By Leo Igwe
A new study conducted by the Washington based Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life says that Africans are among the most religious people on earth. The study titled Tension and Tolerance: Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa was based on more than 25,000 interviews conducted in more than 60 languages in 19 countries. According to the study at least half of all Christains in Sub-Saharan Africa believe Jesus will return in their lifetime. One in three muslims in the region expect to see the re-establishment of the caliphate-islamic golden age- before they die. At least three out of 10 people across much of Africa said they have experienced divine healing, seen the devil being driven out of a person or received a direct revelation from God. About a quarter believe that sacrifices to ancestors can protect them from bad things happening. Sizeable percentages believe in charms and amulets. Many consult traditional religious healers, and sizable minorities keep animal skins and skills in their homes.
The study found that in many countries across the continent roughly nine in 10 people say religion is very important in their lives.
Do these findings surprise anyone? Surely they shouldn’t. Unless the person is not familiar with the situation in Africa.
These findings do not surprise me at all. I am an African. I was born in Africa. I live and work in Africa. I am non religious though I was born into a religious home. I attended religious schools. I had a typical (African) religious upbringing. I do not believe that Jesus will return again. I do not think that the Biblical Jesus existed and even if he did, I think he’s gone and gone forever. I can’t see the world coming under an islamic caliphate except what we have been experiencing since September 11, 2001. I have never experienced divine healing and I don’t think those who claim to have experienced it are honest to themselves. I have not seen a devil being driven out of any person except some self induced hysteria by some pentecostal con artists. I have not received any revelation from God except may be one day some godly people would claim that their god revealed this piece to me. I don’t believe that sacrifice to the ancestors will protect people from harm. Otherwise the ancestors would be alive today. I think charms and amulets are useless and consulting traditional healers and clerics is a waste of time.
The reasons why Africans are the most religious people in the world are not far fetched. Africans go through religious indoctrination from cradle to the grave. Africans are not allowed by family, society and the state to think, reason or live outside the religious box. In Africa religion is by force not by choice. Religion is by compulsion and not according to one’s conscience. Africans are brought up to believe that there is NO alternative to religion. When in fact there is. So in Africa, it is either you are religious or you are nobody-you are not a human being, you are nothing. There is too much social and political pressure on Africans to be religious and to remain religious. The social, political and sometimes economic price of leaving religion, renouncing religion or criticizing religion is so high.
So Africans are religious willy nilly. Africans profess all sorts of religious crap even when they know it is all nonsense.
At home, religious indoctrination is the first form of orientation an African child receives. At a very early and impressionable age, infants are taught to recite meaningless syllables called prayers. Children are brainwashed by parents with various religious and spritiual myths. Their minds are infused with all sorts of religious dogmas. Parents ensure that children are brought up in their faith- the faith of the family and the faith of their fathers. Children are taught to believe and follow, and not to question religious teachings even when there is every reason to do so. Some of the findings of the Pew Forum constitute the ‘sacred’ teachings which African kids receive and are told not to challenge, examine, criticize or renounce. African children are brought up to believe them and to swallow them hook , line and sinker. Not to question one’s family religion is seen as virtous and as a mark of a good child. This religious tradition is upheld and handed down unchallenged from one generation to another in Africa.
The religious brainwashing continues in schools. Most African colleges are religious indoctrination centers. Western missionaries and Arab jihadists brought formal education(the model widely used today) to the continent. They established schools to win converts and recruit new members, not really to educate Africans. So schools in Africa are covert churches and mosques. Education is faith based. And this religious tradition is still upheld in most schools across the continent. Some of the findings of the study are what African puplis are taught everyday in schools. They constitute what African students recite and memorize as part of their compulsory morning devotions.
Pupils at one islamic primary school near my house in Ibadan sing this song everyday as part of their morning devotion.
We are soldiers. We are soldiers.
Fighting for Islam. Fighting for Islam
In the name of Allah, we shall conquer, we shall conquer
Every morning these children are made to recite that they are muslim children ; that they believe in Allah and Mohammed as his messenger. What do you expect from these children as adults after going through this religious drilling and being brainwashed with these superstitious messages? Do you think they will ever grow to say that religion-in this case Islam is not important in their lives? As in their homes, African students are taught to blindly accept the so called divine revelations without questions. They are induced to try and have some encounter with God or to have some spiritual experience as a manifestation of faith or piety. Children and youths are made to believe that professing articles of faith is a mark of a good student. And that education is not complete without religion or belief in God. So why should anybody be surprised that most Africans attach so much importance to religion.
