Ghana government's stance on superstition and pseudoscience?

By Stanley Seshie

Religion is a tradition of man. Tradition is a collection of traits. Tradition works or many believed it works. So to call for change in what many believed works, delusional or not, is not easy and successfully initiating that change to realization is almost mission impossible. But if elimination is impossible, minimization should be possible. That is necessary to do since societal and national development and progress depend on the controlling traits of the people.

Many had done and still doing it. China is recent example. Every nation and continent is saddled with the problems in one way or another. It is not exclusive to Ghanaians and Africans. However, what seems unique to Ghanaians and Africans is our disinterestedness in initiating the possibility of the minimization efforts particularly from the level of national educational institutions via policies.

I wonder if our Government had any concrete policies or ever issued a white paper just dedicated to clamp down on superstitions, antiscience and pseudoscience with national machineries. Below is quote from a joint submission by the Chinese government to tackle the menace twenty-three years ago.

On 5th December 1994, the Chinese Government and Chinese Communist Party issued a joint proclamation that read in part;

Public education in science has been withering in recent years. At the same time, activities of superstition and ignorance have been growing, and antiscience and pseudoscience cases have been frequent. Therefore, effective measures must be applied as soon as possible to strengthen public education in science.

The level of public education in science and technology is an important sign of national scientific accomplishment. It is a matter of overall importance in economic development, scientific advance, and the progress of society. We must be attentive and implement such public education as part of the strategy to modernize our socialist country and to make our nation powerful and prosperous. Ignorance is never socialist, nor is poverty.

Note this; “Ignorance is never socialist, nor poverty is.” It pays off. They are reaping the benefit today to the admiration of all. Read the quote again. It contains and its representative of the seriousness with which governments all over the world see the glaring threat of superstition, antiscience and pseudoscience to their determined effort in transforming society socially, economically and intellectually.

Of course, ignorance and poverty are still part of Chinese provinces. But that has to do with population than determined effort. The number of times of Ghana’s population will go into that of China should tell us we would be achieving near total elimination if we attempt to.

Yet, here in Ghana our politicians do not care. Their indifferentness is understandable as it is undesirable. They are not even making those social, economical and intellectual transformative efforts for society. Governance in Ghana is hardly distinguishable from waking up day after day as you sleep night after night. You can choose to call the day a new day. Yet you know it is full of the old stories.

Nothing transformational happens in it. As a result, they dare not be confrontational to superstitions, antiscience and pseudoscience saturating and drowning society in the name of freedom of worship regardless of their detrimental nature to any effort at all made to move the nation forward.

As they intoxicate the populace from the religious opium. Else, the people confront them for not delivering as politicians elected to solve problems and not explain them. Since religions successfully shift the peoples attention to demanding from their believed Gods than the elected politicians, Ghanaian politicians will not bother to clamp down on superstition, antiscience and pseudoscience.

After all scientific education is expensive. The money is not enough for ex-gratia; you want to bring in research institutions that will end up destroying superstitions and pseudoscience intoxicating the populace. Â

Writer's e-mail: seshiehanku@gmail.com