ECUMENISM: INTEGRATION WITHOUT ASSIMILATION


  
   



ECUMENISM: INTEGRATION WITHOUT ASSIMILATION
                   CHIBU NDUBUISI.  27/11/2017



Peace be upon you.

I have shared this story countless times about a friend of mine who was about to get a lift from his co-tenants friend, who has a motorcycle. As he was about to sit on the passenger’s side, a question was thrown to him by the rider; he asked, Are you a CHOSEN?(Chosen is a Christian denomination in Nigeria) my friend responded NO, the rider immediately zoomed off without the would be passenger. The challenge of the bike rider was that even as a Christian, he could not see the image of God in someone who was not a “Chosen”. He failed to dignify the other person because of his religious convictions; he failed the dignity of difference test, by not acknowledging that God made us all in his image, created biodiversity, cultural diversity and permitted religious diversity.

Jonathan Sacks writes that “the crimes of religion have one thing in common. They involve making God in our image instead of letting him remake us in his image”. “Freedom is won by making space for others not like us and a world that lacks space for difference lacks space for humanity itself”.” The supreme religious challenge is to see God’s image in one who is not in our image”.
The book Dignity of Difference by Jonathan Sacks is a good read in the philosophy of making space for others not like us. He further notes that” if we have no deficiencies, then lacking nothing, we would never need anyone else. We would be solitary rather than social. The fact that we are different and all have deficiencies means that we need one another. What you lack I may have. It is by coming together we each give the other something he or she lacks. It is our deficiencies and differences that bring us together in mutual gain. In a win –win scenario. It is our diversity that makes us social”.


In Nigeria we have the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) a body trying to integrate Christians to still see the image of God in one another. It presently has five blocs (a) Christian Council of Nigeria (CCN),(b) Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria(CSN), (c) Christian Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria(CPFN). (d) Organized African Instituted Churches (OAIC), (e) TEKAN and ECWA. They should keep the flame up.

On a global level a UN resolution was passed for a worldwide week of interfaith Harmony proposed in 2010 observed normally every first week of February every year. It is a good resolution in seeing how to help understand our differences because “When there are no shared standards, there can be no conversation and when conversation ends violence begins” 

Jonathan Sacks notes that “the work to be done is not social, political and economy alone. It is equally theological and religious. Until religious institutions take a stand against the teaching and preaching of hate all efforts at diplomacy and military intervention will fail”. Communities of faith are where we prepare the values and institutions that protect our humanity.

Peace be with you.



Read more articles @chibundubuisi.blogspot.com

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