"Nothing wrong with Christian schools teaching about Islam" - Presbyterian pastor says

Minister-in-Charge of the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, Ikeja Parish, Umah Onwunta, has stated that he sees nothing wrong in Christian faith-based institutions teaching about the Islamic faith.

Reverend Onwunta added that some knowledge of other religious faiths will enable Christians who want to minister to people know about their beliefs so as to be effective ministers of God.

According to him, “when you leave the institution, you are not going to live in a world that is just full of Christians. You will live in a world where there are Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and other forms of religions.

“I don’t see any religion that teaches disrespect to elders and everyone would want to protect his faith and dogmas. The essence of teaching children moral instruction or religious study is to help them know how to respect others when they go outside. We have to teach them about the church they belong to because they have to be proud of themselves,” he added.

Dr. Onwunta, is the Proprietor of Presbyterian Church Nursery and Primary School, Yakoyo, Ogun State.

He argued that though he was not opposed to same sex school wants religious studies to be taught in such a way that it will not be indoctrination to children.

Responding to questions on the issue of fallen societal values and moral standard in the society, the former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church Synod attributed the challenge of moral decadence to the changing value system and that the home, church and the larger society have various roles to play.

“The issue of moral decadence is not one person’s problem. We all share in the problem right from the home, to the school to the church and to the larger society. To find a solution to the problem everybody must be involved,” he added.

Blaming parents for low moral values among children in the country he added: “Right from the time of delivery, the mother is there to nurture the baby until the baby is weaned. What are we teaching our children today? Parents don’t spend time again to know what is happening in the lives of their children. These we have all abandon to chase after money, money and money with less emphasis on the children.

“We should understand that something is wrong somewhere. We have been doing something but not much,” he advised.

He described persons and teachers who sexually abuse children and students entrusted to their care as morally bankrupt, contending that a situation where indiscipline is prevalent in the education sector has created a huge challenge for the society.

Proud of his exposure to both secular and faith based education, he encouraged pastors to seek for opportunity to study in circular institutions, contending that when they speak it is with background information and knowledge.