This religionizing continues in politics and in the state houses across Africa. State power is used to endorse, promote and privilege religion. In Africa, prayer, piety and politics go together. Religion and politics mix. States are not separate from churches and mosques. So there is very high political pressure on individuals to be religious-and to remain religious and faithful even when they are not convinced of the religious teachings or would prefer to be faithless. Many African countries have adopted a religion or some religions as state or official religions. For instance in Morocco, the King is not only the president of the country, but also the commander of the faithful. So every Moroccan is under political pressure to be a faithful – an islamic faithful, particularly a sunni islamic faithful. The president of Gambia, Yahya Jammeh is addressed as Dr, Alhaji, Sheikh ….. among others. Some years ago he added to the list of his presidential duties praying for the citizens and trying to heal the sick including those who have HIV/AIDS using some verses in the Koran. In the self-styled islamic republics, anyone who is not a muslim cannot be president. Is there any special value being a muslim adds to the post of the president? None. In Gambia, the government erected magnificent mosques in all public schools in the country. Meanwhile these are schools without good classroom blocks, no libraries or laboratories.
In Africa, politicians have made it look as if to be a good citizen one must be religious or expressly pious. African politicians have made it seem as if theocracy, not democracy is the best form of government. And that the Bible and the Koran are the best constitutions. In fact the Bible and the Koran are the best constitution no country ever had. African politicians strive to ensure that state legislations are based on these‘holy books’ and that any policy, program or proposal that is not in line with the sacred texts are thrown out. Another reason why there is high level of piety in Africa is because most Africans do not think for themselves. They allow clerics to think for them. Africans consult their priests, bishops, sheikhs, marabous, traditional medicine men and women whenever they have problems or when they want to embark on a major project. And they accept whatever they give them including charms like holy water, olive oil as solutions and remedies. They do whatever they recommend they do including carrying out ritual killing and sacrifice.
Lastly Africans are deeply religious due to lack of human rights particularly religious freedom in Africa. This may sound like a contradiction. But it is not. Some may argue that the high religiosity in Africa should be due to ‘too much religious freedom’. No, it is not so. Rather it is due to no guarantee of religious freedom, no protection of freedom of conscience. Africans do not enjoy or exercise their freedom of religion or belief. Africans are denied with impunity this basic human right by state and non state actors. Africans are forced to be religious or to remain religious. That is why they are ‘too religious’. The mechanisms to protect and defend the full human rights of those who change their religion or renounce or criticize religious beliefs or those who do not profess any religion at all are weak and non existent. Religious believers and non believers are not equal before the law. Many Africans are religious because they don’t want to be in the minority. They don’t want to renounce what the majority upholds. They don’t want to denounce what the state or society revers. Many Africans are religious because they just want to play along.
Africans are among the most religious people on earth due to failure of family upbringing, failure of human rights and the rule of law, failure of educational system, social and political pressure and bad governance. Africans are religious because they cannot but be religious.
Leo Igwe is the director of the IHEU in West Africa. He lives in Nigeria
😕 Not so sure to be honest.
what a bad way to express one’s opnion. Stop attacking things you do not understand but instead try to learn. Don’t give a wrong image of africa…that many are forced to follow religion and that many africans are not allowed to think…iam lost of words for you but i insist that u persue some decent education and you will learn..God actually exists..only that some silly selfish religions have taken advantage of the church and used it for selfish gains…well don’t be surprised..it is written in the bible that in that latter days,pipo will become disobiedient,lose their faith,adulturers and so forth..
Dont rubish this narticle…read it and understand where the author is coming from…
This Nigerian is innocent where reasoning is concerned. I even wonder how he is a director of that organisation or whatever it is called. He says he was born in Africa, live and work in Africa, which part of Africa?? he thinks Nigeria is equivalent to Africa! Nigeria is not Africa, it is just a country in Africa. Nigeria is very different from Zambia, from Botswana, etc. The confused life lived in Nigeria cannot be compared to life in Zambia, Botswana, Kenya, tanzania, etc. That is why nigerians are all over the World dealings mostly in illegal businesses( mostly drugs). I forgive his shortsightedness.
useless article, reserve such for lagos times not our Lusakatimes
I would’nt be surprised if Leo Igwe wrote another article entitled “How I experienced the divine power of God in my life”. God moves in mysterious ways.
Well , Mr Igwe , yr article is a bit too long and repetitive. What is this IHEU that you are director of and what sort of work does it do ? ….There are a lot of true and interesting talking points in the article like , for example , the relationship between state power and religion. But unfortunately , it also has in equal measure, glaring untruths like the assertion that there is no secular form of primary and secondary education in Africa .
Leo, i love your school of thought. Its true as observed by Karl Marx, Religion is the opium of the people.
Why so much religion in Africa? I would beg as adjustment to Marx’s understanding of religion, “Religion is the opium of the poor masses”
Why? I seereligion as an expression of material realities and economic injustice which without argument is so prevalent in Africa. Problems in religion are ultimately problems in society. Religion is not the disease, but merely a symptom.
It is used by oppressors to make people feel better about the distress they experience due to being poor and exploited. This originates the comment “religion is the opium of the masses”
Nonetheless, the findings of the research could be faulty as Asia is Religious too!!!
