Beyond Religious Dogma -By Kehinde B. Oluwatosin

Kehinde Oluwatosin B.

I have found out that there is a connection between a society’s economic power and how she perceive God. Nigeria’s low economic power has often been leveraged upon by religious clerics to bamboozle not only the poor but the rich who doubles to be gullible.

Given the background of deprivation of the typical African, religion has often been used as a tool to hypnotize and disconnect her from her God given capabilities, she’s told not to use her brains, because the holy spirit would lead her into all truths and teach her all things (see John 16:13 & John 14:26), although this helpless African quickly forget that it was common sense that taught Aaron and Hur to suspend Moses’s hands to maintain victory when Moses became weary (See Exodus 17:12).

This dogma in perception has ensured the zealots in Africa rarely do what God does not expressly say even when she has the capacity, she doesn’t marry even in the midst of numerous suitors until God comes in a magic wand to instruct her expressly to do so.

This perception of God has drawn Africans and by extension Nigerians by two to three centuries beneath modernity. When the oyinbo man studies the scriptures, he studies with the perception of God being seen in the enormous capacity he has given unto us, the daring-do capacity that breaks boundaries and creates invention.

When the oyinbo man reads the biblical snippets “I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me” he immediately receives new strength to enable humanity, it’s with this kind of perspectivization that she created Ali baba, Amazon and also ensures humanity daily connects through media platforms like facebook and IMO.

When the Nigerian reads let this mind be in you which was also in Christ (See Philippians 2 :5) ,she responds by not wearing earrings, she stops wearing trousers, she keeps rumpled hair and wears loose cloths as such outward appearance is believed to be indicators of having the mind of Christ.

When the oyinbo man studies the same part of the scriptures, “let this mind be in you as it’s in Christ” he considers the creative mind of Christ, the ingenuity of a man walking on a sea without drowning, and immediately receives the creative capacity to invent ship, for Jesus was matter, he had weight and occupied space ,hence a ship should also float on water despite having that huge weight.

This is oyinbo’s interpretation of having the mind of Christ, imbibing the super-duper genius of the Nazarene shepherd. We are here in the back waters of underdevelopment because of our cosmetic approach to religion without actually respecting the core of God’s tenets.

Kehinde Oluwatosin Babatunde is a prolific writer and public speaker.

Email: Kehindeobabatunde@gmail.com
Twitter: @_tqatq