In Nigeria, you can easily tell someone's religion before you know their favourite food.
Christian. Muslim. Traditionalist. Pentecostal. Catholic. Anglican. Orthodox. The list goes on and on..
We are a deeply religious and multi-religious nation. Faith is woven into our families, communities, celebrations, politics, conversations, and even our everyday greetings.....I mean you can greet someone, good morning, and their response will be "god bless you", which I always find it ridiculous.
But sometimes I wonder:
What happens when religion becomes more important than humanity?
We can argue passionately about whose God is the "right" God.
We can fight over doctrines, denominations, scriptures, prophets, churches and mosques.
We can refuse to eat in someone's house because of their religion.
We can judge someone's character simply because they don't worship the way we do.
You'll see people from other denominations condemning others because their doctrine permits wearing trousers and they don't wear it.
I mean, I grew up in a very religious home and our church used to preach about not being equally joked with the unbelievers.
And who are the unbelievers?
Of course, your guess is as good as mine.
Yet, somewhere in all that religious debate, we sometimes forget the most basic thing:
There is a human being standing in front of us.
Imagine a Christian helping a Muslim during an emergency without first asking, "Which religion are you?" Or Imagine after lending a helping hand, you go your way instead of asking which church I attend and trying convert me to your church or religion?
Of course, I have been asked about the church I attend when I once went for a job interview.
And when I mentioned the name of my church then, The school proprietor asked me "What's full about the christ".
Apparently, the name of my then church was fullness of Christ ministry. And throughout my stay in that school, he did everything possible to make me start attending his church.
Imagine a Muslim feeding a hungry Christian without wondering whether the person attends church.
Imagine a traditionalist helping someone in need without demanding that they share the same beliefs.
And imagine receiving a charity from people from other religions without a biased mind. Because, it's another thing to give and also another thing to receive.
That, to me, is humanity.
I have grown up to understand that people of different faiths can live, work, marry into families, build businesses and friendships, celebrate together and stand beside one another during difficult moments.
Our differences don't have to become walls.
Religion should make us more compassionate, not less.
If your faith teaches you to love, then let that love extend beyond the people who share your beliefs.
If your religion teaches kindness, let kindness be visible even when nobody is watching.
If your spirituality teaches forgiveness, let your neighbour experience that forgiveness.
Because what good is loudly defending a religion while quietly losing our humanity?
Before we are Christians, Muslims, traditionalists or anything else, we are human beings.
And perhaps the world doesn't need more people fighting over who has the better religion.
Perhaps it needs more people living out the values their religion teaches.
At the end of the day…
The hungry person needs food.
The grieving person needs comfort.
The lonely person needs companionship.
The struggling person needs a helping hand.
And none of them may care what religious label is attached to the person offering it.
Maybe humanity should be the bridge connecting our different faiths, not the battlefield separating us.
So, fellow humans, I want to ask:
Do you think religion in your locality is bringing us closer to humanity, or are religious differences sometimes making us forget our shared humanity?
Let's talk.
Image used are from pexels.com
Thanks for stopping by.
