken and integrated into individual and social values. However, peace experts aim at not only overturning the ugly face of conflict for peace to prevail but also its sustainability.
Background
Religion is manipulated spirituality meant to serve interests of man either for the worst or for the best. Identifying region-mythical elements is essential to peace-building. In pursuant of patriotism, religions begin to scramble for dominion in the different spheres of a nation’s life for prestige among its followers and promoters.
Religion is often used by nationalists to promote own ideologies and to support war. In both ways religion can be both ugly and positively rewarding in peace-building, for example, it can respond positively towards peace-building efforts –through forgiveness, restoration, healing and transform them people from viewing it as personal faith to community-level wellbeing (Rodrigues, D. 2010).
Many writers have pointed an accusing finger at religion for being troublesome and a source of conflict, and now think we can use the thief to catch a thief. Religion, thus, has emerged as important ally to peace makers and builders. There are different aspects of religion or its traditions wherever they have been practiced, observed, read, and discussed or taught that can be exploited to resolve conflict in favor of peace and harmony –both within the self, among friends, within family, in community nationally, regionally and globally –through religious and cultural features like the cross, statues of saints, dharma wheel, the faith, the belief system, the ethics, morality issues, transcendentalism, communalism, and so on.
Universal Spirituality and Universal Nature
Religions evolve through learning from each other. Using Buddhism as a case; despite its relative lack of organization, is now a global faith through “reverse evangelism,” that is, people are naturally attracted to its teachings of self-reliance, inner peace and universal spirituality, without the necessity of being religious, attracted to it as secular religion or non-religious spirituality (Piya, T. 2010).
Religions wherever they went formed cultures and got mixed up to form new breeds of religion compatible to African way of life, South African way of life, South American way of life or Asian way of life and Arabia way of life (culture) be it Muslim religion, Christian religion, or Buddhist religion. Each adopted a section of societies traditions suited to the people they found –and through which it made ‘rightful’ meaning to them yet carrying same universal message of love and peace.
According to religionist Van Harvey in Wallace, B. Allan (2003:4) , we deem a system of belief and practice religious if it expresses a dominant interest in certain universal and elemental features of human existence. One way of achievement inner peace is subscription to acceptable or rational ethical and moral codes. From individual the peace extends to family, groups of individuals, local community, regionally and internationally.
Buddhism has been found to posses a lot of philosophy and science (knowledge and empiricism of the nature of the mind, the physical environment and generally about the natural world). It concerns itself causality within the human experience and empiricism rather than transcendentalism Wallace, B. Allan (2003:8). Experience search for the truth elicits on-spot understanding of phenomenon and right decision making whilst considering sustainable development for sustainable peace.
Dharma teaching guides individuals into those who respect biodiversity and begins to appreciate unity in natural diversity for sustainability of life.
During mindfulness, it is through understanding dynamics of nature that suffering ceases. Buddhism is accommodative of diverse cultures religions and or ideology, rather than zealotry and fanaticism –tokens of patience, tolerance and cooperation among various faiths which promote peace (Premaseri, 2008). Understanding suffering as nature subject to change helped to individuals detach from cravings that caused suffering. By doing so healing from negative past begins –leading to peace within oneself and shared peace with others.
Station and Symbolism
In the Roman Catholic Churches there is a box –a consecrated place where sacred objects are kept and is set over the Alter. That box and its contents show divine presence of God (Kevin Knight, 2009). In the Catholic Churches the box specifically houses the bread (body of Jesus Christ) and wine (his blood). Taking of the blood and bread are taken by Catholics to embrace the life of Jesus Christ and reunite with him. As a result, Catholics go on to do Christly works and be good role-models in the community. They, for example, showed love to other Christians, showed meekness daily living, and in peace and harmony with themselves and others.
In addition, there are specific stations for God (or a any other representation of God). For example, among the Muslims is a mosque marked by a ‘sliced moon symbol, a temple of Hindus, Buddhists and others, synagogue for the Jews, and churches for Christians. Worshipers find it a privileged to attend sermons or sessions in those centers or houses of God. That not only helped to directly communicate to God (to repent, to ask for providence and protection), build man’s relationship with nature or God, but strengthened it. And at the end of the sessions of prayers, there is a marked difference between how a worshiper felt before prayer and after –really, a great feeling to keep such a relationship with one’s God.
