I have observed with strong feelings of embarrassment, the degree to which people can be so enslaved by religion that they would go to great lengths to defend their religious views. People have been known to mutilate their bodies and engage in other forms of unseemly behaviour in the name of religion. Some members of a religious sect even go as far as committing such heinous crimes as arson, murder and rape all in the name of religion! How debased can the human mind be to commit such dastardly acts in the name of God! Such is the power of religion to condition people’s minds. As I pondered events surrounding Pope Benedict’s resignation and misleading rumours of his subsequent conversion to Islam, I was awestruck at the magnitude of influence wielded by religious personages and religion itself.
A classic illustration of what religion can do to people’s minds is a story which recently made the rounds in Nigeria about a baby who was born clutching a copy of the al-Qur’an from the womb! I first got wind of this news on an online forum for university students where I expected the story to be greeted with some scepticism, but to my dismay, the supposed intellectuals fell for it hook line and sinker. With such comments as “Allah is mighty!” my friends went all the way against every principle of nature to prove that the “supernatural incident” was, among other things, an evidence of the greatness of Allah and a warning of impending judgement to the infidels.
I had earlier read a similar story about a commuter bus being caught in an inferno with everything destroyed and all the passengers roasted to death while a copy of the Holy Bible remained untouched by the fire. It’s amazing how quickly we employ such misguided stories as groundless evidence to support our faith. Religion is indeed the opium of the people! Now, I’m not disputing the fact that such incidents could have happened by chance or careful manipulation, but it defies all sense of justice and truth to attribute them to an act of God. Perhaps it would have been a more plausible story if the Bible had saved the vehicle from burning and the lives of the passengers from being wasted. Truth be told; the Bible and the Quran in and of themselves are just like any other book. You may not really get the raison d’être of any book simply by reading the letters. To grasp the message, you must understand the spirit of the author.
It is high time we stopped fooling ourselves and subjecting ourselves to needless mental torture by means of propagandist ideas and religious hype. With the heightened awareness of the supernatural world that has characterised the past decade globally, one will have to be either sincerely ignorant or deliberately dishonest to deny the existence of God. But God and religion are not the same! Religion does not make us relevant before God. True religion is a vital relationship with God which causes His life to be reflected in us and through us as we personify His attributes, the core of which is love. We need not discard logic to substantiate our religion or faith. Faith and logic can actually agree. Our life of faith must be a response to God’s power at work in us, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by anyone, regardless of who they are.
Philip Amiola is a teacher, writer and a campaigner of empowerment. He writes from Lagos, Nigeria.
Den wat is HE……a pegan?
U don’t know God
Don’t you know relegion is a politics?
Religion is for the creations(humans), not the creator(God).
But Jesus The Son Of the Most high God is a christian,Meaning that Him Papa na de founda
Jesus was never called a christian,his disciples were called christians in Antioch and that was because by character they were christlike.
philip Amiola sir !.. Kudos to your writings, you write just Like Aristotle and plato. Every comment and statements of yours seems true esp. The ‘deliberate manipulation’
NO! The Qur’an is not like any other book. All that is contained in the Qur’an is the TRUTH. The Qur’an is FLAWLESS. It is the only book that has remain UNCORRUPTED in the world for over 1430 years. There is only ONE TYPE/VERSION of the Qur’an all over the world. Add or remove a single ‘dot’ from the Qur’an, and a 5 years old boy any where in the world will tell you that a dot has been added or removed.
That is why the Qur’an challenged whosoever think that it is written by prophet MUHAMMAD(PBUH) to produce another book like it if he/they can, a challenge which has been there unbeaten for over 1430 years. How can this book be like any other book?
Una don start again
Read mathew 23:39
Mr philip sir I don’t know were you stand. Is either you chicken or a foul?
Either a christian or a muslim? Which one are you? So that we can give you the right answer.
Anyway for your information Religion is not For God but for man.
Am a Muslim and The Quran says. And I quote:
Allah is saying that he did not create Man & Jinn for any reason but to Worship Him.
Therefore any other thing you are engaging your self into is secondary,
As soon as you die God is neva going to ask you your job or your family but he shall ask you who is ur lord and who did you worship?
The answer you will give will be the answer you are giving right now.
Coz you are indirectly saying that there’s no God.
Religion is a way of life design by your creator.
