(This article was written from a neutral perspective, and
does not intend to praise nor castigate any form of religion existing on earth.
There is no compulsion in religion, whatever one believes in, therein lies his
religion.)
Religion and man appears to be two inseparable entities.
Man could not understand the in-depth reason nor could he explain vividly the
self-asked questions such as, “Why I am on earth, and who designed it?” “Where
do I go, when I die, will I reincarnate?” “Who keeps me alive, and what is his purpose
for me?” He sees the plants and he examines its leaves and body, he saw a huge
expanse of land filled with water and he called it an ocean, sea, lake, or
river. He was eager to differentiate things, having been filled with vigor and
engulfed with insatiable curiosity and enthusiasm to discover the hidden facts
of life.
Man soon became super-convinced that a super being or a
force mightier than him was in existence, controlling the earth and universe.
Thus the emergence of religion, which seeks to provide answers to the
unanswered questions of man. He persevered to investigate further, and he
discovered that the earth rotates in its axis. No wonder the day and night, he
concluded. He took notice of the sun and moon, who created them?
He got no
convincing answer; he formulated his theories and yet was not satisfied. He was
then tempted to worship the sun, and yet he did worship the sun, of which lead
to the emergence of solar deities such as, Ra the Chief god and sun god of ancient
Egypt, Amadioha of the Igbos, the Surya of the Hindu, and the Amaterasu
of the Japanese etc.
He never ignored the moon too, for he was fascinated by
its brilliance at night. He delved into moon worship, which led to the
emergence of lunar deities such as Ala of the Igbos, Selene of the Greeks,
Khonsu of the Ancient Egypt, Chandra of the Hindu, Diana of the Romans. The crescent
moon became associated with a religion such as Islam, and men such as Hugo
Winckler an archeologist and Robert Morey an American evangelist concluded that
Allah was a moon god.
The cross, which is a symbol of worship in Christianity,
was also alleged to have originated from pagan worship, before the actual coming
of Christianity. If the cross is a Christian symbol, it cannot be correctly
said that, its origin was within Christianity, for in one form or another, it
was a sacred symbol, long before the Christian era and among many non-Christian
people. So many scholars argued, referring to the Tau cross (†) used as a
symbol of the Babylonian sun god Tammuz (Tammuz was also mention in the Bible
when women wept for him – Ezekiel 8:14), the temple of the cross in Palenque –
Mexico etc. A lot have to be said but religion appears to be a commixture of
the old and new.
The concept Religion is widened, if we see it as the
faithfulness of man to a given principle, which he believes-in. The broadness
of religion is narrowed, if we see it as the belief in and the worship of a
supernatural being (God and gods) with super controlling powers. The super beings
with supernatural powers have proven in mystical ways, to have the answers to
the questions that have made man restless through the Dark Age to the Digital Age.
The major religions in the world encompass Christianity,
Judaism, Islam, Mormonism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism etc. In
each of these religions, man gave the supernatural being(s) name(s) or either
followed the footsteps and teachings of men believed to be wise and principled,
for example, In Christianity we have God (Jesus Christ, Holy spirit); In Islam
we have Allah. In Judaism, we have YHWH (Adonai), In Hinduism, we have several
gods and goddess like Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Ganapati, Krishna, In Buddhism we
have the Buddha, In Taoism we have the Tao, and the same applies to several
other indigenous religions. Man began to believe in God and gods; seeking for
power and protection at all cost, the existence of the spiritual world was not
in doubt and could not be swept under the carpet.
Every religion claims that they have the true God or gods;
they say that others outside their religion are misled. Talking about “The True
God” in the first place, tells one that some religion may not really be getting
it right. For clarity sake, every religion hopefully seeks the same God, but in
different ways, because every man has different questions that needs different answers.
God can be seen as the hub (the center of all) of a wheel
and all the religions in the world can be seen as the spokes of the wheel.
Undoubtedly, God has spoken to man, but man has interpreted it in so many ways,
leading to the fragmentation and sudden irruption of so many religions.
 |
| God as the Hub of a wheel and every other religion as the spoke of the wheel. - Illustration by Muoka Chibuzor |
The quest of man never ended, he went further to receive
messages from the super being(s) and listen to the messengers of the super
being(s). Within a short duration, so many forms of religion came into
existence, even today and at this moment; more are still regrouping and
springing up, because the quest of man for the perfect religion with the
perfect route to the true God or gods appears insatiable. Can this religion
lead one to the creator of the earth? He keeps asking until his doubts are
cleared by the doctrines of the religion he finally believes-in.
How true is it that every other religion is false and
Hinduism is true?
How true is it that every other religion is false and
Islam is true?
How true is it that every other religion is false and
Christianity is true?
The same applies to every other religion. How true is
their faith and doctrine of worship? Are they the ones with the true God?
Ask yourself this question - if you were a Muslim woman
and you have believed all your life that Islam is the only way for you to make
heaven or else rot in hell. Then a Christian man comes to marry you, would you
not ask yourself, would this man allow me to practice my religion in marriage?
