The question is why a rational mind should believe that another human being is a witch, or that a person who has no direct dealings with his business is influencing his fortunes. What sustains the beliefs in witches, wizards, evil spirits, angels, hell fire, heaven, paradise, Garden of Eden, Immaculate Conception and may religious dogmas, myths and traditional beliefs, which divide people, sow the seeds of conflicts, destroy peaceful co-existence contribute nothing to what sustains existence and leaves people with irrational and overvalued ideas of what happens after death? Why do believers resist the subjection of these ideas to the same scrutiny which the ideas they use in their different professions were subjected? How can it be right to subject some ideas to scrutiny and exclude others? Why should we have a lower threshold for accepting religious ideas than scientific ones? What is belief? How does it originate? What is the aim of those who urge beliefs instead of understanding? What is the right way of establishing the truthfulness or the validity of an idea or concept? Who benefits when men hold irrational beliefs for which they are determined to live for, or if necessary, to die? Why is this state of mind very dangerous? Nigerians have to answer theses question to begin to understand the irrationality of ascribing to ideas men hold in their minds the ability to alter reality and their potential to retard development, perpetuate ignorance and destroy societies. Ignorance is the absence of knowledge, just as darkness is the absence of light, which is why beliefs without room for reason, flourishes in backward and primitive societies. Education without enlightenment only validates ignorance. Hopefully, Nigerians will recover from our pathological certainties of knowing what is true without evidence, and begin to re-examine our religious certainties and traditional beliefs as other developed nations have done. God gave reason so that we can use to it examine what we accept as truth. Therefore, anything that excludes reason from what is accepted as true is dangerous and keeps people ignorant, divided and contentious. My people are indeed destroyed for lack of knowledge Of course, religious morality is great, but such morality can easily be taught without some religious mind dumbing irrational dogmas that make fools of many in the name of God. To have an effective debate or discussion on religious and traditional beliefs, people must be ready to accord all views equal value and judge them on the altar of evidence and reason , something the traditional and religious minds do not accept because they already know that what they have is the truth. I hope that someday, the Nigerian renaissance will begin and religious orthodoxies and traditional beliefs would be put in their right and proper places so that we can have a society where no one would believe that young boys can be witches or that witches, wizards, evil spirits or Satan are responsible for things that have understandable logical or scientific explanations.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 00:53:10 +0000
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