“Religion is an insult to human dignity.  With or without religion, you’d have good people doing good things and evil people doing bad things, but for good people to do bad things, it takes religion, – Steven Weinberg.

Religiosity is a very sensitive issue.  It has, in the past, caused brothers to go for each other’s jugular.  Religion has caused countries to go to war to take control of another nation’s resources, to enslave, to destroy another man’s culture, to test the efficacy of a new weapon, or to show physical superiority.  Religion brings about global instability and ethnic strive, has caused nations to be at each other’s throats for millions of years and has been used by devilish leaders to suppress human rights of citizens.  For those who claim to be more religious that Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed, I just have to crave their indulgence in putting this article together because I’ll not quote any part of the bible or the Quran.  We will go under the premise that we know what religion is or for lack of knowledge, allow me to define religion as a personal set or institutionalized system of attitudes, cultural beliefs, and practices; a scrupulous conformity; or a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.

In the bible or even the Quran, there is no where that a formal church be established.  Rather, the church in the old times was a gathering of wise men to encourage themselves in the understanding of the universal laws, cause spiritual awakening in the next generation and thank the almighty.  This type of gathering was where we were told Jesus understudied the wise men before his ministry for causing the world to understand the root cause of life.  At such gatherings, wise men taught younger ones respect, philosophy of life, economics, and even technology.  In deed, Martin Luther King, Jr. captured it best when he said, “A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing is worth nothing.”

As a young six-year old, I had questioned what religious gathering was all about.  I asked Mama why it was necessary to drag my senior sister and I to church every Sunday instead of leaving us alone to develop who God wanted us to be.  Initially, Mama would calmly explain to me in her own candid way that God wanted people to be together to call on him.  The next question to my Mom was, who did God give His instructions to?  Mama, now a little agitated would say all is in the bible.  Of course, my next question was, who wrote the bible?  God did.  How did you know this?  By faith, she would tell me.  Why couldn’t God allow me the faith and also allow me to write the bible?  At this time, Mama would be getting furious because I was disturbing her from praying.  Mama, if God allowed me to write the bible, I would make sure that no one gathers in the church to pray but allow grandma to gather all of us under a tree and tell real and experiential stories for there were no TV then.  For a young lad growing up in a small town in Kwara State, I would go further to ask Mama why we couldn’t stay at home to call on God if we wanted since she told me God was every where and mama would say to me that I was questioning God.  I knew my Mom believed in what she was saying but my next question was then, why didn’t those who believed in Sango, Oya, Esu, and other African religions not go their churches since they too believe in their God.  The usual way that mama would dismiss me was to label me as too inquisitive and an overzealous boy who enjoyed torturing her with questions.  Papa was long dead and I was the man in the house to ask all silly questions.  I had fun torturing Mama every Sunday but I always got the discipline I deserved at the end of the day.

My usual attitude then was to view church as a play ground where my friends and I could create scenes.  Mama was a disciplinarian and I got the best of her backhand even in the church that I thought God’s house.  The older I got the better grasp of what church going was and the less I wanted to go there.  Unfortunately, I attended a Catholic secondary school where we were hauled to church very early in the morning and in the evening after the evening studies.  During my undergraduate, I took a course in religion of mankind to understand religion.  So it took me a long time to chose a gathering that I was comfortable with, call it church.

During those formative years, I found that there were different types of people that go to church and they are: 1) Those that are very spiritual and would do everything possible to praise God with or without a formal gathering; 2) Those that assume that they have problems that needed resolution through a visit to church when a visit to their shrine could not do the trick.  Once it looks as if God answered their prayers, they put God on the shelf until when next they need Him; 3) Those that are devil incarnates that visit church by morning and the babaalawo and/or the marabout in the evening; and 4) Those that I call daraphrim church goes, those are those that do all the wrong things during the week and use Sundays for cleansing.  The lat two are loudest in any religious gathering and do not believe in the God of host whose name they call upon.  ”Human beings never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it with religious conviction” – Blaise Pascal

