RELIGIOSITY AND SPIRITUALITY: WHO IS RIGHT, WRONG AND WHICH WAY TO GO?

The emptiness, unknown or knowledge gap of mankind –yet most powerfully affecting life for the worse or good, is what prompts man to quest everyday for knowledge to understand life puzzles. His vigorous activity to assert himself through numerous discoveries has still been in vain or just temporary.

Certain forces beyond his understanding, some of which he can describe, continue to side-by-side affect human life negatively or positively. It is upon this background that the concept of spirituality could be divided into positive spirituality and negative spirituality, which both strongly influences human perception and events.

No wonder, people at one point could belong either way or make decisions that aligned to the two sets of spirituality. And, with the consequences faced in pursued on any of the two spiritual systems, lessons are learnt that help transform individuals, communities and mankind as a whole.

However, experience has shown that those who choose positive spirituality of the two spiritual systems never failed. They always attained their goals in life transferable to many generations a head. The opposite would be so to those –who choose to live under negative spirituality.

Religions, as an organized way through which mankind attains positive spiritual needs to inspire those that are physical have often been abused. Man’s magnetic ego and manipulative drives have soon prompted him to hijack the organization and use it to serve his economic and political gains.

Of course, with determination, adoption of religious and Christian values and seeing them work through every aspect of one’s life –as basis for decision making and for common good, could go a long way to bring about harmony and social or world order.

However, focus on religiosity and/or Christianity cannot be enough to create such a desired outcome, but rather, it could be a platform of positive spirituality to govern the common destiny of mankind through the common challenges met.

While religiosity potentially generates conditions for conflict, positive spirituality on one could foster global unity, solidarity and collective actions towards challenges that affect humanity as a whole.

With religion, the genesis could be sparks of different ideas that get organized, documented and linked to spirituality in general to satisfy man’s needs. If so many different ideas are created with equally huge following, fanaticism phase would soon ensue.

The pride and arrogance could be alone a source of conflict as members of a specific section accept to tolerate only those they either share values with or are accepting to their religious dictatorship.

As membership to particular religious group they set rights and privileges for each other, and with, of course, a leadership structure similar to a company or political party –through which they assume custody of morality and claim an unquestionable guardianship over their following.

While they judge themselves as righteous, others groups, to them, are “sinners”, “immoral”, and “evil.” That could eventually be followed by a hate campaign against the other group; a big sign of pending violence.

Orphans, because of the vulnerable position they are found, are forced to change faith to adopt that held by the organization that oversees their welfare. For them, it is not a question of being Muslim or wherever, but a principled matter of following existing instructions at the orphanage.

This has been evidenced at virtually all orphanage institution manned by born-again groups or reformed churches. Experience in Busia as a child care professional has showed that children are discouraged from re-establishing contacts with relatives –fearing that doing so could reverse progress made at the orphanage, as christianization of every beneficiary.

But does one have to be religious to display proper character? And is being religious or Christian, alone, a depiction of good character? Isn’t a religious organization just meant to channel man’s expressions of goodness and irrationality –at the same time?

Imagine, mere differences in ideology being a root for violent confrontations –leading to massacres or genocide! Does morality only come with religions? Why wouldn’t reason come into play to compliment illogic and irrational religious practices, so that it turns out to be a combination of atheism and religious?

Much as atheism never accepts the vocabulary of God, as if declaring independence of mankind and show of human power, evidence has shown that they often used either the word Jesus, Christ or God in expressing amazement or shock.

As an economic vessel, more people are coming up with an idea of taking on offering religious rituals or services as a professional and for a fee. Numerous papyrus and mud structures –serving as churches, as can be seen in the suburbs and rural semi-urban areas have in recent years sprung up. And, indeed, in a few years time they become wealthy –riding on the fortunes of their following.

At some stage, especially after successfully achieving their economic goal, religious leaders would release their ego –to then want to own the congregation personally and easily manipulating them to meet his or her ego needs.

Unlike for a nations with tax collection departments, religious movements never share their revenues Instead are channeled to a project of one, or group of people doing business, while emphasizing to their congregation that it best to live poor so long as they continues serving “god” by giving to the project’s cause.

They pray for their following to become wealthy, so that upon determination to work hard and making money, it finds its way into the gown of religious leaders –who later become filthily and lavishly rich.

Why wouldn’t one instead give to the poor wherever, rather than simply helping make canning individuals rich –under the guise of religion? Surely, the power and benefits of giving can be realized even out side religious organization or setting!

Because of their unquestionable word as attributed to God’s or positive spirituality, their following could remain unsuspecting and ready to die for the pastor and his word. This is how rocky and sometimes deceptive religious cultures can be held by those who subscribe to them –regardless of the consequences (to them and others).