Universal Spirituality and Universal Nature
Religions evolve through learning from each other. Using Buddhism as a case; despite its relative lack of organization, is now a global faith through “reverse evangelism,” that is, people are naturally attracted to its teachings of self-reliance, inner peace and universal spirituality, without the necessity of being religious, attracted to it as secular religion or non-religious spirituality (Piya, T. 2010).
Religions wherever they went formed cultures and got mixed up to form new breeds of religion compatible to African way of life, South African way of life, South American way of life or Asian way of life and Arabia way of life (culture) be it Muslim religion, Christian religion, or Buddhist religion. Each adopted a section of societies traditions suited to the people they found –and through which it made ‘rightful’ meaning to them yet carrying same universal message of love and peace.
According to religionist Van Harvey in Wallace, B. Allan (2003:4) , we deem a system of belief and practice religious if it expresses a dominant interest in certain universal and elemental features of human existence. One way of achievement inner peace is subscription to acceptable or rational ethical and moral codes. From individual the peace extends to family, groups of individuals, local community, regionally and internationally.
Buddhism has been found to posses a lot of philosophy and science (knowledge and empiricism of the nature of the mind, the physical environment and generally about the natural world). It concerns itself causality within the human experience and empiricism rather than transcendentalism Wallace, B. Allan (2003:8). Experience search for the truth elicits on-spot understanding of phenomenon and right decision making whilst considering sustainable development for sustainable peace.
Dharma teaching guides individuals into those who respect biodiversity and begins to appreciate unity in natural diversity for sustainability of life.
During mindfulness, it is through understanding dynamics of nature that suffering ceases. Buddhism is accommodative of diverse cultures religions and or ideology, rather than zealotry and fanaticism –tokens of patience, tolerance and cooperation among various faiths which promote peace (Premaseri, 2008). Understanding suffering as nature subject to change helped to individuals detach from cravings that caused suffering. By doing so healing from negative past begins –leading to peace within oneself and shared peace with others.
Faith, Trustfulness and Patience
Patience and trust can only be practiced to perfection and are important not only in one’s relationship with his or her God whilst awaiting providence but with fellow men as well whilst dealing with difficult people and in helping them change for the better for social peace and harmony. In trusting God there is no way man would resort to armament programs as a replacement of him (the Almighty).
Man would only trust the omnipresent and all powerful God, the God of love. This will help eradicate internal insecurities and external fears, militarism, re-emergency of cold wars and major international crises –in favor of love and mutual friendship, cooperation and trust which are relevant to peace, harmony and happiness. Otherwise, the world is now witnessing frightening development in biological weaponry and robotics (Francis, D. 2010). It would be interesting to see religion play a reinforcement role in the disarmament schemes.
Justice and Equity for Mutual Respect
Before God men and women are equal. The Ten Commandments were given to man to man and woman for foster mutual harmony, spiritual harmony, inner peace and environmental peace. However, the post conflict recovery has been a critical challenge for women and girls in northern Uganda after two (2) decades of war –according to the European Union (Lirri, E. 2010).
The UN Security Council Resolution 1325 responses that women are rarely involved in decisions to wage war –even though they bear the brunt of atrocities committed in conflict situation. The resolution seeks to protect women from violence –particularly sexual violence in conflict and post conflict situations. It should be noted that by virtue of their masculinity and socialization to be brave, courageous and rough, men tend to trigger violence to fulfill those attributes and orientation to them. Until men realize such disserving lifestyle would they realize environmental peace; tangibly.
Independent Variable (Religion): the Guide, Not the Doer
Religion can only be sought by man for appropriate approaches to life and not vice-versa. It provides recommended behavior to be truly belonging to it for the right intentions of orderliness, harmony and peace. It is only unfortunate that man drags religion and God’s name for own selfish ends and accordingly justify them. While religion has been used to support and to incite people into anarchy as was the case in Serbia, Yugoslavia, and Northern Ireland, it indeed preaches peace. Religion has only suffered from man’s greed, and has been used as opium to achieve his selfish interests.
