Randy bishop rapes, impregnates
and aborts pregnancy for 15 years old girl.
Pastor
and Choir Mistress In The Act After Vigil.
Two Nigerian pastors jailed ten years over one billion naira church scam.The list goes on...
It is often said that nothing
intoxicates man more than love and religion. To buttress this point, Karl Marx
once stated that religion is the opium of the people. For me however, the
clearer picture is presented when its put this way; the best way to know a fool
is through love and religion!
In
the recent past, one aspect of human life that hasn't failed to take a dramatic
turn and share a robust amount of strange happenings is the Religion. Ranging
from mass murders, suicide bombings, violent attacks, Yobe and Woolwich kind of murders,
robbery, Advance fee frauds (419), sexual offences, and adultery to blasphemy.
The most striking part of all these is the fact that most of us who happen to
be victims of the grand scale religious deceit either do not know what we are
doing, or have simply shut our minds to reality and to reasoning.
The
speed at which this publication would be termed a blasphemy by Nigerians is
very well known, the truth as much as it stinks cannot continue to be hidden. More
so, counter publications and reactions are welcomed.
The
most pertinent question is; how long should we continue to condone the excesses
of criminals in religious garbs? Or better still, why is it that today's
criminals have evolved like the Nile crocodiles from using guns and machetes to
the use of microphones and bibles with impunity?
Thiswork is unapologetically fashioned to address certain issues like conflicting doctrines,the rising scourge of pastor worship and the need for us to use our initiativesby putting certain personal checks in place to curb these menaces in the world
at large and Nigeria in particular.
It
is a known fact that there is no country in the world with a higher amount of
people who shirk their responsibilities and duties all because they expect God
to help them. For most Nigerians the mere fact that a man CLAIMS to be a
servant of God is enough reason to totally revere him and completely shut their
eyes to whatever dastardly acts he may perpetrate. This belief has steadily
climaxed into the now prevalent pastor worship pandemic.
Talking
doctrines and religious principles first, several religious denominations
uphold different doctrines, mainly contradictory with those of others. For
instance, churches like the Christ Chosen Church and Jehovah's witnesses
sternly mandate compulsory pregnancy tests for members before marriage. On the
other hand, the Roman Catholic church and a host of Pentecostal churches exist where such tests are deemed
unnecessary and uncalled for so long as some "requirements" are met.
Since both sides of the divide base their arguments on the bible and would
defend their views to the death as "correct", one is forced to wonder
if God's words in the bible are self contradictory.
For
the first group, no doubt it is a welcome idea to so insist on medicals, at least
for some very obvious reasons .
The problem with such practice is that it inadvertently promotes the 'Don't get caught' rule. Thus,
more premium is placed on concealing sins rather than going an extra mile to
avoid them since the natural human tendency favours the simpler option.
Still
on individual church beliefs, the advent of televisions and audio-visuals was
met with great oppositions and condemnation by the Deeper Life group (a church
which still earns the writer's love and admiration, and of course membership, (despite
some evident frailties). According to them, TVs were one of Satan's main tools
to draw man away from God. On that score, members were strongly prevented from
owning or using them. But, in less than two decades, we've seen this same
beloved group spend millions of naira for the installation of satellite
gadgets, not for radio transmission as some might want to think, but for
television. This is even worsened by the fact that television has never been as
bad an influence on people as it is now. Is it that the holy bible has been
edited, debugged or updated to reflect or accept modern day trends or it’s us
humans that have changed? Certainly, the former isn’t the case. So, if it’s the
latter, then it is also possible that some of the doctrines and principles they
uphold today could in the near future be reviewed. Hence, a conduct which
amounts to a sin today might turn out to be normal in the near future,
depending on how fast the church laws against it is altered. If so, then why
hold on to it tenaciously today as if it is God’s direct information to you
like the tablet of the Ten Commandments or a biblical injunction rather than
some personal interpretation and opinion of the same book we all read? In a
nutshell, most of the principles we hold on to as doctrines are simply
individual interpretations of what they read and how they perceived same a
breach of which does not ordinarily offends God but annoys the makers.
Another
example of the individual contradictions and misinterpretations of the bible is
the disciplinary ban of Reverend W.F. Kumuyi’s son and his wife despite sincere
apologies to the congregation. Another renowned preacher, Pastor Tunde Bakare
has publicly opined that the ban on the young man is pointless and totally
uncalled for because there was nothing, in
his opinion , wrong with the celebration. So, in the end, it’s all about
opinions, views, beliefs, and personal interpretations and nothing more pretentious
because why one views it as offensive to God and sinful, another doesn’t.
These
days, the worst forms of corruption and frauds are been engineered and hashed
by "men of God", yet, the common cliché; "judge not" is still
ever present in the mouths of grossly naïve worshipers. The evil about such
views when fully stretched is that as a ‘Man of God’, I could steal a goat, kill,
rob a bank, abort a girl's pregnancy, covet another man's wife, swindle
worshipers of their hard earned money in the name of tithes and seed sowing,
make obnoxious rules and hinge it on the bible simply because it fits my
beliefs and practice and completely get away with it because the holy book says
"Judge not". Rubbish!
