₦airaland Forum

Christianity and Islam are much more similar than they are different. I abhor people who preach on buses, because it disturbs my peace. I don’t care what religion it is they happen to be preaching about. I and other commuters need to have our peace respected. I do not board a bus to be disturbed by someone who thinks he or she has the perfect ideology about God or whatever.

All these religions we are arguing about aren’t things we invented. We were born into a world with religions and after we are dead religions would remain. Religion is just another human institution that would come and go. Let’s learn to love and live in peace. That’s what’s important.

Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Ifa, Hinduism… are all ideas and concepts based on ideological philosophies. None of them was revealed by a deity. If you study them closely you will find out they have a lot in common.

So live in peace and love your neighbour. Be good today and forever.

It is not my intention to prolong this discussion any further. But I would like to task each of us a little bit. The Bible plays a central role in Christianity. But, Christianity ‘can exist’ without the Bible. The early church had no Bible. What we today call the Bible is a collection of the Hebrew scriptures and writings by the apostles of Jesus and Saint Paul.

In addition to the books of the Bible there are other books written by the early church fathers (some of whom were disciples of the apostles of Christ). At the Council of Carthage (held in the city of Carthage, in present day Tunisia, North Africa) in the year 397, the bishops of the church decided not to include these in the Bible. This does not in any way make them to be of no use.

The Council of Carthage was where what we today call the Bible was put in place. It is important for us to understand the history of the Bible and the role it plays in Christianity. The Bible as the Word of God did not fall down from heaven. It is made up of books written by inspired men and women. Which books finally made it to the Bible was decided by the Church. To be more precise, the Roman Catholic Church.

The teachings in the Bible are not static but progressed over time. One sees in the Old Testament how the concept of the resurrection of the dead became an essential part of the Judaism. In the New Testament one sees that so-called Gentiles could also gain salvation (the Jews of the Old Testament saw salvation as exclusively theirs, to a large extent). As I stated in an earlier post, in the Catholic Church there is the belief that God continues to reveal Himself to men and women all across the world till this day. Thus, Roman Catholic practices have become refined over time.

Why don’t we all think about this—the Bible is the product of the church. The church is not a product of the Bible. The church is the product of Christ. This is where Protestantism differs greatly from Roman Catholicism (and Orthodox Christianity). Telling an inquiring atheist that the Bible is the Word of God may offer little comfort when one is unable to explain how the Bible came into being in the first place. We are living in an enlightened age, and the need to question and learn is ever more obvious.

However, what matters most is doing good and following the teachings of Christ each day as well as loving our fellow human beings and living in peace with everyone.

The teachings of the Roman Catholic religion are not strictly based on the Bible. The Church existed without the Bible for almost four centuries. The point is, while most Protestants (and Pentecostals in particular) believe in Sola Scriptura (the Bible only), other denominations such as Catholics, Anglicans and Orthodox Christians have traditional practices not found in the scriptures.

Roman Catholic teaching states that the revelation of God is continuous. That is, God continues to reveal ‘Himself’ to men and women each day. Thus saying any practice which isn’t in the Bible is wrong is contrary to the tenet on which the Catholic Church is built. Pentecostals on the other hand believe only in the Bible.

In the Catholic Church, the Bible is called Deo Verbum (Word of God) but it is not seen as the only revelation of God to man. In the formative years of Catholic doctrine, not just the Hebrew scripture, the four gospels and the letters of the apostles were used. Greek philosophy (as laid out by the likes of Aristotle and Socrates) also played a role in the formation of Catholic theology and the understanding the nature of God.

The roots of Catholicism are not just scriptural. They are scriptural, traditional and philosophical. Someone on this thread said religion shouldn’t go with logic. Not in Roman Catholicism. Though largely based on faith, logic plays a significant role in the Catholic Church and in understanding of God.

For instance, the official position of the Catholic Church with regard to the creation of man lies somewhere in between the power of a Divine Being and evolution. A number of Pentecostals reject evolution outright because they see it as anti-scriptural. Well, at the time the scriptures were written people weren’t knowledgeable enough to understand scientific principles. Thus, the revelation they received was limited to what they could comprehend.