The question is, is there a difference between religion and spirituality?  First, we know that spirituality is something that in ecclesiastical law belongs to the church, to a cleric, or, most importantly to every human being that has fear of the almighty.  Sometimes, human beings take their spirituality to the extreme as when they start behaving as if they have direct hotline to God.  In our effort to understand the universe, we arrive at one of the very few things that lifts human life a little above farce, and gives it some of the grace of strategy.  Perhaps, the more our universe seems comprehensible, the more it seems, to many, pointless.  With all the church and mosque activities going on in the world why do people commit suicide?  May be, just may be, nature is fundamentally ugly, chaotic and complicated that many take the easy since we’ve preached religion to them without showing God’s compassion.  For them, then, the way out is that if God is so uncompassionate, they want permanent exit from this chaotic and unforgiving world.

Does God play favoritism?  The answer is God does not, as long as we all follow the divine law given by Jesus and the prophets of old.  Love your neighbor as yourself and do onto others what you want them do unto you.  This is the best law in the universe.  We know that God - Jesus (if you are a Muslim, substitute, Allah) is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omnipresent.  God was never created nor will He have an end.  Because He is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omnipresent, He knew us before we were formed, he has a divine plans for each of us, and more importantly, He gave us a moral compass, the inner spirit - our conscience, to what is wrong from what is right.  When we violate the divine principle, the result is obvious.  Some ask questions such as, “why is it that He allows wicked people to prosper?”  Well, we must first define what prosperity is?  If prosperity is to amass wealth, material and power, then, the question is appropriate but if prosperity is to influence, make a difference in other people’s lives, and leave a good legacy, then, insane accumulation of wealth is the wrong direction to go.  Let us first understand that rich or poor, handsome or ugly, tall or short, smart or dumb, powerful or weak, sick or healthy, etc., one thing that is sure is that we’ll all die.  The fact of the matter is that the world is the market place while heaven is our home.  At creation, God did not ask us for money, mansion, jets, etc., the only gift He asks for us to bring home for him at our home coming is to something sustentative to show for our sojourn to the world.  That might be making a change in someone else’s life or making a world a better place. 

Again, I go back to my original thesis, what is religion and how does it affect our spirituality?  Religion can be likened to joining a gang, or a cult.  One does not need to know the philosophy of a gang or cult to join it.  One only needs to have a feel good attitude to join a gang, usually a feel good attitude for destructions and nothing else.  On the other hand, a spiritual person that joins a church is joining because the activities in the church blesses him/her, grows him spiritually, and develops his human capacity (moral, financial, spiritual).  Religion with spiritual conviction is like the opium, it uplifts one to the glory of the almighty.  Such spiritual person does not see the pastor as God but as an enabler, to taste and enjoy the goodness of God through the parishioner and pastor’s actions. 

Who will go to heaven?  I really do not know but those that are spiritually enriched and follow the golden rules, “Love your neighbor as yourself and do onto others what you want them to do unto you,” I believe will be in heaven.  Orthodoxy, is at best, a very inconsequential part of religion.  Although right tempers cannot subsist without right opinions, yet, right opinions may subsist without right tempers.  There may be a right opinion of God without either love or one right temper toward Him.  Satan has shown us a living proof of this fact.

A church is not necessary to get to heaven but once one finds people of right spiritual minds, it is better to grow spiritually and have a daily walk and thanksgiving with such group.  When religion is in the hands of the mere natural man, he is always the worse for the instrumentality of religion; it adds a bad heat to his own dark fire and helps to inflame his four elements of selfishness, envy, pride, and wrath.  How does one justify a leader who professes to be religious, steals billions of dollars, smiles every day but if he sees a follower/a poor citizen steal a loaf of bread he orders his/her hand to be amputated while condemning him to infamy.  The unfortunate thing is that, the human race, in the course of time, has taken the liberty of continuously softening religion until at last we have contrived to make it exactly the opposite of what religion is supposed to be.  It is an attempt to seek passion of exculpatory behaviors, or a worse degree of them that are found in persons of great religious zeal than in others that made no pretenses to religion.  Which religion would lead one to God, I really do not know.  What I know is that by following the rule of God’s engagement and spirituality heaven may be guaranteed – do not quote me on this because I am wanderer just like you.

