Firsts Baba Isa|23 June 2017
See ehn, if there is truly a move by anyone to foist or force any religion on anyone in this country, then such a move must be resisted firmly.
But when every policy of government and actions of individuals are interpreted with religious undertones, then fear and religious intolerance have finally dislodged commonsense.
People who conjure conspiracy theories, bake half truths and spread religious rumours, how do feel about yourselves? I think social media has robbed many of their intelligence and sense of responsibility. People share all manner of posts without even sparing a second to verify such posts. Why?
Where is our sense of fairness? I mean, where is our personal sense of justice, truthfulness and equity? How do you sleep in the night when you spin such false yarns? How do you live with yourself when you allow yourself to be agents of falsehood on social media?
One Joshua Nwachukwu wrote on his Facebook timeline: "There has been so much noise about an attempt to Islamize Nigeria. Because of the alleged removal of CRK from the syllabus. This news is false.
CRK hasn't been removed from the syllabus. What the new curriculum did was to merge related courses under one group.
The new subject referred to by this group comprises: Christian Religious Studies or
Islamic Religious Studies + Social Studies + Civil Education + Security Education.
This combined subjects is now called Religious and National Values Education.
According to the curriculum, each school DECIDES to do CRS or IRS as it has always been.
For example, this new curriculum was used in the just concluded, NECO exam.
In the NECO exam, the question paper comprises of CRS, IRS, Soc stud, Civil Ed and Security Ed. The instruction on the question paper stated clearly that each candidate(s) is(are) required to do EITHER CRS or IRS (see the snapped pic of the front page of the JS 3 NECO)
Why the fuss?
Our country is already divided on many fronts, its unfair and unnecessary to create more means of division, most especially when its based on falsehood."
Another painful and shameful thing is that when this rumour mongers are confronted with the truth, they won't even apologize and retract their rumours; they will twist the yarn and remain on the path of that shameless perdition.
In October 2016, when I was in Seoul, South Korea, I asked for where I can attend church and I was told that the closest church is two hours away from my lodge.
Why?
That's not even the important point… We got talking.
I learnt that over 50% of Koreans don't have a religion. Over 50% and they are this developed? I went back to my room, and dragged the duvet over my head…
Thinking…
In Nigeria they ask us to pray for the economy… Pray for security… Pray for good roads… Pray for good leaders… Is somebody lying somebody in this West African country?
We have fat cathedrals but lean industries… Where our pastors talk about tithes but never about tax… Is somebody lying somebody in the biggest black nation in the world?
We go to church to give testimonies when we acquire a Samsung, LG, Hyundai and KIA products… Then how will the people who manufacture these products (in Korea) need our God, if our God need their products to bless us and prove that He is God in our lives? Is somebody fooling somebody in that country that imports toothpicks?
Those who don't believe in religion are building paradise but somewhere in Africa the clergy is asking their members to kill to gain paradise… Is somebody fooling somebody there?
Is the bigness of our churches and mosques also the size of our foolishness? Are long prayers a sign of our ignorance? Is God our resource or our distraction? Is our religiosity a sign that we have failed God with our gifts and talents?
Or maybe religion is an industry we are shying away from… An industry a few have discovered and are doing everything to keep the wool over our eyes.
And here we are, shamelessly talking about the religious subjects in school. Are our cathedrals and mosques not enough to teach our children religion? Their mates are inventing phones, building apps and writing codes as their homework, while we are here fighting to teach them who is the mother of Jesus and who is Prophet Mohammed's first wife.
As a Christian, let me conclude by saying most Christians whine too much about islamisation, whatever that means. The aim of every religion is to convert the whole world. In fact, it's even a command in Christianity; Jesus said in the Bible: "Go into the whole world and make disciples of all nations…"
So, Christians, we too want to convert everybody. Hindus want to convert everybody. Jews want to convert everybody. Amadioha and Ogun adherents want to convert everybody. To proselytise is an attribute of every religion.
So stop telling me about the strategies of Islam to turn everyone into a moslem. That's what all religions are planning to do; covertly or overtly. Deploy your own strategies; every religion has these strategies. Maybe one of such strategies in Nigeria Christiandom is for our pastors to keep buying private jets, building universities church members can't afford and building fat cathedrals.
However, I will resist any move to illegally force any religion, including Christianity, on anyone, covertly or overtly.
But the hard truth is, no matter what your pastor or Imam tells you, the day will never come when everyone in this world will belong to your religion or one religion. Chew on that.
Firsts Baba Isa (FBI) is a Legal Practitioner and writes from Abuja.
