By Philip Amiola
I strolled past the Isis Temple of the
Rosicrucian Order on Sunday evening and was quite fascinated with their array
of books and audio materials.
I almost absolutely don't do impulse buying but when it comes to
books and personal development materials I often find myself bending that rule.
Fortunately (or should I say unfortunately?), I wasn't holding any of my bank
cards. So I couldn't purchase any of those materials.
Looking through some of the seemingly esoteric books, I quickly
realised that this is what some smart folks have packaged as Neurolinguistic
Programming (NLP), the latest money spinner in the Nigerian (perhaps global)
coaching and personal development industry.
Interestingly, my friend with whom I was strolling wondered what
business I had reading "Rosicrucian" books. This beautiful soul
warned me strongly to steer clear of them. Yet, this same person might not mind
taking a course in NLP, especially if it is free, sponsored or mandated by
employer.
While I understand the need to guard our hearts with all
diligence, I also believe that the cause of Christ will be greatly advanced by
thinking and well-versed believers rather than dogmatic Christians.
Moses learned the wisdom of Egypt and Daniel versed himself in the
culture and literature of the Chaldeans. Magic was a key component of these
bodies of knowledge.
There are many things that we do in the name of
Christianity that we should rather be ashamed of. And when someone attempts to
challenge these anomalies, he or she is seen as rebellious or misguided.
I remember being called an "enemy of the gospel" because
I insisted that a church on my street should stop constituting nuisance to
residents (and robbing them of sleep) under the guise of holding vigils.
It is equally worrisome to have mosques desecrate our early
mornings with their loud calls to prayer in residential areas. That’s even mild
compared to the incalculable loss of lives that we record almost annually in
the name of stoning the devil in Mecca.
I was slightly relieved when the emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, said
Nigerians will no longer participate in the stoning of devil
ritual, except they get accommodation close to Jamrat, where the exercise takes
place.
The emir was quoted as saying “If one deliberately refuses
to perform the stoning of the devil ritual, all he needs to do is just to
slaughter a ram. So, if this is the situation, why do we go and suffer and die
instead of sacrificing a ram?”
However Sanusi had also reportedly said, “All of us have our time.
No one can spend more than a second when it comes. The stampede cannot be stopped by
anyone as that is an act of God.” Does God really delight in
snuffing out people’s lives, especially when they are performing religious
rites?
I understand that the ritual is a symbolic reenactment of
Abraham's hajj, where he stoned three pillars representing the temptation to disobey
God and preserve Ishmael.
As didactic as this may be,
it certainly isn’t worth dying for especially when you consider the fact that
many of the proselytes – at least those that I have spoken to – confess to not
understanding the significance of the act, apart from the fact that it is one
of the rituals that must be performed in the Hajj.
It is painful how religion would make us believe that avoidable
incidents like the Hajj stampede and resultant deaths are an act of God.
I have given up on religion. Apart from ethnicity, religion
is perhaps one factor that has divided Nigerians more than anything else.
The most recent example is the pandemonium that almost erupted in
Cross River State over the ban of devotions in schools, a directive the state
governor has wisely reversed and dissociated himself from. Like I have always
maintained, religion does not commend us to God. God is not a Christian.
He's not a Muslim either. Whether we’re talking about African
Traditional Religion, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism or any other religion,
religion as we know it does not make us relevant before God.
True religion is a vital, personal relationship with God
which causes His life to be reflected in us and through us as we personify His
attributes, the core of which is love.
We need not discard logic to substantiate our religion or faith;
faith and logic could actually agree when we understand the fundamental
principles. By the way, I think I want to stop being addressed as a
"Christian". I simply want to be a follower of Christ. After all,
that's what the word is supposed to mean.
Like my earlier article along this line,
I am fairly certain that this piece will attract lots of critical comments,
especially from folks who will only read the headline and probably scan the
content of the article, without taking time to understand its message.
Nevertheless, feel free to post your comments or engage me on
Twitter and I'll do my best to respond. I reserve the right to ignore messages
and comments that appear offensive, hateful, abusive or otherwise unacceptable.
We can disagree without being belligerent.
Philip Amiola wrote
in from Lagos. He blogs at http://philipamiola.org and
tweets from @PhilipAmiola
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