Many writers argue that Islam and terrorism are never bed fellows, and no religion has ever supported violence as its mission. Yusuf, T. M. (2010) argued that prophet Ibrahim, Musa, Isa and Mohammed came to preach love, create harmony among mankind and cause people to believe in the creator and to promote faith and trust. The belief in the God of peace, and the faith and trust in him are important predictors of sustainable peace.
However, in his article, Maguire, D. C. (2010), an ethical and critique of the United States (US)-Israel alliance reveals how abusive of religious men and nations can be. According to him, both Israel and United States claim special security needs that justify violence, unchecked militarism, torture, violation of human rights and international law, and imperial expansion basing on prophetic remembrance and inspiration. As a result, 700,000 Palestine were driven from their land to make room for Israel. A situation of people without land (Israel) led to landless people (Palestine), only forced in camps deprived of basic necessities of livelihood. To maintain and at other occasions worsen the Palestine situation, Israel received ten million dollars a day; more than any country accept Iraq from the US.
It can be noted that Israel actions were a violation of 1948 UN resolution 194 –which says Palestinian refugees violently removed from their homes should be allowed to return while the 1967 UN resolution 242 cites inadmissibility of acquisition of territory by war after Israel tripled its size in six (6) day war. That resolution was reinforced by resolution 338 in 1971. It is further conceived that both Israel claim unique victim-hood; 9/11 for US and holocaust for the Israel, and use that the counter fear through same terrorism tool whilst mindless of open and insensitive suffocation of the Palestinian people –directly or indirectly by both countries. It propagation of injustice, misery and suffering against which the country like US claim to strive for globally.
Science (Human Intelligence) and Religion
Most religious practitioners think fronting science and utilizing it for humanity’s betterment and harmony is rebellion against God. They argue that God must not be replaced by human creations or impressions because that loosens or detaches him from his or her God. Some go ahead to say that it is the foolish –who are indeed ‘wise,’ or that the ‘poor’ will go to heaven –as justifications. However, man has to be knowledgeable and able to understand his environment if he or she has to be able to tame negative consequences that continuously threatens his existence. Knowledge and ability to deal with life challenges helps him to her to be in control of everything that surrounds him and make life easy and comfortable through advancement in technology –ensuring that it is appropriate with less or no side-effects to endanger himself.
Fear causes internal disharmony, however, most Christians greatly fear application of logic and science in objectively understanding mysteries of life. Instead, they displaced science and logic with Divine rule yet until man understands his natural environment will he gain internal security and peace extendable to greater social interaction circles. However, Pope Benedict XVI cautioned about extreme attitudes towards science that it holds answers towards life problems (St. Andrea Parish Catholic Church, 2010).
At a plenary assembly of the pontifical academy of sciences under the theme: “the scientific legacy of the twentieth century,” he noted that science, because of its innumerable advances was taken and answers all questions of man’s existence, and even his highest aspirations. He observed that the task remains patient yet passionate search for the truth about the cosmos, about nature and about the constitution of the human being.
Leadership in Religions
On top of the hierarchy is God who exists in different ways according to how man finds it befitting. The freedom to choose specific aspects of God or conceptualize him or her gives man a true sense of spiritual democracy. Indeed, where there is a problem is the question of leadership. The leadership like subjects too fall prey of sin. Perhaps the only difference is the unique rob or garment they wear to distinguish them from the congregation.
However, still, there must be an organization with structures, units, tasks and responsible people taking on such tasks. Such tasks could be mediation by mediation committee, HIV/AIDS department for creating awareness and conducting counseling session, family unit for marriage counseling and conducting holy matrimony, and communication office for releasing organization position on countries moral aspects. Failure to impart these means leadership failure.
In Rwanda, genocide ensued as church leaders either watched it happen or actively participated. It failed o condemn the genocide; some of the members of the religious hierarchy were accused, charged and convicted by the ICTR for participating in the genocide, however, he majority of Rwandans, and Tutsis in particular, are Catholic, so shared religion did not prevent genocide.
