AFRICAN
RELIGIONS




AFRICAN RELIGIONS

15 FACTS ON AFRICAN RELIGIONS

AFRICAN RELIGIONS LINKS



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SECTION 1



AFRICAN
RELIGIONS




In the religions of Africa, life does not end with death, but continues
inanother realm. The concepts of "life" and"death" are not mutually
exclusive concepts, and there areno clear dividing lines between them.
Human existence is a dynamic processinvolving the increase or decrease
of "power" or"life force," of "living" and"dying," and there are
different levels of life and death.Many African languages express the
fact that things are not going well,such as when there is sickness, in
the words "we are living alittle," meaning that the level of life is
very low. The African religions scholar Placide Tempels describes every
misfortune that Africansencounter as "a diminution of vital force."
Illness anddeath result from some outside agent, a person, thing, or
circumstancethat weakens people because the agent contains a greater
life force. Deathdoes not alter or end the life or the personality of
an individual, butonly causes a change in its conditions. This is
expressed in the conceptof "ancestors," people who have died but who
continue to"live" in the community and communicate with their families.



African Religions
http://www.deathreference.com/A-Bi/African-Religions.html



What Are
the Main
Religions in Africa?

https://www.reference.com/world-view/main-religions-africa-cab77768ae35ed94




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SECTION 2



15
FACTS ON
AFRICAN
RELIGIONS




African religions cover a diverse landscape of ethnic groups, languages,
cultures, and worldviews.

1. African traditional religion refers to the indigenous or autochthonous
religions of the African people. It deals with their cosmology, ritual
practices, symbols, arts, society, and so on. Because religion is a way of
life, it relates to culture and society as they affect the worldview of the
African people.

2. Traditional African religions are not stagnant but highly dynamic and
constantly reacting to various shifting influences such as old age,
modernity, and technological advances.

3. Traditional African religions are less of faith traditions and more of
lived traditions. They are less concerned with doctrines and much more so
with rituals, ceremonies, and lived practices.

4. When addressing religion in Africa, scholars often speak of a “triple
heritage,” that is the triple legacy of indigenous religion, Islam, and
Christianity that are often found side by side in many African societies.

5. While those who identify as practitioners of traditional African religions
are often in the minority, many who identify as Muslims or Christians are
involved in traditional religions to one degree or another.

6. Though many Africans have converted to Islam and Christianity, these religions
still inform the social, economic, and political life in African societies.

7. Traditional African religions have gone global! The Trans-Atlantic slave trade
led to the growth of African-inspired traditions in the Americas such as Candomblé
in Brazil, Santería in Cuba, or Vodun in Haïti. Furthermore, many in places like
the US and the UK have converted to various traditional African religions, and the
importance of the diaspora for these religions is growing rapidly. African religions
have also become a major attraction for those in the diaspora who travel to Africa
on pilgrimages because of the global reach of these traditions.

8. There are quite a number of revival groups and movements whose main aim is to ensure
that the tenants and practice of African indigenous religion that are threatened survive.
These can be found all over the Americas and Europe.

9. The concerns for health, wealth, and procreation are very central to the core of African
religions. That is why they have developed institutions for healing, for commerce, and for
the general well-being of their own practitioners and adherents of other religions as well.

10. Indigenous African religions are not based on conversion like Islam and Christianity.
They tend to propagate peaceful coexistence, and they promote good relations with members
of other religious traditions that surround them.

11. Today as a minority tradition, it has suffered immensely from human rights abuses.
This is based on misconceptions that these religions are antithetical to modernity.
Indeed indigenous African religions have provided the blueprint for robust conversations
and thinking about community relations, interfaith dialogue, civil society, and civil
religion.

12. Women play a key role in the practice of these traditions, and the internal gender
relations and dynamics are very profound. There are many female goddesses along with
their male counterparts. There are female priestesses, diviners, and other figures, and
many feminist scholars have drawn from these traditions to advocate for women’s rights
and the place of the feminine in African societies. The traditional approach of indigenous
African religions to gender is one of complementarity in which a confluence of male and
female forces must operate in harmony.

