Attitude towards religion unproductive - Bimi

THE Chairman of the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), Mr Larry Bimi, has stated that the attitude of Ghanaians towards religion is unproductive and unfavourable to national development.

“Some places of worship operate all day long, and productive hours are spent every day on worshipping and praying, to the neglect of work,” he added.

Mr Bimi, who was commenting on the phenomenal proliferation of churches in the country, in an interview in Accra yesterday, said there are too many questionable characters in the cassock who are misleading unsuspecting Christians, and splitting families apart with their fanatical and divisive messages.

He wondered, for instance, how a garment factory could stop production just because the managing director has turned born-again and his pastor wants the factory premises to be used as a place of worship.

Mr Bimi, however, cautioned that matters of religion need to be handled with extra care, to avoid the divisive tendencies inherent in them.

He said issues of religious fanaticism and intolerance are becoming too frequent and volatile in the contemporary Ghanaian society, and added that “the trend is not in the interest of democracy”.

The NCCE chairman urged the government and the citizenry to take a firm stand to reverse the trend.

Mr Bimi also deplored the situation on the university campuses and other tertiary institutions which are virtually being turned into seminaries by certain groups of students who organise prayer sessions during class hours, and said this is not conducive to the academic environment.

“If you spend all your time praying on campus without studying, you will definitely fail your examinations,” he said.

Mr Bimi said God will only help those who work hard and this should guide all Ghanaians, irrespective of their religion.

The NCCE Chairman said the commission’s focus this year is to bring leaders of all the religious bodies together to help in addressing matters of religion and productivity.

“By our Constitution, Ghana is a secular state and not a religious country”, he pointed out.

Mr Bimi said no misguided sect with dubious origin should, therefore, be allowed to have its way in the country, without regard for the Constitution.

Mr Bimi also cited the national census results and said the religious dimension it has taken should not be encouraged to continue.

“The census result must not be allowed to serve as a recipe for religious conflicts,” he added.