The focal point of Catholicism is Christ and the Church. In the official Catholic teaching (the Catechism of the Catholic Church), all believers in Christ are called Christians, all believers in God (Jews, Muslims, Hindus, traditional believers) are accorded respect. And non-believers are seen as brothers and sisters who yearn for God.

Catholicism has 2000 years of history, mistakes, inspiration and holiness behind it. It isn’t built on any one individual. The Pope may be powerful (though he never pronounces on matters of faith without consulting Bishops, who consult priests, who consult members of the church) but he doesn’t own the Church. Popes come and go but the church remains.

The core of Christianity should be a call to personal holiness and sanctification so as to be of better use to our fellow human beings and society at large. This message is being lost with the advent of American style charismatic Pentecostal movements. These movements are found not just in Pentecostal churches but also in the Catholic Church. Personal sanctification appears to be giving way to materialism and the gospel of salvation is gradually being replaced by a gospel of prosperity. This is what we should be fighting against to build a better society and not asking baseless questions such as ‘Are Catholics Really Christians?’

This is one quiz that truly tells me what I am. I am a Conservative. That is, it tells me that I am socially conservative but economically very liberal. And come to think of it, this is just how I see myself.

Ngozi Okonjo –Iweala, Donald Duke, Pat Utomi or Nasr El-Rufai are okay with me. I would vote any of them as President.

On the other hand rather than voting for political misfits like IBB, Atiku or Orji Kalu, I would rather stay at home and drink tea on Election Day.

As far as I am concerned my level of thinking has reached a stage where religion, ethnic affiliation or gender are absolutely irrelevant to my choice of President. The problem now is convincing as many other people as possible to think this way.

Hi. I'm new to Maya 7 (started learning it four months ago) and have made about five 10 second clips so far. These are of very basic stuff like slabs falling down, a flying engine, or a table lamp moving up and down.

I'm trying to learn how to model rigid characters, like robots, after which I'll move to organic objects like animals and humans.

I'm more interested in animation than modeling. The image shown here is part of a 6 sec animation. If anyone's interested, I could upload the entire animation (in mpeg format) so that you get a feel for it.

3D modeling is a bit of a pain to learn but once you get the basics, you get to improve at the pace of light. It takes a lot of time to create models especially if you are new to it (which I am) but anyone with patience and interest could do it.

Men are not smarter than women. But there appears to be scientific evidence that the male and female brains perceive spatial geometry differently. This may give men a slight edge when reading maps and dealing with mathematical problems, but doesn’t necessarily make them any smarter than women.

Also because men undergo less seasonal hormonal changes, they tend to be more focused over a long period of time. Monthly menstrual cycle changes do affect the moods of women, but I do not think this is serious enough to affect brain productivity.

The reason why men have made most inventions is because societies have largely been male-dominated. As things even out, we can expect to see more innovative companies started up by ladies.

Not just that, but as more Africans become educated and partake in science and technology, we can also expect more high-tech discoveries to come from blacks.

@ zebudaya

You’re absolutely right that many beautiful women are at the top of their careers. As an individual, there is something I value more than beauty in a woman, and that is strength of mind and independence.

I love strong and independent women, who can stand up for themselves and take charge of events when the man is not around. Not the pretty face that comes running after you each time because she needs money.

Of what use is a cute guy or an attractive babe who hasn’t got brains or talents? Condoleeza Rice may not be pretty but she sure has brains. And I’d pick her any day to a Miss World or Miss Universe who could barely become engaged in an intellectual discussion.

Beauty is important but believe me, after a few months of being together, the pretty face and big bosom would begin to fade away. You would then begin to see the real person. That is why most Hollywood couples, beautiful and handsome as they are, end up living like dogs. They marry and divorce so many times.

Beautiful ladies were more important to me when I was much younger. I still appreciate them a lot, but a beautiful lady must come with some brains or talents and not just looks.