To that extent, the trial and conviction of Reverend
King for attempted murder and murder clearly violates injunctions of the bible,
or maybe the prosecutors and Judges are booked for a first class Emirates Airline
seat to hell, and God's judgment since the bible says “judge not so that you
might not be judged". If not, then why do Nigerians shy away from
confronting these religious ills simply because they fear to offend the Almighty?
What happened to God’s gift of freewill and wisdom?
One simple thought which
most Christians have failed or neglected to consider is the fact that a
fraudulent and criminally minded ‘preacher’ will never tell you he is fake, or
fraudulent or that he is a cheat. For instance, if I were to defraud an
innocent worshiper what better means would I employ but to feign
righteousness and piety? I would simply claim to be God- called, and ordained
and craftily arrange ways to effect what appears to be miracles and
healings-especially since I know too well that there is a booming market out
there, made of naïve individuals who would rather use their hearts with their
eyes closed than their heads with eyes open.
Granted,
it’s good to inspire people to chase their dreams and become successful, but
placing so much premium on Success sermons and miracles- both financial and
spiritual alike to the total expulsion of salvation, kindness to others,
forgiveness, beatific qualities, peace and charity (to the poor, not to the
pastor) in my opinion derails from the ' obey before sacrifice' tenets of the
word. Nowadays, the bulk of Nigerian Christians believe wealth and affluence
are the hallmarks of a blessed and Godly Christian. Need I emphasize that Mathew 19:24 state that it is easier for a
camel to pass through the eyes of a needle than for a wealthy man to see heaven?
No doubt it is a good thing to be prosperous and rich, but the notion must
not be sold that riches evidences righteousness or that members of the church
who are not so successful ought to 'step up' their religious life either by
giving more to the church, sowing bigger seeds or fatter tithes and offerings. There should be some emphasis on “seeking
first the kingdom of God, while other thing-riches inclusive naturally follows.
Turning
now to the most common topics in modern day church, giving-to the pastor, and
of course the “church” ,show me one person that has not complained about the
monetization of Christianity and I will show you ten others who have. Preachers
consistently blackmail their congregation and make them feel guilty about their
inability to make corpulent donations to the pastor’s welfare, like the church
is now an orphanage home with the pastor and his unproductive wife and kids as
the only orphans in it. Nowadays, the fastest way to own landed properties is
to tax members towards the acquisition of large expanse of land for the
church’s “permanent site”. However those lands are bought in the pastors’ name
rather than the Church’s. When Mr. Preacher dies, his wife and kids inherit
same. Thus, he has succeeded in establishing a viable business empire for his family
with the hard earned money of his members.
Let’s ask ourselves this
question; how do religious outfits like the Jehovah’s Witness fund itself with
voluntary contributions alone and with absolutely no teachings on tithes and
offerings or fund raiser services like in Catholic churches?
Obviously,
the Catholic, Anglican and many Pentecostal churches are by far bigger groups
than the JWs, and with way richer members. Thus, if a group as small as the JWs
survive comfortably without coaxing and taxing its members for money, I don’t
see how other bigger churches can’t. Christianity as we know it is a sober
subject and advocates moderation, modesty, and humility rather than affluence, flamboyance
and opulence.
The
trend now is for any hillbilly to come up with a tape to on how they died, saw
heaven and how God ask them to go back and tell the world all sorts of
blasphemous bollocks. Or to send crazy broadcasts about how God wants you to do
a certain act and send to certain amount of people and see who calls. That is blackmail
of the highest order because God never asked for such broadcasts or for you to
place a condition precedent to his blessings. His ways are not always
understandable by man. So he doesn’t require our acts for him to bless us as
our heavenly father in his infinite mercies and unconditional love. He loves us
not because we deserve it but because he does!
For
pastors who require their victims to
pay for services either through some expensive olive oil, holy water, handkerchief,
pamphlet or even miracles, or require money to fast for members, our Lord Jesus
Christ in Mathew 10:8-9 said;
…heal the
sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils; freely you have
received, freely you must give. (9) Provide neither gold, nor silver nor brass in
your purses.
With
these words, I wonder why religious services and miracles, prayers and fasting
would be monetized by those who claim to be men of God. Even more guilty and
culpable are the worshipers who take everything hook, line and sinkers without
putting their God-giving heads into use.
This
is a warning shot; don’t feel hurt just yet, because blatant truth has to be
said.
Till
then, good morning, afternoon or night (delete as appropriate, depending on
when you get this message).
NB;
GOD GAVE US WISDOM AND FREEWILL SO WE USE IT CONSTRUCTIVELY, FOR THE
DEVELOPMENT OF MANKIND. NOT TO KEEP IT FALLOW LIKE THE UNPRODUCTIVE SERVANT IN
THE PARABLE OF THE 3 TALENTS. PEACE!!!
By Ehiwuogwu Onyeka for www.zeustelescope.blogspot.com
