Fr Humphrey Tatah Mbuy
This topic is based on two assumptions - first, that we have a functional educational system in the country and second, that within this system we see a need for associating Religion and Morality. As to whether we have a functional educational system or not, is a polemic I would like to surrender to educational experts and analysts.
As to whether Religion and Morality should be associated within this "educational system" is the prompting of this Paper. Our concern will be to show that there can be no valuable educational system in the world which excludes Religion and Morality. We shall do this by examining four important facts.
First, that in the particular situation of Cameroon, we live in a plural society which is constitutionally secular. Therefore no one Religion has a right to singular national consideration.
Second, scholars have for long debated as to whether Religion and Morality are one and the same thing. The question is often asked: Can we have Morality without Religion and vice versa? The third consideration would be to examine Religious Studies as an academic subject of its own right, in Cameroon.
Official Government pronouncements does not seem to recognise this subject as such. Hence an attempt has been made to include aspects of Morality into Citizenship Education which is officially recognised as a subject on the school curriculum.
Our last concern is therefore to critically examine what is included in Citizenship Education and show whether or not it resolves the problem of Religious Studies as an academic subject in Cameroon.
Religious Pluralism in Cameroon Contemporary Cameroon is a country of mixed Religions, each contesting for supremacy and recognition. Numerically, the most influential of these contestants are African Traditional Religion, Christianity and Islam. But there are also pockets of adherents to Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism and other Eastern religions. Then there is also a flourishing number of Sects, Cults and New Religious Movements.
Generally, Religious Pluralism opens a new chapter in the history of Religion and poses complex questions. In the first place, when we talk of Religious Pluralism, are we talking here about a plurality of different religions or are we concerned about a plurality of different ways of expressing religion?
If we accept that Religion is a profound, spiritual and personal expression of authentic humanity and a response to the Ultimate Divine Reality, then there can only be one such Supreme or Ultimate Reality and consequently one belief manifested in different ways. In which case Religious Pluralism would refer to different ways of manifesting the same belief.
If, however, we consider Religion as essentially a manifestation of belief, and we put the stress on "manifestation" then obviously there are a plurality of manifestations and consequently a multitude of Religions. Religious Pluralism would therefore mean the plurality of "beliefs" of different peoples.
These views are relevant to the Cameroonian situation. But modern scholars of the Anthropology of Religion agree today that "Religious Pluralism" no longer suggests opposition and conflict but call for dialogue and understanding.
All religions are expressions and responses of human authenticity to divine transcendence and reality taking form within the contexts of different historical traditions. ATR, Christianity and Islam distinguish themselves as the three most influential religions in Cameroon. ATR is the " grammar of existence" of the people, but some of the educated elite and most of the clergy consider it inferior.
Christianity on the other hand, is numerically strong and has a firm grip on most of the country. But a good number of Christians are nominal and live a double-life with one foot in traditional religion and another in the Christian Church. Islam is more of a recent impulse in contemporary Cameroon but a force that is gradually making serious in-routes into all provinces of Cameroon.
Some misconceptions about Religious Studies
Although the Cameroon General Certificate of Examinations Board (CGCEB) considers and examines Religious Studies as an academic subject, the Cameroon Government has as yet to recognise this subject.
It has become a popular Government-sponsored media chorus to advertise for people qualified in "so many Papers at the Ordinary or A/Levels EXCLUDING Religious Studies". Whether this is done out of ignorance or sheer bad will, there have been two apparently serious reasons advanced as to why Religious Studies are not considered of any academic consequence by the Government of Cameroon.
Some argue that Cameroon is constitutionally a secular country and therefore owes no affiliation to any religion. Others go further to indicate that there are so many shades and expression of "Religion" in Cameroon today that it would be impossible to do justice to all. Let us briefly take the two views on board.
That Religious Studies should not be taught in a secular State?
Those who argue that Cameroon is a secular state want to put a particular stress on the word "secular". But "secular" does not, and cannot mean, "atheistic". Cameroon is a secular, but not an "atheistic" state!
When we say that a country is secular, we understand that it is not affiliated to any religion or Church; that there is a separation of powers between the Church and the State. In the Middle Ages this separation was not clear as the Church influenced a lot of decisions in the Roman Empire. The Gregorian reforms of the 12th century changed a lot and established a clear-cut separation of powers.
Today, the Vatican State is one of the few Religious States where the same power is exercised both over the Church and the State. Most of the other States in the world today are secular; so Cameroon is not a unique case. Yet in almost all of these states, even in the United States of America, Religious Studies is accepted as an academic subject.
So the argument based on the fact that Cameroon is a secular state has little or no precedence. Furthermore, every country in the world develops itself in deep fidelity to its socio-cultural legacy and background. The same authority in Cameroon which rejects Religious Studies, often refers proudly to Cameroon as "Africa in Miniature". "Africans are notoriously religious". They do not know how to exist without religion.
Religion is so pervasive that there is hardly any area of African life that is not touched by religion. In fact, Africans have such a deep religious view of life that most researchers consider this as the identity of Africa and Africans.
Therefore, any African state, Cameroon included, which deliberately rejects Religious Studies from its academic timetable, not only loses a crucial element of its academic identity, but it more seriously, offends and contradicts itself.
Furthermore, those who say that Religious Studies should be kept out of academics because Cameroon is a secular state, may not be aware that this is tantamount to a gross violation of the fundamental human right to freedom of expression. And Cameroon is a signatory to the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights and the African Charter!
