RELIGION UNDER SIEGE? ANY WAY OUT?- BY DR MUSTAPHA ADEBAYO BELLO

“None will reflect except People of Understanding”

For the increasing materialistic nature of our world, no thanks to the unending inequalities in life occasioned by failure of governance and lack of institutional support to cushion the effect of economic meltdown on the poor and the vulnerable, the modern man is beginning to lose hope in everything that is sane and trusting more his beastly instincts to solve many problems confronting him. The unrestrained oscillation between humanness and crudeness has not spared the religious institutions to the extent that hardly do people now close their eyes when being prayed for because of unpalatable experience of others who have met their waterloo in the hands of religious clerics. Human trust in God which is a function of how trustworthy people working in the temple of God are is gradually waning not because anything has changed about God but because of the irreligiosity of men and women in cassock and other kinds of religious robes. The simple logic here is that human trust in what they see (in their religious clerics) often reinforces their trust in what they cannot see (God). Many of the cases of ritual killing, advanced fee fraud, self-induced kidnapping and celebrated sex scandals bear the imprint of religion. How many homes are being destroyed, married women being slept with, under-aged being defiled, tithes and Zakat being looted, abortions procured and lives cut short by perverted humans under the guise of religion? Religion has also largely failed in preventing our children from growing up to become delinquent adults, Marlians and non-conformist.

More and more people are been wittingly and unwittingly thrown into the camp of the Devil that it now seems that the forces of evil is ruling the world. Membership of secret cults which are considered obnoxious in the past are now being publicly embraced and celebrated by adherents of Christianity and Islam as one of the signposts of societal belongingness. Not much of difference is discernible amongst Alfa, Alufa and Babalawo as they often cooperate not just privately but now publicly as partners in sin and crime. Many now openly challenge God as they vent their annoyance on the Creator over the manifest sacrilegious conducts of those who have chosen Him as their Principal. This preponderance of evil aided by the increasing involvement of religious clerics often as master minds in crimes is making nonsense of the preaching of the righteous amongst them so much so that any call to sane behavior is considered a fable only deserving to be ditched out from the pulpits to the unexposed and uncivilized. In essence,the thriving of evil is the frustration of the few good people around. The frustration is further aggravated by the absence of cohesion amongst these righteous religious clerics as their redemptive efforts are bugged down by theological infighting, hair splitting arguments and frivolous contestation over methodology. While the evil religious clerics seem to be collaborating, the righteous ones are not closing ranks at all on the basis of religious exclusivity. Salvation is being sold as an exclusive commodity under the exclusive rights of individual creed or sect without any option of franchise to any other creed or sect. On the economic and political spheres, religion is perceived more as hindrance and problem rather than panacea to many problems confronting modern man. The Bible and the Qur’an have been reduced to mere books of liturgy than guidance. Truly, religion is under siege! But the fear as regards whether it would go down thereby turning the world into a godless space does not exist because it is a living force with divine inbuilt mechanism for regeneration. However, the same cannot be said about those who subscribe to the institution whether as leaders, clerics, followers and adherents. As many of them who belie their callings, orientation and education and consequently side with evil will continue to get submerged and washed away by the ferocious ocean of the Devil. 

As for those conscientious minds who are concerned about the fortunes of religion, there is an urgent need to join the advocacy to compel the umbrella bodies of religion in Nigeria to urgently commence the process of self-regulation and self-censorship. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and similar bodies should as a matter of policy focus more on cleansing their rank and file of many misfits and wolves in sheep garment constantly desecrating the Holy Name of God. Doing this through well thought out policies which largely separate the wheat from the shaft would be more rewarding to all and sundry and serving the objective of national development rather than the current engagement in political fisticuffs to serve sectional parochial interests. Also, Government at different levels cannot fold its hands and watching its citizens swindled and butchered to death under the guise of religion. To this end, each religious outlet no matter how remote in different nooks and crannies of the country must be identified and enumerated not for the purpose of taxation but for the objective of identification and monitoring. Same for individuals who parade themselves as clerics of different religious traditions. This should not be difficult for State Ministries of Home Affairs and Local Government authorities to achieve. None would ponder over this except those with understanding!

© IMAM MUSTAPHA ADEBAYO BELLO (PhD)

DIRECTOR, CENTRE FOR THEOLOGY AND SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE 

- Nigeria