I shall hide this article from my children just like I hide porno from them, it has the same effects porn would have onto children.
And if you come to Europe they will say it is because of poverty that makes them more Religious. If the y had riches like them it would be a different story. Despite of having so many Regions in Africa, it will still go back to poverty. So this depends on the one writing the article.:-t
We believe in nothing!then why is Africa afflicted with the worst War,disease,poverty..it’s like Pandora’s box was opened in Africa……
This is the first article about religion in Africa that struck the nail square on the head. Imagine the volumptous amount of man hours the average Zambian spends of prayer every year and suppose that was spent on work that would add to our GDP, this country would not be as dirty poor as it is. Imagine how many times the entire country has shamelessly prayed to god for rains to come but down came the sun scorching all crops! Until such a time Zambians realise this thing about Christ and god is a sick joke and start believing only in the god in them, things will be ok. See, the jews themselves do not believe in this christ of yours, and yet you had the guts to allow a stinking and murderous thief to unsert a christian clause in your constitution. Ubupuba pa ZED bwacila mo awe sure!
Read this extract from the article above “self induced hysteria by some pentecostal con artists.” – Now, is this not the same things that Reverends Dan Pule, Shikapwasha and Nevers Mumba do? We all know the treacherous nature of all these three charlatans, worse for Pule because he is a proven con-man and adulterous pastor. No wonder the legendary PK Chishala sang about these creatures, angels of christ who so many believe exists but no one has ever seen him. If I become Zambian president, the first act will be to remove the silly christian clause from the constitution, it is very embarrassing.
#12 gee I fear for you atheists.I hope you shall not learn the truth when its too late.When man fell in the garden of eden ,God said among other things –the ground is under a curse because of you; in sorrow and toil shall you eat [of the fruits] of it all the days of your life. basically you are suposed to work and not spend endless hours praying or else you won’t eat.The bible also says he who doesn’t work shouldn’t eat. Maybe us Zambians are lazy and don’t work.You can’t then blame God for our short coming.YOU SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE
Do you know the Jews were persecuted by people who thought they were doing it in the name of God.They called Jews-Christ killers.That does not make anyone doing wrong in the name of God,right.Neither does that invalidate God or those who trully believe in Him and follow him.
prejudiced ,aint we all? what do u people in zambia think about islam? probably these light colored people shudn’t have come and people wud have continued worshiping insects and animals
Revelations 22:11 tells us that “Let the one who does what is evil continue to do evil, and let the filthy person continue to be filthy, and the righteous person continue to do what is right, and the holy person continue to be holy.”
This is not a command, but a warning. He that is fixed in injustice and unrighteousness, let him go on. Every man shall reap what he has sown.
My prayer is that may every one who hears or reads the Gospel of Jesus Christ desire at once to accept the gracious invitation. All are condemned who should dare to corrupt and speak against the word of God and by so doing, lead a lot of other innocent souls astray.
Have a blessed weekend all!
This chap is misguided, Africans are not the most religious, go to the middle East, Asia, Far East, Europe Even USA & South America. He is showing his biased upbringing. No one is really forced into religion, it’s one’s yearning & fear of the unknown, as well as “following the herd” phenomenon that leads to people following a religious faith, hence referred to by the stalinists as “The opium of the masses!!” Put simply, the lack of understanding what the meaning of life is, is what leads to the birth of religions or a faith of any kind!
the Bible is strictly a man-made collection of mythology. The Bible was not handed to mankind by God, nor was it dictated to human stenographers by God. It has nothing to do with God. In actuality, the Bible was VOTED to be the word of God by a group of men during the 4th century.
According to Professor John Crossan of Biblical Studies at DePaul University the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (274-337 CE), who was the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity, needed a single canon to be agreed upon by the Christian leaders to help him unify the remains of the Roman Empire. Until this time the various Christian leaders could not decide which books would be considered “holy” and thus “the word of God” and which ones would be excluded and not considered the word of God.
Emperor Constantine, who was Roman Emperor from 306 CE until his death in 337 CE, used what motivates many to action – MONEY! He offered the various Church leaders money to agree upon a single canon that would be used by all Christians as the word of God. The Church leaders gathered together at the Council of Nicaea and voted the “word of God” into existence. The Church leaders didn’t finish editing the “holy” scriptures until the Council of Trent when the Catholic Church pronounced the Canon closed. However, it seems the real approving editor of the Bible was not God but Constantine! “Therefore, one can easily argue that the first Christian Bible was commissioned, paid for, inspected and approved by a pagan emperor for church use.” Constantine ordered and financed 50…
copies of the new “holy scriptures.” It seems with the financial element added to the picture, the Church fathers were able to overcome their differences and finally agree which “holy” books would stay and which would go.