If I accept to marry him, would his religion, lead me to heaven? These
questions become necessary, because a mind embedded with a strict religious
belief, would upheld what its stands for at all times unless proven otherwise.
We can go on and on arguing and advocating whose religion
has the true God, but at the end of the day, we retire back to our respective
religions or rather become irreligious. This is because God is God, and people
seek him in so many ways with clear understanding and clear interpretation or
with misunderstanding and misinterpretation. He who is protected or deceived
becomes a follower.
Man was gullible to sorcery, magic, and miracles; such
events leave him in awe and astonishment. He joined mostly any religion that
answers his perturbing questions, believes every doctrine attached to the
religion, and then he turns around to preach against and sputter degrading
statements about every other religion existing on earth. Some religions become
predators, trying to capture a weaker religion and destroy their beliefs. The
weaker religions lose members who join the super religion, having believed that
they have the true God with them.
From time immemorial, every religion that exists on earth
strives to see about the welfare of its members first (preferential treatment),
thereby creating division among men. For example, the Christians believe that
only they will go to heaven and every other person outside Christianity will
inherit hell. Similar and contradicting beliefs exist in other religions, some
even believe that heaven, and hell neither exists. Religion then makes man to
be self-centered and unaccommodating to the extent of him judging men of other
religion as foolish, infidels, impure, the ungodly, enemies, or beasts.
Most
religion claim, according to their doctrine, mode and book of worship that they
advocate for peace, “Now, tell me why there is so many religion and yet there
is so little love? Will I ever get to know the truth of this?” (Asa a Nigerian
musician asks in her song titled ‘Questions’).
If religion strives to teach man to be a loving and
peaceful being, why is the world still in endless chaos? Wickedness and mayhem-unleashed
day by day, most times evil is committed in the name of the same religion of
which he strives to uphold and defend. Religious crisis and intolerance tearing
the society apart.
This lead to the emergence of the atheists, men who
believe in no deity or divine being. Most of them were scientists and they
sought to disapprove the existence of God, they totally believed that religion
has refused the advancement of man and has instead persistently dragged man
back to the Stone Age (primitive lifestyle), by the gross adherence of man to
restrictive doctrines of old religions.
Magic and miracles rendered scientific findings and
experiments invalid, and they became infuriated at the mention of spirituality,
because it was spontaneous in nature, it just happens! Miracles just happen
every day. Nevertheless, whatever a man believes-in, is his religion. Whether
an atheist or a theist they both live on certain principles which they follow
religiously and that is his religion. A man without principles is doomed.
Even if religion never existed, and man was to operate
without incorporating religion into his ways of life. Man is still expected to
live up to expectation, having been endowed with the free will, rationality,
and moral compass (conscience) to direct him every seconds on how to do what’s
right and proper, he is expected to move away from evil and move towards good.
However, due to the failure of man to live up to
expectation, by the constant perpetration of evil and atrocities, various
religion came up to try to keep him in order. Man needed rules and regulations,
laws and constitutions, The Bible, The Koran, The Vedas, The Tripiṭaka, and the
Dhammapada, The Torah, The Analects of Confucius, The Tao Te Ching etc. to live
in harmony and peace, but yet evil and atrocities could not be eradicated from
the surface of the earth. What else does man need?
So now, the pertinent question begging for a lucid answer
is; “Has religion helped or failed man?” to answer this question, one has to
reflect at the benefits of religion to man, the problems religion created for
man, and what man has done as a beneficiary of religion. Religion as a set of
belief has tried to curtail or exacerbate man’s excesses. It has answered
various questions of man and has created the room for more confusion, because
religion is a tool at the complete disposal of man.
Man has orchestrated
religion to suit himself with respect to the trends and advancement of the
modern world. Even currently, some religions have been modified to extort money
from members without their consciousness, because of their gullibility and
blindness to the actual foundation and the origin of the place of worship,
where they seek God.
Religion has helped man in some areas of life by teaching
him to be God-fearing, loving (especially to people within the same religion),
caring, and compassionate for a better world. However, it has failed man by
turning him to become intolerable of other religion, creating division among
men, thereby destroying all that it has built. Religion contradicts itself and
man stands at the center to enjoy and withstand the worst of its constructive
and devastative effects. People no longer work hard to achieve success because
they constantly seek the intervention of superpowers and blame every problem on
witches and wizards, and so they prefer fasting and praying while the problem
clearly stands still, untouched, and formidable.
If man is not happy with his life today, he should not
blame religion. In addition, if he were happy with his life today, religion
would not take the credit either. Man should not blame nor praise religion for
his woes and blessings. He takes the credit and reserves the right to ascribe
the glory to God or gods, if he is wise enough. Instead of praising or cursing
religion, he should keep examining his life with his moral compass (conscience)
and belief (religion), detecting where he is getting it right or wrong for a
good past, a better present, and the best future.
If one keeps being scared of life and then decides to hide
under the cloak of religion to deceive the world, then he or she is yet to
discover him or herself. Religion has helped man, and failed him in some aspects
of life, but man as a beneficiary of religion has consistently failed himself,
because an unexamined life is not worth living at all.
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