The Mind and Body in Buddhist Practice of Insight Meditation and Yoga
The exercises, directing and re-directing of mind and body, like prayer for Christians or Duwa for Muslims, can be done either in solitude or in groups. Buddhists apply insight meditation and yoga activities to gain understanding of nature, master it, and make right decisions –aimed at eradicating current problems to achieve inner peace.
Inner peace then contagiously penetrated different levels of human interaction –be it family, local community, regional and international characterized reciprocally by peace, harmony and tranquility. Insight meditation involved sustained awareness of the conditioned habits of the mind. Such are tamed, got rid of, and replaced by a new understanding of universal principles of nature encased in the four noble truths (acknowledging existence of suffering, the cause of suffering, existence of the path to end suffering and the way to liberating the self for ultimate peace).
Yoga on the other hand has been experiences as uniformed body movement patterns accompanied by natural breathing and exercised breathing (emphasizing lengthy oxygen in-take). Such have a wellness effect of increasing oxygen intake to the lungs and other parts of the body, improving blood flow, and achieving mental and physical fitness. According to Rahula, B. Y. (2009:53), sustained awareness of the challenges faced during such activities (yoga and insight meditation) like rising thoughts, ideas, worrying, breaking of pattern, day-dreaming, restlessness, tiredness, sheepishness –all of real life experience which patiently are seen vanishing under the universal principle that everything naturally change towards a certain orientation –which must be accepted as realities. Healthy minds and bodies thus provide way foe sustained inner peace within individuals. According to Nigel, BPG (1999), constantly power was drawn from the spirit into the body through Egyptian martial art. For the ancient Egyptians, this led to enlightenment and resurrections.
Futuristic, Evolutionary and Revolutionary
The International Humanitarian Law document (American Red Cross, 2001:10) provided that occupying powers must permit access to ministers of religion to give spiritual assistance to members of their religious communities. There are changes taking place instinctually and in the natural and social environments –whose dynamics man must master to progress alongside them –more so understanding of natural phenomenon that all other beings may fall short of. Contrary to that man suffers from disorientation, malfunctioning and extinction or selected out for being unfit to live in the dynamic world. Therefore, whatever happens, life must continue or ‘let go.’ There must be transformation from worse to better and from better to best –regardless. Religion facilitates healing from past negative experiences of war to building resilience and positive states of hope for peace and peace towards its achievement.
Appeasement, Forgiveness and Reconciliation
The Acholi culture (in Uganda) has one of the most interesting models for conflict resolution. They have got rituals which have facilitated reconciliation and amnesty in their communities. Forgiveness and reconciliation is said to be the center of that culture. They believe in the world of the living dead and spirits, and that shapes greatly their way of behavior, particularly how they see justice and reconciliation.
The divine spirits guided the Acholi moral order. When something wrong happened, they send illness and misery or misfortune –until appropriate actions were taken by the elders and offender. Some of the codes suggested by the Acholi Paramount Chief Rwot David Onen Acana II are; do not be trouble maker, respect sincerity, do not steal, reconcile and forgive, problem-solving through discussions, and children, women and disabled are not to be harmed in war.
Healing Power of Religion
African Traditional Religion is still popular to many including those subscribing to revealed teachings and post-colonial religions. South African communities are highly superstitious and believe that ancestors guide and protect the living through traditional healers. They are considered holy men and women who can bring good luck to their communities and chase away evil spirits, cure all sorts of illnesses, make poor rich, bring back lost love, win court cases, win lotto and predict the future (Among, B. (2010).
Moral Being and Religious Personality
In Buddhism, laziness is one cause of misery and suffering within individuals and society. During meditation, value of diligence is imparted characterized by individual application of interest, time, alertness and energy to achieve success –relevant for peace and harmony within self and others (Knight, M.L. 1999). But like the work ethical mannerism of Muslims, and ‘rightful’ Christian teaching in favor of hard work, Buddhism works past or against laziness. During meditation, value of diligence is imparted characterized by individual application of interest, time, alertness and energy to achieve success –relevant for peace and harmony within self and others.
