Man has always attributed to a Supreme Being his devotion
and worship. Some of this at times comes from fear while on the other hand it
comes from love and an innate moving in him that there is a Supreme Being that governs
the affairs of men. So basically religion is man searching out for God. While he
does this, faith is what gives him the fulfillment that whatever worship or
devotion he has attributed to this Supreme Being, that Being has accepted it.
Human beings are social animals. They find warmth and
comfort within a community and in most cases, their identity comes from the community
they belong to. This community may come from their racial background, ethnic
background, tribal background (in this case Africans), socio-economic
background and lastly religious background. The focus here is their religious
background which on the most part, they find meaning in it.
A renowned African scholar has submitted his observation
that “Africans are notoriously religious”---John S. Mbiti. This is a very
honest opinion about Africans although this maybe debatable in the post-modern
era.
Religion has brought some civility to mankind and at the
same time, it has wreck an irreparably havoc on humanity. In the Medieval
times, the Roman Catholic Church controlled the activities of men on earth and
they decide what is true or false regardless of an empirical proof. Men at this
time were tamed intellectually as anyone caught teaching something that is contrary
to the belief of the Church will face the music. And so man was not allowed
liberty to explore his universe.
The West has had a positive impact of religion because religion
contributed a great deal to their development. At the time the West had a
dominance of religion, they used it build and solidify the institution(s) that
make up their government. The ideological framework that makes up their political
system was solid and rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition and thus was their
worldview as well. At this time in history of the West, their meaning and ways
of life came from religion. Many people found warmth and security in religion
at this point in time.
Social security is a huge aspect of peoples’ lives. They go
to where they will have security; security here is in all ramifications:
social, economic and property.
Africans are notoriously religious as it has been established
above. At this point in the lives of Africans, their meaning and source for
social security comes from religion. Instead of using this opportunity to
solidify and make their system of government have a very strong ideological
base, they are using religion to plunge their lives and continent to abyss. The
continent has witnessed ethno-religious conflict and religion seems not to be
answering the problems that this continent is facing.
The West at this time has shown a less use for religion because
they have invented a system of government that has come to be accepted as one
of the best system of government. This is democracy; a government of the
people, by the people and for the people. This is the basic definition of
democracy by one of America’s founding fathers, Abraham Lincoln. With this
system of government, they have for the most part, a good social security
package for their citizens. Therefore, what their citizens get from religious
organization(s) as security has been replaced by the government. They are
longer insecure instead they have in abundance. They are at liberty now to
think and express their full liberty within the context of their countries’
laws.
In my opinion, why Africans are religious is because of the
social security that they find in their religious group not really because they
want to ascribe their devotion and worship to a Supreme Deity. Socio-economic
advantage is also a key factor of why Africans are ‘notoriously religious’. If truly
Africans are religious because of the love for a Supreme Deity, why is there
wanton corruption and looting of public funds by most government officials of
the African state? The irony here is that, religion teaches appropriate moral
conduct but where do Africans find reason(s) of stealing the money meant for
their fellow countrymen?
For this continent to move ahead there needs to be a total
over haul of religious belief or better still, a reformation of our religion so
as to bring a strong ideology for us make our dear continent where we want it
to be. The power lies with us but the will is what will make the whole
situation different.
