Religion mixed with power, profit kills God’s message!

Religion mixed with power, profit kills God’s message! ARCHBISHOP TUTU: God plans for all of without exception Tajudeen’s Thursday Post card -- A politicised, monetised creator is a merciless manipulator It was the Muslim Eid el-fitri celebration on Tuesday and next Tuesday will be the Christian Christmas Yuletide celebrations. Last year, the two celebrations fell on the same dates in many countries and I had chosen the happy coincidence to dabble in some amateurish religious philosophy on these pages. The article was essentially about the values of tolerance and the need for peaceful coexistence both spiritually and politically and indeed in all aspects of life. However, thanks to the sub-editors of The New vision, the article that could have been lost in the double merry-making made many rounds because of the inspired title: "God is a Democrat". As to be expected, many liberal-minded people appreciated the tongue in cheek style while self-chosen religious brigades of all kinds were very passionate in their responses, others were simply venomous, threatening hell and brimstone. Some of my Muslim brothers and sisters came close to issuing fatwa on me for daring to equate “The Faith” with another. Many of the evangelical and born-again Christians that responded to me were also livid. There was a husband and wife team of God that promised me delivery if I repented and accepted “The lord” into my “sinful” life. It was simply difficult to respond to all of them. The issues are still very much with us. The kind of carnage, mayhem, destruction, loss of lives and property and escalating conflicts being perpetrated in the name of or in defence of one religious faith or the other are just too many. The problems have to do with a number of factors. One, monotheism. Monotheistic religions claim the absolute truth of their ways. Such certainty backed by power, be it economic, political, military or a combination of all is a recipe for intolerance whatever the classical texts of their theology may be. Two, the evangelical duty in these religions is not just enough for you to accept the faith as a person, you must spread or “share”, as they claim, “the message” of good tidings and the Almighty creator's wish for all. In that seemingly altruistic mission lies many seeds of intolerance. Where does sharing end and coercion begin? If I refuse to share would the militant gospeller recognise my right not to share or feel it is his or her paradise-enhancing obligation to show me the “light”? Three, religion, like most areas of social interaction is also an arena of struggle between different interests who seek to legitimise or delegitimise each others’ claims to power, resources and influence. “God incorporated” or “Allah unlimited” has become a multi billion-dollar global polyglot that must be the envy of many global multi-billionaires. God is on-line and can be e-mailed through the various multi media outlets! These are some of the contradictions that are responsible for the disarticulation in real life between the claim of many religions to peace and the carnage caused in the name of their faith. If one looks at the so-called traditional religions (often derided as “pagans”, “unbelievers” or “animists”) the kind of religious conflicts threatening many countries today are not very common. And this is because most of them do not seek to convert anybody to their faith or dominate others with their faith. You are born into whatever it is that you worship and that is the end of the story. When religion is mixed up with the pursuit of power, profits and domination, it ceases to be God's message of delivery to mankind but a tool in the hands of whatever interests is deploying it for whatever purpose that suits them. The honest practitioners of the faiths are as much victims as their religious opponents. A politicised or monetised God is a merciless manipulator of people, events and causes. That is why even in countries where one religious group is dominant there are religious conflicts. Homogeneity may institutionalise uniformity that allows for no difference or the right not to belong. Yet the vitality of continuing human evolution has to do with our diversities, management of differences and building bridges across so many challenges an creating infinite opportunities to live fuller lives through the ages. To paraphrase a recent Oliver Tambo memorial lecture given by the venerable former Archbishop Desmond Tutu, God has plans for all of us whatever our race, colour or creed but He needs help. He needs yours and his, hers and mine. And it is only through tolerance and peaceful coexistence that we can democratically give faith that helping hand. Whatever the size of any religion in this world, compared to the rest of humanity, it will still be a minority faith. I do not believe that God created a majority of human beings for others to roast them in hell. Therefore, it cannot be true that those who do not worship the way one does are destined for hell. Even if they are, why not leave that judgement to God to carry out, instead of murdering in his Name? Tajudeen28@hotmail.com orTajudeen28@yahoo.com Ends