Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God- Matthew 5:9
How can mere mortals draw swords, fire guns, shell towns, kill innocent persons and claim they are fighting in the name of God or for God? Has God become so powerless that he now delegates his supreme authority to some unique class of persons to wage wars on his behalf?
For my money, certain desperate despots with the support of heavyweight buffoons are cashing in on the sway religion has on the hearts and minds of individuals to unleash mayhem or death threats to persons who oppose their filthy cravings for social dominance.
There are times these religious fanatical warlords in their quest to gratify their parochial thirst for dominance arrogate onto themselves the divine right to decimate an entire tribe or population. And they do so mercilessly to brew fear in those who stiffly oppose them.
History has a lot to teach us. The lives and cities that were destroyed through the military crusades sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church in the High Middle Ages and Late Middle Ages are classical religious dark spots in the annals of human history. Has humanity learnt lessons from these irreparable atrocities?
In recent times, the reckless abductions and heinous crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Boko Haram Islamists to forcefully convert men and women to Islam can never be actions sanctioned by God. Their hellish actions are at variance with the true tenets and virtues of God.
What they are engaging in is purely terrorism in a bid to capture political power. And the best way out of it is for them to cloak themselves with religious feathers in order to galvanise support from persons who are bereft of Godly knowledge or what true religion is.
By the way, religious extremists do not understand the ultimate truth that the whole of humanity cannot subscribe to one religious faith or even think alike. It is an impossible task. Even inherent in the major religions of the world are divisions on the bases of doctrinal inclinations and practices. If that is not so, why are there Shiite or Sunni Muslims and Orthodox or Protestant Christians? There are even divisions among the Jews along the corridors of doctrines and religious ceremonies.
Therefore, the avowed stance of Boko Haram to create an Islamic state in Nigeria and the Islamic State (IS) quest to make the Middle East an Islamic state is only an aggression to promote the shedding of blood ad infinitum. Their stinking selfish actions further lasso Islam in the minds of many as blood thirsty and intolerant which, of course, may not be the case.
Of a truth, the God that I know is one full of love and mercy. He has never commissioned religious rogues to advance his kingdom through bloodshed. Anything aside this is only a product of misinterpretations or misunderstanding of what the almighty God expect of us to do to please Him.
We must as people celebrate our religious and individual differences through respect and acceptance. If we perceive others to be wrong in their beliefs, it should not take the barrel of the gun, threat of death or cold isolation to cajole them into our fold.
The best approach perhaps is sound spiritual reasoning. The beauty of religious persuasion must be revisited. It should not be a violent one. The fact that God has granted each one of us their will to choose willingly clearly demonstrates that we have to also respect and tolerate the religious choices of others.
It is proper to reiterate that God has not commissioned any religion, individual or group of persons to wage war to establish God’s will on earth. If man thirsts to fighting his own wars to secure dominion, he must do so without reference to God or Allah. This quest must ultimately have the blessing or approval of those one intends to govern as seen in all spheres of civilised societies.
When all is said and done, that which pleases God most who is the supreme judge is our conscious expression of love amid our diverse religious orientations. We, therefore, are sons of God not the devil’s when we love peace as opposed to the love for war and bloodshed.
SOURCE: OKOFO-DARTEY SAMUEL
E-MAIL: sodesq2000@yahoo.com
