An Ethical Reflection on Religion as the Voice of the Voiceless in the emerging New World Order in Africa.

Religion is becoming the voice of the voiceless in Africa today because it talks about human dignity. It says that human beings were created in the image of God, (Gen. 1:27) therefore, they ought to live in accordance with this. Human beings can only do this if they are guided by religious ethics which deals with things Paul says: “What eye has not seen and ear has not heard, ” (1 Cor. 2: 9). Religious Ethics interprets the world with the eye of faith, with a spiritual touch, that is beyond the understanding of human beings. The guiding principle of a religious ethicist is: “do good and avoid evil at all times, ” that is following in the footsteps of God who is Holy and perfect. Jesus teaches his follows that they should be holy. He tells his followers to be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect (Mt. 5: 48). As such a person following this tries to live, behave and act like a child of God. Many times human beings find that the voice of religion has been dwarf by different things- which Jesus calls the worries of this world (Mat. 13:22), such as new technologies, multi-national co-operations, greed for riches, corruption, illiteracy and poverty especially in Africa, and sometimes laziness. Contrary to this, Religious Ethics talks about virtuous living which enables a person to behave according to the community of believers. It talks about righteous behavior such as practicing justice, peace and love. Jesus teaches his followers in the Beatitudes that “Blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart and the peace-makers for they shall inherit the Kingdom of God, (Mt. 5: 3-10). In addition to this, Paul in his letter to th