As an African, it was heart-warming to read an article on your website (04-06-2013) articulating and advocating for the traditional and cultural values of the African. I must honestly commend the writer for his ‘good’ sense of Africanism. Normally, any cause that promotes the Africa values and principles aimed at ‘liberating’ people’s mental bondage – the writer’s own term, should be encouraged especially if it has an objective of correcting a mishap in order to ensure human growth and development. I agree that most religious leaders especially the Christian leadership (since that was much concern of the writer) have gone overboard and are taking advantage of the poor in society.
However, the writer made some comments that are inadequate, misleading or best showed his lack of appreciation of the subject he much pontificated. It is important to state that the Church and Christianity as a religion has survived vitriolic criticism both in the past and present and would continue to survive. Voltaire, a French philosopher said ‘hundred years to come both the Bible and the Church would be dead and gone’ interestingly, hundred years later after he was dead and gone the Bible is still ‘alive’. His house where he stood and made the comments was bought by the French Bible Society and Bibles are being translated, printed, stored and distributed. Also, Mao Zedong , a founding father of the republic of China in August 1966, supported the burning of ecclesiastical materials after which he said ‘ the last vestige of any belief in God is dead and gone and would no longer come to hunt the good people of China’.
Interestingly, under his life time the church in China grew with over hundred million Christians, and saw an unprecedented building of churches. Furthermore, Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), German philosopher who was invasive in his writings of the Christian religion and God said ‘God is dead and because God died in the 19th century, two things were going to happen in the 20th century: there was going to be bloodshed, and a universal madness. Again Friedrich Nietzsche took the lead and spent the last 13 to 14 years of his life as a mad man. So you see, Mr. Kwame Yaboah the Church has lived above its pallbearers and has survived more severe attacks and clobbering. You may choose not to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, you may choose not to believe that the Church is the Temple of God established by His Son-JESUS CHRIST, you may choose not to believe that the priests are men of God- representing Him on earth, But what you cannot change and deny is the fact that Jesus Christ said ‘
I am the way, the truth and the Life, Nobody comes to the father without through Me’ and the fact that Jesus Christ said ‘God is my Father…… and I would establish my Church and the gate of Hell would not prevail against it. It is true that some bad nuts in the Christian religion have made it a mockery, and have made some caricature out of the Church and Christianity, but when you generalize these unfortunate incidents and discredit the ‘institution’ of the Church; it is not only unfair but it exposes some inadequacies in your understanding of the very institution you try to criticize. The writer said ‘private Christians (Charismatic) churches and present day Islam have not only made us slaves to the Church and its dogma, they have succeeded in rendering us incapable and afraid of questioning the priest and the church. It is not the people, it is the Church’. He further question ‘How on earth do you expect me to question the word of God coming from the mouth of priest’? I guess Mr. Yaboah has some odium for the Church/ Priests, but the fact that he uses the words ‘present day’ clearly shows that his observation of what is happening in the church is a deviation from its original purpose and practice and does not represent what the church earlier practiced. He also retorts ‘it is not the people, it is the Church’. Clearly, he agrees with Rev. Anaba who admonished the people not to idolize religious leaders, the question to the writer is ‘how do you use some people’s ‘evil’ practices to destroy an institution (Church) that in all intend and purpose was establish for the good of Man’? He further questioned the godliness of Jesus’ words by asking ‘Jesus, the wandering preacher who walked on the foot preaching Love and service to his neighbors as the word of God? If in your own account you think that doing the work of God was doing good to your neighbor, taking care of the poor, the needy and destitute has exhibited by your mother, why then would you question all that Jesus Christ preached- love, mercies, good etc as the word of God ? The writer also said ‘some of the most imposing buildings you encounter are all church buildings and missions houses for the priest’ Does the writer know the number of schools, hospitals, clinics and poverty alleviation programmes championed by the Church/Christians? It’s worth stating that many Christian missionaries have lived and worked in the most deplorable places in Africa that international NGOs and even the writer would never like to go to. Also, Mr. Yaboah said ‘In Jesus and Paul’s time they were only elders, what about now’? According to Ephesians 4:11: ‘And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers’.
Typically, complete false and misinformation. Intriguingly, the writer who seems to be an advocate of Africa tradition, values and culture decided to communicate his sentiments in his disguise ‘foreign’ language (English) and not any of the African languages – infected with the foreign disease? Finally, the writer catalogs what he considered as Africa culture, rightly so, but is it not contradiction and hypocritical to pontificate Africa culture and values of respect yet he makes comments like …. ‘his so called love revolution’, …. ‘famed hair’ to describe Rev. Eastwood Anaba. He further makes sweeping statement like …. ‘And if you are a truly a man of God, set the innocent naïve congregation of yours free from the mental bondage they find themselves now’. My free advice to Mr. Yaboah is that: never attempt to push the person you cannot beat in life. Personally, as a Christian I am not surprise at the writer’s aversion towards the Church, Jesus Christ and the priests/Pastors because I am reminded of James 2: 7 ‘Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called’? To answer the question he posed to Rev. Eastwood as the title of his article; the answer is REPENT. May the grace and Mercies of God redeem us all-AMEN.
By: James Seutra Kaba
Email: [email protected]