13. Indigenous African religions contain a great deal of wisdom and insight on how human
beings can best live within and interact with the environment. Given our current impending
ecological crisis, indigenous African religions have a great deal to offer both African
countries and the world at large.

14. African indigenous religions provide strong linkages between the life of humans and the
world of the ancestors. Humans are thus able to maintain constant and symbiotic relations
with their ancestors who are understood to be intimately concerned and involved in their
descendants’ everyday affairs.

15. Unlike other world religions that have written scriptures, oral sources form the core
of indigenous African religions. These oral sources are intricately interwoven into arts,
political and social structure, and material culture. The oral nature of these traditions
allows for a great deal of adaptability and variation within and between indigenous African
religions. At the same time, forms of orature – such as the Ifa tradition amongst the Yoruba
can form important sources for understanding the tenants and worldview of these religions
that can serve as analogs to scriptures such as the Bible or the Qur’an.



15 facts on African religions
https://blog.oup.com/2014/05/15-facts-on-african-religions/



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Religion
In
Africa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Africa




Traditional
African
Religions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_African_religions




List of
major religions
in Africa

https://www.tuko.co.ke/304275-list-major-religions-africa.html




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SECTION 3



AFRICAN
RELIGIONS
LINKS




African Belief
http://www.africanbelief.com/

African Comparative Belief
http://www.africanbelief.com

African religions
https://www.britannica.com/topic/African-religions

African religions
http://www.africamissions.org/africa/african_religion.html

African Traditional Religion
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/index_section6.shtml

African Traditional Religion
https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/african-traditional-religion

African Traditional Religion
https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/african-traditional-religions

African Traditional Religion
http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/religion/african-traditional-religion.html

Afrika world.net
http://www.afrikaworld.net/afrel/

Baba Alawoye
http://www.alawoye.com

Text of Atoms and Ancestors
https://www.ucalgary.ca/%7Enurelweb/books/atoms/fred.html

Top 10 Most Popular Religions In Africa
https://www.pulse.ng/here-they-are-top-10-most-popular-religions-in-africa/33xzbrj

Traditional African Religious Beliefs and Practices
https://www.pewforum.org/2010/04/15/traditional-african-religious-beliefs-and-practices-islam-and-christianity-in-sub-saharan-africa/

Tutelary deities of the Akan people of West Africa
http://www.scn.org/rdi/kw-gods.htm



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The Collective Black People Movement (CBPM)
http://cbpm.org/index.html




TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE
https://kwekudee-tripdownmemorylane.blogspot.com/




Malawi Project
http://www.malawiproject.org/




Afro Kids
http://www.afrokids.com/




THE FREEMAN INSTITUTE
http://www.freemaninstitute.com/




Africa Resource
http://www.africaresource.com/




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Real History World Wide
http://www.realhistoryww.com/




History Facts/Science Facts - Quatr.us
http://quatr.us/




African-American Resources
http://www.ushistory.org/more/african-american.htm




African American Studies Library Research Guide
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~savega/aframer.htm




African Music Encyclopedia
http://africanmusic.org/




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AFROPEDEA
http://www.afropedia.org




World Afropedia
http://worldafropedia.com/afropedia/Main_Page




African Indigenous Science and Knowledge Systems
http://www.africahistory.net/




Natives Wiki
http://tribalspedia.wikia.com/wiki/Natives_Wiki




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Islamic Wiki
http://islam.wikia.com/




List of African
mythological figures

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_African_mythological_figures




Sexism
http://www.understandingprejudice.org/




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AFRICAN AMERICAN INDEX

AFRICAN AMERICAN LINKS

AFRICAN STUDY

AFRICAN SUB-INDEX

AFRO-LATIN AMERICAN

AFRO-LATIN AMERICAN RESOURCES

AFRICAN NATIVE AMERICAN

AFRICAN NATIVE AMERICANS RESOURCES

DIASPORA

DIASPORA RESOURCES

THE PARADOXICAL COMMANDMENTS


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