Traditional Religion and Moral Conscience

Abstract

The paper is concerned with traditional religion and moral conscience. It seeks to examine in what way(s) the traditional religion has contributed towards the building of moral conscience. Descriptive research method was adopted for the study. It was found that the traditional religion has contributed immensely towards the building of traditional Africans moral consciences by instilling in the religious adherents the fear of punishment by the spirit beings for any breach of the moral codes which are believed to be not mere human inventions but what have been sanctioned by the deities. It was also found that living a virtuous life is one of the greatest demands on the worshippers for becoming ancestors. The paper recommends that like traditional Africans, people should have objectives for living a moral life; that religious leaders should deemphasize prosperity and emphasize holiness for increasing moral conducts in the society. It concludes that there is a correlation between the traditional religion and moral conscience.