The study of theology, as it stands in the Christian churches, is the study of nothing; it is founded on nothing; it rests on no principles; it proceeds by no authorities; it has no data; it can demonstrate nothing; and it admits of no conclusion. Th bible is no more the word of god than the Mahomedans calling the Koran the Word of God makes the Koran to be so. The Popish Councils of Nice and Laodicea, about 350 years after the time the person called Jesus Christ is said to have lived, voted the books that now compose what is called the New Testament to be the…
of God. This was done by yeas and nays, as we now vote
It is from the Bible that man has learned cruelty, rapine, and murder; for the belief of a cruel God makes a cruel man. That bloodthirsty man, called the prophet Samuel, makes God to say, (I Sam. xv. 3) `Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not, but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.’
You believe in the Bible from the accident of birth, and the Moslems believe in the Koran from the same accident, and each calls the other infidel. But leaving the prejudice of education out of the case, the unprejudiced truth is, that all are infidels who believe in falsehood, whether they draw their creed from the Bible, or from the Koran, from the Old Testament,…
Quite simply, the findings of Science from the fields of Astrophysics, Geology, Archaeology, Anthropology, and Literary Criticism have concluded that the Bible is _not_ the word of God, this precious hard-won scientific knowledge constitutes The Forbidden Knowledge on the Bible’s Pre-biblical Origins (please click here for a very fine article on what constitutes “forbidden knowledge” according to the Wikipedia). The “forensic evidence” (physical evidence) unequivocally _contradicts_ (refutes, denies and challenges) the witness’ (Bible’s) testimony regarding the age of the Universe and of the Earth, how life came into being, and when this occurred. For some conservative Catholic Scholars the earth and the universe was created 5199 B.C. while some conservative Protestant…
# !8 , 19 & 20 …….Good work ! ……Now , who can argue against that ?
understand this event was in 4004 B.C. _CONTRA_ these dates (being derived from the Bible’s internal chronology), Astrophysists understand from data compiled by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope that the earth is 4 billion years old and the universe is 14 billion years old. If the Bible has the age of the earth and universe wrong what else does it have wrong? Archaeology and Geology reveals there never was a Garden of Eden or Adam and Eve, nor was there ever in the earth’s geologic history a universal Noah’s Flood, and the Exodus -as portrayed in the Bible- is fiction according to the findings of Archaeology. The discipline of Literary Criticism has established that Moses did not write the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, in the 16th or 15th century B.C. as claimed…
Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions, the texts were composed in the 7th or 6th century B.C. The counterclaims of Christian Apologists are investigated and their “flawed methodologies” are noted (They claiming that Satan and his Demons have “misled” and “duped” the Scientists and that the Bible is a reliable witness).
Groups of theories on the origin of religion:
There are two broad groups of theories about the origin of religion.
Faith-based theories: According to David Barrett et al, editors of the “World Christian Encyclopedia: A comparative survey of churches and religions – AD 30 to 2200,” there are 19 major world religions which are subdivided into a total of 270 large religious groups, and many unique faith groups. 1 Among this great religious diversity, there are probably hundreds of different religious creation stories which describe how humans, other species of life, the Earth, and the rest of the universe came to be. Many of these stories describe the origins of their particular religion. It was typically based on revelation from one or more deities — mainly gods and goddesses.
Secular-based theories: Anthropologists, evolutionary biologists, and other researchers have reached a near consensus that humans of the species homo sapiens evolved from a species of proto-humans who originated somewhere in Africa. (This statement probably upsets any white supremacists who are reading this essay. That can’t be helped; scientists consider the evidence to be conclusive; ultimately, we are all descended from Africans.) These proto-humans walked upright, and had an opposing thumb and little finger. Their internal brain structure represented a major advance over those of previous animals in terms of its flexibility, its ability to reason, and its ability to plan for the future. This gave proto-humans an improved ability to pass on their accumulated knowledge to their
to form more advanced societies, and ultimately to create religions.
The following essay will deal with the science based theories of the origin of religion. If you are interested in faith-based theories, we suggest that you do a search on Google with a search string like: origin Christianity
Secular-based theories of religion:
Nobody knows with accuracy how the first religions evolved. By the time that writing had developed, many religions had been in place for many millennia and the details of their origins had been forgotten. However, there is speculation that the first religions were a response to human fear. They were created to give people a feeling of security in an insecure world, and a feeling of control over the environment where there was little control.
The…
The developing abilities of proto-humans were a double-edge sword:
On the one hand, they aided their chances of surviving in a cruel and unpredictable world. They helped each successive generation of proto-humans to build upon the knowledge base of their ancestors.
This increased mental ability led to a terrifying piece of knowledge: personal mortality. For the first time, individual animals on earth became aware that their life was transient; they would die at some point in their future. This knowledge produced an intolerable emotional drain.
During their evolution from proto-human to full human, they developed questions about themselves and their environment:
What controlled the seasonal cycles of nature — the daily motion of the sun; the motion of the stars, the…
the passing of the seasons, etc.
