When i heard a mind blowing song of one of the off springs of popular Reggae legend Bob Marley of blessed memory, "Love is my religion" by Ziggy Marley, i bonded with Reggae music even much more than ever before.
Both the rhythm and content of the song literally reached out to my soul, spurring me to not only reminisce on my experiences when it comes down to love shared between i and my fellow brethren, but to also do a brisk mind survey of love between people in general. Unfortunately however, in as much as religion is welcome to stay, we not being able to understand it has left us bewildered as to weather it's merits outweigh it's downsides.
"Nature abhors a vacuum"...Aristotle.
Aristotle believed that nature required every space to be filled up with something, even if that thing is colourless or odourless air.
We put in our best efforts to defeat our worst habits.
Apparently, there actually exist a justification to the saying that "An idle mind is the devil's workshop" and being religious, for extremely cautious minds is an alibi to be out-rightly passionate and enthusiastically over the board to motivate a people to hold tightly to a faith which has now become sensitive to publicly talk about or criticize.
"When the missionaries came to Africa, they had the Bible and we had the land. They said 'Let us pray', we closed our eyes. When we opened them, we had the Bible, they had the land"...Desmond Tutu.
From the history of the introduction of religion into Africa, criticisms have trailed the entire process which claimed that the foreigners greatly exploited the black continent.
It is funny that more than half of the population that so passionately clamour for the excesses of religion happen to be ignorant of the history behind it.
"Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words"...Francis of Assisi.
In Africa for instance, how many people do take time out to vigorously research the state of things before and after the advent of religion?
What if a group of people that dominated the scene at a time decided to silence the weak minority in order to propel a conspiracy into the future, making their own beliefs prevail for the gullible unborn to voraciously and blindly feast upon, i am just saying, who knows?
For instance, how many people are aware of the "39 Articles of religion" an essential belief of Anglican Church codified? which were established by a convocation of the church in 1563.
Which people apart from philosophers and students of classical studies have dug back in time to seek clarity over the controversy behind the clash of Christianity and science and the participation of Constantine, King James and the likes?
If we do not have these information, then perhaps we are not different from the sheep being led to slaughter.
Religion or the misunderstanding of same has been known in history to tear up families, rip apart friends and dismantled the very core of the existence of peaceful mankind.
We have become holier than thou, helping God get rid of the sinners, casting the stones at our fellow brothers like we are any better than the devil himself.
"It is wonderful how much time good people spend fighting the devil, if they will only expend the same amount of energy loving their own fellow men, the devil would die in his own track of ennui"...Helen Keller.
Sometimes i wonder, is it that we are ignorant, or we are just comfortable with letting the foot prints of the human race become a sign of havoc and making environmental degradation be our lasting legacy?
Our environment has become the kind that we are scared to criticize, not only due to fear of the unknown, but because of the space it will take in our minds and the impact it will make on our conscience which is ruled and misguided by prevailing unethical acts of our so called 'leaders' in all sectors.
Due to corruption and mediocrity weighing on the national system, places of worship are being built in areas that were not zoned for the purpose, conflicting with the living standards of residents, and they are cast down as sinners when they make complaints of not enjoying the quietness the area was zoned for.
There is high rate of employment and the major solace of the unemployed is the religious body that openly emphasizes the imperatives of financial commitment, with the spiritual leaders living the first class life, with their influence growing massively in our homes.
See? it is difficult to talk about it already, but the moment we constructively criticize these occurrences, perhaps we can chart a clear headway.
It is clearly reasonable to appreciate the positive impact of religious bodies, for instance of course as Catholic, Methodist and the likes blaze the trail, bringing education and healthcare freely into Africa.
Religion is a very powerful bond which strongly holds together those that share a common faith, so much that when it gets a hold of you, depending on the strength of the fibers of your conscience, it can make or mar you, leaving you reasonable or defensively fanatic so much that you will probably become a fuse waiting to go off in just a matter of time.
It is however unarguable that some religious bodies have ulterior motives of milking the innocent public, making them amass huge amount of wealth, so much that it is mismanaged and not accounted for, while poverty still comfortably and violently rages the land, therefore giving us a second thought as to whether these role models of faith qualify to be our guardians. .
"I like your Christ, i do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ"...Mahatma Gandhi.
Thank you.
Akin Abimbola. (akinzogee@gmail.com)
SOURCES: Google
Our Daily Bread
Brainy Quote
Britain Express
Wikipedia
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