West Africa Review (2001) ISSN: 1525-4488 ATTITUDE OF THE CHURCH ON NATIONAL PROGRESS

Nwabufo Uwechia

The press in Lagos has made much play of the fact that a minister of the Gospel, one of the many caretakers whom God has in His kindness given to Nigeria to protect us from falling into temptation and sin, was alleged to have opposed the legitimate aspirations of a certain area of the country to found a school. This is not news. It would have been first class news if any minister had supported any attempt of the people, in any part of this country, to found a school outside the influence, dark and sinister, of the organised church, where young people would be taught to criticise, no doubt, to experiment, and reject anything that does not stand the test of reason. That would be the end of faith, of “divine inspiration,” and a source of dwindling revenue to the church.

PRIVATE SCHOOLS

Ask any Nigerian proprietor of private schools if the church looks on kindly on his attempt to run a school and so help in his small way to reduce the high percentage of illiteracy in the country. His answer would be “no.” The church thrives on ignorance, giving no more education than is necessay to make one a good Christian or an efficient clerk under a capitalist government. From the first day a child comes to a mission school, the teachers start to paralyse his intellect by teaching him to believe in God, to accept the Bible as the word of God without question. They deprave his morals by giving him stories of wars of aggression, the slaughter of men, women and children, the justification of slavery and condemnation of patriotism. They teach the child to hate truth; to dethrone reason and enthrone intolerance; to fear and distrust science and believe in faith; to be meek, humble, servile and eschew valour, initiative and observation.

The pastors and priests, to cripple the critical faculty of the child whose mind is yet too tender to reason, give all sorts of fantastic stories that are not true, all contained in the Bible. Animals are alleged to talk like men. The sun and moon stop in the heavens so that “General Joshua” may have time to murder. Common walking sticks, to gratify a mere freak, twist themselves into serpents and then swallow each other by way of exercise. Jonah travels first class in the belly of a fish. Balaam’s donkey becomes an orator which public speakers should emulate. A wall falls when trumpets sound around it. Running water refuses to seek its level and stands up like a wall. An excellent article of brimstone is imported from heaven free of duty. Birds keep restaurants and feed wandering prophets free of charge.

BIBLE TEACHINGS

What does the Bible teach? It upholds slavery: “If thou buy a Hebrew servant six years shall he serve and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.

“If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself.”

“If he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.”

“If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s and he shall go out by himself!”

“And if the servant shall plainly say, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go out free’; then his master shall bring him unto the judges.”

“He shall also bring him unto the door or unto the door-post, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.”

CONDITIONAL FREEDOM

According to this, a man was given freedom on condition he would forever desert wife and children. No wonder that Christian Europe did not see anything wrong in slavery which was ordained by God. They ravaged West Africa, carrying slaves to the New World, boring holes through their lips and padlocking their mouths so that they might not exhaust the scanty water in the ship. Bishops and ministers were preaching from the text, “Compel them to come in,” and the good ship bore the name “Jesus.”

In this blessed book—the Bible—the duty of human sacrifice and ritual murder is taught: “Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits and of thy liquors.” And, “The first born of thy sons thou shalt give unto me.” It is extremely dangerous for parents to allow their children to have access to the Bible.

FULL OF SLAUGHTER

A book that is full of slaughter of women, wives and children. A book full of impossible miracle and ruthless crimes, all done according to the commands of Jehovah. Have a look at the international law governing warfare as laid down by a God whom we are told to love, worship and admire:

“When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.”

“And it shall be if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee and they shall serve thee.”

“And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it.”

“And then the Lord thy God hath delivered it unto thy hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword.”

SAVE NOTHING

“But the women and the little ones, and the cattle and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself, and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies which the Lord thy God hath given thee.” “Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.” And, “But of the cities of these people which the Lord thy God hath given thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth.”

This is infamy! This is a rule of war laid down by a fiend! Remember that the army receiving this instruction was an army of invasion—an aggressor. Peace was offered on condition that the people submitting would be slaves of the invader.

To be continued.

First published, West African Pilot, Tuesday, October 4, 1949.

Copyright 2001 Africa Resource Center, Inc.

Citation Format

Uwechia, Nwabufo (2001). ATTITUDE OF THE CHURCH ON NATIONAL PROGRESS. West Africa Review: 3, 1.