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Nigeria, Religion And Its Practice

Details: Category: Sorosola Barton; Published on Wednesday, 14 July 2010 08:01; Written by Sorosola Barton; Hits: 2737

''Religion is the opium of the masses.'' - KARL MARX

My Chambers dictionary describes Opium as ''anything considered having a stupefying or tranquilizing effect on people's minds and emotions''. Opium, of course, is a dried narcotic juice with very hazardous health consequences for its users. Karl Marx, (1818-1883) the German philosopher, economic theorist and political scientist probably got it right when he likened the conventional practice of religion to the consumption of the substance called opium.

Picture: Sorosola Barton (Author)

I can not state categorically exactly what religion means to peoples of other countries, continents and cultures, we will however agree on one thing: religion is at best sacred and sensitive. Quite a number of wars and political uprisings have been caused by religion. The never ending tension between Israel and her Middle Eastern neighbours is caused and sustained by religious intolerance. However, the purpose of writing this is strictly to look at this sensitive subject from a Nigerian perspective. The riots and upheavals religion has caused in Nigeria is enough for us to understand the extent to which people will defend their religions.

Please understand me. I am no socialist neither am I a capitalist. Therefore, I am not a Karl Marx apostle. I am interested in any economic system that can ensure possible maximum employment (?), equitable - or a semblance of it - distribution of income and drive down poverty levels. I only used Marx's quotation at the commencement of this write-up because I feel the frustration he probably felt at the time. Many Nigerian leaders have used religion to advance their respective political agenda at the expense of the suffering poor. They tell the mass of the people to pray, to hope in God, believe in God and that their reward is in heaven while they feet fat on the ignorance they have helped to perpetuate. No one is saying religion is bad for us but we must admit that it has been used for very personal and selfish gains in Nigeria. Not only the politicians are guilty of course, even the various religious leaders are culpable too. Blaise Pascal, the eminent inventor, mathematician and scientist once said, ''Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it out of a religious conviction''.

Isn't that scary? What is it about religion that now makes men lose logical and rational thinking? Isn't religion supposed to refine our minds and thoughts? When in 1840 Karl Marx wrote his ''Communist Manifesto'', he met with scorn and disdain. He accused the leaders of corruption, using capitalism as a cloak to steal people's wealth while they encouraged the people to be more religious. A century and a half later, we now live in a country where citizens now attend certain churches and mosques not because of salvation but because of prosperity. In Nigeria, there is hardly a street without a church or a mosque. Reading through the holy books - especially the Bible and the Koran - the basic tenets they preach are love, peace, mutual understanding and tolerance. They are two very practical books and there are no grey areas. They are plain black and white. Even situations that require simple analysis have become complex in this country because it becomes tainted by religious conviction. The late Afro beat legend, FELA, in his song Suffering and Smiling gave a unique perspective to this discussion. Now I ask: Who is to blame for the situation of things? Is it the people or the religious leaders? Is it possible that people just attend a church or mosque but actually do not learn anything?

A few years ago, an eminent Nigerian and a top law officer was murdered in his bedroom. The sitting President on a condolence visit to his family said we ''should leave the killers to God''. One wonders which God in particular. How can the President of a supposedly sane and lawful society utter such statements? Isn't this the same kind of opium Marx referred to in his quote? In a country with a functional police force and other security agencies, why should we leave assassins to God? Isn't it a blanket to allow them continuing their nefarious activities? Of course our religious convictions teach us that anyone who sins will be punished by the Almighty. We all believe that but it still has not brought down crime levels. Politicians still lie, cheat, kill and steal and many of them are leaders in their respective centres of worship. Leaders are sworn into offices with holy books but their policies and behaviour do not reflect the teachings of those holy books. My opinion is this: Religion should be practical. It should not be and end in itself. It should be a ''means to an end''. The ''end'' here meaning a state of progress, human advancement, global peace and stability. Religion should help make Nigeria and the world a better place. It can not exist independent of the desires of the average Nigerian. Humans seek religion as a means to finding solutions to problems. The state of poverty, hunger, deprivation and even wickedness in Nigeria is a contrast to other countries which, though, are not as religious as the Nigerian people but are better off by any standards. People need to be more conscientious, religious leaders too need to begin to preach from the heart or close shop. Nigeria should and can be great again but its practice of religion must be practical and liberating from servitude and must avoid hypocrisy. God bless Nigeria. WE WILL NEVER FAIL...