Britain International of Humanities and Social Sciences (BIoHS) Journal

The Absolutization of the Proximate: Religious Institutions, Functional Idols, and the Structural Roots of Global Crisis

Syarifuddin — 2026-11-04

This review article develops a critical framework for understanding the structural role of religious, secular, and technological institutions in contemporary global crises. It argues that the fundamental issue is not belief in God, but the absolutization of the proximate: the structural tendency within human institutions to grant ultimate status to finite entities such as institutional authority, doctrinal boundaries, leaders, nations, and algorithmic systems. Synthesizing theological and sociological insights, the article demonstrates how these "functional idols" displace the transcendent center, generating systemic division, performative compliance, and control. Drawing on a comparative analysis of Christian and Islamic traditions, the review applies a three-part diagnostic test evaluating the nature of institutional conditions (ethical-transformative versus performative-loyalty), the underlying interests served (mission versus institutional self-preservation), and the empirical fruits of human flourishing versus fear. The analysis further examines how this structural displacement intensifies political, economic, ecological, and psychological crises. Extending the framework to the digital age, the article demonstrates that artificial intelligence and algorithmic curation replicate these dynamics. AI systems perform god-like attributes, omniscience through data collection, judgment through curation, and loyalty through engagement metrics; thereby becoming functional idols. This algorithmic absolutization reduces the human person to "optimized data," fosters echo chambers, and encourages panoptic surveillance and digital tribalism. The review reveals that while institutions are uniquely vulnerable to this idolatry, they also contain internal scriptural and prophetic resources to resist it. To interrupt the cycle of self-absolutization across all domains, religious, political, economic, and digital; the article proposes four structural remedies: institutional accountability, the rigorous protection of freedom of conscience, structural room for prophetic critique, and the recognition of the human being as an end rather than an institutional instrument. Ultimately, resolving these interconnected global crises requires an architectural reorientation. The article concludes that institutional structures must remain servants of the transcendent, ensuring that human spiritual, moral, and intellectual development becomes the fundamental metric of institutional success. The world does not need a new religion; it needs the continuous courage to ask, within every institution and technological system, whether its operative center is the ultimate or merely the proximate.

Social Media Advocacy on Anti-Bullying Campaign: A Study of the Students of Caleb University, Imota, Lagos State

Atinuke Olubukade Akintayo — 2026-11-06

This study examined the influence of social media advocacy on anti-bullying campaigns among undergraduate students in the College of Computing and Information Sciences (COCIS), Caleb University. The study was motivated by the increasing prevalence of bullying and cyberbullying among students and the growing use of social media as a platform for creating awareness, encouraging positive behavioural change, and promoting anti-bullying initiatives. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The target population comprised 2,300 undergraduate students in the College of Computing and Information Sciences, Caleb University. Using the Taro Yamane sample size determination formula at a 95% confidence level and a 5% margin of error, a sample size of 340 respondents was obtained. A simple random sampling technique was employed to ensure that every student had an equal opportunity of participating in the study. Data were collected using structured questionnaires administered electronically through Google Forms and supported with in-depth telephone interviews to obtain qualitative insights. The validity of the research instrument was established through expert review, while data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Descriptive statistics and appropriate inferential statistical techniques were used to analyse the quantitative data, while thematic analysis was employed for the interview responses. The study reveal that social media advocacy plays a significant role in increasing awareness of bullying issues, promoting positive attitudes towards anti-bullying initiatives, encouraging students to report bullying incidents, and supporting behavioural change among students. The study concludes that effective and well-coordinated social media advocacy has the potential to complement conventional anti-bullying interventions and recommends greater collaboration among schools, government agencies, social media organisations, and other stakeholders to maximise the effectiveness of anti-bullying campaigns.

Media Campaigns and Behaviour Change in Breast Cancer Prevention among Women in Epe Local Government Area, Lagos State

Chinelo Ebele Uchendu — 2026-11-07

This paper investigated the influence of media campaigns on behaviour change in breast cancer prevention among women in Epe Local Government Area of Lagos State. The paper also examined the level of awareness and knowledge of breast cancer prevention and identified factors limiting the effectiveness of the campaigns. A mixed-methods research design was adopted, involving a survey research method and Focus Group Discussion with 27 participants. A sample sizes of 391 respondents was purposively selected using multi-stage sampling technique. The first stage involved purposive selection of three wards in Epe Local Government Area based on their different levels of access to radio broadcast signals and population density to assure representation of both urban and semi-rural areas of the Local Government Area. In the second stage, streets and clusters of households in the selected wards were sampled systematically. Every third household was selected as a sampling point. In the third stage, a simple random sampling technique was adopted and one adult woman per selected households, aged 18 years and above and who are residents in the area and who fulfill the inclusion criteria, was selected through balloting technique, for the period of six months (February-July 2026).