What controlled their environment — what or who caused floods, rains, dry spells, storms, etc?
What controls fertility — of the tribe, its domesticated animals, and its crops.
What system of morality is needed to best promote the stability of the tribe?
And above all: what happens to a person after they die?
Living in a pre-scientific society, people had no way to resolve these questions. Even today, with all of our scientific advances, we still debate about the second last question, and still have no way of reaching an consensus on the last. But the need for answers (particularly to the last question) were so important that some response was required, even if they were merely based on hunches. Some people within the tribe started to…
you can’t prove or disapprove the existence of God. There are times when I wonder whether God can really be there if you consider what happened in Haiti where babies were buried alive by the earthquake. There is so much suffering that believing believing in God becomes a difficult task. On the other hand, if you see all the beauty and order that happens most of the days in the universe, you cannot stop wondering whether these things could just happen on their own. In other words, there are good reasons to doubt the existence of God just as there are for believing in his existence. What I believe is wrong is the attitude by some religions to discourage discussing the issue. Replacing independent thinking with fear does not solve the problem. The debate is healthy. In God I doubt.
invent answers based on their personal guesses. Thus developed:
The first religious belief system,
The first priesthood,
The first set of rituals to appease the Goddess,
Other rituals to control fertility and other aspects of the environment,
A set of behavioral expectations for members of the tribe, and
A set of moral truths to govern human behavior.
These formed an oral tradition which was disseminated among the members of the tribe and was taught to each new generation. Much later, when writing was developed, the beliefs were generally recorded in written form. A major loss of flexibility resulted. Oral traditions can evolve over time; written documents tend to be more permanent.
Unfortunately, because these belief systems were based on hunches, the…
the various religions which developed in different areas of the world were all different. Their teachings were in conflict with each other. Because the followers of most religions considered their beliefs to be derived directly from God, they cannot be easily changed. Thus, inter-religious compromise is difficult or impossible. Also, because religious texts are often ambiguous, divisions developed within religions. Different denominations, schools, or traditions have derived different meanings from the same religious texts. Thus were laid the foundations for millennia of inter-religious and intra-religious conflict.
Evolution of religion:
The first organized religions appear to have been based on fertility. They were focused on the worship of the great Earth Goddess. Religion…
Today, most people follow either:
A monotheistic religion, in which a single male god is worshipped, or
A henotheistic religion — a religion which recognizes a single main deity, but which recognizes other gods and goddesses, heroes, or saints as facets or manifestations or aspects of that supreme God.
Most religions teach that they were directly revealed by their deity/deities to humanity, and are unrelated to other world religions. However there is considerable historical evidence from ancient times that religions in the area from India to the Middle East shared many religious beliefs. One example of this are:
The many passages in the Hebrew Scriptures which contain concepts or passages taken from Egyptian, Babylonian and other nearby Pagan religions.
Many of the…
Religions were originally based on the particular beliefs of their founders and prophets. Thus, there were few points of similarity among the various spiritual paths:
In terms of their belief about supernatural being(s), various faith traditions have taught Agnosticism, Animism, Atheism, Deism, Duotheism, Henotheism, Monism, Monotheism, Panentheism, Pantheism, Polytheism, Trinitarianism, and probably a few that we have missed. It is obvious from these conflicting ideas about deities that almost all religions are just plain wrong.
Few agreements exist among the world’s religions about religious beliefs, sacred ritual, organizational structure, optimum family structure, limits on ***ual behavior, ***ual orientation, the roles of women and men, other moral topics, the afterlife, etc…
Religions’ traditional teachings in the area of science differ greatly from each other and from the findings of scientists. Examples from Judaism and Christianity are: how the universe was formed, where rainbows came from; the world-wide flood; talking animals; the sun standing still in the sky; the cause of epilepsy, deafness, blindness, and mental illnesses; virginal conception, demonic possession, walking on water, resurrection from the dead, ascension into the sky, etc.
Religions today:
Some observers believe that modern-day religions are largely a response to human fear. Their main function is to provide their followers with a feeling of security while living in a dangerous environment in which a person can be injured, killed or murdered at any time due to natural causes
accidents or human hatred and intolerance.
John Shelby Spong, retired bishop of the Episcopal Church, USA has written:
“Religion is primarily a search for security and not a search for truth. Religion is what we so often use to bank the fires of our anxiety. That is why religion tends toward becoming excessive, neurotic, controlling and even evil. That is why a religious government is always a cruel government. People need to understand that questioning and doubting are healthy, human activities to be encouraged not to be feared. Certainty is a vice not a virtue. Insecurity is something to be grasped and treasured. A true and healthy religious system will encourage each of these activities. A sick and fearful religious system will seek to remove them.”
David C. James,…
I was given a bible which had sticker on the cover that went as follows: EXPOSURE WARNING:
Exposure to contents for extended periods of time or during formative years in children may cause delusions, hallucinations, decrease cognitive and objective reasoning abilities, and in extreme cases, pathological disorders, hatred, bigotry, violence including but not limited to fanaticism, murder and genocide.” Who can ignore this warning?
