Every reasonable person would by now know that the Bible is just not a bronze age manual said to have been inspired by a celestial father of a particular kind, worshipped by a group of people—it’s also full of barbarism and absurdities, on how to treat both adults and children.
The Bible is not a contemporary moral code but it’s that book you can find several verses to justify any heinous action, including slavery, killing people and even whipping/abusing children.
Let me give you some few examples of the sort of viciousness the Bible champions, before proceeding to the heart of my write up.
Exodus 35:2 clearly insists that any person who works on sabbath day should be put to death, and Lev.19:19 states that a person who plants two different crops in the same field, or wears garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend) should be put to death. Imagine what would happen if I decide to obey this “law”–I would end up killing almost every Ghanaian.
Leviticus 25:44 states that you may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. Slavery has long been abolished and this is absolute nonsense.
Not just these, there are countless verses in the Bible that no reasonable person would today agree that they should be given any sort of enforcement—and therefore, it is deeply worrying that following Bishop Obinim’s recent child abuse, he’s heavily relying on a quotation from the Bible for justification.
Proverbs 13:24 which reads: “Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them,” has become his weapon of justification.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9AG5Lr6ubQ
Beyond the fact that the Bible is obviously outmoded, Ghana’s not a theocratic state, ruled in the name of God or a god.
Ghana is a liberal constitutional state and even though religion is permitted by Ghana’s Laws, the commandments and moral codes of these religions do not supersede the existing laws of the land. Thus, people’s actions, irrespective of where it took place should be judged by the laws of the land and not what their holy book, be it the Bible or Quran dictates.
The Children’s Act, 1998, section 6(2) and (3) reads:
(2) Every child has the right to life, dignity, respect, leisure, liberty, health, education and shelter from his parents.
(3) Every parent has rights and responsibilities whether imposed by law or otherwise towards his child which include the duty to – (a) protect the child from neglect, discrimination, violence, abuse, exposure to physical and moral hazards and oppression;
The same Act, section 13 states:
(1) No person shall subject a child to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment including any cultural practice which dehumanises or is injurious to the physical and mental well-being of a child.
(2) No correction of a child is justifiable which is unreasonable in kind or in degree according to the age, physical and mental condition of the child and no correction is justifiable if the child by reason of tender age or otherwise is incapable of understanding the purpose of the correction.
Apart from the above, there are countless human rights instruments which protects Ghanaian children—and which prohibit abuse or the sort of public whipping Obinim was engaged in.
It’s therefore unacceptable or criminal for a Ghanaian to act outside the scope of the Law and then quote the Bible as the book that sanctioned his actions. It’s not of any good either if the person says God revealed to him to kill another or do something that violates the laws of Ghana.
If what Bishop Obinim is doing is not checked, it would open a shocking floodgate where Muslims can also rely on the Hadith or even the Quran to flog or stone adulterous women in Ghana. After all, their religious books somewhat sanctions this.
Not long ago, a Ghanaian Member of Parliament boldly suggested in parliament during a Bill deliberation that ‘adulterous women’ should be stoned—and that this punishment which is being used in many religious States who regard themselves as ‘States of God’ should be adopted in Ghana.
We live in Ghana, with a set of laws as binding instruments and regulator of our conducts. That’s what we should respect. Any other book, be it the Bible, Torah, Quran or whatever which may order something that contradicts the laws of Ghana ought to be ignored.
You are permitted to hold and practice your religion–provided you do so within the laws of Ghana. Your holy book is not a warrant to violate the laws of the land.