Adulterated Religion, Politics and Our Cultural Heritage -By Sunday Ogidigbo

The way of life of any nation or group does not form and develop overnight or in a generation. The cultural heritage of a people is an expression of the way of living developed over time by a community and passed down from one generation to another, and this includes values, norms, practices, customs, traditions, artistic expressions, and objects. Cultural heritage is the legacy of tangible artifacts and intangible tendencies or attributes of a society. A society typically inherits this way of life and does everything to maintain them so they can transfer them to the next generation.

Religious beliefs and political ideologies are two major shapers of culture and tradition. We are all eye witnesses to the effect of the destructive weapon of extreme ideologies forged on the anvil of religion, hammered through political ideology and ignited by the fire of hate. This generation is doing everything everyday and in diverse ways to do away with anything good in the cultural heritage handed down by our forebears, whilst enthroning and amplifying the evils of the past. There are no perfect cultures anywhere and almost all religious expressions do not exist in their true and pure form. James talked about true and undefiled religion in the sight of God, but we are living in a time in which people use religious beliefs to do evil and violate human rights.

The greatest danger our civilisation is facing is the synergy between the two evils of adulterated religious doctrines and trusted political ideology. Whenever politicians or merchants of evil start using religion to fan the embers of hate, they stir anger, violence, destruction and chaos in the hearts of men. There is nothing wrong with allowing religion to shape political or economic values or ideologies, as long as it is pure, loving and selfless. True religion seeks to protect the weak, and unite people. When Karl Marx referred to religion as the opium of the people, I am sure he was served adulterated religion.

One thing that I have come to observe with the political class in this generation is how, in one breath, they forbid anything religious when they want to promote evil or things contrary to the religious beliefs of society and, in another breath, they hide under religious covers to do evil or deny people their fundamental rights. Another thing I have observed is how people use religion to cover evil, avoid questioning and run away from accountability. We are living in a time where a kidnapper can successfully play the religious card in a bid to hide a crime. We are in a time and age where religion trumps common sense.

Nigeria is not different from Crete. We have inherited a culture of corruption, mutual suspicion, jungle justice, lying, disregard for time, disrespect for women, selfishness, and the likes. Although Nigerians are open to religious doctrines, we do not allow our religion to refine our character, rather we have developed a Nigerian version of the faith we profess… Bringing it home, the Bible and the Koran were referenced to throw out the Gender Equality Bill by the very religious Senate that many Nigerians perceive to be also very corrupt.

An error that I have come to see in the religious practices handed down is the failure of separating the culture of the founders from the religion they taught. In other words, over time people mix the religious doctrines of their founders and the personal or cultural realities that surrounded them. For example, people have mixed religion with dressing and marriage customs. Dressing is cultural, same with how people get married. What we have is that people have equated or reduced religion to a way of dressing. Dressing is a thing primarily determined by prevailing weather conditions. I know that there is the place of decency in dressing, and the fact that the old testament prescribed a dress code for Priests and Levites does not change the fact that dressing has nothing to do with faith. To say dressing equals faith is to say dressing like Michael Jackson is equal to the talents of Michael Jackson. Dressing like a prophet does not make you holy.

Adulterated religion is a result of teaching the doctrines of the traditions of men. This can also mean mixing our traditions with the religion handed down. Paul in his letter to Titus warned him to watch out for the way of life of the Cretians, that traditionally, the Cretians are liars from the womb, barking dogs, with slow bellies and lazy bones, for this was the report from a Cretian prophet. We see that where serious efforts are not made to rebuke, reproof, correct and instruct men in righteousness, their ways of life can water down their faith.

Nigeria is not different from Crete. We have inherited a culture of corruption, mutual suspicion, jungle justice, lying, disregard for time, disrespect for women, selfishness, and the likes. Although Nigerians are open to religious doctrines, we do not allow our religion to refine our character, rather we have developed a Nigerian version of the faith we profess. The Nigerian version of any faith is a far cry from the true and pure form of the ideal. Recent events, like the brouhaha associated with the story around the abduction of Ese, the many controversial child marriages, the very recent lynching of a suspected gay, the activities of terrorist groups and the rhetoric of anger, hate and division that has characterised the electioneering campaign in America are few of the many troubles of adulterated religion and politics. Bringing it home, the Bible and the Koran were referenced to throw out the Gender Equality Bill by the very religious Senate that many Nigerians perceive to be also very corrupt.

Sunday Ogidigbo is the Lead Pastor of Holyhill Church, Abuja. You can connect with him via Twitter: @SOgidigbo or visit www.sogidigbo.com