Against Religious Fanaticism and in Defence of Humanity

By Ogiri John Ogiri.

As I pen this piece down, I think about many millions of lives that have been so far lost to hypocritical morality and religious fundamentalism across the world. I think about people currently being led to die by sword, firing squad and hanging all in the name of God. The chilling thought that man can be this brutally inhuman to another man in order to appease his religion gave a strong impetus for this piece. Religious extremism will always pose powerful threats to sustainable world peace and humanity.

The way we go about, these days, debating, hating, lambasting, fighting and even killing fellow humans and getting killed all in order to justify, prove and establish the supremacy or otherwise of one religion over another is troubling. A gesture of solidarity during any period of festivity from an adherent of one faith to another adherent of another faith is enough to draw unsolicited angers of willing fanatics of the religion of the one who shows such solidarity. Only yesterday, the Egyptian and Liverpool play-maker, Mohammad Sallah, celebrated Christmas in solidarity with his fellow humans as shown by the image of decoration and mood in his room in the UK and the best his die-hard brethren in the faith could do was to, in the staunchest verbal brutality, scold him, telling him how forbidden it is in their religion to wish Christians "happy Christmas". This, to say the least, is one of the most virulent displays of barbaric religious fanaticism by a handful of followers who see obedience to God and religion as merely a bow to convention, rather than a serious act of moral piety with unconditional love as its end. The question is, what happens if a Christian wishes his fellow human in the Islamic Faith a "happy Eid fitri or Mauloud?" Will it also be "haram"? It is now very clear why unity among us will forever remain a mirage. 

It has become so bad that, in almost every thing we think, say and do and every choice we make in relation to others, we find ourselves divided between religion and love for humanity and in the end, though very unfortunately, we choose religion over pure love for humanity. When we need people to fill up job vacancies, when we choose friends and life partners, we do so, more, on the basis what religion to which those we so choose belong, than, on the basis of the fact that they are humans like we are. How can we ever achieve unity with this kind of biased and convoluted mental conditioning? It is worrisome how we can be so willing to die for religion that we fail to understand that selfless love and undefiled charity is the end of every true religion. 

 It is, thus, imperative to stress that we take it easy with others when it comes to religious issues. Religion was made by man for man. I am yet to stumble on any empirical research evidence that man was made for any religion. Do not hate, fight or kill your fellow man to please religion. Do you realize that no religion has ever died for anybody? No religion is likely to fight and die for anyone in the nearest future: African Traditional Religion hasn't and won't. Judaism hasn't and won't. Islam hasn't and won't. Christianity hasn't and won't. Buddhism hasn't and won't. Hinduism hasn't and won't. Confucianism or Taoism hasn't and won't fight and die for anyone. Only the adhering worshippers hate, fight, kill and get killed for religion in the name of God. And, funnily enough, as shown by experience, the ignorant, uncivilized or uneducated and the poor top the list of people who have shown more likelihood, (and they still show) to hate,fight, killed and get killed for religion in the name of God. They are usually easily manipulated or brainwashed to care more about religion. On the contrary, the rich, highly educated and exposed hardly care about religion. Many of them see it more often as a readily available instrument of mental manipulation for economic and political gains. Shouldn't you stop fighting your fellow man on behalf of God?

©Ogiri John Ogiri