Robot  # 1 | 05.11.2007 20:18

“Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without religion, you’d have goo...Read the full article.

tanibaba  # 2 | 06.11.2007 03:45

A very interesting and thought provoking article. Indeed I am impressed by the fact that you were able to supply answers to some of the questions that you were bothering your mum with while you were still a kid. That reminded me of Jimmy Cliff’s song Time will Tell. The truth is that there isn’t a fine line of demarcation between religion and spirituality. Man is a spirit and somehow inquisitive, always looking for answers and asking questions. One of such questions has over time being about who he is, where is he from, who created him etc. And what is the purpose of his creation. To guide man and assist him in answering these questions guidance was sent to man through the prophets and the books of God - the Torah, Injeel, Sabura and Quran. Man in his ingenuity now created religion by building models to house the teachings sent by God. Man did everything including packaging, advertising, selling and in the process CORRUPTED the divine guidance from God. Most of what we are seeing today, especially in the churches is pervasion and great transgression. You wrote For a young lad growing up in a small town in Kwara State, I would go further to ask Mama why we couldn’t stay at home to call on God if we wanted since she told me God was every where and mama would say to me that I was questioning God. Of course, just as you admitted later in your brilliant piece, God is everywhere and perhaps you Mana just did not want to tell you things that you couldn’t handle then or perhaps she had little knowledge of the “imported” religion just as it was the case with most people of that time. I knew my Mom believed in what she was saying but my next question was then, why didn’t those who believed in Sango, Oya, Esu, and other African religions not go their churches since they too believe in their God. Of course they have their shrines where they gather and those secluded bushes and high rise buildings. The usual way that mama would dismiss me was to label me as too inquisitive and an overzealous boy who enjoyed torturing her with questions. That was to be expected from most parents. And apart from what I wrote above, it is also normal for parents to believe that we will not understand some things no matter how hard they explain Did you hear Jimmy Cliff when he sang “ when I was just a little child or about … years old , I asked my father what he thinks my future holds. He said son when you grow up to be a man ……you will start to understand” Man I thank God that you have become a man. Brilliant piece taslim

Chief Kalu  # 3 | 07.11.2007 08:37

=Robot;2091817067>“Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without religion, you’d have goo...Read the full article. The article makes great sence. One of the spiritual works I have come across states that in all these experiencing, we mature. It takes some serious contemplation to come to certain level of understanding as it concerns spiritual matters and the lazy will continue to prattle the knowledge of other men without having any personal experience. When a man hands over his spiritual concerns to other men, then he might eventually become a slave to them. And that could portend disaster for them. That is why the holy works tells us"the kingdom of God is within you". However, no man is an island. The concept of the villagesquare can not be different from the concept of the church. We rub minds at the square as I want to believe.Villagers sincerely and objectively contribute to issues,this excludes ethnic and political matters as these two can always be discussed with baias. The church is to me a gathering of people who want to benefit from the benefits of the community, not necessarily as a prerequisite for spirituality or piousness/piety. The church is actually more for what the modern man will call synergy. Alahu Akbar!!!!!:cool::cool:

Anike  # 4 | 08.11.2007 22:09

Very brilliant piece. I agree with you that, since God does not play favoritism, eternal salvation is a given for those who "follow the golden rules".

