God, Politics, and the Principles of Ethical Behaviour

Where is it leading us ?

Ok so this is probably not going to be the most interesting article you have read on Ghanaweb, because this issue is still a hot topic for current debate. This is a personal observation on issues of moral ethics and the issues of religious faith in today’s Ghana. Even though God is in the heading, its certainly not only going to be about God, religion and the devil, or miracles for once, but it’s going to be about the things that we have relegated to the periphery, in the ongoing debate about the truly important things that matter in the nation’s attempt to build a successful and prosperous country that we all desire.

Thanks to the Georgina Wood Committee, which some have dubbed the “Cocaine Committee”, we have recently been saturated by issues of not only the gross lack of ethical behaviour but serious allegations of criminal behaviour, deteriorating moral values, lack of integrity, dishonesty, by not only persons associated with the greedy and “get rich by any means possible, or get caught whilst trying” fraternity, but the incredible allegations of unethical behaviour being alleged against some of the superiors into whose care the country has been entrusted. Now the pundits are queuing up to offer an explanation and advice as to what to do to rescue our country.

Just a few weeks after these revelations I overheard two pastors arguing about which was the best way forward for Ghana now, in terms of the downward slide and deterioration in morals, values, truth, honesty and ethics of behaviour of the citizenry and in certain circumstances the leadership of the nation, and how we are going to get out of this hole. As we wait for the facts and the consequences of the damage this saga is inflicting, and going to inflict on our society, one of the pastors resorted to the ever present “grandiose religious rhetoric” as explanation for the decadence we are sinking into, lack of the fear of God, the devil’s hand, lack of spiritual awareness, and only prayers and miracles can rescue our country. Giving the full spill as usual. The other one took the opposite view that , even though religious and daily trooping to places of worship like clock work, Ghanaians don’t like doing the right thing, they do not like obeying laws, they would always find a way round and pervert any issue to avoid sticking to rules and regulations for personal gain. So how can we ask for God’s forgiveness when people, both the rulers and the ruled behave so UNETHICALLY and have in most situations no sense of the Public Good or charity.

This interesting conversation brought into sharp focus to me how since the cocaine case, more especially over the past few weeks, some opinion leaders are now examining and re examining and questioning the general mindset of our citizens in the values, morality, honesty stakes as well as truthfulness in governance, politics and the general lack of ethical behaviour in the society in which we live today. People are now openly talking about how doing the right thing is more important than religious faith. People are now openly debating how we may be deluding ourselves in thinking we can continue to ignore and avoid the basic requirements of ethical behaviour in our personal and public lives whilst wrongly expecting the moral fabric of society to be turning smoothly unhinged. People are now questioning how a religiously astute nation like ours can so let loose, basic morality and values but still hold a distorted belief that no matter the ills and wrongs of our personal and public behaviours, as long as we publicly inset God’s name in the centre of our lives everything will be fine. No Doubt the Politicians are now using god politics as a substitute to good governance and ethical behaviour, meanwhile the damage being done to us all is undeniable.

The art of democracy as some would say is conversation so this is my way of asking the questions that some are shunning. I hope no one is going to call me “the son of Satan” because clearly I am not. On one hand we are such a god fearing nation, be it Christian, Moslem, traditional practitioners or agnostics, always wearing our religious convictions on our foreheads for everyone to see, fanatically committed to all things religious, yet in practice, the values, morals and ethics that should flow from such commitments appear to have become eternally deficient and divorced from their religious commitments. I and many more have long observed that we live in a country where most people claim, whilst not even doing the right thing, to be so religiously inclined and so morally upright to such an extent that it has now become not only a taboo, but an act of mortal sin for some, who are not religiously inclined to declare that they do not go to church or worship at the Mosque or at the local fetish shrine on a regular basis. It is not far fetched to suggest that in our religiously hedonistic society of today’s Ghana such actions could easily lead to ostracization from society.

