Pestilence, plagues, diseases, hardship and poverty on one side and religion and ecclesiastical hopefulness on the other are kegs of the ordinary man’s survival and down right existence. Pestilence and its siblings are the lubricants of the religious engine. They come along and open the flood gates for people to turn to religion for respite en masse. So hardship, of whatever manifestation, is never a strange bed fellow to religion. They complement each other for noble or ignoble purposes. In fact hardship is the antecedent of religiousity, transient or not. However, the reaction of the manpower of religion to the nemesis brought forth on the masses by hardship and its flock of uncomfortables (poverty, diseases, plagues, pestilence etc) desires sombre reflections on “The Trials of Brother Jero”. “The Trials of Brother Jero” is a play written by Professor Wole Soyinka exposing the ills and foibles of religious torchbearers called pastors, and in some false moral equivalency, largely referred to as “men of God”. Like Brother Jero, these pastors are masters of subversive ecclesiastical manipulations too often thrown at gullible and easily receptive followers who understandably swallow whatever garbage dished out by these opprobrious demi-gods of falsehoods, hoping to get relief from the deep-seated social quagmire. As a disclaimer to stereotypical generalizations, I assume some of these pastors are good people because, by sight, they do a whole lot helping their communities with the resources taken from members of the community. The Bible says, “by their works we shall know them”. Indeed by the works of the majority hypocrites using religion as a gold field to harness resources from the poor and indigent, we will forever not only know them but also remember their names.
There is no better period in our life time to sieve the grains from the chaff and strain solids from liquids than right now. Even while governments and many great people, including our healthcare workers and ancillary paramedic volunteers are fighting everyday with their sweat and blood to get rid of this Covid-19 pandemic and some governments even dishing out stimulus funds to provide succour to the economic pain endured by the bulk of their citizens, some of these religious rogues still have the temerity to design ways to milk our people dry by giving directions for online tithes and offerings. The mendaciloquence and rambunctiousness with which they conduct their trade is much to the detriment of the fanatics who, for the most part, are in cahoots and complicit to the welcome hardship which dwells even more comfortably amongst the rest of mankind. Religion, they say, is the opium of the masses; but religious hypocrisy robs and pesters the inhabitants of our communities continuously. With Covid-19, everyone must realize that these proliferated and too often overrated preachers are no more nearer to God than the rest of us. In fact most of them are experiencing prolonged and sustained spiritual ex-communication with our God Almighty. They don’t practice what they preach and do not even believe in the paraphernalia they distribute to their followers that are supposedly designed to comfort and ward off spells and ill-luck.
By Covid-19 design, hand sanitizer, even among the pastors, is more worthwhile these days than religious handkerchiefs, anointing oil and good-for-nothing pentecostal bumper stickers. Religion is no longer more antidotal to social and economic pain and suffering than love for humanity. Passion for the public good must now forever replace love for the factories of lies, miraculous manipulations and falsehoods known as churches and religious sanctuaries. Post Covid-19 outcomes must seek to annihilate patriarchy, xenophobia, tribalism and religious fanaticism and for all to embrace world citizenship in their stead.
About the author:
Roland Kamara Esq. is a holder of BA Hons degree in Political Science, LLB Hons USL, BL SLLS and LLM magna cum laude Washington University School of Law in St Louis, Missouri, USA.
Well written.
Thanks for unraveling some of the myths around religion which some preachers use to their advantage against gullible listeners;i can’t say all preachers and i cannot agree with you to a greater degree.