OPEN YOUR EYES!
Where did it start going wrong? Honestly. I’d like to believe that religion started out as something good. Something to give you comfort and purpose. Something to answer the questions you had in mind but nowadays,I’m not sure. It’s beginning to look like something evil .Something that is causing harm. In our race to heaven,we are blindly falling into traps. If you see religion through the men of today you might just become an atheist. Because seriously,what is going on? But it’s too far ingrained in people’s minds that if you question it or them,they will start saying that you are a non believer, an agent of the devil sent to test their faith. But why do they not want to see light?
Let us start from the beginning. Christianity was introduced in Africa by the missionaries. Africans did have traditional religions before that. All African oral traditions I have heard and read had one thing in common. They all believed in the existence of a supreme being who created them. They just hadn’t associated it with the God of the missionaries. And they were very faithful to their traditional religions. I think it’s a continuous theme. How religion has a hold in society. When the missionaries came,they spread their beliefs and soon colonialism followed. Africans who converted were given more opportunities by the colonialists. Religion was also used to suppress revolts. Example: FRELIMO in Mozambique. The church was spreading information that they were terrorists and that christians should not join them. If the church says that,why not follow? My father was born in this colonial period where the traditional religions were discouraged and viewed negatively and destructive. You had to be a Christian. He even has two christian names. This people were conditioned to believe that religion was never wrong. After independence,people still held on to that. We can all agree that our parents, grandparents are very religious and won’t stand for anyone to say something negative. This doctrines,they passed on to their children who pass it on and it continues. But let’s talk about how religion has a hold on people and can be used for bad.
Modern day situations:
We were all exposed to religion at a young age. But we never stopped to think how it affects how we act.
Many people hide things because the society will say things like:it’s because you don’t pray. It’s a demon,spirit etc. We won’t talk about it. (If you feel dismissed when told to pray about it check out @reverenceblog article about praying about it. )People have come to view depression,self harm and other mental illnesses as not from christ. Many people don’t speak out because they fear judgement from the congregation. Can you believe that some churches still believe that being born with a disability means that you have sinned. Honestly! Let’s talk about what happened in Shakahola to shed some light on the extent of religious brainwashing.
Isolation – the victims sold all their property and left home and went to live in the land the pastor owned.
Enforcement of routine- they followed what their pastor said. They had praying times and weren’t allowed to eat. There were guards to make sure they didn’t eat and no one questioned the pastor.
Torture-somevictims showed some signs of blunt force trauma that caused their death. In the case of the Jones Town massacre those who resisted were injected with poison.Sadly over 400 people lost their lives in Shakahola. Many more mass Graves are yet to be dug up. So the number is higher.
Just yesterday,the media highlighted how a pastor conned his congregation off 600million ksh. And I was thinking. This people had to blindly trust him- because he is a pastor .
How many people are taking advantage of the fact that people are blindly religious to con them? We hear of churches where once you enter you are chained and can’t leave. We hear of people opening a church as a business. Don’t we fear God anymore?We need to open our eyes and question all that we are told. Is what we are doing and tolerating really for Christ or just what you have been made to believe.
Kwaheri.
Also look at my post : RELIGION: CHRISTIANITY OR CULT! for more on the matter. It gives some background to this post.
Africannah 
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