Our evolutionary nature has come to mean that the most handsome guys often get the most beautiful babes. But the term handsome is of cultural relativity. Our view of what is beautiful and handsome has been shaped by Western ideas. In Mali and Niger, Fulani men paint their faces like women to be considered handsome (they do this during a customary dance when females pick their life partners). In much of the world, such men would be considered too effeminate.

It seems most women love muscular and macho men, but I’ve met ladies who have told me that while they would love to date such men, they couldn’t imagine marrying them. I would rather prefer to have not so cute kids, who end up topping their class or doing exceedingly well in sports, than cute kids with no brains.

When we select someone to go out with or our life partners, each of us unconsciously has qualities, which we happen to be looking for. I know a good-looking guy who dumped quite a very pretty lady for someone less attractive. For me, beauty must come with more than a pretty face or curved body. These are really important but not enough, except a lady intends spending her entire life posing for magazine like playboy.

@ donnie,

You wrote:

“Olex, I really feel for you because u do not seem to understand the doctrine of righteousness. It is not just a theory for many all over the world are becoming strong through the righteousness of God.”

Unfortunately, I do not agree with you. If the millions of Christians in Nigeria were righteous, why is there so much corruption, insincerity and wickedness in society? The presence of righteousness in someone must be manifested in the way the person lives.

Religion appears to have almost no impact on the building of an ethical and trustworthy society in Nigeria. Of course there are good Christians, Muslims and traditionalists/atheists, but I can assure you they are a very tiny minority.

Saying we are righteous and that our lives are a manifestation of God mean nothing if we do not live righteous lives. Everybody in this world experiences struggles, fears, insecurity, pain, sickness. Christianity does not take these away (why should it!). Rather, it helps us deal with them as believers in the same way it helps us to overcome sin and bad habits, for as long as we are in this world, there will always be difficulties. Nigerian Pentecostal prosperity churches close their eyes to reality by preaching otherwise. Religion and reality must be of one accord.

That is why I feel that things like miraculous wealth and miraculous exam success are absolute rubbish. If you want wealth, you have to work for it. If you want exam success you have to study. If you have wealth without working for it, you must be a thief. If you pass your exams without studying, you must be a cheat!

It is very difficult for us to change our prejudices. Anyway, I believe I have said all I want to say in my previous posts on this thread. Let me just chip in a response.

@ harassed raised a very good point when he said: “We do not seek to live righteously anymore because our 'pastors' have indoctrinated us into thinking that we are already that.”

Pentecostal prosperity churches are no longer emphasizing righteousness, holiness and ethics in our daily lives. Instead they tell you that if you are BORN AGAIN, you become a child of God who is free from sin. This is a theology I simply cannot accept.

Holiness and enlightenment take a lifetime. Being born again does not make one perfect—far from it, your imperfections remain and these are the imperfections one needs to improve on through faith, prayer and hard work. The packaged BORN AGAIN theology being advocated by these churches is extremely dangerous, and I mean extremely. It creates deluded individuals who think they are righteous when in fact they are not.

I can recall a Pentecostal once telling me that even though I am very good and do a lot of good works, I am not holy and cannot be saved because I am not born again (in other words, because I was a non Penteocostal Christian). This was about thirteen years ago. It so pissed me off that I had to lecture the person on Christian theology and church history.

I state once again that Pentecostal prosperity theology is a setback to the development of Nigeria. What we need are not more born agains. What we need are men and women of high morals who live by principles. Born agains or not, these are the people who would see God. When churches begin to preach prosperity and shy away from helping people improve their daily lives by becoming more upright, more ethical and more principled, then it is clear that such churches are a danger.

Let them that have eyes see for themselves.

I rest my case.

@ mekaozi

In my opinion, the term “prosperity church” is an oxymoron. Prosperity churches are not churches in my view but centers that offer psychological counseling while charging a very high fee to keep the pastors in business. And where there is poverty, they are bound to have millions of adherents. They can give themselves another name and stop giving Christianity such bad publicity. As Nigeria gradually becomes wealthy, most of these so-called churches would fade away.

True Christianity is not about wealth but about living a good life, loving one’s neighbor and living in peace with God and man.

