Theological Education and Religious Plurality towards a Peaceful Ghana
The theme ‘Theological Education, Religious Plurality and Peace in Ghana,’ is apt within the wider context, particularly because these are times when issues of peace, and signs of restlessness dominate the airwaves.
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These range from carefully scheduled demonstrations for improved conditions of service, threats of strike, picketing by labour unions, and teachers, reminders about unfulfilled promises by employers, etc. Simply said, the four-year cycle of social agitation is here, and labour unions, traditional leaders, and opinion leaders, strongly believe that should they miss this opportunity, it will perhaps take the year 2020 for their local and national agenda to receive hearing.
The reason for this, is a haphazard agenda for national development and distribution of infrastructure, which is driven more by impulse and street side placards than a far-sighted strategy.
But even more worrying are direct threats to peace, open threats and daily clashes among political opponents, occasional discovery of caches of arms, and indeed signs of ritual killings, and possible assassinations.
Where state institutions for law and order have failed, as they usually do, churches and related religious institutions have often been a trusted and reliable resort: one of the most trusted icons of order, peace and social stability the world over. Within our context, these are key sites to which societies seek refuge, succour, or anchorage where there is a credible threat to social order or security.
With bare hands, religious institutions possess the civic infrastructure and the quality of human resources required to repel violence, and maintain good order and discipline.
Peace advocacy
But there are additional support systems: these are verbal advocates for peace and order namely, an assorted range of civil society groups, school children and NGO’s who through peace walks, pamphleteering, processions and street-side persuasion get public attention and retail messages of peace.
Apart from immediate sources of stress cited above, there are more latent and subtle signposts of danger ahead. I refer to deeper macro and more systemic omens that often linger underneath the more visible signs: a widespread feeling of insecurity, emanating from a state of despondency, deprivation, poverty, and an open ended rate of unemployment.
Such deep-seated threats to peace may have nothing to do with political transition processes, but they set the stage for more violent eruptions.
Religion/Ethnicity
Of these sources of tension, religion and ethnicity have been flagged as particularly volatile.
With Ghana’s situation of multi-ethnicity, made up of some 50 ethnic groups, plus a tenuous state of religious pluralism; a Christian country with a close to 20 percent Muslim population, the potential for religious and ethnic-based tension or unrest is great. Except that whenever early symptoms have appeared, these have been swiftly diagnosed and speedily contained by civil society and institutions of law and order.
Education
There have also been isolated signs of religion based tension within the educational sector in the past few years, which have been quickly arrested.
I refer to isolated incidents in High schools of predominantly Christian population, where one Muslim student or the other has out of insecurity or perceived harassment, jumped to his death from a balcony during a Christian chapel service, which led to considerable tension, and the fear of possible spread.
Non-discrimination
Generally, however, Ghana’s educational policies have not discriminated in enrollment on the basis of religion, and except for a few schools that specialise in missionary education, most educational institutions within the secondary sector, make provision for both religions, and provide appropriate facilities and religious heads for separate worships.
The situation is the same in public tertiary institutions, where there have been provision for separate religious engagements, and no tension has been recorded.
Private faith-based institutions be they Islamic or Christian have opened their doors to students of other religions, but have not necessarily provided equal spaces for worship. Students of other religions, however, are not compelled or coerced to convert or subscribe to the host religion.
Significantly, faith-based universities in Ghana have opened their doors to other religions, and admit a sizeable proportion.
Accommodation
At the Islamic University College located in Accra, not all students are Muslims. Indeed there is as much as a 15 per cent Christian student population. Not only this; a considerable number of administrative staff and faculty including the current Vice President of the College, are Christian.
At Central University which is a faith-based Christian university, there is a five per cent Muslim student population, which shot up to seven per cent in the 2016 admission of fresh students this year. Of the fresh Muslims students, some of them came to Central through Christian high schools, and got used to adjusting to a new religious environment prior to enrolling in a Christian tertiary institution. In none of these institutions have outbreaks of religious conflict been recorded, and minority students have complied with laid down regulations.
Plurality
The admission of students of different religious backgrounds within missionary settings should not be surprising, since the choice of schools appears to be driven by factors other than religion, and in any case the content of the educational curricular is almost completely secular.
Religious pluralism in schools, where carefully handled, often helps students to adjust to other religions. The peaceful co-existence tends to produce open-minded graduates with abundant tolerance for different others. They cultivate openness and religious tolerance which can be effectively harnessed for peace making and national development.
The potential for conflicts in general, however, has always loomed at the national level, but has been largely nipped by civil society interventions, as well as carefully constituted national bodies that act in advisory capacities to governments. I refer to bodies like the National Peace Council, the Council of State, and related constitutional organs, made up of experienced men and women, who bring their vast knowledge and experience to bear, to diffuse volatile situations in the country.
Let me cite the example of the 13-member National Peace Council, which is almost entirely constituted by religious groups: one representative each from 5 Christian bodies, one each from 3 Muslim groups, a retired pastor, one devotee of traditional religion, a representative of the President, and representative of a known NGO specialising in peace.
The breadth of representation, enables the various shades of religious groupings to have their voices heard, and their impact felt in situations of conflict.
To be continued