They make it a tactic or as part of initiation to have a potential member surrender his or intellect and logic powers for unfiltered orders and instructions, which prepares ground for newer worlds of irrationality in thought and behavior. No wonder, under mental health dispensation, the tendency can be categorized as a disorder.

That could be the same time when dangerous vices begin to crop up like alcoholism, discrimination, sex immorality, self-glorification, and show of greater masculinity and femininity among fellow men or women respectively. It is obvious that competition among fellow religious leaders could be inevitable.

Because traditional cultural infiltration or cultural-religiosity, the masculinity-driven religious leaders will want to assume total political power or participate in political developments.

Others contribute to division and violence in marriages –through promotion of gender inequity, discrimination and unavoidable or possible violence in the country as in homes. But violence in homes, alone, has been known to cause pychoticism and/or odd behaviors in adolescents and aggravated mental breakdown later in life.

Failure for religion to equally provide roles and responsibilities, equally shared by all men regardless of the sex, race, region and faith or belief has in turn failed efforts to pacify the world and protect the environment.

Religious pride, then, linked up with man’s greed to exploit and degrade the environment –without reservations as well as generation of conditions for conflicts, wars and misery. This could be calamitous if there was a marriage between religion and politics to give birth to political-religiosity (ies).

They will want to show individual worthiness and power –on the basis on their ability to do miracles or magic, size of the congregation, beauty of prayer houses and oratory powers, and wealth. This, alone, could trigger conflict scaled up suspicions, mistrust and insecurity of each other’s activities.

Evidence, however, has showed that positive values helped one develop a good personality ethic and character –which in turn directed him or her to important life achievement and assurance of more of the unknown positive outcomes (what could come from positive spirituality).

An example of such values could be; reconciliation, meditation or silent review of enriching values, courage in pursuit for the truth and good, patience and calmness when the unexpected strikes to cause draw-backs, determination, self-trust, healthy social relations (consisting of respect, cooperation, responsibility, understanding and caring) and focus on what is good, right and rewarding to one self and others. Researchers have shown that positive values came along with interesting healthy outcomes like reduced stress, strong immune system and high productivity.

The basic question, thus, is: can we achieve success, good health, wealth –through formation of nature-friendly ideals pursuable for the one’s better end –without having to join or getting harmed (psychologically, physically, economically and culturally) by practices of existing religious organizations?

In Uganda, as it were else-where in the world, due to the religious persecution in the pre-colonial times and post-colonial period between 1971 and 1979, a neutral faith cropped up, related but autonomous called balokole – the born-again churches. Like hyenas moving after lions, they mushroomed following liberation struggles against former dictator Iddi Amin.

But, most prominently, showed up when president Museveni –under NRM/A revolutionary guard came to power. As part of their program, the new regime in Kampala allowed freedom of expression. They never minded about having to enact policies that would govern the new faith movement.

Such a weakness was manifested itself when a former catholic cleric, Kibwetere led a cult that muted themselves with fire –to “have its membership go to the creator. Numerous other cults with independent constitutions too have sprung up in the country-side unmonitored by government –notably; Mukono district.

In the same way media reports have continued to highlight irrational activities within those unmonitored groups, but in the name of freedom of expression, government remains unbothered. Perhaps, another inferno as the kanungu type must occur for government to learn how to take precautions. Is it only mindful of limiting political freedom and expressions?

In recent times, as would be expected of any religious organization, balokole now have a similar movement with structures that govern their operations, yet it was the same religiosity and related traditions that prompted their break-away from the main stream religious organizations.

And similar crimes as sex immorality, slander, power struggles and lavishness are about to create new phases of counter-liberation – to help harmonize moral activities in society. On the other hand, while harmonizing the concept of morality, there must never be prerequisite to surrender one’s power of reasoning.

It can be this same act that would act as a betrayal to one’s achievements and subsequently stall his or her progress in exchange to giving others the right to use their intellect to exploit, cause misery and social breakdown.

While using any amount of intellect, everyone must have an opportunity to positively advance his good intentions for the benefit of himself and the world –without ideas like custodianship of morality as to a particular individual or group.

And groups with ideas that in a long run make others poorer, con other of their money, carry messages that promote poverty, dehumanize others, selfishly assume the right to know whilst automatically turning others into fools, claiming to own god on behalf of others, block one’s success, are discriminative, violent and a danger to one-self and others must never be subscribed to.

History has given enough lessons to learn from. It is time to rise and eliminate foxes that masquerade or call themselves the beginning and end of success, wealth and good health (God or positive spirituality) in favor of shared learning and perception of the unknown (spirituality), as well as shared responsibility towards fulfillment of requirement to making progress in line with benefits attainable from links with positive spirituality.

Jacob Waiswa
Community Psychologist