The new evangelical Christianity is a pernicious force in the West dumbing down the populace in degrees every Sunday. The lack of spirituality here is heart breaking; it is like watching malnourished people. It is a mystery how people can subject themselves to such psychological abuse. People are addicted to worshiping a narcissist, they will do nothing else. I visit homes and there are absolutely no books in there other than the bible and vacuous tracts and of course the torrents of envelopes that come from thieving pastors exhorting the abused faithful to tithe, tithe, tithe or go to hell.
The real tragedy is that this dysfunction is being imported to Nigeria along with used cars and toothpicks. The West can probably afford this shallowness but we see the effect on a nation like Nigeria. Why are we mimic-people? The new church of dollars and euro has been part and parcel of the rape and plunder of Nigeria. Must we live like this? It comes down again to a rank failure of leadership. Our intellectual and political leaders have failed to manage the change that is necessary to move our nation forward.
The new Christianity has flourished like a plague under “democracy.” What Christianity has done to black Africa is worse than the combination of AIDS and the worst wars. What kind of God will allow adults to brand children as witches and then maim and murder them? As we speak, there is genocide going on in Akwa Ibom orchestrated by the some adherents of the new Christianity, against children. I say, let’s sweep them off our land. And then maybe our children will smile again.
It breaks my heart to think that Nigerian pastors are doing this to our people. I say, get your heads and hearts out of those temples of doom. Build your own gods in your own likeness. Mimicry is killing our race.
I am deeply wary of organized religion, because, using Christianity as an example, it has been an instrument of subjugation and state-sanctioned terrorism. The so-called holy books are similar in one aspect – they are great works of fiction crafted by insecure men to subjugate and keep under control women, children and those that were born different from them (gays and lesbians). The bible actively endorses slavery and bigotry against homosexuals.
In the name of their God and bible in hand, they bound our ancestors with chains and threw them in the holds of massive ships to be slaves. Whenever I think of what it would have meant to cross the seas under those conditions, I want to find someone and exact my revenge. The expansion of Western civilization and the creation of mimic-fiefdoms (Nigeria, Haiti, Dubai, etc) have been built on the backs of the conquered. Let’s be frank, the yardstick today is the Eurocentric and we are the other. And what is this nonsense parroted by Dinesh D’Souza and others that Christianity brought Africa the great benefits of civilization? At what price? Did our civilization not have poets, musicians, art pieces, etc, etc, before the coming of the white man and his bible? Did they not loot, bible in hand, our people and artifacts? And what has happened to our people who are now told they must know Jesus before they enter a fairy tale? Is my grandfather going to hell because he was unfortunate to die before Jesus pamphlets came to our village? What has been the unintended consequence of this conquest? We have lost everything and all we do is mimic the conqueror. The loss of a people’s language is the loss of self. Everything gets lost in the translation. They don’t eat fish eggs, they eat caviar, and they say my people eat termites. There is no word for termites in my dying language, and we don’t eat termites, we eat irikhun.
The movement of civilization has been at the expense of people of color. We have been hunted and haunted by the demons that inhabit their narcissistic God. There is no excuse for what Christianity and other alien religions have done to Black Africa, none. When Dinesh D’Souza says that slavery and colonialism were the transmission belts that brought civilization to Africa and Asia, I shake my head.
In Nigeria, the new Christianity is the new alcoholism ravaging the already dispossessed daily. Watch this video and reflect upon the caricature nation that our people have created. Deeply upsetting. And deep. My initial thought is that thieving pastors have rushed whoosh into a yawning vacuum that was created by generations of failed leaders. These new thieves are now raking in millions from their own self-serving failure to lead. We are muttering to ourselves and our people are chanting themselves to lunacy and irrelevance. In today’s Nigeria, the Christian God is a loud judgmental drama queen keeping the “unfaithful” up at night with unctuous tuneless songs. The weather is warming up here in America and thieving Nigerian pastors with their jheri curls and fake American accents will soon be jetting down here to buy designer crap with money stolen from the doubly dispossessed. Why anyone would tithe ten percent of money they do not have so that these pastors may live in sinful opulence is beyond me. What manner of God will allow this pillage? They are all thieves and I hope they all end up in heaven praising their drama queen. I wouldn’t want them in hell with me and Fela.