The prosperity churches contribute to the backwardness of Nigeria because they tend to reduce every single event to a mysterious and plain level. For instance, an ill person would be said to be possessed. A student who keeps failing exams goes to the pastor to “cast out the demon” that is preventing him or her from passing his exams. In university, some of their members keep going from one revival to another without studying—in the end they fail their exams. I could go on and on. They need to open up their theology to reality and learn from the traditional churches that have hundreds of years of spiritual and doctrinal development.

@ mekaozi

I am a Christian and I feel that it is my right to criticize churches, which I feel are deceiving people with false and unrealistic prosperity doctrines. Many people cannot see because they are deep in poverty. These pastors are masters of disguise, usurping wealth from people to live luxurious lifestyles while telling such people that they should expect miraculous wealth. Miraculous wealth from where? Let’s not be blind to reality.

Fundamentalist Islam as practiced by so-called Sharia states in the North of Nigeria is just as much a threat. You can start a topic about it and I will give my views (or I could also start a topic about it).

My disapproval of pastors is not a disapproval of Christianity. There are several churches in Nigeria that are contributing to the development of the country by providing a balanced spirituality to their members with good works like building schools and hospitals. The prosperity churches have nothing to offer, other than baseless and shallow teachings that all centre on success, wealth, miracles and other unrealistic things. Why don’t they talk about ethics, love, sacrifice—the virtues on which Christian theology is based.

In my opinion, prosperity churches contribute little to society. They simply hypnotize people into elevating so-called pastors to a God status. I hope in future some of these pastors would be tried by the EFCC! They take the Bible so literally to a fault—the world was created in six days, you must pay tithes…. If you want to understand the Bible, look to those churches that have a longer tradition with the Bible, the church that complied the bible.

The sooner Nigeria was rid of these Pentecostal prosperity churches, the better it would be. Rather than spending hours on end in revivals and prayer meetings, we should be learning mathematics, medicine, chemistry, biology, physics and engineering. Those are the things that we can use to build good roads, provide drinking water and good health care. Not miraculous wealth or whatever it is called. Spirituality is very important though, but it must be a balanced spirituality that helps improve our lives and bring us closer to the Almighty.

I rest my case.

If I ever became President of Nigeria, I would shut down all the prosperity churches because they are vile and insincere. Religion should be about spirituality, ethics, love and living a good life. Any church that preaches miraculous wealth would be shut down instantly. False prophets prying on the poverty of people! People are living in poverty, yet so-called pastors are living in excessive opulence. What sort of religion is that? I see much of hypnotism and less of religion in it.

It is disheartening that some people have the audacity to call this man a fool for doing what is right. The real criminals are those who find money that does not belong to them and refuse to hand it over to the owner. Whether or not you believe in God, that is the right thing to do.

The average European would return the money because he/she simply cannot bank the money. His/her bank would demand to know how he or she made the money.

Even here in Nigeria, if this man were to take the Naira equivalent of $700,000 to his bank, the bank would need to know how he made the money. Before you know it, the police would come into the equation and the man could be jailed.

Some of us are so shortsighted in the way we think—calling the $700,000 a gift from God. What a shame! Shame on those of you who called the man a fool! Shame on you people!

@onanugaola

"I am a Yoruba man and am very proud of my race. I will see to the fact that my language never die”

Given that Yoruba has millions of speakers across the globe, it will likely not be dying away in the next 1000 years. But it will change substantially within this period that the Yoruba of the year 2000 will most likely be unintelligible to someone living in the year 3000.

It is good for parents to speak their native tongue to kids but this should be a choice. There is nothing you can do about preventing a language from dying away (and a new language from being born). We live for only 70 or 80 years and die. Languages evolve over hundreds of thousands of years. Every language on the planet is in a constant state of evolution, borrowing new words and concepts, inventing words and getting rid of archaic vocabulary. The process is so slow that we do not notice it. Between 1900 and 2000, Yoruba (as spoken in urban areas) borrowed quite an amount of words from English. You only need go to Lagos and hear people speak Yoruba. Hardly are three sentences made without recourse to a word, which is Anglo-Saxon in origin.

