Critics of religion in general may view religion as one or more of outdated, harmful to the individual, harmful to society, an impediment to the progress of science or humanity, a source of immoral acts or customs, a political tool for social control.
Religion,
a supposedly godly concept which basically should cultivate love, peaceful
co-existence, patience, tolerance, forgiveness and so on.
How
come it has brought about so much death and vandalizing in our dear country
Nigeria. Religion is the belief in and worship of a supernatural controlling
power, especially a personal God or gods.
It
is a particular system of faith and worship. Forms
of religion include: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Eckankar, Zoroastrianism,
Buddhism, Hinduism, various African traditional worship, etc.
No
doubt the two major and widely accepted religions in Nigeria are Christianity
and Islam as they both claim a very large percentage of the population thus
pushing the African traditional worship to a pale background.
Religious
crisis in Nigeria has mainly been between these two major religions except for
comparatively few skirmishes between traditional worshippers and Christians or
Muslims (Islam practitioners) now and then.
Some
foreigners who do business and reside in the country also practice their
religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism by Indians and the Chinese with their
own forms of worship. So far they do not cause religious problems and are
relatively few compared with Christians and Muslims.
It
is quite disheartening that Christianity and Islam who both believe in one
supernatural God, the creator of Heaven and Earth and all that is therein, are
the ones causing the religious problems in Nigeria.
Needless
to say, while Christian’s belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, who preached love,
Muslims belief in the Prophet Mohammed, who preached peace. Both religions
claim these personalities will lead them to the Almighty God. What then went
wrong?
Moreover,
Christians and Muslims alike dominate the corridors of power, the civil
service, para-military and military forces, corporate bodies, market structure
and all facets of life in Nigeria as almost everyone claims to be a member of
either of the two religions.
Since
her independence on October 1st, 1960, Nigeria has indeed come a long way and
Nigerians have witnessed violence in its various forms: religious, ethnic,
political and the likes.
In
a country which is home to diverse cultures, beliefs, and tradition, each
unique in its own way and adoring the country with beauty and colour, these
acts of violence have resulted to the destruction of lives and properties.
These violent acts, killings, vandalism, and religious biases
are all crises arising from religious confrontations and thus constitute the
problems of religion in Nigeria.
10 Main Problems of Religion in Nigeria
Religious violence in Nigeria refers to Christian-Muslim strife in modern Nigeria, which can be traced back to 1953. Today, religious violence in Nigeria is dominated by the Boko Haram insurgency, which aims to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria.
The following are the 10 main problems of religion in Nigeria:
1. Problem of Dishonesty
Another
scenario is seen in some very new generation churches where many unemployed
youths spend lots of hours in church services even during the working days
forgetting to practice that bible portion that says show me your faith by your
works. They will do better to find gainful occupations as well as worship God.
Otherwise the long term effect is that some of them too will become one of
those clerics who want to extort congregants at all cost.
2.
Problem of Tribalism and Disunity
Shocking
as this may appear, tribal sentiments abound in churches and mosques. I have
heard several Muslims from Southern Nigeria say that the Fulani/Hausa Muslims
from Northern Nigeria look down on them, regarding them as inferiors; some even
say infidels.
In
some Christian folds, there are also tribal sentiments and discrimination
especially against other worshippers who are not of the same tribe as the
church founder.
3. Problem of Unawareness
In
Nigeria, many people live in unawareness and will not even try to get
clarifications on controversial issues before acting rashly. Religious
faithful’s will rather act on what they hear and go into violent acts at the
slightest propaganda. Many take whatever they hear from their clerics as the
absolute truth from God Himself.
4. Problem
of Hypocrisy and Monetizing Religion
Today, many churches are known to emphasize
on money. Even poor congregants are persuaded to part with money often. Jesus
said it was impossible to serve God and money. We think we can blend them
without consequence but money always wins out, even among those that start out with
the loftiest ideals. Money blinds us to the ways God works and the need
for it pressures us to do what we wouldn’t otherwise freely choose to do. I
know pastors who walk on eggshells each week, knowing they can’t honestly share
their journey and not run into trouble with some faction in the church.