Dharma teaching and the Buddhist practice of mindfulness transforms individual into one who are compassionate to others, kind and generous which is shown to not only fellow human beings but animals, as well. Through Buddhist practices and teachings individuals begin to be so caring about others, full of empathy and constantly wishing to share happiness with others. Egocentrism relegates individual to himself and inconsiderate of others in pursued of pleasure. Jealous is associated to increased mental pain, which after replacement with compassion for all beings and re-launching thoughts from wrongful and actions to rightful ones that cause happiness and peace.
During the practice of insight meditation, or mindfulness (in it), individuals are conditioned to be non-responsive to previous negative reactions –a time the gives room for the thinking system to be exercised before behavioral manifestations. Individuals prefer to define situations and develop systematic steps towards problem solving. Even after meditation the person will not fall back to the past –as he or she will be thinking different from the past, and find past habits odd, and wanting to behave differently –especially following the newly imparted values.
Instead of being afraid, individual will be confident, have courage instead of worries, realist and un-distractible instead of suspicious. Individuals practicing Buddhism are composed, firm, steady and stable. They know when to respond to stimuli and not to. They calculate different situation with full awareness of the need to bring happiness to oneself and others, rather than guilt and hurting others. Very noticeable in the Buddhist practices and principles is inculcation of the individual tool of concentration; one way through which distractions of life (pleasures and negative issues) are collectively eliminated to pursue planned and conscious actions.
Generosity is a product of loving kindness to all beings promoted in Buddhism. It is a wonderful feeling to present gifts –bringing a tremendous sense of emotional satisfaction. It strengthens the positive spirit within the individual and sustains peace. Kindness to all beings –including the grass and earth helps to build sustainable environmental peace, free from insecurities caused by famine, economic consequences of bad weather, and natural calamities as effects of hailstorms and landslides. Also through loving kindness, individuals learn to respect life, love themselves and behave in a way that creates peace within self and others rather than destruction. And through conservation of the environment as a virtue, individuals were guaranteed environment peace.
With obedience, individuals’ ties are built between those in authority and their subjects. This breeds peace within a given community. Obedience to seniors also helps individuals to gain experience and excelling at task or during challenging times, to gain wisdom (problem-solving abilities) that increased certainty of the future. Obedience is sealed by mutual respect.
Other related approaches to peace within individual and oneself includes; prayer, cultural rituals of invoking ancestors interventions, prostrating about symbolic objects, drinking local herbs, talking to a trusted friend, community meetings chaired by respected personalities etcetera.
Believing and Seeking Refugee (Trust) for Religious Coping
Part of the foundation of Buddhism teaching is acceptance and acknowledgement of the realities of life as change, pain, suffering, worry, anger, grieving, loss, grief, embarrassment, agitation, unpleasant feeling –which man must be mindful of through their entire process awaiting change for the better. This is the natural truth which according to Buddhist cannot be thought about otherwise to cause delusions, disorientation, strained immune system, disease and misery. Understanding the truth an observing it as it or they (phenomenon) happens not only caused to vanish to devolution but caused right understanding and patient decision making or proactive responses towards a prevailing cause of the problem –through adoption of new compliant and rescuing values enshrined in the teachings of Buddha (Four Noble Truth-[reality of suffering, existence of the cause of suffering, an end to suffering, and a way to end it]). Having gone through that, sanity prevails characterized by inner peace and contagious community peace.
Communality of Religions
The company of people we have, or the social environment we live in influence individual values for wellness, peace, harmony and happiness. Such social environment is one characterized joy, kindness, compassionate love, humility, rather than argumentative, envy and slanderous one. It is thus important to make right decision over which group of people to associate with as they can consciously or unconsciously influence individual values, feelings, thoughts and behavior for the good or worse. For the sake of individual peace and environment peace, it is pertinent that individuals seek company construct them positively into the right states of mental functioning and behavior relevant for individual and community peace.
