When Religion sleeps with Politics

Ghana saturated with churches and mosques, is still rotten in corruption and selfishness. From childhood, our children are baptized into the teachings of the various religions and yet still grow up to mirror the corrupt images of our political and religious leaders. In arguing my case, I’ll concentrate on the Church since it is the dominant religion practiced in Ghana. This, does however not excuse the failures of the other religious groups. And of course, my huge generalization calls for toleration from my readers as well. Anyway, in Ghana, if one dreams of becoming rich overnight, they either become a politician or a religious leader (Man of God)-- preferably a church founder. Many of these religious leaders end up becoming filthy rich by offering nothing substantial or ethical to their followers than the delusion of unearned health and wealth in this world as well as salvation in the next. In the churches, we are told that the self-sufficient almighty God needs a large part of our money if we are to see our materialistic motivated prayers answered.

Following this, the name of Jesus Christ has literally become a mafia brand to extort unaccountable money from gullible believers who besides financing the extravagant lifestyles of their spiritual leaders have little idea of what their monies are used for. On Sundays and other special worshipping days, the poor rush in their numbers to give away their hard-earned new Ghana cedis to these junior mafias, affectionately called “Men of God”, in the form of tithes, offerings and special gifts with the deluded hope of multiplied financial blessings and protection from witches and “evil eyes” in return. One is justified in asking what has become of our reasoning faculty-- our freedom to think.

Freedom indeed must be dreadful! Don't we love it or feel relieved when someone steps in and takes our responsibility and freedom to think away from us? The story of the Grand Inquisitor in Dostoevsky's novel, The Brothers Karamazov, tells of how Jesus returning to the earth is arrested by the Grand Inquisitor- the head of the Christian Church. Jesus is arrested for offering something that the masses haven’t asked for- FREEDOM to THINK. The Inquisitor argues that what people really cherish are authority and mystery; and these are exactly what the church offers. The Inquisitor tells Jesus:

"They will marvel at us and look on us as gods, because we are ready to endure the freedom which they have found so dreadful... But we shall tell them that we are Thy servants and rule them in Thy name. We shall deceive them again... They will marvel at us and will be awe-stricken before us... They will have no secrets from us... The most painful secrets of their conscience, they will bring to us, and we shall have an answer for all. And they will be glad to believe our answer, for it will save them from the great anxiety and terrible agony they endure at present in making a free decision for themselves. And all will be happy"

Rather than encouraging critical thinking, we are rather taught weekly that obedience and servitude are more preferable virtues. Unquestionably, our ability to think and reach "independent" conclusions is what makes us humans. If we willingly give up this privilege, what do we then become? Dare to initiate discourse when confronted with cherished tradition and unwavering dogma is the essence of mental freedom. But to get there takes courage, dedication, intellectual humility and above all, love for universal human progress. Focusing on the progress of Ghana, one is forced to reason why there isn’t a critical mass education to curb the deception of these “Men of God”, whose operations in addition to extracting money from their followers, include sleeping with married women, bathing them, and causing division in the families of those who consult them.

The government of Ghana responsible for educating its citizens, indeed must be very fortunate to have these forms of superstitious religious practices within its borders that destroy the urge to fight political corruption on this side of life. It appears the ignorance (if not the "stupidity") of the masses provides the right platform for such men and women to succeed. Both line of religious and political businesses thrive on the gullibility of the general populace to achieve their ends. We are told to cast our burdens unto the Lord because he cares for us. The corruption of our leaders which is actually the reason for the financial and social calamities that drive the masses to these men of God, regrettably, thereby goes uncriticized. As a result, corruption and negligence generally do not have any effect whatsoever on the political and religious careers of these privileged groups. The victimized masses are made to believe that God takes care of the poor, and that he's the great healer and provider and not the results of the policies of our politicians. Accordingly, the negligence and incompetence of our political structures that fail to address the poverty and other "sub-human" conditions of our towns, cities and villages are also accepted without any consequences for those responsible for (mis)managing our resources.

To Ghanaian politicians, these great “Men of God" make their work very easy. Since wealth and health are expected from God rather than holding the politicians accountable, why should the state educationalist bother with a public enlightenment scheme that could free our brothers and sisters from the grips of superstition, foolishness, lies and false hope? Obviously, Ghana’s politicians and “Men of God" couldn't thrive on a critical and informed citizenry. The message is thus simple and clear: the current constellation is profitable to our religious lords and very useful to the unaccountable political establishment. So why bother changing anything? "It's not their time yet to eat nor think," is the message our religious and political leaders seem to tell God when he inquires into social justice and the value of national solidarity.

To achieve individual prosperity and with that national growth and development, we are admonished to bribe God; we must first give him our best, for he loves a cheerful giver. By giving his servants our unrestricted obedience and money and time to finance their luxurious lifestyles, we are told, God in turn will bless us now and also save our poor souls from hellfire; and this bargain is apparently considered noble and fair by both sides.

That wealth comes with know-how, hard working and discipline, is considered nonsense. That we read in the Bible that God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind is equally discarded. That the roots of our corrupt and poverty ridden state are mainly political and not spiritual is blatantly disregarded. Day in and day out, millions of Ghanaians look up to their corrupt religious leadership to beseech God on their behalf when, ironically, God clearly tells us in Isaiah chapter one that he will look away when such shameless charlatans come to him with their prayers. God tells us:

"Woe to the sinful nation,
a people whose guilt is great,
a brood of evildoers,
children given to corruption!
Your country is desolate,
Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I hide my eyes from you;
Your rulers are rebels,
partners with thieves;
they all love bribes
and chase after gifts."
(Isaiah Chatper 1, NIV Edition)

Dominic Mensah