By Tochukwu Ezukanma
I was very impressed by this self-confident and independent-minded 16 year old girl who engaged two pastors in a spirited argument. She was born of Christian parents but converted to Islam. She accompanied her mother to church. And after the church service, the pastors were trying to convince her of the falsity of her new faith and the need for her to reconvert to Christianity.
Interestingly, she defended her new faith. I listened in on their debate but did not get involved, until, one of the pastors said that Moslems do not worship the true God.
I asked the pastor if he has ever read the Koran.
No, he answered. I thought it was strange for a man to be pontificating on a subject he was totally ignorant of. I asked him: with his stark ignorance of the teachings and precepts of Islam, how can he tell that it is a false religion? He rambled on about Ishmael (the father of the Arabs) not being Abraham’s covenant son.
He could condemn a religion he knows nothing about because of a fundamental problem with religion; every religion claims a monopoly on the Truth. Actually, most religious of the world contain the Truth to varying degrees. The Truth is transcendental and sublime. It transcends religion, nationality and culture. When the Truth is padded with tradition and culture, social exigencies, egocentric predicament, and sometimes, nationalism, it becomes religion.
We should realize that our lack of understanding of a given religion does not invalidate that religion. And that the doctrines of a given religion do not exactly conform to those of our own faith does not make the religion false. Religious intolerance of any sort is wrong and dangerous for Nigeria. Be it the nonviolent but strident, and sometimes, aggressive strain of fundamentalist Christians and Jehovah Witness or the irascible, implacable violent type of renegade Moslems.
I lack the knowledge, wisdom and spiritual insight to discuss the superiority or inferiority of religions. However, I know that the teachings of the two major religions of Nigeria are magnificent. And, if, their adherents can uphold these teachings, the Nigerian society will be a peaceful, orderly, benevolent and just. Although, they enjoin us to be law abiding, content, and humble, and to respect and love others, irrespective of their stations in life, Nigerians are generally nauseatingly lawless, insatiably greedy, disgustingly snobbish and repulsively wealth and class conscious. They condemn wickedness, violence, lying, stealing, bribery, etc. But many Nigerians, be them Moslems or Christian are wicked and violent, and steal, lie and take bribe. So, the problem is not religion “ its superiority or inferiority and authenticity or falsehood – but our refusal to uphold the tenets of our different religions and our uncanny ability to twist them to our selfish ends.
Nigerian Christians intend to convert other Nigerians to Christianity, not by exemplifying the Gospel of Jesus Christ but by trumpeting their born again credentials and disparaging other religions. Many none Christians may be dismayed by Christianity because churches are, sometimes, notorious for false prophets and their fake prophecies and forged miracles. They must be turned “off by the venality and greed of many Christian pastors that maintain awe-inspiring lavish lifestyle and indulge their lecherous fancies by perverting the teachings of the bible and dispossessing their members, including the very poor, of their money. Also, they must be disillusioned that these pastors sheltered in superlative mansions, possessing fleet of luxury cars and spruced up by extravagant wardrobes are contemptuously unconcerned about the plight of their members, some of whom are hungry and homeless, or live in pigsty-like houses tucked in squalid, oozing, mosquito infested neighborhoods.
In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., All the darkness in the world cannot obscure the light of a single candle. So, if Nigerian Christians, as charged by the bible, can “let (their) lights so shine before men, despite, the evil that suffuse the Nigerian society, the light of Christianity and the good works of Christians will be refulgently evident to all Nigerians. And these will be a powerful tool of conversion. It will be fascinating to image the millions that will, as a result, want to be like Christians, and therefore, flock to the Christian fold.
Moslems, especially, renegade and extremist Muslims talk about Islamizing Nigeria. But why would Nigerian devotees of other religions gravitate towards Islam when they find the  pedophilic debauchery espoused in the name of Islam by Islamic zealots like SaniYerima sickening; and when they are horror-stricken by the murderous fanaticism evinced by radical Moslems (in their warped interpretation of Islam) in targeting and butchering the innocent.
To the pastors, I made references to the bible. Genesis 21: verse 17 to 20 wrote: And God heard the voice of (Ishmael): and the angel of God called Hagar (Ishmael’s mother) out of heaven, and said unto her…Fear not for God hath heard the voice of the lad… I will make him a great nation. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer.
It was the God of his father, Abraham that visited him, made provision for him, promised to make him a great nation and was with him. Is it not reasonable to believe that the same God of his father could have also revealed Himself to Ishmael and/or his descendants and instructed them on how to worship Him? My question was not answered. It was followed by silence, deafening silence.
Tochukwu Ezukanma writes from Lagos, Nigeria.
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