Not only Africans but all human beings are religious including your self, only if you may say that you are not human we would accept. people who donnot choose to worship the true God, they privately worship the devil. every humanbeing do worship something, the soul in a man differenciates him from an animal, hence man worship who ever they are..
People in India have millions of gods whom they worship in China they have budas whom they adore, thats to say the majority of people. abengi abena europe bapepa imipshi yafikolwe fyabo. kaili abengi bapepa satana kuti wamwena kufya kufwala bafwala , ulemonapo imitwe yabantu abafwa balikopela pafyaku fwala, nokuilemba ifilembo umubili onse nefyela nababika mundimi mumyona mumilomo naba fwala namakoti ayafita therefore evevery one does worship anywhere he may be
Every soul has a longing for something to worship those who donnt find God they find something to worship either educated or not either yellow white black any colour poor or rich
If Jesus did not exist then the Roman empire did not exist either.It was Jesus who coined the phrase “give Caesar what belong to Caesar”
Now Leo Igwe are you telling us that there were no Caesars?
No my freind do your research and come out the NEW AGE teaching.Jesus is a historical fact.
If there was no Jesus then there are no Jews.If there are no jews then there is no ISREAL.Look on the map my friend you will find isreal and the Roman empire(European union)
I have news for you Leo Igwe this same Jesus is coming back soon.
# 32 Anyamteteka……..that’s very important what you’ve raised there about the dilemma of believing in god becoming a difficult task , when there’s so much suffering on earth and especially when caused by a natural calamity such as earthquake or even flood . Ofcourse this can only be a dilemma if one follows the conventional teachings of mainstrem religions , namely islam and christianity . And there are many millions of people in that dilemma today , all because of what they have been made to understand to be the word of god ….. …or the will of god….or even ( god forbid ) his wrath..!
False Religion started in Babylon by Nimrod.
mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth” (Revelation 17:3-5).
leo igwe your reseach is sham you are so blind that you cannot see beyond your nose, you are so un natural, if you want to see the devil you will see him in hell he is real and his worshipers say so, and they know that they will be with him in hell and they say so,, these days you see a dipiction of demons of hell being shown in movies watch avatar see herry poters films
#32 there are earth quake almost every day(there was one yestarday).The TV news will only tell you the worse ones.
Notice also that Christ said there would be earthquakes in various places, and in Luke 21:11 he said “Great Earthquakes”. Earthquakes have become commonplace over the past few decades.
I have news for you, prepare for more calamities to come.
When Jesus was born a lot of babies were killed and also during the birth of Moses.
Evolution is a HOAX.How can you explain the PILTDOWN MAN.
Piltdown Man went from being one of the biggest discoveries of the 20th Century to being its greatest scientific embarrassment.
On 21 November 1953, the fossils discovered 40 years earlier and acclaimed as the “missing link” between apes and humans were finally revealed to be forgeries.
The missinng links are still missing
On the other hand there is no missing link from Adam to Jesus…
# 43 1984…. I’ll have to disagree with you about jesus coming back soon . Yes , he did walk this earth but he’s not coming back soon .
….Why should mankind , in this latter part of his existence (2000 years) , be needing so much salvation from christ ? Are the sins being committed by mankind nowadays too diabolical that regular intervention by divinity is necessary ? ….God obviously got the design wrong somewhere …… We really need to appreciate the difference in timescale between the birth of civilisation and the , relatively , recent appearance of jesus christ on the scene . And if , as improbable as it is , jesus returns ‘soon’ then what next ? You know what i think ? Eventually, someone is going to get him killed just like it happened the last time .
#49
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.(Rev 1 : 3)
# 49Read your Bible.
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:(Rev 22 : 18)
Do people realise that if Moslems landed here first, we would be staunch Jihadists right now? No one should take religion seriously. There is a God, but which is the right one, we do not know. It does not make sense that all man kind has a sense of a higher being, and yet we had never been in contact for thousands of years!
Brilliant article. The writer speaks the truth! Africans simply overdo religion, much to their detriment. African society as a whole would be better off being less religious. Besides, Africans practice imperialist religions. Quite a shame! Let us stay focussed.
I have never read such rubish in a long time. What statistics is s/he tolking about? You claim you did the research in sub sahara and you give an example of Morocco. If you dont know me, how can you recognize me? The same goes with Jesus, if you dont know him you will never recognize him… speak about what you know and not what you dont…very simple logic, you cant tell people about what you dont know….
#17 Nine Chale i agree with you and as for my brother/sister at #19,
the Bible cant be considered to be a “man-made collection of mythology”. What about God as the Principal author? Man is simply the instrumental author my dear.**==@
You hit the nail on the head Mr. Leo….i wish i could go back in time and give those two fools called jesus and mohammed a dirty slap. I will say to them : “you stupid *****s what manner of foolishness and mythology have you clowns come up with?”. THE FOOL HAS SAID IN HIS HEART THERE IS A GOD!!!