Amy  # 5 | 09.11.2007 09:41

An article worth reading definitely. It succinctly outlines the difference between spirituality and religion which lots of folks mistake for the same concept. Obviously, the former is what provides one with a deep sense of having a relationship with the Eternal Source as well as a purpose driven lifestyle. No doubt the religious folks of Christ's days were no different from the corp of hypocrites that make the loudest noise about religious observances in our times while indulging in superfluity, materialism and greed, in the exclusion of the spiritual. That said, the pitfall of the opposite extreme is a certain humanism or pluralism where there are no exclusive routes to spiritual enlightenment but a certain allegiance to golden rules! An ideology that accepts all spiritual ideas and world views as moral equivalents as long as they focus on morality (the golden rule)without borders as the binding tie that unities all belief systems. The fallout of that view point which I perceive the author leans towards is a certain disapproval of the exclusivity that defines every religious belief system. I admire the author's admission of the fact that he is a wanderer that does not know which religion leads to God. However, he goes on to assert that the much he can say is that following the rules of God's engagement and spirituality will guarantee salvation of the soul. Which religion would lead one to God, I really do not know. What I know is that by following the rule of God’s engagement and spirituality heaven may be guaranteed. That is problematic on a number of levels and raises a few pertinent questions. How can one be sure that his personal version of spirituality is in conformity to objective TRUTH and not an aberration? If there is no constraining factor (the fear of God for instance) added to the equation, since atheists can equally subscribe to the golden rule paradigm, what will motivate an individual to adhere to the rules of conscience or moral laws that are engraved in every human being? Furthermore, it strikes me that perhaps it is not the lack of knowledge of moral principles that bars individuals from conforming to morally acceptable behavior but the lack of empowerment to follow through with such convictions and that is where conviction in the authenticity of a given belief system becomes relevant. Habitual thieves, looters, mercenaries or whatever are not ignorant of the wrongness of their actions for the most part. The problem I perceive is the personal weakness or lack of empowerment to shun evil and choose to do good no matter the personal deprivation one will be subjected to as a result of taking the moral highway. The search for truth is inherent in all humans, therefore, an appreciable level of certainty in the reliability/truthfulness of a spiritual claim forms the catalyst that regularly motivates individuals to adopt a new lifestyle that is defined by a high level of spiritual consciousness. This is often a personal quest that the seeker of truth must undertake with resolve. For the longest when I was younger I went through the motions of attending morning services daily as was required by my religious family. The truth is that it was just an outward observance that did nothing for me spiritually as I was no different from any other sinner on the street. It was after much rumination and search for truth that I came to believe and feel a real compulsion to make internal adjustments. No matter how we cut it, at the core of every belief system is exclusivity. I personally believe that one can subscribe to an exclusive belief system without being at the same time intolerant of opposing belief systems. In conclusion, I believe that in Christendom today the greatest imbalance is the heavy emphasis on denominational-ism, a trend that the author rightly underscores is absent in the holy book. In the bible... there is no where that a formal church be established. Rather, the church in the old times was a gathering of wise men to encourage themselves in the understanding of the universal laws, cause spiritual awakening in the next generation and thank the almighty. This type of gathering was where we were told Jesus understudied the wise men before his ministry for causing the world to understand the root cause of life. At such gatherings, wise men taught younger ones respect, philosophy of life, economics, and even technology. In deed, Martin Luther King, Jr. captured it best when he said, “A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing is worth nothing.” Very well said. The Church that Christ established has had to pay a very heavy price for the ungodly emphasis on denominationalism, which in many cases, tilts towards idol worship of sorts. The very elementary distinction between being spiritual and being carnal(focusing on the material world to the exclusion of the spiritual) is the preoccupation of the later with stuff, superfluity and physical appearances. The heavy emphasis on large membership among these denominations is an aberration of Christ's teachings and goes contrary to his prediction: "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Mat 7:14. The competition, heretic carnality message packaged as financial prosperity doctrine and other acquisition tendencies are all anti-Christ and anti-spirituality. In the end, it is easy in today's world to be following after shadows and thinking one is hanging onto truth. It is very easy to be deeply religious(false religion, of course) and erroneously think that one is being spiritual. The two are simply not logical equivalents and will never be. Later o.