English has been successful not because someone protected it, but because it was willing to borrow from other languages. From West Africa, East Asia and Europe, new words entered the English language continuously. Protected languages like French have seen a marked decline in their global prowess.

“Culture, everybody believe is dynamic and changing but must these changes take away from u who are. I mean your history.”

All of humanity has a common origin. Human life originated in Africa and spread out to the rest of the world. There is genetic evidence to prove this. So the bottom line is that we are all Africans. The immense genetic diversity one finds on the African continent testifies to the fact that human beings have lived much longer in Africa than on any other planet.

So, if we all want to trace our history to the beginning of the origin, we are all Africans descended from a single man and woman, who probably lived in the Rift Valley of East Africa or somewhere in West Africa (no one can tell).

Because we lived isolated for so long, each region of the world developed a unique history and culture. The last century saw the opening up of the world (thanks to ships and airplanes) and now people travel up and down, sometimes leaving their ‘ancestral’ lands to settle somewhere else. This is all part of the never-ending story of human migration, which has been going on for hundreds of thousands of years. It got much quicker in the last century and will continue till the end of time.


“People like you want to continue the suppression of our indigienous language. You can never be an English what u are is what u are:: an African”

Pardon me, but I am not suppressing anything. People should be free to speak what languages they like but it will be an absolute waste of time to protect languages by the use of laws. Indeed I can never be an English person because I am human. My society tagged me a Nigerian before I was born because my parents claimed to be Nigerian. Till this day, I wear that tag.

I look forward to the day when spoken words would be obsolete. It’s only a matter of time before we would begin communicating with our minds (maybe a few hundred years more—not too long, considering the fact that the world is about 4 billion years old!). There would be no need for spoken languages.

You tell me what I am is what I am: an African. Why must you tag me? I should have the freedom in today’s world to decide whether I want to be African or Brazilian or American (provided I have the money to travel and relocate). That should be my choice. Let me tell you something: Africa was not always the way it is. Are you familiar with the Bantu conquest of the pygmies and Khoi-Sans! We are here today because our ancestors who were Bantus conquered other primitive tribal groups centuries ago here on the African continent. Today the pygmies are reduced to forest regions in Central Africa while the Khoi-Sans (so-called Bushmen) have been decimated. But the Bantus (the Hausas, Igbos, Yourbas, Ashanti…etc) have multiplied and conquered all of Africa. The problem is they now speak almost 1500 languages that they feel they are so different from each other.

Cheers.

Speaking your native tongue to your kids should be a matter of choice. Where I grew up in Nigeria, most parents spoke English to their kids. Several families were made up of husbands and wives who came from different ethnic backgrounds and found it more convenient to converse in English.

It is important that kids grow up very proficient in English because this has become the language of global communication and business. And without a doubt, English is the future language of Nigeria. As people from more ethnically diverse backgrounds marry, English would be more widely used.

While culture is a very important aspect of our lives, we should not loose sight of the fact that culture is not static but dynamic. In other words, culture changes and so do languages. You might call yourself a Hausa or Yoruba man today but your progeny six generations down the line would likely call themselves something else.

Today, we associate English with the United Kingdom but lets not forget that the Anglo-Saxons invaded England around the 5th century. These were the folks who gave rise to the language we all English today. In other words, the origin of the English language isn’t Britain!

Painful as it may sound, many languages in Nigeria will die away with time. This is a fact and there is nothing we can do about it. All through history, languages have been born and languages have died. Most languages spoken in the Middle Belt/Southern parts of Nigeria trace their origin to a single original language according to linguists. Northern languages, and Hausa/Fulani in particular, have been heavily influenced by Arabic over the past few centuries. A great deal of the vocabulary found in Hausa is of Arabic origin. Check out the numeral system—99% Arabic!

I see myself as a human being not restricted by linguistic or cultural affinities. In other words, the fact that I am human is much much much more important than what ethnic group I come from or what language I speak. In the long run, language is but a means of communication and if we humans could find another means of communicating without using the written or spoken word (say using our minds, as may happen in future) what then would it mean to be Yoruba, or Hausa or Ijaw?

