THE FAILURE OF OUR RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS “Labour to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.” – George Washington A country of over 160 million people; Nigeria is made up of two religions chiefly: Christianity and Islam. Given the high moral values, the ethics, the principles, the character conducts exemplified in both; one may perfectly conclude that Nigeria will be an ideal example of good governance, of fairness, of justice, of high moral behavior, of low crime, etc. WRONG! Take for instance councillors, Chairman, Governors, Ministers, heads of parastatals, MDAs, PAs, SSAs, Lawmakers, etc all belong to either of both religions (where they are not atheists!) How then do we have consistent indiscipline, flagrant abuse of power and ineffective leadership as consistent attributes to these leadership positions! Intolerance, Societal dysfunction, Crime escalation (some sponsored by these heads as thugs) and unprecedented corruption are amongst the shameful display we see all around in our society. What is wrong? As one who reads the bible, practice and follow Christ Jesus; I know the ideals of the Christian faith is important for good governance, they set for public leaders an ideally moral background to act. This does not mean public leaders would adhere to these values as many individual interpretations ensure a deviation from these standards. Also, the fact that systems/nations/individuals do not believe in or practice a form of religion doesn’t preclude them from operating with similar ideals and conducts, a nation like Japan is a good example. They subscribe to set of moral values that are principally found in the Holy books. With that in mind, one would expect states/societies with high religious endearments like Nigeria to have more standard and high values than others. This is not the case in Nigeria. Both religions have similar core value attributes and sanctions against indiscipline, oppression, wickedness and corruption. What is wrong with the conscience implanted by our creator in steering our basic daily activities, either private or public? Let’s not take it far. You and I make up the two religions. How often do we obey traffic rules? Do we dump refuse in the gutters during rainfall? How often do we litter the streets with sachet? How often do we discharge our civilian duties without supervision? How often do we do the right thing at work? Diligence? How good does our integrity smell? All values are traceable from the admonitions and principles of most religions; which emphasizes doing good. But today, religious affiliations doesn’t guarantee moral uprightness as people choose their different paths regardless of their religious inclinations If people take heed and practice what is instructed in the scriptures, we will have a better society led by citizens who understand the needs of the society and works towards achieving them, followers who contribute their quota through collective active citizenship (discipline and adherence to civic rules); and live more peacefully with one another. It is one thing to have the Bible/Quran or read it for instance, it’s another to practice it. A lack of moral values has afflicted our institutions. It’s why Nigeria is in trouble. The church repeatedly turns its eyes against social injustice. I expect the religious leaders to be extremely outspoken at corruption, but they won’t. Why would they? Most of them have their source of income from the corrupt individuals and thus have their conscience seared. They won’t speak. Jesus, the Christian model was outspoken against corrupt people, against false leaders and wicked men. But HIS church today is failing largely in this regard. As religious authorities, the silence of religious leaders on social injustice silently affirm their belief in injustice. This in turn emboldens their followers to perpetuate or keep or justify the acts or keep more in apathy. Religious pedigree (just like its ethnic sister) has become a blinding interference, overshadowing integrity, strong character and competence. The failures of our institutions stem from weak characters and value systems; and also a default failure of Family upbringing, community values and schools/religious bodies weaknesses. A willingness to recognize our individual and collective shortcomings is a healthy step towards recovery and greatness. I look with disappointing unbelief at how religious leaders consistently shy away from being vocal on bad governance. It’s appalling to see they pay lip service to the very sound doctrines espoused by the Holy books. It’s more fearsome to see that millions of followers are blindly lost, brainwashed and divided in the ensuing drama! The Bible is replete with instances where God sends HIS prophets to caution and chastise the leaders of the time. God speaks without restraint on bad leadership. HE is interested in the affairs of HIS people, interested in the welfare of HIS people. What is wrong with God’s “prophets” today? Nigeria is failing more because of the failures of its religious leadership/institutions. seunfakze.wordpress/2012/07/23/the-failure-of-our-religious-institutions/
Posted on: Sun, 01 Dec 2013 07:30:50 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015