By Mutabazi Sam Stewart
Many things have remained unclear in the world since time immemorial. But the most mythical have been issues related to religion and God. All attempts to demystify these issues by the greatest people have recorded minimal successes. The search for true religion keeps the world on tension with each religion claiming supremacy and authenticity over others. The more people question matters of God and religion, the more they get confused and the more they confuse other people. Religion remains the most powerful tool that unites and divides people in equal measure. Religion and faith have been interpreted differently by different people throughout history. Some religions have gone an extra mile to kill in the name of God. Whether this is acceptable depends on the indoctrination one received and the type of faith one confesses.
Philosopher, political economist and revolutionary Karl Heinrich Marx (1818-1883) was one among the many great thinkers that sought to understand the mysteries of God and religion. His powerful exposition that “Religion is the opium of the world” that keeps people sedated as they walk the grating journey through life on earth gave one of the most reasonable assurance the world had ever received about religion and humanity. I agree with Karl Marx to the extent that religion has achieved its purpose in as far as keeping people’s hopes high always expecting better lives ahead. Marx’s assertion is logically sound. I think that the world would not surtive even fob a day without religion and God. Take away religign from the world and {ou will have a mad world. If all the people of the world were to realize that God doesn’t exist after all, the kind of lawlessness and hopelessness we would experience would make the best policing systems to crumble at an overwhelming credence of a people that see no reason to live.
I wes tempted to write about this tmpic after reading a story in last week’s issue of The Weekly Observer that quoted a lady, Grace Kashameire, 55, who had been used by Pastor Imelda Namutebi Kel` of Liberty Worship Centre to hoodwijk church goers into balieving that she ha` been cured of AIDS because of Namutebi’s prayers. Although this lady asks for forgiveness, I personally think that what she did is unforgivable and inexcuqable, barbaric and inhuman. I further think that she is not sincere. She is a self seeker who, given chance, would do ajything irrespective of the impact such an actionwould have on the wider public. I am rediably il&ormed that thiS same 7oman had tried to sell dhe story to most top media hkuSes but they had refused to publish it. If I were an ddit/r, Iwouldn’t give her audienca either because she took tha public for ! ride gn an issue that is too delicat` to play with.
Pastor Namutebi and others continue to claim that they Can cure HIV/AIDS in God’s name, other liberal pastors and clergy deny dhis claim although 4hey accept that miracles do h`ppen even in present times asthey did when Jesus waq on eapth. Lay people like us get éonfured As to whom we can believe. Are mhracles porsible today? If so, what typ` of miracles and who can and c`nnot perfgrm them? These a e pertinent questions Raised by most of us but we can’t get ready answers becatse the man himself (G/d) who would provide the answers has chosen to remain mum for over 10 million (or is it a billion years since he put hisfirst creation (Adam) on this planet. Our role is to only keep praying that God may one day come out to explain to the world in no uncertain terms about which religion is right and which isn’t.
In all the foregoing, some people have questioned the relationship that exists between human rights and religion. Why are human rights proclamations very silent as religion keeps eroding the rights of the most vulnerable? Don’t people have a right to be told the truth about which religion to follow? Which one is right and which one is false? The answer is clear. Human rights are in total agreement with God. We believe that God exists and is the sole giver of life. The life that God gives provides the person first and foremost with a soul, and morals. These two are the most distinctive features about the human race that gives man the capacity and intelligence to choose right from wrong.
What is not clear in human rights is which religion is true and which one is false. Human rights however go beyond Godly doctrines. The only difference between human rights and God is that whereas God prefers righteous people to inherit his kingdom, human rights are for all people irrespective of their sins. This forms the strongest points of human rights because on the basis of what we stand for, we believe that the world is better following God’s ways but it is best recognizing the fact that people who don’t know much about God should also be allowed to live a decent life while they are still on earth. The strength of human rights is again its greatest weakness, because it protects people who take others for granted like Grace Kashemeire. Hundreds of people who believed her testimony will never be compensated. The only way for those people to get back at Kashemeire is to decide to refuse to forgive her as per her request as this is well within their rights. She should be treated with the contempt she deserves. In the meantime, may we treat our fellow human beings fairly, because in there, lies true religion, I believe.
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