Traditional spirituality, herbal medicine ‘witchcraft’ and questions of truth

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OPINION

By Dr John W Bahana (PhD)

As we approached the commemoration of Martyrs’ Day, I got triggered to remember a very interesting topic that circulated on social media, among other avenues of communication, for a period of a month.

The topic read: “Traditional Spirituality; Herbal Medicine, ‘Witchcraft’ and Questions of Truth”. It was a topic to be discussed by Dr Yahaya Sekagya and Makerere University don Dr Jimmy Spire Ssentongo.

The seminar was organised by the university’s department of philosophy in the college of humanities and social sciences. My discussion of implications of the Ugandan Martyrs on Ugandan society and Christianity at large shall be in another topic one day soon.

I attended, largely because of my professional alignment to academia, but more importantly, because of my recently invigorated business interest in traditional and herbal science. I should also add that I am an armchair analyst of the science of faith and the concept of “belief in God (s), what writer Richard Dawkins calls “the God Delusion”.

Public lectures are traditionally not repeated. But if the audience at the Main Hall of the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT) were asked for this view, I am certain the overwhelming answer would be in the positive.

Firstly, the attendees were many, could have been more than 200 in number; and as such their questions and comments could not have been handled in the less than two hours of presentation.

Secondly, the presentation was so excitingly interesting that the audience was clearly spellbound and bayed, as it were, for more but for the time limitations.

Nonetheless, the lecture was arranged on YouTube, thanks to advances in technology, an indication that “spirituality” has got decades to catch up, in tandem, but the majority in Africa, unfortunately, do not access or even understand.

The discussants and arrangement for the lecture were innovative. While the social media advert indicated two presenters would lead the discussions, the lecture was largely led by Dr Sekagya with questions and prompts from Dr Sentengo.

So, the supernatural creator is indicative of their Ugandan origins, central Uganda (or Buganda). Their given names are indicative of colonial legacy and entrapment; one European and the other, Arabian or Muslim.

NOTES

The existence of a supernatural creator based upon the complexity of living organisms God a delusion, a persistent false belief held in the face of contradictory evidence. When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity.

When many people suffer from a delusion, it is called a religion — Robert Pirsig in Lila. Supernatural creator, God, almost certainly does not exist.

The God Delusion, a TV documentary written and presented by R Dawkins in which he argues that humanity would be better off without religion of belief in God. The virus of faith — the indoctrination of children DNA — travels from parents to offspring in genes. Isolation of students from outside or differing ideas. Belief in a personal god qualifies as a delusion, a persistent false belief held in the face of strong contradictory evidence.

The writer is an agricultural scientist