Religion is almost like a “cloth” as opposed to an “embedment” in our DNA. We take it off and wear it as often as it pleases us in hypocrisy though. In the end, we achieve the aim of being identified as believing in something so we aren’t considered to be without belief. Those moments where we display our true nature when we curse, take bribes, cheat and hurt a fellow man, engage in vices that are detrimental to the livelihood of others. Those are the moments when we are truly “naked” and have this “cloth” in a hanger.
Okusanya Afolarin.T
One area I had always refrained from writing or commenting on had always been issues with religious inclinations. There is no gainsaying stating why, as it is obvious how sacred and sacrosanct such issues tends to be and the emotions it arouses. We are a bunch of people who follows majorly two kinds of religious beliefs….Christianity and Islam. Though we believe in the existence and doctrines of our supreme most high, we have diverse and varying interpretations of our holy books which are meant to be our template and guide.
Yesterday morning, a colleague of mine uploaded a picture to a group I belong to on whatsapp. A Muslim man (an Arab) in explaining why women are not allowed to drive had written via his twitter account “When a woman is driving, she is exposed to vibrations, this shakes her vagina, she will feel sexual euphoria and this is Haram”. No sooner had he posted it than he was met with torrential display of emotions and sentiments. Some, although not so stated were convinced the uploaded picture had the colouration of blasphemy. Some, in their own wise thinking saw it to be a mockery of the tenets and dictates of their faith. They resorted to asking what his motives or antics were while another simply advised his co-believers to ignore perhaps the “pagans” pointing out that what guides us are different.
I had hoped someone with a good understanding of the Quran was going to douse this misgiving, if it was but it never happened. Instead, I was told to behave with wisdom when I canvassed that an explanation would have best been appropriate on the lingering issue. Need I say I wasn’t a bit amazed by the vein address I later got which did nothing but compound the mystery. What better way do you enlighten an “ignorant” mind than to shed intellectual light on the “myth” rather than sentimentally play the victim. Religious issues irks us and often makes us livid. It is as though certain people thrives on the illusion that they have monopoly of rage and on a larger scale, violence.
The whole episode only brought to the fore how we have made the teachings of the holy books subjective. Now I wouldn’t know the Quran’s stance on that issue but I want to assume it to be perhaps false and nothing but just a fallacious statement by an individual. It affirmed my perception that, in our mind we interpret the true messages of the holy books as we deem fit, hence the diverse and varying interpretations of the books.
Looking generally at this discrepancies, it isn’t uncommon to have different interpretations of the Bible from person to person. Same goes for what we perceive to be rules, the do’s and don’t’s. In actual fact, Christianity is worst off in this regard. There has been a strong deviation from what would Jesus do OR what does the Bible say and instead an inclination to what our church leader does or says without verifying from the Bible especially if it sounds odd. Most of us uses our “spiritual” leaders as template in practicing our faith. I often do hear “My pastor says this…..My pastor says that” and not the Bible says this. Number of churches is almost as many as number of schools if they haven’t surpassed them with each founder having his own template of how Christianity should be practiced in ways, dealings, clothing specifications, what you eat, appearance just to mention a few. If I start a church today and declare that every member should henceforth keep their hair low, in no time, my congregation would comply and some might invariably start seeing those with “afro” as pagans.
Many just come up with series of bizzare rules. We are all Christians at the end of the day but with subjective interpretations of the Bible. Our attitudes, ways and dealings are often times a result of what the Pastor has said and not what the Bible says. We rarely do know that the founders of most of the new generation churches teaches subjectively albeit there are those who truly carries the anointing and are indeed fishers of men and not hunters of soul. Many of us just see the house of worship as nothing but an edifice where we lay bear our problems pending when we get answers or breakthrough. It does nothing to the way we behave and relate with one another in our places of work, schools and communities. The hypocrisy is often worrisome. People tend to play saint when within the four walls of a church or mosque but transform into lunatics as soon as they exit.
Once had a boss who always anticipated the coming of a fast period. He discovered from experience that he hardly gets cheated in those periods when he contracts works to artisans. Religion is almost like a “cloth” as opposed to an “embedment” in our DNA. We take it off and wear it as often as it pleases us in hypocrisy though. In the end, we achieve the aim of being identified as believing in something so we aren’t considered to be without belief. Those moments where we display our true nature when we curse, take bribes, cheat and hurt a fellow man, engage in vices that are detrimental to the livelihood of others. Those are the moments when we are truly “naked” and have this “cloth” in a hanger.
Today, we are faced with world unrest every corner of the world you turn. There is ISIS, Al-Qaeda and domestically, the boko haram. We have witnessed in recent times more religious killings than even those premised on political motives or supremacy battle between countries. Here, the book haram is said to have been founded primarily on the lame cum crude ideology that western education is a sin. Where in the Quran was that stated OR are their different versions of the Quran?. Surely that’s not the case and this further buttresses my believe that we have made interpretations of the holy books to be subjective and we act out its dictates based on personal discretion.
So many have been killed with quite so many rendered homeless. An aged woman was killed in the North this year for preventing an attempt by a Mallam to perform ablution in front of her shop. She was said to have committed blasphemy against Allah. Another was macheted in Abuja for preaching the gospel. Her husband made a widower and the young children motherless.
You don’t fight for God. I do know you are not permitted to go up in arms and in solidarity to fight for Allah either unless it’s otherwise stated perhaps for erring followers. I stand to be corrected. They are all-knowing and capable of fighting their own battles. Mighty enough to serve justice on erring brethren. When we allow ourselves to be so brainwashed and used to carry out vices such as suicide bombings, arson, hostage taking etc, we are only doing the biddings of individuals with twisted minds who have used their oratory power to sell their subjective interpretations of the holy books to their followers. Islam is seen and referred to as the religion of peace and it would be a grievous myopic thought to think otherwise. That a man or group of men has committed murder against another and bears Ahmed doesn't represent the the true position of the Muslim public, same with a John for the Christian community.
These atrocities however are not limited to twisted cum brainwashed minds who claim to perpetuate such in Allah's name. There have been numerous cases of killings by misled individuals done in the name of the Almighty God. It spreads across Europe and into North and Southern America. The Bible specifically included "Thou shall not kill" in the ten commandments. Anyone who takes another man's life and premise it on religion therefore does so of his own volition and shall face the wrath of the Lord.
Religious leaders should intensify efforts in making sure some sections of deluded individuals don’t bastardize and desecrate their religion while pretending to carry out the dictates of the Almighty. Sects such as the boko haram and the likes should as much as possible be detached from anything Islam and the citizenry duly informed and educated on the stance of the Quran. When sects such as ISIS and boko haram are referred to as Islamic terrorists, I think it’s an injustice to the psyche of the morally upright and God-fearing Muslim who stays next door. Christians in search of prosperity and miracles should also do so with caution else they fall prey to the hands of many of these Church CEOs parading themselves as Pastors. The Church has been turned into a business entity with survival of the fittest being the ultimate goal.
Immerse yourself into the teachings of the Bible or the Quran. The Lord we serve is not into Federal system of governance where there are division and separation of powers. It would be foolhardy to believe some people have been so designated to be prayer couriers. A personal relationship with God is very much liberating. That’s not to say genuine men of God are not abound and an avenue to forsake the fellowship. Matthew 18:20 says “For where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them”. When you understand the teachings of the holy books, you won’t have problems identifying who is carrying out God’s biddings and who is subjectively carrying out his own personal devious biddings.
WRITTEN BY;
OKUSANYA AFOLARIN.T
arc.afolarin@yahoo.com
+2348056870511
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