(Revisit of a 2014 social media post by me)
By BASHIR ADEFAKA
“People run from one court to another to stop being held accountable for their deeds today. Why? It is simply because they lack the fear of God. If you have the fear of God you would do good and where you fall short being understandably human, your willing admittance of guilt and seeking forgiveness without force save you from public shame here and hereafter. See Salisu Buhari very much respected now.”
At any opportunity given to participate in national discourse, many of our knowledge based have got to knock religion down as reason for our problems. To sinners and non-saints like me and who always look unto the Lord of the universe for forgiveness and rehabilitation, it sounds unfair to conceive.
What many of these jokers don’t know is that, no human being has control over his own affairs. If you are now asked, “And who has control over your affairs?” It then becomes the ability that is embedded in him to be sincere saying the truth. Some claim Jesus is controller of their affairs; some say it is Orunmila, Sango, Iyemoja, Ogun, Oranmiyan; and better still we have people who give it to God (Allah) while there is yet another group of people that collapse into their pit of atheism as they, in the situation of non believing in God, can’t lay claim to who the controller of their affairs is and who pave into insignificance talking about people living on this true reality of existence.
These are four categories of people that my memory can afford me at the moment three of which constitute the larger chunk of population of humanity anywhere in the world, Nigeria most especially.
It is therefore worrisome that people who themselves pray to God or at least to something (Ogun) on spiritual realm to have their ways smoothened and needs granted are the same set of people that play down on religion. And since hypocrisy is a major sin before God for which human society never got the blessings and mercy of God, the condemnation of promotion of religion that is the very basis of human existence could therefore, more convincingly, be sited as reason we are backward and have crisis of all kinds in our immediate environment and world as a whole.
The point I am making here is, whether we like it or not, and whether we want to jump into the lagoon or choose to hug an electricity transformer, God forbids, we still naturally return to the reality that religion is an inevitable system of life that we must all embrace. Religion becomes an issue not because religion is problem but because we practice it on the mindset of hatred for others who do not share our religious views and because we allow our personal will and greed to overrule the will of God for us. This is the problem.
If you condemn tribalism, yes, because even the Qur’an that is record and reflection of God’s dos and don’ts for mankind forbids it. E.g. the appointment of a black man, Bilal, amidst white Arabs as first and number one Muazim globally by Prophet Muhammad SAW. If you condemn class consciousness and egocentrism, yes, because Allah says in the Qur’an that the best among us (whether American, European, King, President, African, etc) is the one who is Godfearing. And when you have the fear of God you will be of good character and won’t glorify yourself in bad conduct.
People run from one court to another to stop being held accountable for their deeds today. Why? It is simply because they lack the fear of God. If you have the fear of God you would do good and where you fall short being understandably human, your willing admittance of guilt and seeking forgiveness without force save you from public shame here and hereafter. See Salisu Buhari very much respected now.
This is the thing. We must change our attitude to life and know that religion is not our problem but we ourselves are. There is need therefore for change and we must be the change that we want to see by submitting ourselves including our egos (status) and will to the will of God.
I am not preaching because I am not qualified but that is the reality about life. Or how do we claim to be something when we have no choice about sleep when it holds us down, when we have no control over hunger when it comes on us, when we can’t stop urine or toileting when it comes and when we have no helper against the Angel of death when he comes for our singular soul that makes meaningful whatever we claim to be?
If now you know, the better you stop condemning religion that makes you a better human being. And if you don’t believe in religion, and nobody has such claim, don’t disturb others who believe in it. Promoting religion is not by violence. We must respect our individual religious values and that we are beginning to achieve now in Nigeria. We need to do more.