They way you sounds tells me that you are a Christian which makes you ignorant. You have read the Bible, now what you need is to read th Quran and compare the both. You will be amazed with what the Book is saying.
Coz I tell you, its a book of wonders wallahi. Peace
Only those who are muslims ƮђåƮ are ignorant.. Deedat mind your words cos u muslims don’t tolerate being insulted.
stop been selfish man, what he wrote never mean he is a christain, be careful b4 u receive d wrath of our lord father Jesus christ, islam is never for peace u guys re too forceful
Islam is human philosophy that is why it is associated with so much violence. Muslim’s behave like imbeciles because of their religion. It robs them of the ability to reason. Islam is the worst excuse for a religion.
God is not a Christian or Muslim he is God. The reason religion has made people dogmatic, and violent is- Many people drop their common sense at home when they go to their places of worship.
GOOD NEWS:
Ephesians4:5-6.
5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 there is one God and Father of all, who is Lord of all, works through all, and is in all.
Ephesians 2:1-6.
In the past you were spiritually dead because of your disobedience and sin. 2 At that time you followed the world’s evil way; you obeyed the ruler of the spiritual powers in space, the spirit who now controls the people who disobey God. 3 Actually all of us were like them and lived acording to our natural desire, doing whatever suited the wishes of our own bodies and mind. In our natural cndition we, lile everyone else, were destined to suffer God’s anger. 4 But God’s mercy is so aboundant, and his love for us is so great. 5 That while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience he brought us to life with Christ . It is by God’s gtace that you have been saved. 6 In our union with Chist Jesus he raised us up with him to rule with him in the heavenly world.
Religion as u said is d opium of d masses, God is not a religionist, He is as pure as crystal. Whether Bible or Q’uran, let their be godly live in existence.
Inan dina inadallahil islam
Any man who spills another persons blood does not know God. True religion is based on love. Hatred is of the devil. This the test of true religion.
ISLAM is the only approved religion by God.,beside dat there is no any other acptd religion b4 God.
GOOD NEWS!!!
Acts 4:10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even
by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
4:11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the
head of the corner.
4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under
heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
If u bliv dos miracles ar 2 big 4 God,my dear writa,xplain d 4matn of baby in d womb of its mother,growin of man & plants,suspensn of sky,etc.u mst b suffrn 4rm brain diarrhoea.
Being religious wil nt tak us anywher. What we need is righteousness. GEJ is a Christian, Namadi Sambo a Muslim, yet they cant take us to d promise land. Lets fear GOD & stop been hypocrites. Cheers!!!
Somehw i feel each time issues abt religion is mentioned, the muslims arent suppose to say a word. It sims to be the only religion dat speaks abt peace and yet causes violence, killing of innocent citizen and the destruction of homes and property in almost around the world. Wen Terrorism is mention, it is always an islamic sect dat follows. BokoHaram is an islamic sect, if dat is wat u call peace, den am disappointed.
There is no religion call christianity,cos it was coined after Jesus christ.Then what was de religion of those Prophets &Messengers b4 Him,e.g.Adam(Adamu),Moses(Musa)?Abraham,(Ibrahim), Joseph(Yusuf),,Jacob,(Yakubu),Noah(Nuhu) & so on? May Allah Mercy be with them,amen
Dear @ Idris Musa,
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto
the Father, but by me.
14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth
ye know him, and have seen him.
Muslims have been so indoctrinated by their imams and alfas and they that call themselves learned are so myopic that they cannot see beyond their nose. Quran said you should verify the truth from the Book (Bible). All these people you have mentioned Musa all of them prophesied about Jesus Christ. Please you people should read your quran with understanding. Don’t be pharisees and Sadducees in this regard.
It’s obvious that you have no knowledge about almighty Allah, that’s why you are saying all this your guess.
May God have mercy on us all, the paramount thing in life is to love one another and be loved, religious is actually meant for human being while God wants us to follow his commandment and be holy. God is God, either u are a Christian or a Muslim, what we should know is that He is God and what ever we do on earth will be recorded for us,
Fighting, maiming killing, rioting and looting fellow human’s properties wont help us and wont take us anywhere, more so it should be known that we cant fight for God and that there is no reward for those that killed in his name because he has power to kill and destroy therefore lets desist for fighting for him thank u.