RELIGION REGRET

My dad is the type of person you can always go to for any discussion, but please only do so at your leisure time because he always have a lot more to say than you anticipated. He is much more like a Lion hearted Manager. On one of our merry-go-round chats, I asked him “Sir how come Nigerians are so religious, so religious that even religion itself is regretting the day it set its feet on the shore of this country as it has no breathing space whatsoever. Yet as religious and spiritual as we are, height of indiscipline, corruption, theft (I have to separate the two because I have a feeling it will soon be an offence in Nigeria using those two terms synonymously), fraud, lies etc. all reside in this country”. It's so surprising seeing religious big wits getting themselves in the tangle of religious sentiment. I went further to ask him “Sir, how did we find ourselve in this situation of having to elect a public office holder and using where basically our strength lies (religion) as a tool for stratification”. There my question for the day ends.

 Deep down, I knew the answers to these questions. I knew that religiously, what God want is the content of our soul. This is evident from the believe of the Islamists that “action shall be judged according to intention”. The Christians also have the believe that whatever they do should be guided by the Holy Spirit. Even the traditionalist believe that a clean soul connotes closeness to their gods, no wonder they are always in white during their rites. I know God is not interested in how many cars you acquire or buy for your Alfa or your Pastor, He doesn’t care whether you are the general overseer of the largest church in the world or how many private jets you own to raise the prestige of your church, He care less about how long your turban is or how long or tidy your beard might looks. You need not bribe God by observing all the 5daily prayers (even adding obligatory ones), only to be the Godfather of some miscreants in town, that knows no more than to kill and destroy. You can observe all the fastings of this world, go to Jerusalem or Mecca as many times as you like (that’s actually because you have the means), if all you think about is to get to the pinnacle of your career no matter how many people’s fortune you crush, you are nothing in the sight of God. In Nigeria today, most people go to church every Sunday just because they get to meet someone that knows someone that can get them an employment. You see influx of people in the mosque on Friday (especially mosques where most government officials visits) simply because they can get to drop their CVs for somebody. Another category of people only get close to God in their time of tribulations. And God in His infinite mercies doesn’t bother to look away, He is always there to answer our prayers.
What God want is the holiness of our soul, the cleanliness of our heart, our attitude towards brotherhood, our kindness deep down of our heart, full awareness of the fact that “The richest in the sight of the people might be the poorest in the sight of God”
Religion doesn’t deserve to be used as tool for demarcation or stratification, as a matter of fact, If God wants us all to be of the same religion, it doesn’t take a damn out of His might. Religion on the other way should be a tool of togetherness, a tool for amalgamation, it should be our go-to not only in times of dilemma but also in our abundance. No public office holder deserve to be so elected due to his religious status but by what he has up his sleeves to better the lots of his people. The earlier we know and practice all these, the better.
All these I thought of before going to ask my dad, but I really wanted to know his view on the matter. Unfortunately before he could do justice to my questions, he heard of “call to prayer” from a nearby mosque, and as a typical Nigerian himself, he doesn’t joke with his 5 daily prayers, not just performing them but doing so at their specified time. I guess my answer will come at a later time……