The Religion We Need
This Day (Lagos)
April 26, 2000
By Stan Chu Ilo
Lagos - Three significant religious events took place within the past
few weeks in some parts of the world, which provide the basis for this
reflection, as they draw the lines of the authentic religious beliefs
and practices demanded in our complex world today.
The first event was Pope John Paul 11's pilgrimage to the Middle East
as a prophet of a new humanity and an apostle of peace; building
bridges of friendship between Israel and the entire Arab world, and
amplifying in a concrete way the close affinity between the three
prophetic religions of Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
The second event took place in the obscure corners of Kanungu in
Uganda, where over 320 Ugandans, members of the Movement for the
Restoration of the Ten Commandments, perished in the hellish inferno
they set against themselves to quicken their ascent into Heaven.
Reports have it that their leader, Joseph Kibweteere had taught his
adherents that the world was coming to an end this year, and encouraged
them to sell their property and enter into the new ark of Noah (his
Church), which will protect them, and carry them to heaven, in the
event of the imminent calamitous end of the world. Whether these
hapless adherents were under a spell or hypnosis or a mass hysteria is
yet to be proved by a distraught Ugandan Police Force.
The third event was the amputation in Zamfara State of one Bello
Jangedi for stealing a cow. The question that immediately comes to mind
is what is a common thread that runs through these three religiously
motivated events. It is obvious that there is no point of convergence.
The fact that man is a religious animal, and that his ontology and
psychology cannot be fully explained and appreciated in isolation of
his religion, makes it difficult for one to give a common meaning and
explanation to the diverse and often strange religious practices among
people.
It must be admitted, that one of the reasons for religion is that man
finds himself in a helpless situation. Thrown into a world whose origin
and ultimate destiny he does not know; frightened by the prospect of
death and annihilation, man binds himself to God in religious acts,
rites, beliefs and practices. Man is thus oriented to God through
religion, not only because he is a spiritual being, but because in God
he finds fullness of life, the source of his being and the sustenance
of his life.
This search for God has become a passion for some, a puzzle for
others,but a necessary adventure for all. At times this search has led
to untoward acts verging on violence, fanaticism, fetishism and even
satanism. The history of the 20th century cannot be complete without
mentioning the various religious aberrations that have some times
legitimated violence and war, divisions and unwholesome inhuman
practices. Some examples immediately come to mind: Christian Science, a
Christian movement, founded by Mary Baker Eddy, late in the 19th
century rejected chiropractic treatment, vitamins, nutrition, drugs as
well as immunisations for its worshippers. This is because, they
believe that what our five senses tell us about pain and suffering are
false and mortal beliefs - the spate of deaths that followed this
unscriptural practice led to the demise of this movement.
Charles Manson who founded the Process Church in America had preached
that Christ and devil are no longer enemies. Thus by killing for satan,
his followers would be doing a noble mission for Christ. He therefore
launched a bloody war in 1969 against the Caucasians in America. How
xenophobia can help bring about the growth of God's kingdom remains a
puzzle that Manson is yet to solve. In November 1978, the eccentric,
Rev. Jim Jones, who led a strange Christian movement, moved his
followers to drink cyanide on a mountain in Jonestown, Guyana. That
mass suicide which destroyed over 900 souls represents the highest
number of religion - inspired mass death in recent times.
The Black Muslim group,started in America in 1913 by Timothy Drend (who
changed his name later to Noble Drend Ali),and promoted in the 60's by
Malcolm X, encouraged racial hatred through what it called 'social
separation' This was an euphemism for violence against Whites. Indeed
the 'black muslims preached that the whiteman's day of destruction was
coming, and that there would be no hell for blacks, since their
sufferings through slavery, colonialism and racism were hell enough.
The moslem Shiites have also proved to be an avant - garde zealous
group in the promotion of Islam; a zeal that has resulted in deaths
even against their fellow moslems. In Kashmir, once a year, young
Shiahs parade through the streets of Srinagar, scourging their bodies
with knives and chains. This self- mutilation ritual laments the
martyrdom of Hussain, Ali's son and Prophet Muhammed's (PBWH) grandson,
who was massacred in an attempt to restore the seat of Islam to Medina.
All these acts by various religions are aimed at pleasing God winning
his favours and dwelling with him forever after death. However, there
seems to be a somewhat tenuous link in all these that cut across all
these religious acts: the search for God. But can one really find God
without loving his fellow men and women?
The measure of the true value of any religion is to what extent it
promotes the peace and happiness of humankind. Religious practices are
considered good if they enhance the quality of life of people, promote
sound morality in society and project the ideal of love. Sometimes,
some of our religious acts do not approximate to these ideals. Indeed,
the religion that we need in the new millennium is a religion that
promotes a culture of life, and an attitude of compassion to everybody,
especially the neediest, who are placed at the very margin of the good
things of life.
Such a religion must sustain all men and women in a network of love and
must cast our traumatized world in a rich mosaic of peace, justice,
brotherhood, solidarity, mutual acceptance, equality and freedom. These
values can unite humanity in future because they are incarnated in all
religions, but are sadly distorted by their adherents. We are plunging
into anguish and fear, violence and hatred, desperation and selfishness
in our country because we have not allowed these values to crystallise
in our national structures.
Many people of diverse religious persuasions - Mahatma Gandhi (Hindu),
Mother Teresa (Christian) and Anwar Sadat (moslem) had realised these
values in their lives and helped change our world. The greatest
challenge facing Nigerians today is to purge themselves of their
untoward and self-serving religious hypocrisy, which sometimes leak
through the veneer of religiosity to expose the farce of a facile
civility and the face of a false tribal chauvinism.
It is these values of peace, reconciliation, justice, fraternity and
love that Pope John Paul II promoted in the Middle East. How the
amputation of Bello Jangedi's arm in Zamfara State, and the mass
suicide in Uganda can project and promote these values, remain a puzzle
to many discerning minds.
Rev. Fr. Ilo is of the Catholic Secretariat, Lagos
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Copyright (c) 2000 This Day. Distributed via Africa News Online
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