Freedom of Worship: Interpreting Joshua 24:1-28 in African-Igbo Traditional Religious Context

The news media are often replete with sad stories of religious intolerance, with some gory pictures of the victims thereof. In Joshua 24:1-28, the Israelites were asked by Joshua to choose whom they would like to serve. It smacks of religious freedom. Using the text as a theological fulcrum, this study emphasises the fundamental human right of freedom of worship in the context of the religious freedom embedded African-Igbo religious tradition. Given the diverse religious views in the world, it is dialogue and mutual respect which would make religious peace possible. Bad religious leaders and teachers mislead their adherents to do violent and bloody proselytization. But people should not be held under duress to accept a particular religious idea or to adhere to a particular group of worshippers, sometimes with only one alternative, that is death! Indeed, every religion should recommend itself by the amount of love and peace it engenders in the world.