SirWere:

In the words of Karl Marx :
[center]The first requiste for the happiness of the people is the abolition of religion[/center]


However, seeing that that'll give rise to too much persecution complex inspired nonsense ( China, for example and Russia JW issue);

I would rather suggest our Senate create laws leveraging and punishing the excesses of religious institutions.


For example, they could make a law that prohibits proliferation of churches while educational structures are crumbling.

They could make laws that regulate the amount of churches per 100 sq km.

They could impose taxes on churches and mosques; a tithe from their member's tithe



These are just tips of the ice-berg.

Are there no laws already that have funding for educational structures or government/public owned buildings or structures?

MZLady39:

Are there no laws already that have funding for educational structures or government/public owned buildings or structures?

Supposedly there are but the funds are always "disappearing" .

SirWere:

Supposedly there are but the funds are always "disappearing" .

10% or more of the "disappeared" money has a bad habit of "reappearing" in churches as tithes and donations

SirWere:

Supposedly there are but the funds are always "disappearing" .

Oh okay....interesting

hopefulLandlord:


10% or more of the "disappeared" money has a bad habit of "reappearing" in churches as tithes and donations

Word.


A former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, who embezzled billions of naira supposedly helped one of his former inmates from prison start a church.



What else do you expect?

One of the basic reason I left religion is because of the intellectual capacity of atheists. See pure reasoning and solutions to fundamental problem destroying our society devoid of sentiments and prejudice. God should please follow this thread and do at least 80% of what is recommended here and I will start worshipping him

Kondomatic:
The government should have arrested and prosecuted the ex robber bro.

See, a Nigeria without religion would not be a Nigeria without evil or crimes. People will do terrible things with or without religion. Man is naturally aggressive- had religion never existed people would have still committed terrible crimes against humanity, but under secular ideology.
That's my belief.


Take away bokoharam and APC Haram or PDP Haram will start. The fight for power will continue.


OK, lemme agree that religion allow people to get away with certain crimes but have you imagined us with Education that Christianity brought?


We would have continued to live like dangerous animals that continually fight one another for territory.

Guy why you dey talk like this na? The people that brought western education and christianity what were they doing here.? Was it not taking over territory by force with high level of deceit and barbarism that even the most wicked traditional preist took a bow...

If we look back before the bristish imposed their rule through protectorate/colonial savagery. History tells us that some of out forebears already embraced secular education but rejected christianity. That's tells us that christianity did not bring secular education.

Christianity as practiced by present day Nigerians is all about self loathing and an acute case of hypocrisy. One kneels down speaks to himself. Hears his own voice throughout. He gets up and proclaim forgiveness..

Present day traditionalists still show outstanding sense of morality...

When those worthy of respect are brought into the true book of history, the future people shall seek to emulate those people and pattern their lives according to what those people did. That's the only solution we can have to a bad nation and continent like ours. Wait and see Galileo Galilei, Tai Solarin, Fela, Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Spinoza, Akunyili, Ameyo Stella and hundreds of good and intelligent souls immortalised in a book of wisdom, then the future people shall respect the right kind of people over the cursers and killers in the books of religion. That's my mission on earth anyway.
HAPPY RELIGION IS EVEN ALREADY LOSING ITS VALUE WORLDWIDE.

Adepeter26,
Brother, I haven't gotten a chance to read through your entire thread (over there) yet, but I can't have a discussion with name-calling..
As some folks know by now, I'm not into debates, insults, disrespect and immaturity.
I saw something that didn't bode well with me (from what I did read)..so for now I'm gonna be silent. In the future, if I feel compelled, I'll respond

MZLady39:
Adepeter26,
Brother, I haven't gotten a chance to read through your entire thread (over there) yet, but I can't have a discussion with name-calling..
As some folks know by now, I'm not into debates, insults, disrespect and immaturity.
I saw something that didn't bode well with me (from what I did read)..so for now I'm gonna be silent. In the future, if I feel compelled, I'll respond

Ok then

First of all I think the various religions we practice here in Nigeria are not only ancient, they're obsolete. They lack realistic solutions to today's problems.

Then the nature of the people who practice these religions (black people) is a big problem. You have very superstitious and primitive people with a primordial type of greed that seems to be unique to only us the blacks.

