II. HUMAN DIGNITY IN WORSHIP

The dignity of the human person is also identifiable in an insatiable desire to worship.

Mbiti has rightly observed that African peoples do not know how to exist without religion.(12) Adasu also observes that the Secretariat for Non-Christian Religions has acknowledged that African religion impregnates the whole life of the community. The day begins and ends with ritualism. All life bears the sign of transcendence and African life has developed a human personality, the spiritual dimension of which assists each one to respond to the noblest aspirations - aspirations that are religious, intellectual and artistic. (13).

Wherever the African is, there is religion and its morals. For the African, the human person is a religious being. (14) This value gives the human person a high dignity. The poorest person is, therefore, rich in nobility as a religious being. This dignity may not provide material wealth, but the African is satisfied with it because it gives hope and a reason for living. As Parrinder puts it,

Man lives in a moral society and his behaviour is prescribed by relationships. Morality is the mores, the manners and the customs of society.(15)

Religion, which gives the African morality, is part and parcel of African customs and traditions, African life. They do not need to put them down in scripture or in texts or as tenets. (16) Each one is aware of all the elements of religion and worship. God, spirits, and the divinities are part of the body of beliefs. To take part in community worship is to have life, for that is what gives the human person dignity precisely as human. In relating with God, who is always the first and the last, Africans do not neglect the lesser spirit beings, without whom their interactions may not be complete. Above all, these spirit beings exist because humanity exists. Any deity that humanity discards ceases to exist. They are messengers of God for the benefit of humankind.

The lgbos of Nigeria believe that God pays attention to every individual at all times. Thus the individual directs prayers, sacrifices, rituals, offerings etc. to God in the manner of worship and incorporates God's name into the names given to children. Theophorous names include Chinomso (God is close by me), Chukwudi (God is), Chika (God is the greatest), Chidimma (God is good), lzuchukwu (God's plan), lwuchukwu (God's laws), etc. Because God is the final arbiter and judge to the lgbo, God's name is used in blessings, oaths and curses, and it also features in songs, and greetings.

The high point of the lgbo concept of human dignity manifested in worship is, perhaps, the reverencing of the ndichie (ancestor). An ancestor is a male person who lived a good life, had offspring, died a good and natural death at a good old age. Such a person is ushered into the ancestral world through funeral rituals and is again reincorporated into the family of his children through the setting up of a shrine for him. It is in this shrine that he is reverenced or worshipped. His presence is felt at all times as he is considered to be part and parcel of the families of his living children. Above all everybody is regarded as the reincarnation of an ancestor, a belief that accords everyone the highest dignity.

Finally, the traditional African allows individual determination of worship expression. No converts are made. There is no mission or evangelism to win people over to the traditional faith.

This also is a recognition of the dignity given in creation. Everyone has the right to religious self-expression.

12. J.S. Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy (London: Heinmann 1969) 3ff.

13. M.O. Adasu, Understanding African Traditional Religion, Part One (Dorset: Dorset Pub. Co. 1985) 18 citing Non-Christians Secretariatus Meeting The African Religions (Roma: n.p. 1969) 3f.

14. Adasu, African Traditional Religion, 18.

15. E.G. Parrinder, Religion In Africa (London: Penguin 1969) 89.

16. An Ashanti proverb says that everyone knows of God's existence by instinct and even children know him. See Mbiti, op.cit., 29.