I worked with a publisher that wanted me to
change the content of He Loves Me so the freedom it espoused wouldn’t
threaten pastors and they would be more inclined to read it from their pulpits
and an editor that wouldn’t print an article I’d written even though he loved
it because it might offend the subscriber base and they would cancel their
subscriptions. We all know even a few percentage point decline in
offerings or subscribers can mean spell a quick end to many of our
institutions.
I know that’s hard to see from the inside. Everyone
thinks they are doing God’s will as best they know how, rarely considering how
much their need for income shapes their actions. I’ve told many a pastor who is
critical of those who are done with their congregation, “If you could just step
away from all of this for two years, you would be shocked at the things you’d
discover when money no longer influences your ministry.” I had no idea myself
how much the economic religious systems we’ve created blurred my vision
until I found myself no longer dependent on it. What was scary at first turned
out to be a great blessing? In short we get the
Gospel we pay for, or click on, and the cost of that means we’re losing
the vitality of the life of Jesus. Those who would be leaders have to make
it complicated so people will buy their books and attend
their seminars. I heard one man say recently to a group of ministers
wanting to enhance their income to take their best teaching and craft it into a
set of principles. “If you can systematize it, you can monetize it.” Yes, he
pinged my yuck meter, but it does explain why we have more five-point plans
than we have people ready to equip others to follow Jesus.
5. Problem
of Religious Sentiments
A prevailing norm is that one religious
group sees itself as superior to other types of religion. Such superiority
complex fuels religious violence especially in Northern Nigeria. Surprisingly
some denominations within the same faith feel superior to one another.
6. Problem
of Religious Preconception
Many children and converts are basically
indoctrinated to view people from other religions as evil or inferior. Such
teachings lead many to eventually become fanatics and consequently, propagators
of religious violence.
7.
Problem of Separation between Indigenes and Settlers
Religious conflicts usually arise between
indigenes of a particular place and settlers especially if both sides belong to
different religions. This is why indigenes prefer settlers who practice the
same religion as their own. However, most often than not, indigenes’ and
settlers’ religions differ. Already there is the crisis of limited resources;
add to that religious problems and there is a catastrophe.
8. Problem
of Fear of Domination
Another problem of religion in Nigeria often
arise when it seems that the dominant religious group in a particular domain
will be eclipsed by another especially as a result of increase in population of
the other religious group. An example is the frequent Jos religious crisis
between Christians and Muslims. It is not uncommon to find converts from one
religion move over to their new‐found
faith and of course, this could lead to violence if there is no tolerance. Even
here in Southern Nigeria, news once went around that a cleric physically
assaulted another cleric of a different faith because the former was losing
congregants to the later. It is better imagined what could have happened had
there been violent retaliation. Further still, pastors are highly offended when
congregants move to other denominations within the Christian fold. Religious
skirmishes, even if not bloody also arise as a result of this.
9. Problem
of Poverty
Poverty entails more than the lack of income and productive resources to ensure sustainable livelihoods. Its manifestations include hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social discrimination and exclusion as well as the lack of participation in decision-making.
It is said that poverty is a disease. It can lead to death and destruction. The poor and impoverished cannot even feed properly and are daily exposed to hunger and malnutrition not to talk of proper clothing or shelter. So what happens if a wealthy body of religious extremists offer these poor people food, gifts, houses and of course heavy money just to bear arms in order to kill and cause mayhem in the name of religion.
I tell
you; many of them will compromise with careless abandon. Poor people are viable
tools of violence in the hands of elite individuals or groups wishing to create
conflict. The high rate of poverty is a common cause of religious crisis as
poor people have little or no access to proper education. This makes it easy
for poor youths and their elder parents to be indoctrinated with violent and
murderous creeds which they accept hook, line and sinker. It therefore shocks
the senses that, in the name of religion, youths are made suicide bombers after
being enticed with money for their families and assurance of heavenly reward.
This is predominantly practiced in the Islamic Northern part of Nigeria as we
are all witnesses to the horrors of the Boko Haram Nigeria as we are all
witnesses to the horrors of the Boko Haram extremist sect.
10.
Problem of Joblessness
Unemployment is used to describe a situation whereby the population of people ready to work is unable to get something doing. The idle mind they say is the devil’s workshop. Apart from the illiterate youths mentioned above, many idle educated youths are also used as tools to propagate religious violence. Idleness exposes them to violent doctrines thus; they become easily bribed and bought over.
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