Moral principles are ideals that we try to follow in our attempt to live right and be good people, instead of bad. Some common examples of moral principles are honesty, respect, and kindness. If I accept these principles as worthy of guiding my life, then I try to be honest with people, show respect for them, and be kind to them. Most of us have some moral principles whether we know it or not. For example, if someone does something really nice for us, most of us will feel good and say thank you. This is the principle of gratitude, which we may have without really thinking about it. But not everyone has a well-thought-out system of morals. One common approach today is when people just do just about whatever they feel like doing at the moment. Some people avoid having many moral principles so that they feel better about this approach to live. Others may have some principles and use some restraint instead of doing whatever they feel like. Others still may have some principles but go against them whenever they really want to do something would violate them.
Published in Chapter:
The Christian Perspective on Worldly Practices in 21st Century Nigeria
Julius Oluwole Adesina (Kwara State University, Malete, Nigeria)
Copyright: © 2021
|Pages: 14
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-4595-9.ch009
Abstract
Worldly practices, in Christian thought, would mean acts considered inappropriate, in that they suck Christians in by things that are harmful to their spiritual lives or cause another to stumble. This challenge is exacerbated by globalization and explains the paradox and dilemma of Christians in the rapidly advancing world. It is this that this chapter investigates in 21st century Nigeria. The work aims at situating Christians as responsible members of the global community freely expressing their fundamental human rights without infringing on the right of others. To achieve this, the chapter utilizes the phenomenological and sociological methods. The chapter discovers that most Nigerians hinging on the freedom platforms provided by the exercise of fundamental human rights show great preference for worldly practices, which is at variance with normal regulations of religion. The chapter recommends a synergetic approach of major faiths in Nigeria for an articulation of moral/spiritual codes, adopted from existing ethical windows for a fresh national moral rebirth and cohesion.