Was the African man better off with his traditional religion, before being introduced to the White man’s religion?
The African man’s traditional belief and worship of sacred deities is not just limited to ritual sacrifices but a way of life which has been ingrained into the diverse culture of the African peoples.
“Religion is a reflect of social structure; and since social structures ALWAYS change, the virtues of religion have always changed in a patterned way.”
The African Traditional Religion (ATR) required a spiritual leader to act as an intermediary between the people and their deity, not unlike modern religions. The origins of formal politics lie in spiritual leaders and by keeping contact with divinity exclusively in the hands of a spiritual leader, they are given the power to manipulate and exploit the sense of fear of the ordinary man. The most common way is to blame the cause of a person’s ill fortune on someone else, thus marshalling antagonism which usually leads to feuds either physical or ‘spiritual’, proving that religion has from time been a catalyst of conflict between societies.
Modern religion’s Crusades and Jihads were ordained by Spiritual Leaders who labelled certain people heathens or infidels (this word is of Christian origin), and thus declared ‘holy’ wars on them. Disciples gladly went to war believing their religion will help sustain them and if their lives were lost during this mission, they were rest assured that there will be an alternate better life for them. Any loot, slaves or livestock acquired in the process were rewards for their effort.
Religion has always been a tool of control, wielded by the powerful for self-glorification.
Religion has always been a tool of control, wielded by the powerful for self-glorification. For their services, religious leaders have always required some form of payment. In the African religion, a Shaman would request livestock, crops, precious stones, and metal and in some cases sexual favours, in exchange for curing an illness or ensuring a successful battle. The modern religion just lumps all of this up as tithes and seeds. To be fair, not all religions believe in this concept, the ones who do while being perfectly content to do away with laws of old cling steadfastly to this one, as well as every other concept that works in their favour.
Without a doubt, spiritual leaders run the gamut from true believers to calculating fraudsters. Although there are true believers who have lost their faith but strive to keep up appearances, same true believers who ask their flock to pray for the sick, even though they personally doubt God uses opinion polls to decide who dies and who lives. The fraudsters quite easily sustain their stance as respected community leaders who live on the benefits their position bring.
Poor governance creates a vacuum which religion tries to fill.
A society that barely lives above the standard sustenance level is less egalitarian than a modern industrial society, which is why religion thrives in poor or deprived societies. The African man will sooner consult pastors and traditional healers for health matters if hospitals are expensive, poorly resourced, or inaccessible to him. Poor governance creates a vacuum which religion tries to fill. The result is what you see all over Africa where politicians understand that religion is an effective tool for controlling the masses, and they play the religion card whenever it suits them.
Contrary to what some religions teach, man is capable of independent morality without the need for a spiritual leader guiding him. Morality predates religion – It may have served a purpose in the era of superstitions and ignorance, but in this present age of reason, spiritual enlightenment and tremendous scientific advancement, man can be left to contact God directly but the plain truth is that African’s communal activities and social institutions are intrinsically bound up with religion and the spirit world. This is say that Africans are unable to explain life and its mysteries without some reference to the supernatural.
Contrary to what some religions teach, man is capable of independent morality without the need for a spiritual leader guiding him.
In my opinion, religion has outlived its usefulness and it will serve the African man best to be aware of this.
