The adverse impacts of religion and religious convictions on South Sudan
All religions and its religious convictions are not true, not even the ones that are most ancient and most widespread, for they offer incompatible accounts of the ultimate realities
By Daniel Both Koang, Juba, South Sudan
Wednesday, 13 June 2018 (PW) — Until now, one has been deceiving himself/herself into thinking that, one has taken an interest in a religion. All religions doctrines and rituals are nothing but merely symbols and symbolic actions that are held to be the underlying common language, hence, all religions and their scriptures represent no more at bottom than the human imagination, is more or less successful attempt to come to clench with unfathomable cosmic mysteries. Religion is thus, something that is produced out of man’s own mind, expressing his individual thoughts and desires.
This was created out of socio-political activism and pursuit of good time, encouragements and other good Manners in the society. The positive idea that people seek to install in the society is that, when a religion is created, there are some rationales that lead to outset of every religion like; personal division of time between serving others with what they need and helping oneself with what one want. All these are designated values to earn social justice and pleasure than it being measured as a man kind’s true source of salvation and liberation.
The truth that man hunger for in the religion can be contradicted or rejected by other scriptural texts of the same holy book of certain religion. Henceforth, there are no guarantees given for the existence of New Jerusalem in heaven as it is so much talked about in the bible, the nature of freedoms we will be enjoying later in the heaven if one keeps all the prosaic types of liturgies and spiritualities stipulated in 10 commandments.
Traditionally, all African and Nuer in particular believes on life after death just like any religion does, but their divergences are that, these religions had got an extra contemplation on the day of judgement, where God will measure up all ghastly did and the righteous with measurement of conveniences. In this particular regard, the blameless ones are compared with sheep and they shall sit at the right hand of God to enjoy eternal life in the paradise and the wrongdoers are compared with goats where they shall sit at the left hand of God to perish in the hell of fire.
Meanwhile, African solely believes on life after death in the world of Spirit, which they consider to be beneath the earth. On this African world of dead, there is no judgement and measurement on whatever one has been doing on earth. Furthermore, African believes on dead family members’ reunion in that sphere where all the dead relatives and their ancestors stay together as they could do on earth mutually with their Cattle, Goats, Sheep and everything they possess on earth.
Take example of Christianity, simple imagination of symbol is picked like water used for baptism. Natural water washes off dirt, satisfies thirst, and is refreshing, thus they instituted the sacrament of baptism, knowing that water does these things, is therefore a supremely fitting symbol of what take place in baptism which is a spiritual cleansing, a satisfaction of spiritual thirst and refreshment of the human soul.
Breads and the candles, flowers on the altar, the oil used for anointing and the rings exchange at matrimonial vows are just borrowed from social necessities, modified to sensually burst spiritual realities and make it genuine. There are always some motives that force individual to accept certain religion and turn to devote one’s life to be a follower.
This is true in my own case, when I was Christianized in Waat Parish. My cousins, who were Elders and evangelists in persons of Gordon Koang Gal, Gordon Geaw Puot and Joseph Lony Kong to refer to, branded us with the name ‘commoners’ meaning somebody without God. Besides, they do preach to us on New Testament, That goes like; the end of the world is near and it will be of much shoddier for those who are not born again, because locust will fall down on to them from heaven which will eat them for many years while the commoners don’t die.
Furthermore, they devious that their (Locusts) teeth are like that of lion but their stings are as painful as that of scorpion. This threatening peril was exactly why I had been baptized, just to avoid being eaten by so said monster locusts, though I still believe in Christianity as my favourite religion. So if there is any religion that speaks through imagination of symbols like Christianity that could be Islamic. These two religions shared many spiritual symbols, behavioural codes and prophets.
All prominent supporters and opposers of this line of argument will never reach any reasonable agreement to conclusion that justifies their cause of supporting or opposition. Religious remarkable similarities indicated that it is unfeasible for all religions to be altogether false or true. The question is which religion is truest, offering the truest accounts of realities for man and God? All religions are accepted on trust where one is not allowed challenging it because you are taught in the church not to question anything in God’s Holly book. This had so far work well since everyone needs to enter New Jerusalem in cloud nine by obeying all the creeds.
The writers of Bible, Quran and other sanctified books had handed down to us their own intellects over the mystifying oracles, a source of supreme dogma more unquestioned and blindly trusted than every papacy it contained.
Almost all the doctrines that developed unquestioning of incredible credos of religions are written by: Dr. Thomas Aquinas for Christianity; Dr. Aristotle for Pagans; Dr. Maimonides for Jewish; Dr. Avicenna for Islamic and I can add another saccharine fellow who formulate passionate effort to build up an African originated faith base, this is none other than; Douglass Johnson for Ngundengism, though he did not develop the faith canons well to assured the reliance echelon of this religion. Lastly, myself for quantification ordeal, examination and theory test of these religions.
Each of the above theological thinkers had written in support of firming certain religion positively but, I am writing to compare them, measure up, scrutinize and check their truthfulness on the reliability of ideals given in those very religions doctrines. Example (Genesis Chapter 2: 7 – 25) Adam and Eve were the only two people existing in the whole world plus their two sons nominally Abel and Cain.
Cain killed Abel his brother which was replaced later by God with Seth. In short, only four people in the whole world. Hence, where did these two boys got married and reproduced? The lineage of Jesus Christ is from family of Seth. Another question id from Genesis 4: 15 – 16, the Lord dropped Cain from Cherubim further to the Nod, at the East of the Garden. God said whoever slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold and the Lord set a mark on him.
The purpose of that mark was to act as identifying blotch for him, wherever he goes or stay but, Cain pleaded not to mark him, because he would be vulnerable to attacks. If there were only Adam’s family, who does God expect to kill Cain while he was wandering in the wilderness of Nod? Where/who are the children of Cain now in the world today?
This is not circumstantially evidenced and classify in the Bible. Who amongst us in South Sudan or Africa can countdown his/her lineage up to Israel (Jacob) just to proof the alleged pronunciamiento of everyone being offspring of Adam and Eve?
The writer can be reach at his email: koangdanielboth@gmail.com
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