It is annoying when you return from work at late hours and then decide to take a few hour sleep and then someone comes with a megaphone at 2am and starts perturbing your sleep. Disturbing People from sleeping at the odd hours has become the order of the day as many Christians now inconvenient people with this act but they don’t see anything wrong in it but anyone that frowns against this inconvenience caused is labelled an anti-Christ by the people of my country. Some churches compete with each other by the loudness of their megaphones. Things like this don’t happen in civilized countries where things are don’t decently and in order. We inconvenient people in this part of the world and we say we are practising Christianity.
People have called wedding off after years of courting because the Pastor didn’t like the man or woman or they didn’t worship in their church. The have seen these pastors as perfect beings that the even seek pastor’s endorsement before approaching a woman. This issue is another way of ignorance that is existing among Christians, their over-spiritual attitude when it comes to picking a partner. They will tell you that marriage is more spiritual than physical and I laugh at their ignorance each time I hear this statement. Many people have been swayed into the wrong path with this notion that marriage is more spiritual than physical, because you found claim to have found Christ on your wedding eve and he ministered to you that your spouse isn’t the right person for you after years. They will tell you that spiritual compatibility supersedes any other thing, without minding how notorious the supposed person is. The people that irk me most are those that will scribble down the names of their toasters out of ignorance and will present it to their pastors for endorsement. These are people that are fond of saying “my pastor says this, my pastor says that.” Contracts, admissions, business proposal and other good opportunities have been retracted for faith and belief differences.
These Pastors also create doctrines for others to follow Many of us will agree that many people use their own tradition, likes, and dislikes to form doctrines in Nigerian churches, which every member must follow. Take for example, just because someone was brought up by his parents never to wear gold or earrings, by the time this person finds himself pastoring a church, he makes it a doctrine and will find a Bible verse to impose fear in them. Some churches don’t allow workers to wear jean trouser or keep beards. You can imagine the level of ignorance. Wearing trousers, the whites who introduced Christianity to us don’t even care about whatever you wear to your place of worship but here in Nigeria, I think we don’t know the difference between religion and culture. Though Deuteronomy 22:5 that admonishes us not to live as a transvestite, and this issue has to do with more than just clothing, but a life that in every way imitates the opposite sex. Christians bother themselves so much over irrelevant things even more than the heaven itself, ask these people about dressing evolution and how trouser came into existence, they don’t even know. In fact, they don’t even know how the trouser came into existence, wearing of trouser is a determinant of who will make heaven or not.
Many Christians have jeopardize their lives due to over-spirituality and ignorance. It is amazing how somebody will be very ill and instead of the person to seek proper medical attention, he or she will use spirituality in things that have to do with life and death. Some will even rebuke you for seeking medical attention and that it’s not the trait of a good Christian. Although, it’s God that heals one from every disease but that still doesn’t change the fact that one must take care of himself. The Bible says that people perish for lack of knowledge, which is what we are experiencing among Nigerians today. Now and then it escalates to pastor giving their congregation holy water, anointing oil, grass or even rat poison to drink, extorting them with seeds of faith and offering, to judge their decisions and actions. And the surprising thing is that they obey without asking questions, the are not even forced to submit to this. They willingly accepts whole heartedly to these dehumanizing tortures. This issue is as a result of religious indoctrination and brainwashing. For example, a story of a Jehovah’s Witness who lost her life because of blood transfusion, which is against church ethics to receive blood. If the whites always go to the mountain to pray like Nigerians for something that needs a medical solutions, I believe there would be no cure for any disease till date.
These are the stench of ignorance of many Nigerian Christians ,many of us were brought up with many negative beliefs, which have uninstalled our common sense and have installed us with mental bankruptcy.
If we can imagine the progress that humanity would make if all the time and money spent on spreading superstitions is invested in medical research and improving the conditions of our existence. It could mean that the little child on life support machine right now battling the complications of malaria could be at school learning or playing on the fields. Superstitions cannot reform the world, nor can religion – because the latter is founded upon the former. Religion provides the perfect platform for unscrupulous men to capitalise on the fear peddled in scriptures to exploit billions of gullible people around the world.
On a final note, the role of religion in promoting entrepreneurship cannot be overemphasised, therefore, more religious organisations need to rise to the occasion and contribute to economic growth by encouraging entrepreneurship in their various consortia.
James Nwachuya #EMBA28
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