Last week was quite interesting on Nigeria's
social media space. It started with a video of
Pastor Adeboye telling his followers not to marry
a woman that can neither cook nor pray for one
straight hour. The question that has been on my
mind is: does that mean God is deaf? What
parent makes their child beg (for one hour) for
something they know the child needs? The truth
is that prayers, besides making the believer to
feel good about themselves, are an absolute
waste of time. They do not grow the economy or
an amputated limb. Youth unemployment is at an
all time high despite our regular night vigils,
prayers and supplications - it is evident that a
God who is interested in human welfare does not
exist. If He did, malaria and cancers will not kill
millions of children whilst He preoccupies
Himself with consensual sex between
homosexual couples.
In our country, pastors are marriage counsellors,
psychotherapists, psychiatrists and financial
advisers all at once even though they are not
appropriately trained for these roles. They tell
women to go back to their violent husbands
because, according to them, divorce is a sin
against God. Many a woman has lost her life
because of this advice. People like Adeboye are
so influential anything they say is taken as the
literal truth. Sadly, his comments portray a man
who is out of touch with the realities of modern
family life. More and more women are now in
employment and some of them are the main
providers for their families. Marriage is now
regarded as a partnership rather than as a
master-servant relationship. Some of the most
celebrated chefs in western cultures are men -
what is wrong with teaching our boys and young
men to cook for themselves? Adeboye has
similarly instructed his female followers not to
marry men without jobs. But what happens when
a man loses his job - should his wife divorce
him?
I feel sorry for the people who think God speaks
through this man or through any man at all.
If you want incontrovertible evidence that
religion cannot reform the world, then consider
the degree of theft and corruption in Nigeria.
These problems have become endemic even
though practically every Nigerian is a practising
Muslim or Christian.
Nigerian pastors have acquired a taste for private
jets - ostensibly to reach the parts of the world
that need the gospel of Jesus, except that they
avoid such places as Pakistan, Afghanistan,
Somalia and Iraq. Charity begins at home - it is
senseless to run off to put out the fire in your
neighbour's house when your own house is up in
flames.
Nigerians and their country are in dire need of
salvation from endemic corruption. It is evident
that religion cannot tranform our nation because
as our religious devotions have increased, so
have our corrupt ways.
Pastor Adeboye and his other pastopreneur
friends need to sell off their jets, repent of their
lies, stop robbing their church members through
emotional blackmail, and give back what they
have stolen. Their message has failed.
Adeboye's gaffes were followed by the news that
the Nigerian government is going to subsidise
pilgrimage to Mecca by granting Muslims
concessionary exchange rate.
That is almost N8 billion for an exercise that
does not benefit our economy. Many businesses
are failing, parents are struggling to send their
children to school, our hospitals are poorly
resourced but that is how our government
chooses to spend N8 billion. And believers
wonder why we cannot stop talking about
religion. There would be no use to criticise
religion if it is removed from public space and
kept as a private matter. It is wrong for the
government to use tax payer's money to
subsidise religious rituals.
The week ended with the RCCG convention
where Adeboye makes his usual wild claims but
says nothing of consequence about our nation.
Our Vice President and a professor of law, Yemi
Osibanjo, who also happens to be a pastor in the
Redeemed Church watched on as Adeboye went
to town with his preposterous claims. For a man
who claims to have resurrected dead people,
cured all kinds of diseases and driven a car
without feel, you would think Adeboye would
have told Vice President Osibanjo by now where
to locate the abducted Chibok girls, right? But
no, another RCCG convention has ended and not
a word about their whereabout. When Adeboye
claims that his car drives without fuel or that he
has resurrected dead people and there's a
medical doctor, engineer, architect, research
fellow, PhD holder or a professor in the
congregation who believes this fantasy then I
feel grief and have great concern for the
education system that has nurtured such people.
Religion has caused more harm than it has done
good to African societies. Without a doubt,
Adeboye and his fellow pastopreneurs have been
responsible for the corruption in the way a
generation of Nigerians think. But judging by the
reactions to his sermon on social media, I think
it is safe to say that the scales are starting to
fall off the eyes of believers. I believe that
pastor Adeboye will think twice now before re-
telling his favourite story of how his car drives
without fuel. I am thankful for the Internet and
how it has placed knowledge at the fingertips
(literally) of ordinary people. I pay tribute to
fellow secularists for their unrelenting effort to
liberate the minds of our people from the
shackles of religion. Despite my grief, I feel
hopeful about the future.
Nigerianbulletin.com
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