I hope I am wrong but from personal observation, it now it appears like everybody is at it. . The landscape appears to be littered with unethical behaviours and practices. Engagements in criminal, immoral and fraudulent activities have been turned into art forms. People will just not do the right thing, and for the superiors shirking responsibility has become a profitable business. Corrupting individual and public relationships has become the norm. It appears to me that a significant number of people in today’s Ghana have developed this unhealthy idea that even though they wear their religiousness on their sleeves like the latest fashion statement they can pick and chose values, morality, and ethics like picking and choosing fruit and vegetables in the produce market. It also appears nobody has the time to sort out the rights and the wrongs of what all of us do in our daily lives which is contributing to and deepening the malaise in behavioural ethics of the citizens, as long as we are publicly seen to be worshipping god in a hedonistic fashion. It also appears that some think their greedy and negative actions are victimless. It appears that some think their greedy and negative actions are victimless. They are plain wrong, because in the science of behavioural economics and ethics, it has long been proven that issues of immorality and unethical behaviour in societies always creates conditions for group dissolution. The fact of the matter is the lack of ethical behaviour in our society today is having a profound impact on everybody’s lives.

So is the lack of the fear of God really the problem? So ethical behaviour is not necessarily a big deal in successful nation building ? What about always doing the right thing ? Is God Stupid ? To be merciful and forgiving without the overriding insistence of followers doing the right thing at all times?

Now coming back to the conversation I think this is the time to understand that the issues at stake is not about God and Religion or whether our leaders are more or less religious enough or whether they pray and fast everyday and whether they can speak in tongues or conjure miracles. Unfortunately there are compelling reasons why we should not be going down this route. Looking at the main characters who the state has issues with, featuring in the proceedings of the Wood Committee, there is no doubt in my mind that these people, who have been allegedly making a living by peddling death and immorality in Ghana, are probably the same people who always lay strong claims to their religious faith, convictions and beliefs. For all you know they are probably very revered members of their religious fraternity, and their close links with the superiors of the state and with the law enforcement agencies have always made them untouchable till now. Even though we have still not got to the bottom of this matter, what is emerging is that, the law enforcement agencies, who should have intelligence on a wide range of criminal and fraudulent activities are apparently condoning it. Lack of deterrence in all aspects of our national life has given a licence to every one especially the recognised agents of the state to corrupt every relationship they have with the public without any fear of swift punishment.

There is clear evidence that our love for all things religious without a commensurate accentuation on the importance of ethical behaviour is not going to do us any good. The more compelling argument is an improvement in behavioural ethics through out our individual and national lives. If we are to see real progress in our country’s development we must accentuate the issue of ethical behaviour , the rule of law and doing the right things at all times. One does not have to do this through the haze and fog of religiousness whilst all forms of social cooperation continues to be corrupted for personal gain. Ethical behaviour might seem the clear winner by far, for me and a vast number of decent people out there…. It is proving to be the defining issue. Its about individual members of society actively contributing and playing their part by acting in the proper ethical manner all the time, Its about always doing the right thing so the younger members of society would learn before asking for help and support from God. We should not now be shocked to see that the random detachment of the populace to these contradictions in our society, which have always been apparent, are now bringing new and more dangerous problems to our door step.

The notion that only the ideology of religion can alleviate the wrongs and evils of our life is a tragic delusion, a delusion that must be addressed by all concerned citizens. For those who play god politics and see every issue, social economic, political, health and safety through the rose tinted prism of God, and religion, whilst the right thing is not being done to warrant God’s help are doing all of us more harm than good. These practices and perceptions must be systematically dismantled if we are to see real progress. Self regarding agents of god should please now give us a break. I have this advice “ whilst you preach hope, morning , afternoon and evening to people, please make sure you also explain to them why they have remained poor and still in need”

If I were the president I would rather want swift progress and action on containing this very serious problem , starting with a vigorous and far reaching re education exercise , using all the resources of the state to hard wire ethical behaviour issues in every one on a daily basis, in our schools , state institutions and the various arms of government. Our next target in this whole saga should not be more prayers, salvation and miracles, we need sharper structures to deal with transgressors and issue punishment swiftly to serve as a deterrence.

We cannot get rid of corruption and unethical behaviour completely from society but we can at least minimise it . Ethical Behaviour defined in these terms, why wouldn’t anyone consider this option.