You’re Infringing With Your Religion: Hold Your Religious Views To The Churches And Mosques -By Hassan Idris

This write-up isn’t meant for everyone. It’s for those who could reason along and not only be religiously emotional to display emotions rather than reasons. Hold your religous views with you and when we get to the churches and mosques, we discuss that. The fact that the Nigerian constitution gives citizens the right to religion doesn’t mean it gives the right to violate and infringe on other people’s religion and life. Many a time, Nigerians are the architect of their own problems and destructions; the little previlages given to them is being misused at the detriment of others. The truth remains that we’ve really hurt many others with our various religous extremism and previlages. We’ve violated others right and infringed on many just because of the small constitutional-religious rights given to us.

On Sundays, during church services, the Christians block the motor road for many hours and leave many stranded with no way to follow all because of church service on Sunday and you’ve blocked the Federal Government road that’s meant for every Nigerians as if the road was only meant for you. Let us not talk about the bands and loudspeakers in churches that is being used to disturb neighbors, insult other non- believers, other denominations of Christians and other residents around the churches early in the morning and even in the evening. You’re infringing on others right who are not of thesame faith with you; especially the atheists, Muslims and traditionalists.

On Fridays also, the Muslims block the Federal road too for the Friday prayers and many a time, road users are left stranded which is an infringement of the right of the road users. Let’s not talk about the loudspeakers in the mosque used in calling the prayers and of how many a time those loudspeakers are being used by various scholars to insult themselves and even calling others who are not of thesame sects with them disbelievers. You’re infringing on the rights of others who are not Muslims especially the Christians, atheists and traditionalists.

With all these, the moment you talk, you’re being cursed, hunted and termed a hater of the religion or atheist and sometimes called an” atheist” commiting blasphemy. As if the religions we adhered to didn’t tell us about the right of others in different faith from us. Let me not talk about how a secularist or atheist is seeing as one big Lucifer and isn’t allowed to live freely as a Nigerian.

The question remains what has the atheist’s atheism or secularist’s secularism got to do with your religion if he or she doesn’t attack your religion? Does an atheist has no right to leave in Nigeria and enjoy all the fundamental human rights?

I recall entering the camp the first day and I was forced to pay a religious due as a Muslim all in the name of fisabilillah(offerings) and I asked” Do you pay fisabililah(offerings) by force or it’s a thing of will? I was told it’s a must as a Muslim to pay and I said” what if a person is a Christian?” I was told that he or she will pay in the Christian side over there. I still asked again” what if the person is an atheist who has no religion or don’t belief in God? ” I was still told that there’s never a case in Nigeria where you’re never a Muslim or Christian; that one must be one amongst those religion. I smiled and walk away. No wonder John Samuel Mbuti in his book on African philosophy said” Africans are notoriously religious”

It’s high time we understand that there’s no way everyone must be a Christian or Muslim in this world. If everyone should have been a Muslim or Christian God in his mighty would have done that. It’s better we learn the ‘live and let’s leave strategy!’.

© Hassan Idris.
Sociologist & Poet