Pa Ikhide 
Ikhide, I beg to differ; That Nigeria has thieving and genocide inciting pastors is no fault of The Almighty God, but of the people themselves.
The good book does not preach Subjugation of women; the translators do.the translators of this message who turn it into a dogma , one which their adherents are forbidden to critically examine lest they commit ‘blasphemy’, these are the people who choose to maim innocent children whom they have tagged witches.
I wonder in the Africa ( in particular, Nigeria) of the past, were there no instances of the cunning priests? of vindictive elders who asserted that a child or family was possessed, and determined jointly with a dibia that the right punishment for the erring or thus afflicted person be killed, or in better circumstances; Banished from the land?
Are you of the opinion that 200 years ago homosexuality would have been applauded in African Traditional Religion? Give me a break!
Africans have been set in their thinking with regards to certain ideas, Bible or not.
Our leaders are Uncaring and Cruel. do not let your dislike of Christianity blind you to this fact. Was it not leaders who sold children of their kinsmen to foreign slave traders in exchange for a mirror or Vodka? please let me not get started on that bit of our past.
You have a right to say you do not believe in Christianity- to dislike it even, because of its adherents and their seeming superficiality and cruelty; Fine with me. I implore you to not however belittle the place of Our maker and Provider, Upon whose Grace the earth swings.
Wisdom! ” Is my grandfather going to hell because he was unfortunate to die before Jesus pamphlets came to our village?”
* I think I was adopted. Pa Ikhide is my biological father, I shall proceed to ask my ‘care-givers’ my true origin tomorrow.
Read through your post with increasing dismay. The 1st writer has almost said it all. However, in my young life, I’ve seen too many miracles to not believe that there’s a higher power over us all, and that power is The Almighty God.
Also, the history books did not tell us that the same people who ran the slave trade and locked our ancestors in a boat for the journey West, are the same ones who preached Christianity.
Christianity has a violent history, yes, but the original message still remains true, believe in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ. I can’t believe you referred to heaven as a “fairy tale”!!!
Pa Ikhide, I’ve been reading your work from Next, never had any inkling that you had this train of thought. However, I’ll refer you to Psalm 14 verse 1.
P.S- how many churches in Nigeria have you actually attended, or are you judging based on what you watch on tv, and hear from other equally-biased people?
Religion don’t exploit people, people exploit people.
Ikhide, i must say that your take on religion here, in particular, Christianity is foundering in philosophy. You started off by jumping to a conclusion about evangelical Christianity’s drift from true spirituality. As a man I respect in the literary world, I thought you would follow up on that assertion with explanations about what true spirituality means, Unfortunately, you didn’t.
Then you went into a tirade about the duping thieves of modern Christianity and squelched Christianity using these renegades to judge us all. Sir, if I must say, you don’t judge a philosophy by its exceptions. the sad fact that there are those who make merchandise of Christianity does not mean that it is a vain religion. Here also, your philosophy is foundering.
I am very well aware of the black smear Christianity has suffered through history, but when you Isolate the deeds of miscreants (and we very well know that every course has its thieving foes, those that will corrupt it for their selfish gains) and label an entire religion as false and unfounded without taking into consideration the essential teachings of that religion, you make a profound error in judgment.
Indeed Sir, you need to read Jesus’ and Paul’s statement about these thieving pastors. They knew that such would happen.
and your thrust against the bible as a well-construed piece of human ingenuity is as farcical as the other claims you have made. I hope I don’t sound hard boiled, but these are the issues here Sir. A nice write all the same. Your panache is unique and expertly.
Christians believe that to worship God is an act to be practiced without reason or thoughts.
I wonder why people leave their senses outside the church gates.
It is a pity.
It cannot be corrected.
So apt is Karl Marx’s statement that religion is the opium of the masses. Seriously, that video exposes the senselessness of people and the exploitation by pastors that is utterly deplorable.
This is probably the best write up I’ve seen a Nigerian do. Reason why there is plenty of criticism. Good work.
I beg to differ. The criticism is aimed at the writer’s message. It has nothing to do with its quality.
Since the criticism is aimed at the message, not the quality, please, what’s the message?
Do you criticise a message because it’s at odds with your beliefs?
Mr. Ikheloa
As usual, a very thoughtful analysis expertly put together. couln’t careless what all these prospective pockets’ raiders say.
