WHY WE NEED TO HAVE A SECOND THOUGHT ABOUT RELIGIONS IN AFRICA.

It is very imperative that we bring our attentions to the major cause of problems that have bedeviled Nigeria as a country or even Africa in general. Obviously we can all see the implications of religions in our society today, but oftentimes we are not brave enough to call a spade a spade. And if we agree that there is a problem but we are shying away from identifying the cause of the problem, that means we are not ready to find a last solution to the problem. To this reason I decide to discuss the problems religions have brought to Nigeria, especially the whole Africa.

Let me quickly define religion as the belief and worship of a superhuman who posses a power or powers to control man's destiny. So the religious adherents act and live their lives in accordance to the rules and laws written in the religious books such as Koran and Bible.

There are thousands of religions in the world, but the most practiced ones especially in Nigeria are Christianity, Islam and the traditional religions. So after the arrival of the abrahamic religions in Nigeria, the following problems can not separated from their impacts in the country.

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1. The major purpose of a religion is to create unity and peace, but in reality the reverse is the case. It has caused a lot of divisions in the society: Because every sect always claims that its religion is the accepted one before God, thereby causing problems among them ; The children of one sect are not allowed to marry the children of the other; An as a Muslim getting a job at a Christian owned company is hard and vise versa. So we need to have a second thought religion in Africa.

2. Religion instills fear in its adherents. Because their sermons are often used to threaten or sound a note of warnings to the adherents: That to avoid a curse or damnation, the ways of their lives must be in conformity with some certain principles or guidelines; That they will go to hell if they violate any of the laws; That they will be poor if they don't pay their offerings. So this timidity always limits their freewill to take a certain action their own without any consultation to a religious leader who will happily use that avenue to his own advantage. So we need to have a second thought religion in Africa.

3. Added to the above, a lot of religious racketeers, so-called men of God, use this religion as a means to dupe people, especially the poor ones, of their hard earned money by promising them rewards, some will say they will marry "seven virgins", in heaven while they are enjoying their lives right here on earth. Amazingly there is always a chapter of the books they will quote to support their dubious actions. So we need to have a second thought religion in Africa.

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4. In Addition, many political leaders or government use religion as tool to champion their cause by inciting the populace against one other with the use of this slogan " we versus them". So they use religion to cause troubles in the society that always lead to loss of lives and properties.

The practical examples of this in Nigeria are the Boko Haram insurgency issue that Nigeria is currently battling with and the recent crisis in Kaduna state that led to loss of many lives.

5. Religion creates discrimination against women. Even though almost 90 per cent of many religious gatherings are women and they contribute the most to the offertories in those religious gatherings, yet there are certain positions they are not allowed to occupy.  So we need to have a second thought religion in Africa.

6. Religion causes laziness, many of these religious leaders remain solely on the tithes and offerings from their members. They never deem it fit to have their own personal businesses. And they will cunningly schedule their services on the days of week and thereby preventing the members from spending the required time to make maximum sales and profits from their businesses. It's logical, the more time you spend on your business, the higher the sales and the gains will be.  So we need to have a second thought religion in Africa.

7. Religion causes carelessness among its members. That reminds me of a story my mother told me someimes ago. My mother was away when I was a child for several days. I was only home with my Dad. So during this period I got sick instead for him to take me to hospital, he didn't. Because his church doctrine forbade him to use medication but only water. So he kept praying over me and bathing me with water until my mother came around. She could not take it when she saw my condition and quickly rushed me to hospital. It's discovered I needed blood and which was given to me. Had she not come home on time I would not be here to write this post today.
So a lot of children have lost their lives through this means.  So we need to have a second thought religion in Africa.

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8. Religion breaks homes and causes murders. Many adherents have received prophecies from their religious leaders that their wives or fathers are behind their problems which have resulted to the adherents maiming or killing their loved ones.  So we need to have a second thought religion in Africa.

9. Finally, religion doesn't encourage critical thinking which has caused Nigeria, or Africa in general, to lag behinds in technology. Because when we will face a challenge instead of looking for away to prevent the challenge from reoccurring and thinking of a way to make our lives better we, attribute it to destiny and the will of God.  So we need to have a second thought religion in Africa.

So if we can stand to face the reality that religion has caused more harm than good in your society I believe that will be a step toward finding a lasting solution to the current crisis and the under development problems we find ourselves in Nigeria or in Africa as a whole.

Note: I do not write this to condemn any religion, because I also do believe in the existence of God. But I only write this as a wake up call to reality. Which will serve as a bold step in making our country a better place.

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