THE TRUE PURPOSES OF RELIGION To correctly understand the reasons behind the present level of religious fervour in Nigeria today, a discerning mind would have to first understand and put in perspectives the three broad classifications into which most of the country’s modern day religious adherents could be categorized. Top of the classification naturally is for those to whom religion provides a platform of social and political relevance, and of course economic base. Next is the group that owe their careers to religion, including those who have made a thriving industry out of supporting and promoting religions. And finally there is the legion of followers, whose distorted belief is that, their religious piety is the basis of their worldly successes; or the only means of either achieving their worldly ambitions and or keeping them; or the only way to be out of the grasp of all the worldly evils. To each and all of these three groups of religious adherents, the stakes are certainly very high, which is why to them, religious are a matter of life and death. For them, there is no room for logic, and no matter how ludicrous and, or harmful their positions might be in relation to others, what remains unchallengeable is their faith; bound and supported by sheer emotions. Little wonder therefore that, even if it comes to spilling the blood of anyone opposed to their beliefs, there is never any hesitation. To them, it is in keeping with the tenets of their beliefs to rise in defence of their god, because the more they are seen to be advancing the cause of this god, the higher and more abundant the blessings they will receive. Wrong as these despicable attitudes of these religiously ignoramuses are, the only effective solution is in their proper enlightenment and re-orientation to let them realize and appreciate the folly of their erroneous belief (of religious piety, translating into abundant worldly returns and rewards from their god) and also in letting them see the true purposes of meaningful God ordained instructions for life on earth! While the first two categories may be difficult to be convinced otherwise, because that may mean coming down from the pedestal on which they have been corrupting the third category (their followers) with wrong interpretations of the scriptures, to sustain their livelihood and ‘successes’ in life; the third category can be re-orientated through a sustained and effective campaign of values and new belief system; and not outright judgement or condemnations. Worldly successes and or failures, containment of the worldly evils, and attainment of all the worldly ambitions, have nothing whatsoever to do with religious piety. But since the decline of our value system started, unscrupulous business-minded individuals recognise and trade on the psychological weakness of a people, especially in an environment such as ours have been using the bogey of religious piety to deceive the vast majority. This is done invariably to permanently enslave the people to them, and their dubious doctrines, laced with stage managed and magic invested miracles. A person becomes what he or she is in life, mainly on the basis of that person’s destiny/fate, which in itself is the embodiment of that person’s objectives for embarking on the earthly sojourn. Usually, when we transformed from the celestial souls to earthly beings, in another grace of reincarnation; we develop worldly ambitions, which more often than not are diametrically opposed to our destiny and or purpose for the reincarnation. An average man on earth today had been on earth several times; at least for fifty times. This repeated earth life is granted, so as to correct errors of the previous ones; one earth-life which span an average of seventy years, can never be enough for man to make amendments to all his errors and short-comings, which have cumulated into his destiny/fate in the present one. ‘Whatsoever A Man Sows, He Shall Reap!’ Fasting purifies the soul, and accelerates closeness to the light, but it does not lead to the granting of wishes and prayers, which conflict with one’s destiny/fate. Man is his own best friend, and also his own worst enemy. God had perfected His creation, but left man to further it, with laws for its maintenance and sustenance. Even for man to be all powerful in this creation, God endowed him with freewill, which man uses in his thoughts, words and deeds, to fashion out his destiny/fate for his reincarnations. In real term, prayers only serve as therapy. As humans, our lives are bound in hope, and prayers sustain the hope, that what we desire is what God will grant. Besides, prayers indicate a person’s absolute faith in God, to do as he considers fit and prosper. But the granting of a particular prayer must not be the basis of a person’s faith or devotion. That’s an idol worshiper’s mentality! Prayer is not devoting some period, to saying some words to an old bearded sky white daddy, demanding for one favour or the other; which mainly are materialistic. Prayer is enshrined in the law, which says, ‘Do unto others, as you want them to do unto you’. God does not need your offerings or tithes, to answer your prayers, because He owns both you and your offerings/tithes. And why commanding Him to spoon feed you in your prayers, when He had provided you everything you need in creation, only what is required of you, is learning the right approach, to tap from the table of versed abundant blessings, that’s ever laid in creation for its inhabitants. Reincarnation is a fact of life, whether one believes it or not! Reincarnation is the key to the unravelling of many mysteries, the explanation of the inequalities, apparent injustices, and inequalities that worry so many well-meaning people. It holds the key to the understanding of some exceedingly important passages of in the bible; passages which are otherwise problematic. Reincarnation leads to a conviction of the absolute justice and love of the Almighty Creator, as well as the relative insignificance of race, nationality, status/class, and ethnicity – a conviction that is essential in moving humankind from the present day chaos into a just and joyful, social, political and economic order – Stephen M. Lampe, author of ‘The Christian and Reincarnation’ The Almighty Creator, who should not be confused with the different gods of these religions, is for a different higher ideals than just getting and or keeping a good job/contract/business, having or not having successful marriage, getting or not getting children, to be healthy or not healthy, and to be above the largely orchestrated evil machinations of enemies etc. all of which are the major reasons why people become unduly addicted to the magic of religions. While to a certain extent, religions should be credited for serving as a foundation in the search for the meaning of existence to some people, at their level of the spiritual maturity, and for religions’ moderating influence, which helps some of their adherents to keep to simple evil-free lives, it is not mandatory that one must enslave himself to the experiences of the religious leaders, at the expense of his own experiences, which should serve as his own religion/spirituality. Had religion got it right, its true purpose would have been, primarily to show man, a gratified creation, and to allow for one-on-one encounter with the light, such that man can understand and be properly guided to the main purposes of his earthly sojourn; which are to develop enough spiritual consciousness, such that his thoughts, words and deeds are spiritualized, and thus creating the replica of paradise within himself, in his family, neighbours, community, society, country and in the world at large; and that at his exit from the world of matter; he would have learnt the necessary lessons, which will facilitate his easy ascent, without any debt that will warranty his numerous reincarnations.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 03:00:20 +0000
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