Eckankar Ghana celebrates national inter-religious musical night

The religion of light and sound has organized an interfaith religious musical concert on the theme: "Uniting Ghana, The role of religion," at its temple near the Erata hotel in Accra. Giving the welcome address, the president of Eckankar Ghana, Madam Charlotte Asante, was grateful to the Almighty for His faithfulness. She was full of praise to the participating choirs and Ghana as a nation because the good Lord has done so much for us that we have every cause to say thank you to Him. According to Madam Charlotte, Ghana has come a long way in the practice of our democracy. She recalled the atmosphere before the 2012 presidential and parliamentary elections.

It was the biggest test that Ghana had to pass, and by the grace of God, distinction was scored by the country. As if that was all, the country was confronted again with the eight-month election petition. All these period, the common word on the lips of every Ghanaian was' PEACE', but after that, no religious group or individual seemed to be talking about it hence the organization of the inter-religious musical concert. Delivering the keynote address was the president of THINK AFRICA, Mr. Victor Moffat.

According to him, standing in the echoes of the memorable statement that, ‘the independence of Ghana is meaningless, unless it is linked with the total liberation of Africa’, dare I trumpet that, ‘our independence will still be meaningless unless there is productive integration of our religious beliefs’. Our religious beliefs set up our spiritual boundaries and help us to fashion out social structures and institutions which will be a true reflection of our shared goals and objectives as a nation.

Religion, when viewed from a constructive pedestal, can become a unifying construct rather than a dividing tool. Religion is a very important factor in our pursuit of our socio-economic progress. To be religious, therefore, is nothing more than to be human. Religion gives us our human identity, without which we may turn to live in another kingdom not befitting us as human beings. Religion must have a place for everyone and everyone must find his or her productive place in religion.

Ghana is a very religious Nation. Some say we find politics in everything we do. I say, we find more religion in what we do than we find politics. Ghana cannot be separated from her humble religious beginnings. The first line of our National Anthem, ‘God bless our homeland Ghana ……..’ says it all.

The various choirs have held us all spellbound with their excellent performances. This is what Ghana presents. I have maintained that the name Ghana, stand for God Has A Nation Available. That nation is you and I. No one can best protect this nation than you and me. Our understanding and preparedness to protect this via our religious beliefs is the goalpost through which we can work to leave a worthy inheritance for generations to come.

In some countries, religion has put mothers and children on the streets. In other countries, religion has turned citizens into refugees in their own motherland. Religion has also separated families, thrown fathers into graves, made a mess of education, health, agriculture and dismantled almost everything that united the people. Religion in some countries has brought unforgettable memories and scars that time will find difficult to heal and even reconcile. In some countries, religion has made a mess of everything it should have built.

Yet without religion, that unseen powerful force that speaks every language, hears all cries, soothes all pain, heals all wounds and with sound and light deals with the echo of the sound of every tear drop of man, woman and child will be lost.

Ghana, therefore, needs to do all we can to keep the unity of our shared religious beliefs in a way that will make us hold up high the flag of our motherland. And as we translated our unity into beating our fellow sportsmen from Egypt on Tuesday during the world cup qualifiers match, may that united force be the bulwark with which we will put our hands, heart, mind and feet for the continuous peace and tranquility of Ghana- our motherland by extension, Africa our fatherland.

The event was attended by some political parties, GCPP and NPP. Before the opening prayer, the President of Global Council of Churches and Ministers, Rt. Rev. Dr. Kweku Nsiah Agyarko, thanked the organizers for such a fantastic event. He said this is what the religious groups should be doing by uniting humanity. The choirs were selected from different religious groups. The program was attended by people from all walks of life.