Finally a religion like Christianity can do a lot of good to it's adherents in Nigeria if it is modified to operate like some sort of fraternity/brotherhood like the Ashkenazi Jews and the Swiss Protestants do. The excess money the churches have can be circulated to members to grow businesses, and to provide quality education and health care. Beneficiaries get wealthier with better quality of life and give out more tithes. I.e, as the number of wealthy church members increases so is the amount offered as tithes. This is called circulation of wealth

I wouldn't exactly blame religion for societal depravity, especially in Nigeria's case. It's not like religion is a human being that monitors what you do and physically punishes you when you err. It's more of an abstract concept than a physical entity. The question should be - how much of an impact does religion make in the life of the average Nigerian. The answer? Very little. We're a nation of unrepentant hypocrites. I can't talk about the other countries the op mentioned because I'm not a citizen of those countries and neither have I visited them. But I can definitely speak on the case of Nigeria.

I remember a usual quote our teachers used in back in school: "pass through the school and let the school pass through you". Well the same is applicable in religion. The problem with Nigerians is that we pass through religion by adhering to it's traditions and being a part of it's events but we don't allow religion to pass through us and transform us. So the fault is not with religion. It's just that we have a peculiar societal disorder that makes most of us hypocrites of the highest order. So while we claim to be religious, we are only religious at our own convenience.

plaetton:


I recently travelled by road through the Southwest, South South and Southeast , something I hadn't done in a long while.

Aside from bad roads, four very consistent images or memes that bogged me throughout my travels were dirtiness, poverty , dilapidated schools and big Churches, as if the four were interlocked in a four-way symbiotic relationship.

In a country where every poor village or Hamlet proudly showcase their big, shiny, well-maintained Churches side by side with dilapidated primary and secondary schools, there surely cannot be a good and bright future for such a country.

While this is certainly the truth, we can't fault religion for it. Religion did not refuse to fix bad roads - people did. Religion did not refuse to fix crumbling schools - human beings did. Religion did not even ask for these shiny buildings, neither did it erect them - again, it's the product of human minds and hands.

I think why religion takes so much precedence over rational thought and hard work in this country is because, let's face it - it's much easier and we are an incredibly lazy AND hypocritical bunch. It's easier to go to church to pray that God makes our leaders do the right thing than to hit the streets and actually demand for better leadership. It's easier to ask God tp help you get good grades than to study hard and learn. It's easier to believe that God did tell that pastor to tell us to bring money for a private jet than to confront the pastor and his ostentatious lifestyle. It's easier to believe that some people in our villages our manipulating our destinies and are the reason for our failure than to admit that we've done a lot of things wrong that are causing things to go wrong in our lives. So for the average Nigerian, subconsciously, religion is the easiest option as against rational thought, planning and real hard work.

I'll finish with a little case study I've observed: some pastors in church programs I've attended would come on the pulpit and say God said that s certain number of people should bring a certain amount of money and in one week, God will return that amount to them tenfold. Of course, like MMM, people would troop out. Who doesn't want more money for doing basically no work at all. Come meet our god, the money doubler! I found it curious that of all these situations, not one of these people have come back to testify that God indeed doubled their money or returned it tenfold. Does it say God does not have the power to do that? No, but if I were God I wouldn't double their money either because I can tell that almost all of them are giving because they want huge returns without doing any actual work. Till Nigerian stop being greedy and treating religion like a ponzi scheme, these scenarios would continue to happen.

RosaConsidine:


While this is certainly the truth, we can't fault religion for it. Religion did not refuse to fix bad roads - people did. Religion did not refuse to fix crumbling schools - human beings did. Religion did not even ask for these shiny buildings, neither did it erect them - again, it's the product of human minds and hands.

I think why religion takes so much precedence over rational thought and hard work in this country is because, let's face it - it's much easier and we are an incredibly lazy AND hypocritical bunch. It's easier to go to church to pray that God makes our leaders do the right thing than to hit the streets and actually demand for better leadership. It's easier to ask God tp help you get good grades than to study hard and learn. It's easier to believe that God did tell that pastor to tell us to bring money for a private jet than to confront the pastor and his ostentatious lifestyle. It's easier to believe that some people in our villages our manipulating our destinies and are the reason for our failure than to admit that we've done a lot of things wrong that are causing things to go wrong in our lives. So for the average Nigerian, subconsciously, religion is the easiest option as against rational thought, planning and real hard work.

I'll finish with a little case study I've observed: some pastors in church programs I've attended would come on the pulpit and say God said that s certain number of people should bring a certain amount of money and in one week, God will return that amount to them tenfold. Of course, like MMM, people would troop out. Who doesn't want more money for doing basically no work at all. Come meet our god, the money doubler! I found it curious that of all these situations, not one of these people have come back to testify that God indeed doubled their money or returned it tenfold. Does it say God does not have the power to do that? No, but if I were God I wouldn't double their money either because I can tell that almost all of them are giving because they want huge returns without doing any actual work. Till Nigerian stop being greedy and treating religion like a ponzi scheme, these scenarios would continue to happen.

