OUT WITH THE OLD

RELIGION:

CHURCH OF THE GOVERNMENT, BY THE GOVERNMENT AND FOR THE GOVERNMENT.

Religion is a scam. God is not

Like history lessons marred with the writers opinions and experiences,  the religious leaders and preachers have learnt to tell a narrative that suits their purpose, they manipulate the the truth and with the help of the government, keep the people in a loop of false hope and false faith, to believe in the impossible while taking from them all they have.

It is like a drug, that is hope, and more often than not, our religious leaders, our preachers, the ones we run to for prayer, and counsel are the suppliers and the government their dealer.

Let me tell you what I mean.

There are over 16,000 churches in Nigeria of 36 states, and over 10,000 mosques.  

Statistics show that there are over 78 million Christians in Nigeria and over 77 million Muslims in Nigeria, totaling over 155 million religious minded people in Nigeria out of 200 million citizens spread across 36 states and yet, the level of decadence being perpetuated in Nigeria doesn't add up especially going by what both religions are about.

Every election season, it becomes a popular sight for our leaders to visit both churches and mosques,  and as always they are welcomed with a pat on the back, a happy handshake and camera lights flashing from all sides. 

Our religious leaders.

The ones that stand by and watch daily as we live and die in fear. 

And yet we haven't risen up to stand against or correct them; How many religious leaders have led any type of protest? A group of worshipers were brutally massacred in Owo, Ondo State Nigeria, what did they do? rant and continue like nothing happened.

I wonder, is God not a God of war? Does he not abhor injustice? Is it the interpretation of our religious leader’s that God is pleased with the decay and rot taking place in Nigeria?

How many of our religious leaders have stood up against ASUU strike, are they not worried about the education of their members? Is it not true that faith without works is dead? Are we supposed to continue to have faith in a country that bears no fruits? I mean even Jesus cursed a tree that wasn’t productive. Is it then safe to say even that with all the religious houses, Nigeria is cursed?

Hmmmmm.

The Religious Housesof Worship

We go every other day, we pay offerings and tithes and make endless cash sacrifices because we have been told that in doing so God will bless us, and fill our barns with multiple blessings. Biko, is it on a cursed ground that we will multiply from?

They tell us to sow seeds, they quote the widows mite, give all you can and watch God bless you because he loves a cheerful giver.

The widow who gave her mite wasn't cheerful I suppose and lots of people giving in religious houses aren't completely happy doing so either . They give more out of hope, out of fear, out of the pure belief that they will get back in manifold what they have given. If they can be completely honest. 

And so when the call for pledges are made, we come out shakily with nothing in our accounts, no food to eat at home and the last of our transport fare because we hope and because our leaders have assured us that it will work.

Government + Religion = Business partners

HOW

Government has the stick, religion shows us the carrot.

While the religious houses retain our minds in a continuous manipulative acuity of hope and belief, calling us to pray and fast at every point of the day,  all while amassing a lot from our little, they feed fat, watch us starve and stay unruffled, watching the governments full weight smashing our wind pipes.

I mean if the government doesn’t keep us in perpetual suffering, what exactly would they have to preach and feed on?

How many religious houses have you heard shut down due to lack of funds? They instead build monstrous auditoriums for more people to come and submit more offerings to enable them live the luxury lives.

Airlines are shutting down, schools haven’t been in session for god knows how long, people don’t have the funds to feed, bandits are killing people daily and consistently, people are panicking in their homes, traveling is fairy tale, businesses are suffering, entrepreneurs are giving up and yet guess who isn’t the bit disturbed by all these.

I'll give them one thing though. They provide a venting outlet for us, they allow us cry and wail, and bitch about our frustrations with the government. And once the time is up, with the little relief we feel, we walk back into the sun to continue the hardship.

In my mind, i have likened these weekly wailing sessions to attending an AA meeting; everyone there is going through the same thing, but no one has the solution and so we console ourselves, and hope we get better or that our problems don't kill us.

Venting brings relief however temporary and feels like a glass of very cold fresh water to a thirsty soul on a scorched day. It quenches the thirst but for a moment and you keep going back for more.

So while we cry and complain to our leaders, they pacify us, encourage us to keep fighting the good fight of faith, they give us weapons of oil, handkerchiefs, brooms, candles, crosses and what not, they encourage us to stay awake all night fighting, tell us that hunger strike will bring us the answer we need. They do everything but tell the truth, coerce us to pray for our oppressors, to obey the, to endure the long suffering as it comes with a glorious reward.

So it goes like this: The government keeps oppressing us, and the church rubs its soothing balm on us to keep us from attacking our oppressors and it’s a win win for both of them.

The church regales us of with testimonies of other oppressed people that have managed to escape their oppressors, and encourage us to be patient. They give us the escape chants and we jump, sing, shout and cling onto it, it may be our turn next.

'This year is your year'

Doors will open unto you

You will receive unexpected blessings

You will receive a magical alert.

You will sow where you did not reap

Miracles will come knocking at your door

you are healed

your belly shall be full

no one can harm you

If all Jesus had to do was speak to an unfruitful fig tree, he would have done so rather than curse it. If all we had to do was declare a thing for it to happen, then faith doesn’t need actions.

I mean with all the termites eating up documents containing expenditures worth 17,000,000,000 Naira, snakes swallowing 36,000,000 Naira, monkeys chewing through 70,000,000 Naira and all other spiritual oddities wrecking us, isn't it time we exterminate them?

We are taught about patience and its virtue, but they forget to mention how long we have to be patient for.

In this age where we understand how toxic it is to patiently wait for your oppressor to kill you, why then is there so much silence from our religious leaders?  Why do we continue to enable them while we suffer?