Religion is
one of the most ambiguous things in the world, perhaps, even more confusing
than the universe itself. I’m not a Muslim, neither am I well-read when it
comes to Islam so I won’t be writing anything about it. The bible on the other
hand, is as confusing as they come.
People see
what they expect to see, what they want to see, my sister tasted chocolate
in a cake that contained only a meager amount of brownie, after I told her
there was chocolate flavor in it. What I’m implying here is that, we see what
we want to see in the bible, most of the time, what we are told to see. There
are thousands of factions in Christianity and almost all interpret the bible in
different ways. My problem however is not with the bible, no. My problem is
with our religious leaders.
If one is
an ardent follower of our religious leaders, especially the ones abroad, one
would find that there are thousands more reasons to be an atheist than to
believe in Christ. I mean, religion has been used as a tool to carry out
various evil deeds. Pope Nicholas V said God told him in a dream that it was
permissible for Christians to “buy and sell heathens” to encourage slavery,
Pope Alexander I actually endorsed slavery. Even in Nigeria, Catholicism was
used by the early colonialists as a means to enslave us. When one considers all
these, it’s very easy to assume that Christianity was thought up to make the
less privileged submit to the will of the elite.
Back to
Nigeria, it is common knowledge that our pastors now live large with fleets of
jet and exotic cars while amassing unbelievable net worth. Our lovely Christian
leaders, who are more interested in their titles (Arch Bishop, Bishop,
Professor and even Evangelist-Apostle) than in the well-being of their members
and the citizens of the country at large. These leaders who interpret the bible
to fulfill their own interests, leaders who extort their followers through
offerings, tithes, donations, seeds, thanksgiving offerings, faith seed, love
offering and so many other bizarre ways
by promising them eternity.
My brother
says that a pastor is human, that a pastor is just like everyone else and
should be allowed to enjoy the good things of life. My friend says a pastor is
in fact supposed to enjoy the good things of life because he’s a servant of the
Lord. Well, I disagree; I do not believe that a pastor is like everyone else
and should be allowed or is supposed to live life to the fullest. I believe
that as a religious leader, a minimalistic approach should be taken; one should
give endlessly and outrageously and not own a fleet of over-the-top expensive
cars. I read recently that a pastor in another country gives all his wealth at
the end of every year, even Warren Buffet who is said to be agnostic is known
to give out endlessly while our pastors here are striving to be included in the
Forbes’s List of Billionaires.
Saw a
comment by the Christian Association of Nigeria and I just laughed out loud, it
is quite obvious that the CAN has lost its way, or what does “We must state
that unlike others, Christians do not shed blood, take life, kill or maim
others at the slightest provocation. Nevertheless, we must warn el-Rufai not to
take Christians for granted and to inform him that it is with great difficulty
that that we have had to restrain our youths from taking the law into their
hands; which by extension means bringing el-Rufai to justice on account of his
incitement and insult against the Christian faith” mean?! I mean, they have
decided to stoop so low to start condemning Islam while at the same time,
threaten a fellow human? What makes the matter even worse is the issue on which
the above statement was released.
This is the
issue that the Christian Association of Nigeria has decided to tackle while ignoring
the corruption of our leaders who come to our church and kneel on alters. But
as I usually say, what do I know? I'm just a bloody undergraduate. All-in-all,
I just hope people open their eyes and begin to question the injustice brought
upon us by those who are supposed to be helping us, and like the famous saying goes "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?"