Peace is central in the life of individual Africans. In African society, the relationship between individual and community was intertwined. It is expressed by a dictum from John Mbiti, ‘I am because we are, we are therefore I am’ (Vision Thoughts, 2010 ). However, on July 11th 2010, Uganda suffered a terrorist attack –killing over 74 people and more injured. The world over interpreted as terrorist attack executed by Islamic fundamentalists –The Al Shabaab militants in anarchic Somalia (Biryabarema, E. 2010). Such an act was a threat to peace and ridicules African and Islamic concept of peace. It thus important to note that human ego easily penetrates religion and man begins to behave religious yet being judged evil (or Devil worshiping).
Constitutionalism in Religion
Spirituality is guided by acceptable morals and ethics for personal and community discipline. These enforced orderliness, prevented conflict situations with fellow men and associated consequences, fostered and sustained individual and community peace and harmony. The Christians have the ten (10) commandments (e.g. worship God only, do not worship idols, do not use my name for evil purposes, observe the Sabbath, respect parents, do not kill, do not steal, do not accuse any one falsely, and do not desire another man’s wife(American Bible Society 1976).
A Buddhist value system is based on eight values (Eight Nobel Fold Path), which include: right thought, right speech, right intentions, right actions, right effort, right livelihood, right mindfulness, and right concentration. The positive outcomes from these teachings are that they helped individuals to avoid possessiveness that caused unnecessarily worrisome, anxieties, and suspiciousness; to avoid jealous which increased mental pain; helped to build individual diligence through application of energy and alertness of right intensities to achieve success; right intentions (or a life without stealing, taking other man’s wife) to avoid embarrassments, shame, guilt and loss of respect; to build individual confidence, social harmony with self and fellow men, to avoid generating anger among others through verbal and behavioral provocations (Knight, M.L. 1999).
There exist practices in religions that foster a healthy spirit, healthy mind and healthy body. Buddhist practice of yoga characterized by systematic movement patterns, body stretches, breathing exercises and natural breathing patterns help to induce healthy functioning of the respiratory system, the circulatory system, the skeletal system, the coordination system and detachment from the past to present times through mindfulness and inculcation of new universal values for sustainable living in peace and harmony with self and others. Other related activities, also, deemed psychotherapeutic include; 15 minutes or so minutes of silence, cognitive structuring and restructuring through guided imagery, self-talk, mindful breathing and physical exercises, contemplation, reflection, and group problem-solving or sharing.
Islam (total surrender to the will of Allah [God]) has five pillars associated to it that define man’s behaviors towards self and others for peaceful co-existence. These include: an acknowledgement that there is one God (Allah), Justice (ethics, fairness, and equity), respect for prophetic teachings (with the last of those by Prophet Mohammed), Respect the Divine institutions (e.g. Imams), and mindful of the final judgement. That is then followed by six pillars of faith: praying five times a day, pay alms to the poor (Zakat), and fasting during the month of Ramadan as well as Hijja (Ssebyala Badru, 2010). The Wikipedia.org (2010) adds believing in the struggle, directing others to the good, directing others away from evil, love those who are in God’s path, disassociation with those who oppose God.
Spirituality, Religion, Man and Natural Environment are One
Spirituality is defined, processed, and refined through religion to better lives and help man overcome ‘acceptably normal’ challenges in his or her day-to-day quest for the truth and goodness (God) and meaning in, or of life right for himself or herself and for generations to come. Spirituality is associated with general state of wellness through continuous life transitions –without which much desired success can be challenged to mean failure in his or her pursuits. The state of wellness is also determined by how well man interacts with his natural environment to ensure sustainable development and save himself from extinction through harsh climatic and natural conditions –if his actions were unfriendly and unwise towards it. To achieve that, man has to have the right spirit and right religion (defining the right spirit) in order to achieve sustained peace and harmony.
It can be illustrated that superior forces keep sweeping through the natural environment and coming into ‘normal conflict’ with man –whose relationship with those forces is determined by his or her relationship with religion he or she subscribes to and the right ways religion processed spirituality for man’s consumption, or how himself or herself consumed it, and then his right and healthy interaction with the natural environment, constantly seeking right understanding and consensus in that interaction. The quality of interaction helped revolved conflict in man and his social or natural environment and creating peace –which for its sustainability; man had to transfer that kind of knowledge to generations to come in order to ensure proper or right decision making for human and ecological security.
