Our Correspondence |27 April 2018|
It is no exaggeration that yesterday Thursday, 26th of April 2018,will go down memory lane as unforgettable in the University of Ibadan community in which an the erudite scholar and astute academic, Prof. Jacob Kehinde Ayantayo,decided to turn the table by taking a bent out from the traditional systems of lecture delivery such as have characterised most if not all of the previous Inaugural lectures before this time.
The creative way in which he(Prof.Ayantayo) decided to couch his Inaugural Lecture topic remains fascinating. More intriguing was the fact that the lecture venue, Trenchard Auditorium was not just full to the capacity, but was over saturated with a sea of heads both inside and outside the auditorium. Such as comprise eminent personalities from all works of life and key members of the University's governing council as well as the general public, religious leaders, pastors, Imams and traditional worshippers.
Below is an Excerpt from the Inaugural Lecture in which he adopted the following outline, care has been taken not to omit the vital points of this Lecture.Hence, we have employed a first person account in this review , see details below:
A. The Concept of Abduction
B. Categories of ABDUCTORS
i) Religious Functionaries and Religious followers
ii) Western Researchers
iii) Contemporary Academics
iv) Religious Fundamentalists and Radicalists
The Nature of God's Abduction
1) Taking God forcibly outside his space(world)and beyond His will which, manifests in why He created people male and female, black and white etc , placing them in different geographical location with different responsibilities within the context of their different enclaves.
2) Building of fortified walls with limited gateways around Him thereby confining Him to the new space He is taken to.
3) Restricting anybody from getting to him in the new place except through the self-claimed channels or individuals, particularly the Religious Functionaries.
4) Determination by the abductors of the level of interaction and relationship the brethren (for Christianity) and Ummah(for Islam) could have with him.
5) Paying of ransom in form of levies, determined offerings, and paying of spiritual charges relating to the possession and use of sacred objects such as mantle, water, oil and candles among others before the brethren or Ummah could enjoy or receive blessings from Him.
6) Giving of different interpretations to the person of God, His attributes,to whom He belongs or does not belong.
7) Making the abducted God like any abductee a subject of manipulation in the hands of religious practitioners by virtue of their truth claims.
8)Negotiating with the abductors who have turned themselves to 'mini gods' before the believers could have access to him.(Deification theory resurrecting in new Religious movements in Nigeria)
9) Reconstructing a new identity in which the followers of an abducted God form a resistance to another group who also abducted God in its own right.
C. Factors that precipated the Abduction Business and it's sustainability.
D. Consequences of Abduction
1) Emergence of inside and outsider phenomenon
2) contestation for Space
3) Indiscriminate timing of religious programmes
4) Social exclusion
5) commercialisation of religion
6) lust for materialism
7) Spiritual pride
8) Title consciousness
9)First Ladyship
10) False teaching
11) Exploitation
12) Sexual immorality and ritual performance
13) Sharp Religious identities
E. Is the Thesis of God's Abduction justifiable? No!
F. Toolkits for Rescuing God from His Abductors
i)Accepting the equality of Religions
ii) Understanding the cultural background of Religions
iii) Identifying and accepting Religious pluralism
iv) Promotion of objective Religious education/studies
v) Accepting the limitations of religious Scriptures and traditions
vi)Adopting "parts of Human Body" Thesis.
vii) Monetisation of religion in public places
G. Manifestations of God's release from His Abductors
1)The wolf and the lamb(Religious practitioners in Nigeria) will feed together,and the lion will eat straw like the Ox, and dust will be the serpent's food. They will niether harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain. Isaiah 65:25
2) Nigerians will not be discriminated against in public places on the basis of their avowed Religious identity or profession.
3) The spate of killings in the name of Religions will be replaced with care for the lives of people in other faiths in the atmosphere of freedom and justice.
4) As it was in the past, recommendation letters coming from religious centres to foreign embassies will be accepted without questioning their credibility in content and intent.
5) All Religious practitioners not minding their identities will be able to join hands in building a new Nigeria where peace and justice reign and serve their fatherland with love and strength and Faith.
6) Though religion, tribe and tongue may differ, Nigerians will stand in brotherhood/sisterhood and proudly serve the country and humanity diligently without fear or favour.
7) Quarrels and fights will cease among Religious practitioners–as for such(of the unbelievers) as do not fight against you on account of (your)faith, and niether drive you forth from your Homelands, God does not forbid you to show them kindness and to behave towards them with full equity: for, verily,God loves those who act equitably (Quaran 60:8)
H. Conclusion
Religion Should unite all hearts and cause wars and disputes to vanish from the face of the Earth, give birth to spirituality, and bring life and light to each heart. If religion becomes a cause of dislike, hatred and division, it was better to be without it, and to withdraw from such a religion would be a truly Religious act.For it is clear that the purpose of a remedy is to cure; but if the remedy Should only aggravate the complaint it had better be left alone. Any Religion which is not a cause of love and unity is no religion.
Prof. Jacob Kehinde Ayantayo
Professor of Religious Ethics,Sociology of Religion and Religious Peace and Conflict Studies.
Faculty of Arts
University of Ibadan
Ibadan-Nigeria.
Bloggertorial:
It is mincing words that Prof.Ayantayo's presuppositionless x-ray of Religion, his title of "Rescuing God from His Abductors" and the attendant exposition speaks volumes of the implications of an exclusivity Religious mindsets of many Religious practitioners who have turned out as hypocrites (to use a very strong word).
Here, the Professor and Inaugural lecturer for the 427th lecture in the University of Ibadan, recommended a postmodernist approach to God such as gives room for pluralism.. taming over Religiosity without Righteousness, Religionalisationalism and the attempt to reduce God as an exclusive ownership of a particular religion, Christianity, Islam or African Traditional Religion.
I make bold to say that Prof.Ayantayo, the Inaugural lecturer deserves kudos for once again enlightening the general public on the dangers of monopolizing God, exposition of the ripple effect of dogmatism, denominationalism, Religious coercion and dogmatic affliations etc
Nelson A.Osuala
Is a Blogger and the Associate Editor of Negroidhaven.