Excellent piece.

@Mzlady39,

You need to see the other pics!!!

1.Christians drinking petrol.

2.Christians eating live snakes.

3.Christians eating 'second hand pant'.

4.Christians eating weavon.

Niflheim:
@Mzlady39,

You need to see the other pics!!!

1.Christians drinking petrol.

2.Christians eating live snakes.

3.Christians eating 'second hand pant'.

4.Christians eating weavon.

Brother,
I don't need to see anymore pics. I am not here to mock them...because I'm sure some of them are sincere. I will be praying for my fellow brethren to rededicate themselves to Christ.
Won't you join me?

@Mzlady39,

I shall be very honest with you.

1.I am not a christian.

2.I do not pray for people when I can physically help them.

3.I would rather teach them logic, reason and commonsense.

4.If you are not married, then I wouldn't mind taking you out for dinner!!!

Niflheim:
@Mzlady39,

I shall be very honest with you.

1.I am not a christian.

2.I do not pray for people when I can physically help them.

3.I would rather teach them logic, reason and commonsense.

4.If you are not married, then I wouldn't mind taking you out for dinner!!!

Oh I know sir....I knew from some posts I've seen of yours where you stand. I'm gonna say this: while you and I clearly subscribe to certain belief systems...at least I know where you stand. No wavering....which I can respect..either hot or cold.
There is such a thing as a balanced Christian (prayer, faith & works)...but I think not too many exist. Have you been successful in teaching people logic, reasoning & commonsense?
Hmm....it's gonna be a very long flight for you to pick me up...lol.

MZLady39:
Hmm....it's gonna be a very long flight for you to pick me up...lol.

how do you know he's not in USA

hopefulLandlord:


how do you know he's not in USA

Oh that's true...I just saw Lagos on his profile. I assumed he was there in Nigeria.

MZLady39:


Oh that's true...I just saw Lagos on his profile. I assumed he was there in Nigeria.

so you're open to having a dinner with him?

@Mzlady39,

Is that your real pic on your profile? The god who created you is a wonderful god!!! I am now ready to become a christian!!!

@Fratermathy,

So sorry for derailing your thread Sir!!!

hopefulLandlord:


so you're open to having a dinner with him?

Ummm...are you his publicist, personal assistant, lawyer etc.

Niflheim:
@Mzlady39,

Is that your real pic on your profile? The god who created you is a wonderful god!!! I am now ready to become a christian!!!

@Fratermathy,

So sorry for derailing your thread Sir!!!

Yes that's me....I don't deal fraudently. Thank you...and He is a wonderful God. All people are fearfully & wonderfully made.

MZLady39:


Ummm...are you his publicist, personal assistant, lawyer etc.

Niflheim is a good, intelligent, witty, humorous, wise, cool, cultured and well mannered man

in the few months you've been active here, I've noticed you to be matured and persuasive

I think it would be a good idea for the two of you to meet

I like good people meeting good people

hopefulLandlord:


Niflheim is a good, intelligent, witty, humorous, wise, cool, cultured and well mannered man

in the few months you've been active here, I've noticed you to be matured and persuasive

I think it would be a good idea for the two of you to meet

I like good people meeting good people

Just like you should meet ishilove

hahn:


Just like you should meet ishilove

Why are you bent on matchmaking me with all your atheist comrades? Seriously I'm curious

Ishilove:

Why are you bent on matchmaking me with all your atheist comrades? Seriously I'm curious

May be cos you need a dose of reality. Ain't that right, hahn. I know most religious folks are alien to reality.

joseph1832:
May be cos you need a dose of reality. Ain't that right, hahn. I know most religious folks are alien to reality.

I'm experiencing all the reality I can handle right now.

I just think hahn is a closet romantic. A douche bag, but a romantic nonetheless. He is matchmaking me with all the douchey atheists on Nairaland.

How quaint.

Ishilove:

I'm experiencing all the reality I can handle right now.

I just think hahn is a closet romantic. A douche bag, but a romantic nonetheless

Now who does the emboldened remind you of?

joseph1832:
Now who does the emboldened remind you of?

Hahahahahah!! Your Royal Doucheness

Ishilove:

Hahahahahah!! Your Royal Doucheness

Shhhhhh don't tell anyone.