The more i study religion the more i realise man never worshipped anything but himself!!!
To Mr.Igwe,i think you are not very far from the fact thats why i would encourage you to take time and listen to your inner voice coz thats where God challeges pipo.And for you to come up with the ideal of writg this article,i can say God is already speaking to you.Time as come for you to believe in the truth and only truth shall set you free.He is the truth the way and the life.%%-[-o<
# 50 …1984.., You are referring me to the book of revelations in the new testament as the source of your belief in the return of christ . As i understand it , the book of revelations was written nearly 2000 years ago , addressed to early christians who were facing much persecution in the formative years of the christian movement . So if the time of the second coming was ‘ at hand ‘ all those many years ago , and is still ‘at hand ‘ presently in 2010 how long should we expect to wait ? What sort of prohecy is that ? …:-?
……..There is no such thing as god’s word . How can the great almighty put people on an imperfect world and then judge them through no fault of their own ? Where is unconditional love here ?
What a useless article from Igwe. Igwe should have talked about Nigeria and not the whole Africa. Your article lacks external validity. Whatever you have ranted in your article does not apply to Zambia. Please limit this useless article to nigeria. [-([-([-(
I agree with the part where the author suggests some form of indoctrination, many people in Zambia say they are christian, but it is not a personal relationship they have with GOD people just go through the MOTIONS so to speak. However, for those like I who actually did not ‘just believe’ simply because it is so, but rather because of seeking and finding….you can agree with me GOD is REAL and you can’t force someone to believe because it is not true belief.Even so a lot of preachers have mislead many( speaking for Zambians) by manipulating the word of God to suit them. people who feel more intelligent and are more educated look at ‘religious’ people or people who believe in GOD as silly illiterate and irrational which i think is an unfair discrimination.
These useless Nigerians amaze me.They think Nigeria is Africa.Igwe,the way you live in your country is poles apart with the way we live in Zambia and SADC in general.Stop the crap of generalising and speak for your blacklisted country
#47, the question is why would a God of love allow so much suffering? I also have a problem referring to what is written in the very book we are debating, the bible, to make a point. It seems like asking a sportsman whether he is doping or not and then relying on his own word for the truth. I don’t find sense in bible chapter and verse that says “all scripture is inspired of God…”. Where is outside evidence? I also feel it is not useful to use fear and guilty to convince people to believe in God. There just has to be hard evidence. God of wrath, God of vengeance, God of jealous, etc, are hardly words that equate with love. Be honest, the Christian God is a bundle of contradictions.
what a ****ed up , pussy nigger. this ****ing . this nigga is more ****ed up than i thought i was. sumtimes we try to show off that we kno sumting yet we are ignorant. grow up nigga:)
😕 faki u. chikala
pusi man. dont be ‘faki’ed up.
#62 read the parable (Matthew 13 v 24 – 30)
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
….
From # 66
Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn
Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:(Matthew 13 : 13 – 14)
Spot on true african brother! Blessed are those that do not allow to be brainwashed:)>-
Africa is the centre of what most theologians call CHURCHIANITY not christianity. Most of the religion in africa is an abomination handed down to them by european imperialists and has nothing to do with the bible. The main difference with african religion is they cover up this abomination as love of God and christ when really all they do is obey man made doctrines contrary to scripture. This is why you see theres so much suffering in africa because the bible says the true believers will be blessed and kept away from disease ,thats obviously not africa
#3. YOU ARE SPOT ON. I THINK ZAMBIANS JUST CONDEMN WITHOUT REALLY UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUE. I AM RELIGIOUS BUT I CAN NOT TRUSH THE ARTICLE IN SELF DENIAL. IT GIVES ONE FOOD FOR THOUGHT. ZAMBIA IS VERY BEHIND PARTLY BECAUSE OF RELIGION WHICH IN MOST CASES WE DON’T QUESTION JUST AS WE DON’T QUESTION AUTHORITY. DONT GET ME WRONG. I AM NOT SAYING IT IS WRONG TO BE RELIGIOUS. BUT, WE MUST BE DEMOCRATICALLY RELIGIOUS-BE ABLE TO QUESTION AUTHORITY AND RELIGION AND FINALLY HAVE A FREE WILL TO BELONG TO ANY RELIGIOUS ORGANISATION.
IF YOU MAY ASK YOURSELVES. WHY IS RUPIAH BANDA AND HIS GOVT MINISTERS BEHAVING IN THE WAY THEY ARE? SIMPLE REASON IS ZAMBIANS WILL NOT QUESTION HIS BEHAVIOUR-NO MATTER HOW FILTHY AND INAPPROPRIATE IT IS. BECAUSE THATS HOW THING HAVE EVER BEEN. I DOESN’T SEE ZAMBIANS MOVING IN THOUGHT AND DEED. Therefore, listen to this article beforeyou contribute. The writer is not saying stop being religious. However, he’s saying people must have the will to choose.
