National Issues
Religious Extremism: How extremism breeds atheism -By Salami Ayomikun Adebimpe
How extremism then breeds atheism? Many nonbelievers had concluded that there is no deity anywhere rather these groups move with selfish motives and dubious acts, therefore were pointless dedicating themselves to any belief.
Nigeria, an African country, is diverse and deeply rooted in its beliefs in one deity or the other. Statistics have shown that there are more than eight religions in the country although some are more popular and recognized than others. A few of these include Christianity, Islam, and the indigenous religion.
Nigeria, although identified with various religions, is a secular state with no official state religion. Article 10 of the Constitution states that “The government of the federation shall not adopt any religion as state religion” even with this freedom of practice it is yet still faced with obstacles that deny this freedom of worship. To buttress this point, Nigeria is number seven on Open Doors’ 2022 World Watch List, an annual ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution. Christians complain of widespread persecution, most especially in the north and middle belt then this is where religious extremists come in.
Religious extremism is an enduring situation that occurs in different forms. An extremist is an individual with a high sense of commitment, which is however expressed through certain actions, showing loyalty to a belief system. Some practices define the rituals and customs of many religions, they include: evangelizing to nonmembers, maliciousness amongst members and nonmembers, isolation of nonmembers, criminalization, elimination of pagans, and so on. Nonmembers consider these actions and practices by extremists delusional and dubious still members of these religions view their actions as norms endorsed by their deity.
In 2010, a poll made by the Pew Research center showed that 51% of Nigerian Muslims agreed with the death penalty for leaving Islam. In some parts of Nigeria, there are even anti-blasphemy laws. Atheism in Nigeria is measured at less than 1% as it is blasphemy and stigmatizing to be attached to this (atheist) rather after the establishment of an association for atheists called the “Atheist Society of Nigeria” it is therefore considered more polite to refer to atheist as “free thinkers”.
Extremists in the country have however brought about religious conflicts. For the past 14 years, the nation has been trembling in fear of Boko Haram, mostly in the northeast. There had also been issues of banditry, terrorism, militia groups, and kidnappings for ransom, which are becoming more widespread. And while grappling with this we have the old conflict with the Fulani herders. There are also cases of “holy war” which has led to the death of many non-believers, including extremist armed groups like Boko Haram, ISIS, and the rest of them.
How extremism then breeds atheism? Many nonbelievers had concluded that there is no deity anywhere rather these groups move with selfish motives and dubious acts, therefore were pointless dedicating themselves to any belief.
Christians, Muslims, and indigenous worshippers should normalize that those nonmembers can believe what they want, leave the system if they want to, and shouldn’t be pressured into committing to any belief system.
Religion doesn’t have to “be do or die”
