Rel 133: Elements Of Religious Traditions

Elements of Religious Traditions Paper University of Phoenix
World Religious Traditions 1
Rel/133
Dr. Jocelyn Thornton
April 27, 2011

This paper is intended to show how religion is perceived to have several common elements but in essence that is not a true statement based on the terminology used to describe “religious practices”. People believe that typically religions have overlapping themes such as: higher powers to worship, followers, codes of conduct or morals, and a place of worship, however not all do. Because the term religion arose in western society it mainly only focuses on western culture and may not fully encompass the beliefs of different cultures in other parts of
Chukwu is the infinitely powerful, indefinable, absolute supreme deity encompassing everything in space and space itself, in traditional Igbo spiritual belief system and Igbo mythology. Opposing this force for good is agbara, meaning spirit or natural being. Some of the people may be referred to as agbara in describing an almost impossible feat performed by them. Bekee wu agbara is another way of saying the white man is spirit. This is usually in amazement at the scientific inventions of the white man. Apart from the natural level of the universe, they also believe this it exists on another level that of spiritual forces, the alusi. The alusi are deities are forces for blessings or destruction, depending on the circumstances. The Igbo religious belief led them to kill those that might be shameful to the tribe. Social offences and unwittingly infringed privileges are punished. The Igbo people believe it is impossible for humans to conceive of the unlimited power of
Ibos live in villages that have anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand people comprised of numerous extended families. A very interesting thing about these villages is that there is no single ruler or king that controls the population. Decisions are made by including almost everyone in the village. There are established institutions such as a council of elders, a council of chiefs, the woman’s associations, and secret societies. The Ibos simultaneously emphasize individual actions and community living. The Igbo have developed elaborate masks for use in religious dances and masquerades.

The language of the Ibos is very interesting. It is derived from a group of languages commonly found in West Africa, the Kwa languages. It is based a lot on pitch, vocal inflections, and context when defining the meaning of a word. A single word can have numerous meanings depending on these factors. Idioms and proverbs play an important role in the Ibo language. Someone who does not use them in speech is considered a novice at speaking the