The country cannot therefore continue to claim that it is a country of "law" while at the same time rejecting the right of its students to study the religious phenomenon in human life. Perhaps there are some Cameroonians who are atheist but the overwhelming majority of Cameroonians are "religious".
Therefore to deny to recognise the civic right of the majority to study an academic subject, violates against the basic democratic rules whereby the views of the majority count. That Morality is taught in all our schools: The issue of the direct link between morality and religion has been a great controversy among scholars.
While some see a necessary and inseparable link, others think otherwise and believe that one can still be morally upright without adhering to this or that religion. We do not have sufficient time to ignite the polemics right now.
Philosophers have attempted to determine goodness in conduct according to two chief principles, and have considered certain types of conduct either good in themselves or good because they conform to a particular moral standard. The former implies a final value, or Summum Bonum, which is desirable in itself and not merely as a means to an end.
The latter refers to various ethical standards. In the history of ethics there are three principal standards, each of which has been proposed as the highest good. The first is Happiness or Pleasure; the second is Duty or Obligation; while the third is Perfection or self-fulfillment - the fullest harmonious development of human potential.
Depending on the situation, the authority invoked for each good conduct can either be the Will of a Deity, the Pattern of Nature, or the Rule of Reason. When the Will of a Deity is the authority, obedience to the divine commandments in scriptural texts is the accepted standard of conduct.
If the Pattern of Nature is the authority, conformity to the qualities attributed to human nature ( for example "Humanism") is the standard. When Reason rules, behaviour is expected to result from rational thought. Some people implicitly or explicitly assume that the moral standards governing private life are irrelevant to public affairs.
The actions of nations and public officials are, they claim, exempt from the ordinary requirements of morality concerning killing, promise-keeping, and so on. For example, some legislators say: "I am personally opposed to abortion, but as a public official I must defend its legality and vote to fund abortions." But such a dichotomy is inadmissible.
Others insist that they can do good just because they like doing good without any reference to a God or deity or a religion. They are pure "humanists" who believe in goodness towards other human beings who are like themselves. They emphasise the dignity and worth of the individual.
A basic premise of humanism is that people are rational beings who possess within themselves the capacity for truth and goodness. The term humanism is often used to describe a literary and cultural movement that spread through western Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries.
This Renaissance revival of Greek and Roman studies emphasised the value of the classics for their own sake, rather than for their relevance to Christianity. However, whether one believes in religion or not; whether one wants to link morality with a religion or not, the fact remains that in our modern world, a moral norm applies to every action including the actions of nations and public officials.
There can be no better way to establish political life even on a truly human basis than by encouraging an inward sense of justice, of good will and of service to the common good. That is why the formation of good consciences is “conditio sine qua non” if political power is to achieve its purpose in a multi-party democracy.
The academic relevance of Religious Studies
Schoolmen often divide the academic world into Sciences, Arts and the Humanities. The humanities help us to better understand the human predicament. Behavioural psychologists say that the deepest level at which the human being operates is the religious.
Therefore, if we want to meet the real human person, we need to meet him at the religious level. This is the level at which the human being experiences "meaning" in life. Externally he realises that there are issues, riddles, facts and realities in life over which he has no control yet which control his life.
It is at this level that the human being comes into communion with the supernatural and the transcendent. Yet, religion is not an object with a single, fixed meaning, or even a zone with clear boundaries. It is an aspect of human experience that may intersect, incorporate, or transcend other aspects of life and society.
Religion is the sacred engagement with the deepest realities of human life- the spiritual. Religious Studies investigates this level of human experience and therefore, stands tall among all the humanities.
In fact, it is the one subject that should help us to understand and appreciate ourselves better. Unfortunately, contemporary humanity stands the risk of falling into meaninglessness because of the modern craze for material possession and positions.
Since so many are fighting hard to get these values, they hardly have time to think about the real purpose of education and life. And so a vacuum begins to develop quietly within until at some point, the vacuum becomes so big that it can no longer be ignored and these people begin to show stress symptoms.
A good number go to the gurus or seek some spiritualist; and that may explain, in part, the reason for the growing numbers of occult societies in the modern world. It was the ancient Greek Philosopher, Socrates who taught that the "Unexamined life is not worth living". We need to stop, think and take stock of our lives.
When we do this, we are bound to acknowledge and seek the transcendent and the absolute. And so a religious culture begins. Religion has evolved through several cultures and stages.
Qualification in Religious Studies in the modern job market
There are many people today with university degrees who are looking for employment. In some cases there are jobs available but the worry of many Business Administrators is to find qualified men and women of integrity. And these are not easy to come by in the Cameroon, even in the Africa, of today.
As the Duke of Wellington once said: "Educate people without Religion and you make them into clever devils". It is therefore a pity that while the world insists on the moral component of education, ours sees no value in Religious Studies.
The syllabus for Religious studies in Cameroon Religious Studies does not study this or that faith, for the sake of "evangelism" or proselytism. Rather, it studies this or that faith, as an approach to the religious phenomenon.
We have said this ad nauseam! Religious Studies as an academic subject at the Cameroon GCE is not as interested in Christianity, as it is towards Islam, African Traditional Religion, Buddhism, Judaism and any other world religion.
It neither discriminates against any nor adopts any. Religious Studies is an all embracing subject.
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