To medube:

Nigerians (and Africans in general) can be white. Forget all those people that still find it difficult to comprehend how a white person could be Nigerian. Someday, they will come to see the light. For now, they seek comfort in their primitive ways.

In today’s fast-changing world, it is short of stupid to stereotype people’s nationalities based on skin color.

Thanks for the correction. But since the constitution was amended in 1951 to state such, has it been abused? When I begin to look at the diversity of views on this forum, I begin to understand why Nigeria appears hopeless.

African leaders have a propensity for sitting in office as though it is their birthright. No American president before Roosevelt served more than two terms, despite the fact it was allowed, and none after him has done so.

Democracy can only work in educated and enlightened societies. Much of black Africa is too backward.

Senate committee empowered by the constitution to make what changes? Under what conditions? Will a general referendum be involved? A constitution is a weighty piece of document that can only be accurately interpreted by the judiciary. Its misuse by the executive arm of government to perpetuate its stay in power is illegal, immoral, barbaric and shameful.

Why do such things only happen in Africa persistently? The rest of the world has moved on, we on the other hand are deluding ourselves. Obasanjo should just go. The mere mention of a third term is a setback for Nigeria.

America has been operating for about 250 years with the same constitution that states that a president can only serve two-four year terms. Why can’t Nigeria operate it even for once? Aren’t we the same human beings or are we genetically predisposed to act stupidly. I think we are backward in our way of thinking and unless we start thinking progressively, our fate will ever remain in the hands of rulers that continue to misuse power.

This should not be about Obasnajo but about a respect for the law. What is wrong with people in Africa? The law makes it clear that a leader in Nigeria can only serve two four-year terms. So what if Obasanjo has reduced corruption and improved the economy? Isn’t that his job, for goodness sake? Does George Bush go seeking a third term because he has succeeded in a War on Terror?

Sometimes, I believe Africa is backward because we have no respect for our laws. Obasanjo should just go in 2007 and let Nigeria continue. I have nothing against him. Actually, I like him a bit. But Nigeria is greater than a single person. We need to start respecting what is written in our law books and not changing them to suit our political or personal aspirations. Except we do this, the rest of the world will move forward and we, black Africans, will regress.

Learning to use a 3-D software (or any other software) has more to do with getting a good book and hours of practice. One's creativity also counts. When I first got Lightwave, I tried learning it using the Lightwave manual. Unfortunately, this was nothing but crap, filled with so much technical information.

Having read up to page 300, I couldn't model a single object. I then had to get a book by a guy called Timothy Albee (Essential Lightwave 7.5). It helped a lot. Eventually, I gave up on Lightwave because it stopped responding on my machine. However, Lightwave is such a great software that renders so well, that one cannot but help fall in love with it.

I started learning Maya with the Maya tutorial manual. The first instructions here teach one how to model. In other words, unlike the Lightwave manual, one gets to learn Maya by tying out how to model things. I happen to think that this is the best way of learning to use a 3-D software. Maya also renders well and if you are able to lay your hands on Maya Unlimited, you will have access to Maya Cloth and Maya Fur (imagine creating your own five minutes Shrek or Monsters, Inc!)

Some folks end up settling for 3D Studio Max, others go for Maya and still others, Lightwave. It’s just like the diversity you find in the operating systems people choose to use – Windows, Macintosh or Linux. Maya and Lightwave are great (I’ve never used Max). I have a preference for Maya simply because it works well on my machine. Furthermore, I enjoy its tutorials much better than those of Lightwave. There may be great Lightwave books out there, which I never saw.

I have read that movie studios use both Maya and Lightwave. Some probably use Max as well. I hope Nollywood would come of age in the next few years, when there will hopefully be professional 3-D animators in Nigeria, so that we can begin to have special effects in our movies.

I am currently trying to learn Maya. A year ago, I tried learning Lightwave but had to give up because the software stopped responding on my system. I have never used 3D Studio Max.

Maya appears easier than Lightwave, though some claim that Lightwave has a better rendering machine.

What are you learning a 3D software for? Creating digital pictures, animation? Just asking.