As humans, we are all connected one way or another but the tragedy of the world is that we have forgotten that we all belong to each other. We have reduced ourselves to a society that cares based on religious sentiments. We equally define what is right and wrong based on sentiments.

The people who ‘practise/believe’ in the major religions we have in Africa i.e. Christianity, Islam and African traditional religion are the main culprits when it comes to the issue of inhuman treatment. We have become so polarized and indifferent to each other because of our ‘faith’. The world is getting smaller by the day due to technology—what is happening elsewhere can happen anywhere.

Religion has been on this planet since time immemorial and yet it has never been possible at any point in recorded history to unite everyone under the banner of one. Different denominations think they are better than the other how much more (or less) people of different religions? We are in a hurry to work our way to heaven but totally forget or ignore being ‘each other’s keeper’.

It is not the actual teachings of each religion that worries me but rather the violent clashes, wars, instant (jungle) justice which erupt amongst the religions. Anyone would believe in their normal senses that these religions should be meeting ‘clubs’ of spiritually pure people with superior morality, with greater tolerance and understanding rather than non-believers. The fact that each and every day human lives are heartlessly lost ridicules such beliefs.

People are being abducted, killed, treated inhumanly and we look on unconcerned. People who should and must know better are at the forefront of these wicked acts. Human beings are burnt alive in the name of instant justice because she/he is a suspected thief, kidnapper, ritualist, witch etc., and people stand around and look on without a care in the world. These same standby people acting as cheerleaders may be holding positions in churches/mosques in the name of deacons, choristers, sheiks, husband seekers (or sorry, ushers) – who go to church/mosque in the name of going to worship God/Allah.

They will deny their children burger because that money is meant for offering – what is the use if we don’t have empathy for our fellow human? A Christian will tell you the bible says ‘suffer not a witch’ to live – what if it’s your mother, child, grandmother?

An expatriate who once worked in a very religious country wrote: ‘……a pick-pocket will steal your wallet, people will kill and maim and others will look on unconcerned; but the worse and biggest sin you can commit in the country is if you tell someone you don’t belong to any faith or don’t go to church……. If the number of large churches in the country is replaced by factories and schools, the country will definitely come out of poverty…..’ Enough said!

We need to ask ourselves some questions from an unbiased point of view:

–          Has religion done any absolute good and justice to the development of Africa in this modern day and age?

–          Where are the prophets who claim to ‘know’ the mind of God? This is the time we need them the most. Has God not spoken to them yet (in the case of the abducted school girls)?

–          Is persecution the only way to show our supremacy and our knowledge of the ‘various holy books’?

Must people lose their lives for a ‘religious fanatic’ to say with a smile that ‘this makes the bible so true because it’s a prophecy in the bible which has come to pass’?

The way we are so sensitive about religious issues, we should be equally sensitive when human lives are lost and people maltreated. Shrugging off some inhuman treatment because it’s not close to us or it’s a thing our ‘faith’ will never do leaves a bad taste in the mouth and totally contradicts our greatest asset, our collective humanity.

I love my head so I’m not going to say we should abandon religion but at least, let us put humanity ahead of everything we do. When you slip and fall, I may be on hand to help you up, not religion. We supposedly came from Adam and Eve so…….