The Consequences or Law of Effect (Sin or Blessing, or Peace)
The opposite to all those interconnected events can be that man’s ill-thoughts, nurturance of wrong imaginations and intention, and then actions towards is natural and social environments potentially destroyed the good spirit and replaced it with bad one that sustains the wrongs and associated consequences –which mean destruction of the self and others, creating conditions for disease environmentally and through internal stress and pressures that suppress the immune system and cause his or her dysfunctional ways. It is a time artificial challenges of life created by man him self or her self -through his wrong decisions (ignorance) merge with ‘acceptable normal’ or natural challenges –both of which make life extremely difficult for man to progress towards attainment of harmony and peace.
Challenges
The Ugandan experience of worship especially among Christians shows most of them making fortune at the expense unsuspecting followers –using written scriptures as opium to extort, cheat and exploit church goers. The churches today have been infiltrated by men posing as pastors, and this is eroding flocks trust in them and biasing many against godly institution. In most churches, pastors use soothing words of hope, quote what their audience want to listen, and some even provide special blessings for those who pay specific amount of money for them: “the Lord tells me you are in need of blessing because you need promotion. If you really need what brought you here; in Jesus’ name, come get your prosperity blessings with shillings 250, 000,” a pastor screamed into a microphone (Kagwa, A. 2010).
Some religions found to be very amazing in terms of benefits, universality and accommodative like Buddhism and Baha’ism; like any new idea or technology being introduced in society, Buddhism is still held locally with lots of suspicion from the local population. They think it came to compete with existing faiths for its following, or impose a new product to them –to which they have to be careful about. Because Buddhism is therapeutic –being used globally to heal people from the negative past and afflictions, and bring peace and happiness to people. Some clinicians encountered and religious leaders feel disposed of their main occupation (healing or health). And because healing involves biochemical changes during participant interaction with nature, most religious leaders think, it lacks the God concept.
Conclusion
Religion carries amazing messages of peace, harmony and happiness, and that it possesses healing powers that can be interpreted clinically, It has no clear roots in Uganda and faces stiff opposition from indigenous faiths and clinical practices –who feel threatened by its complementally ingredients. However, for the sake of peace and progress in humanity’s quest for harmony, tranquility and happiness, we need an integrated approach to that goal through intellectual discussions and sharing information, rather than closedness in the face of a-must-be change in approaches and advancements in technology that necessitates global solidarity towards making the world a better place to live in (in comfort, in peace, in joy in happiness).
People who think about themselves only are indeed the cause of problems in the world today. They not only end at denouncing other traditions, or cultures, or at all regard them as ways of life and alternative approaches to solving life problems, but go ahead to marginalize, oppress, and undertake ethnic cleansing, and so on. Look at how the Jews were persecuted in German (holocaust), look at the Palestine-Israel war, look at Catholics verses Protestants in Ireland until recently, look at America attitudes towards Islam –until recently when President Baraka Obama announced new acceptable relationship with the Muslim world, look at Buganda verses President Y.K. Museveni, and so on. While possessing certain religious cross-cutting religious and universal ideals is intellectual maturity, true spirituality for peace, and cultural maturity, it is important that consumers of religion critical analyze religious cultures to determine ‘toxicity’ (whether harmful or not). This will help control human crime by means of religion as accomplice.
It is satisfying to have friends from different cultures and beliefs; it is really fun appreciating the beauty of certain practices like circumstances for Muslims, decency of dressing, healing and strong conviction -apart from having many wives; the Catholics strong conviction, homosexuality on children; Anglicans for liberty or democratic element; SDAs for passion and conviction, effective teaching or communication methods –making them so nice to relate to; the Born-Again (s) for their strong faith, healing, accent smartness (dressing). It is interesting learn one or two things. So appreciating diversity and at least one or two creates aspects of another group or person creates unity amidst differences and, eventually the big word: PEACE.