An excellent article. Just pause for a momemnt and reflect on this question: What value has the declaration of Zambia as a christian nation added to the country? Nothing! We are still poor, we still have high HIV infection rates, we still have election-related violence. At the same time we get aid from non-christian countries, e.g. Japan, China, etc. People, wake up. This religion thing will take us nowhere.
As usual, Leo Igwe tells it like it is. Congratulations to the Lusaka Times for being so openminded as to run this article and to contribute to such a high level of public debate.
Mr Igwe
And you do believe that you came from a monkey and that your ancestor was an Ape. You believe that this world just came from a bang. When one call you monkey you get angry why? And Mr Kadewere who told you that China and Japan are not religious? Mr Igwe is not talking about Christianity. He is talking about religion. Communism is a religion on its own. Some of these researches are just a waste of time and space.
Sometimes I am really surprised by Africans who think they are too educated that they can lecture everyone around the world. These Africans have never loved Africa and they think Europe or the West is paradise. People in Africa never knew homosexuality or lesbianism and all these filthy things called oral sex until the so called wise west came. We have normal people in the west but I think the majority are abnormal because they do abnormal things. Africa is a beautiful continent but it is being destroyed by people like Leo and those that support Him.
I believe there are people in the west who read what Leo writes and I can just imagine how sorry they feel for him. I have seen wise people who have never been to school but some of the most stupid people are the educated.
I WOULD RATHER LIVE MY LIFE BELIEVING AND LIVING LIKE THEIR IS A GOD AND DIE ONLY TO FIND OUT HE DOES NOT EXIST THAN LIVE MY LIFE AS A NON CHRISTIAN THEN LATER DIE AND DISCOVER GOD TRULY EXISTS :)>-:)>-MY GOD BLESS US ALL BECAUSE HE KNOWS US AND PROTECTS US NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES WE GO ASTRAY :)>-:)>-:)>-:)>-AND:x:x:x:x:x PEOPLE DO NOT HATE,GODS PEACE AND LOVE WHETHER YOU BELIEVE OR NON GOD EXISTS:)
I wish Africa could give people like Igwe more room to vent this type of thoughts. He may have got a few things wrong but he is right about many others. In Africa people join churches because the majority is in these churches, their parents, friends, relatives are in there so if you dont join you are a black sheep. Most join because they are scared of the unknown. Instead of embarking on uncovering that unknown they play it safe by joining the crowd. People are scared by human scaremongerers who tell them doom is coming. Repent. We must ask ourselves why should doom come? Who takes pleasure in dropping doom on earthlings? Certainly not God for according to scriptures he is not that inclined. Like Marx says religion is the opium of the masses.
While Africa gets blindfolded by religious belief the exploiter steals every cent on the continent and Life goes on.
1984 #48 No missing link between Adam and Jesus? Stop kidding yourself! If you read your bible it ‘documents’ the various people who gave birth to one another from Adam up to Joseph. Joseph is the man who married Mary who gave birth to Jesus. Joseph did not have sexual relations with Mary. Jesus was born entirely from Mary. So there is a big missing link there. Jesus is certainly not from Adam Abraham Isaac, Jacob etc etc via Joseph. Explain this.On the other hand evolution is not demanding you follow it like religion does. It just presents facts and this doesn’t mean there is no God.
I cant agree with the author more….
8-|Sub-saharian Africa is unique in many different ways. There were colonies in the Americas, Asia, the Pacific all have moved foward but Africa has moved backwards since independence. If being religious is good, why are there so many problems. It could be that the people are only religious on the surface but not really converted in their hearts.This makes a difference. Also there is much syncritation in Africa in which people mix Islam, Christianity, tribal animism, voodoo, and black african nationalism and pride.Africa needs to step up to the plate and only Africa can solve its own problems.
I agree with the author. We ought to think differently. Outside the box.
Every continent has had its very religious times and not so religious times. The trend now is to be less religious. The problem with Africa is everyone is speculating about what has caused the lack of development. So any study that reveals trends in Africa that are (at some point in time) more pronounced than in other places, will be connected to poverty. These speculative connections won’t stop.
Let Africa be whatever it wishes to be. Don’t fault everything African.
Are there any free thinking African women out there?
My sentiments exactly Leo Igwe. Pragmatism is the answer to our problems.
I burnt my holy books as a symbolic gesture freeing my mind from all limitations.
I’ve no children, I’m vegetarian, don’t live a life of debauchery.
Self control and sacrifice is what Africans need more of if we are to move forward.
I’m a quasi-secular humanist if you want to put a label on me.
Freethinkers please feel free to email me. [email protected]
UR MAD!!!!!!!!x(