Good writing. Questionable message. Sir, hope you’re fully convinced of your assertions; the minds that imbibe these are your responsibility.
The dismal levels to which morality have sunk in the human society have moved many to doubt the existence of the Christian God. However, throughout my young life, I have experienced the peace and joy of knowing that same God who is very different from what is portrayed by the jheri- curled pastors and slave drivers who sold the destiny of a nation for few kobos. I have called on Him in both difficult and triumphant moments and I can tell you emphatically that He answers.
Please look around the world…The beautiful designs of creation signals the ingenuity of a maker who gives the universe its vibrant colors. Pa, though I am one of the faithful fans of your literary works, I am sorry to say, I would not agree with you on this one because the authenticity of the Bible should never be in doubt. What is life without knowing the sovereign of the Universe? I daresay, colourless and unfulfilling…Prominence and fame cannot fill the void in hearts that disbelief in the creator brings.
I know, religion indeed has a destructive influence on the world but please forget the flashy pastors sir, forget the slave drivers, think not of the abusive priests but kindly give the bible a deeper scrutiny sir. it holds a timeless key to our common history and future..We love you, Pa
Christianity (and Islam) is a colonialism import, I always find it interesting how much they have been adopted and are taken as requirements now in much of the world. It’s disheartening as you say to see the evils that come from these fictions of religion.
I couldn’t agree more. It’s usually funny when people are against something, and they say “it is against our traditions” when they actually mean “our tradition supports it, but the foreign religions are against it”.
Pa Ikhide,
From your well-written piece, it’s obvious that your knowledge about Christianity is that of mainstream perception. You really haven’t taken time to study Christianity as practised in the Bible and as practised by some honest followers of Christ.
For example, you said, “Is my grandfather going to hell because he was unfortunate to die before Jesus pamphlets came to our village?”
Jesus didn’t come because of hell. In fact, before Christ came to earth, there was Abraham, Moses, Joshua, and other servants of God. They never heard the gospel of Christ, and as a consequence, never had to accept Him as their savior. Where did they go to?
In the book of Romans (Romans 2:14–16), it’s explicitly stated that some will be judged by their conscience. God has a way of judging everyone. There’s a doctrine of hell, heaven, new earth, new heaven. The gospel of Christ is for something bigger. For starters, Christ came, according to the Bible, that mortal men can have God’s Life and Spirit. It’s a new life, a very spiritual one you sure know nothing about.
The doctrine of Heaven and Hell is a topic of its own, most times, misconstrued. And your post betrays a negligible knowledge about it.
But as usual, you have your own battles about the status quo of things right now. There are self-proclaimed pastors who are abusing the message of Christ, no doubt, but there are also some Christians who are honest adherents.
Nevertheless, I would have expected you to disagree without being disagreeable. You have a right not to believe something and to state your reasons respectfully. But to insult some of the Names some millions of believers hold sacredly is not a very good example. Much for freedom of expression.
In summary, you have no scientific evidence that God doesn’t exist or that Jesus never did unusual things that defy the ordinary. We as Christians have seen the dead raised to life in the Name of this same Jesus you haven’t taken time to study about. The Apostles were ready to die for what they experienced, even in their death, they held on to the fact that, Jesus died and resurrected.
In the words of the third commenter, “I’ve seen too many miracles to not believe that there’s a higher power over us all, and that power is The Almighty God.”
Most christians and believers are understandably shocked by the writer’s assertion. I believe in the bible and the bible’s author. I believe in God. Half way through the article i was tempted to stop reading because i knew the consequence would be a passionate write up that would not change anything. Normally my blood would be filled with anger, sadness and even shock. But that was until i realized one thing. The people who attack religion the most have no alternative. I used to have a neighbour like that, totally against the bible. Once he asked me where one can find happiness, when i told him to check in the bible, he laughed. But he has no other option…
I dont know why christians should still bother, this sort of thing is expected, its in the bible. Everything the writer has complained about; the moral decline, the false prophets, the use of God’s word for selfish and wicked acts has long been foretold by the bible. Even the disbelievers and the ridiculers. Those who adamantly assert that the bible and its God are unreal has already been foretold by the bible. The bible’s critics won’t know this because they dont read the bible, and so the devil keeps on laughing…