By Mohmbah Emmanuel
Religious leaders in Buea met on Saturday January 20, 2007 at the Baha’i Center of Learning in Molyko, Buea, in the Southwest Province of Cameroon, to commemorate this year's World Religion Day. The theme of this year's celebration was 'religion and world peace.'
The main speakers at the occasion were Mr Yuh Laban representing the Hindu Faith, Rev. Father Andrew representing the Roman Catholic Bishop of Buea, Mallam Muhammed Abubakar of the Muslim Faith and Ms Stella Siri Fuh was the speaker for the Baha'i faith.
In their opening statments, the speakers called on God to give 'loving and tender hearts' to his servants. Mr Laban of the Vedic religion set the pace by explaining the principles of a “dama” which posits that every creature has a soul. He explains that his religion preaches love and peace. Rev Father Andrew then explained with vigour that religion is not some form of tradition. Quoting from some papal decrees, he reiterated that the catholic church has always encouraged inter religious dialogue.
According to the Imam of Buea, Mallam Muhammed Abubakar, a good religion is like a heavenly tree, which gives shelter to human beings and other creatures and provides fruits that satisfy the need of mankind. He encouraged everybody to read the scriptures of other religions in order to be able to assess or make any speech about it. The Imam apologized that he had no knowledge about the Hindu religion and thus could say nothing about it.
Speaking for the Baha’i, Ms Stella Siri Fuh said that religion is progressive. She explained that religion can be likened to a child who goes to primary school, learns the alphabet in class, uses the letters a, b, c etc., to form words and phrases, and later on learns to construct sentences. She was of the opinion that religion has evolved under the various manifestations of God. She said that “ we should be lovers of light no matter the source of the light and lovers of roses no matter from which garden they come”.
During a question and answer session, one of the participants was interested in knowing when the Vedic Faith began and who is the founder. The representative responded that the religion has no beginning and no end. This let to outburst of laughter from some participants.Rev Fr Andrew called for more practical steps to be taken to resolve human problems. This he said could not be done by holding prayer meetings and joint worship but by action on the field of poverty eradication, fight against AIDS, and praying for human welfare and prosperity.
The Cultural Affairs adviser at the Southwest Governor’s Office, representing the Governor of the Province at the occasion, emphasized that the administration is ready to crack down clandestine and hideous groups. He, however thanked the Baha’i congregation and other participants for such an initiative. The Baha’i choir chanted closing prayers.
© The Entrepreneur Newspaper 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Comments