The Role of Religion in the Reviewing of the Tanzanian Constitution
Dr Sahaya G. Selvam, sdb
A talk given to the annual philosophical symposium of Moshi-Arusha on 2 Feb 2013
Abstract
Taking a perspective of the scientific study of religion, the paper lays the foundations for deriving the guiding principles for the involvement of religion in the review process of the Tanzanian constitutions. It discusses the following aspects: the interaction between the sacred and the secular in Africa; the type of religion that is suitable to create an authentic interaction between religion and society; and the nature of this interaction itself. Having delineated the basic principles, the paper concludes by briefly listing some possible contribution of religions to the constitution reviewing process in Tanzania.
The president of the Republic of Tanzania has constituted a commission of 30 members, representing different political parties, religious organizations, NGO’s and other interested parties, to review the Fourth Constitution. The […]
Varia
Varia
Do you wish to volunteer to help someone in the developing world?
Do you wish to volunteer to help someone in the developing world? – without going out of your home; without any risk; without giving out money?
Often scholars/students from the English-speaking developing world (especially India and East Africa) find it difficult to publish their academic works because English is not their first language. They need someone to correct their writings. Often valuable pieces of writings are lost because these writers simply lack the self-confidence to share their texts.
If only someone could correct their English and give an international opinion! Are you willing to offer your time to this worthy cause? You don’t need to be trained in copy-editing. If you are a native English speaker and have had some experience in dealing with texts, you could be of great help. This is not a full time task at all. If you choose to help you will be put in contact with […]
Open Access Journals
HERE ARE SOME LINKS TO JOURNALS THAT OFFER OPEN ACCESS
Click on titles below:
Directory of Open-Access Journals
International Association for Media and Communication Research
Peer-reviewed Open-access Journals
Journals on Education
MY FAVOURITES:
African Journals Online
Journal of Religion and Society
Relegare: Studies in Religion and Reception
If you are aware of other links. Please email me through the profile page.
MORE TO COME …
African Worldview
THE AFRICAN ANSWER TO
THE QUESTION OF ULTIMATE REALITY:
THE VITAL FORCE.
Sahaya G. Selvam
0. INTRODUCTION
Simply put, the fundamental question in philosophy is, what is the ultimate reality?
The Eastern religions, the earliest sources in the known human history to answer this question, were mystical in their approach. They gave different names to this “ultimate reality which underlies and unifies the multiple things of events” of the universe. The Chinese called it Tao, the Hindus, Brahman and the Buddhists called it Dhamma.
Judaism might have been the first well-known religion to give a personal dimension to this ultimate reality, though without giving a definite name. They calledHim, YHWH, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Joseph. Later Christianity would be born out of the fact that this “God” would even take a human form.
The early Greek philosophers of the Ionian school were too concerned with the material cosmos and they began their philosophical search with the question: What is the world stuff? Their […]
An African Epistemology
The Multiplicity of Truth :
An inquiry into African Epistemology
In this brief article I would like to reflect on how the African people look at truth. (I am grateful to my friend Babu Ayindo. A conversation with him has been the real confirmation of my own postulations. Some of the examples used here are his too.) The concept of truth is based on a metaphysics – a way of interpreting reality. Thirdly, it has its implications on ethics.
I would like to speak of these three aspects in the following theses:
1: A ‘Yes’ may mean a ‘No’.
2: The different aspects of reality are not contradictory but only complementary.
3: That is good which simply preserves relationships.
I noticed that in stating these theses I had to be extra careful to state them without absolutizing them – in the African way. Therefore, I notice that English being a non-African language has its limitation in expressing […]