Written by PromiseEdem Nukunu
Ag.
Secretary-General, PeaceAids International
Violent extremists are “individuals
who support or commit ideologically-motivated violence to further political, religious
or ethnic goals.”
When
extremism, blindfold us, all what we see is violent and destruction and such an
act threatens world peace. All men are created equal but for different purpose
and everyone is entitled to the fundamental human right, Not only for one
violent extremist or the other. I am not a Muslim and I am not an Islamic
scholar. I am not a religious expert. I am writing as one of the world citizens.
My role as a humanitarian from reading and observing religious activities
around the world, as well as my work as a Ag. Secretary-General of PeaceAids International
has taught me that there is so much negatively skewed ideology or unfairness done to Muslims whenever we
equate terrorism with Islam. I am not saying all Muslims are saints and there’s
nothing wrong with the religion. Every religion has it’s problems. I am only
talking about tagging and generalization (Kindly take note).
Nana
Ansah Kwao hosts “That’s My Opinion” On September 24, 2015, Nana Ansah Kwao had
a very enlightening discussion
on his Thursday afternoon show, “That’s My Opinion''. A show he normally host on
Joy FM every Thursday from 2pm to 3pm. ” His topic was, “Not every Muslim is a
terrorist, but most terrorist claim to be Muslims.”
The topic and the subject are
very receptive, and required a lot of tactfulness in order not to hurt the
sensibilities of Muslims, especially on such an important day as the Eid-Adha.
However, for those who listened to the show it was clear that Islam is not a
bad religion. Muslims are not bad people. Like any other religion, Some people
have used the religion to advance their own murderous causes. The media have
not helped. The words “terrorists” and “militants” are hardly used these days
without Islam. That was what the show sought to dispel and it is first rated
when such enlightenment is coming from a non-Muslim.
In a bid to address such issue
and to prevent violent extremist, i write to voice out my concerns towards a
fairer and peaceful world.
When someone takes a weapon
e.g. gun, goes to a a gathering perhaps a market or night club and starts
killing people, the media call him a “gun man.” When he is overpowered, they
recommend a psychiatric assessment either for suspicion of Bipolar disorder or otherwise and they will later report of how he was
abused as a child and how that might have influenced his violent behavior and
attitude.
This same action was seen when a young man rose one day to shoot the president of republic of Ghana during a church service and later was subjected to psychiatric investigation and hence his discharge.
If the suspect bears a Muslim
name, however, the narrative is different. He is labeled an Islamic terrorist
even before he is arrested. It is that simple!
For this reason, perhaps, many
people who have not had any negative encounter with Muslims are quick to tag
them as violent. Recently when I was thinking about this unfair labeling and
negative reportage, one question came to mind (As I agree with Manasseh Azure, when he pose similar questions): “If Dag Heward Mills of the
Light House chapel International, Apostle Dr. Opoku Onyina, Chairman of The
Church of Pentecost and Bishop Obinim of the International Godsway Church were
Muslims, which one would we say represents Islam?
If you don’t know about these
three Men of God, let me give you a little background. Apostle Opoku Onyinah is
one of the respected clergyman in Ghana, in my perspective. He has used the
pulpit to shape the conscience of many Ghanaians. His much wisdom has been an
ever-flowing fountain for those who cherish wisdom. His ministry has impacted
millions across the globe with churches all over the world. He has always condemn church leaders using questionable ways to perpetuate God's anointing and miracle.
Bishop Dag Heward Mills is also
one of the respected clergyman in Ghana, in my opinion. He has used the pulpit
to shape the conscience of many Ghanaians and Africa. His much knowledge and
demeanor has been a bed rock for those who cherish wisdom. His
ministry has impacted millions across the country and beyond. His contribution
in engaging in community development and human resource development is much to
be applaud which include building of hospitals, Schools etc.
As the Chairman of the Church
of Pentecost, Apostle Opoku Onyinah’s church has also helped in the development
of the nation. Pentecost Convention Center and The Pentecost University College
established by the church is one of Ghana’s Largest social, conference and one
of the good universities respectively
private while a number of charity initiatives by the church provide social
services such as healthcare and water. The church also provides scholarships
for needy children, including Muslims.
Bishop Daniel Obinim, on the
other hand, is noted for his “miracles” and “healings.” His name, however,
connotes other crude manifestations of the Christian Faith. To me, i see his
actions as a cheap propaganda way of parading Christianity and to foster his
own conceited agenda. In one video, he is seen kicking the abdomen of a
pregnant woman he claims to be healing. This act is not only barbaric but a
crude action against humanity and foster maternal health mortality which is
also against United Nations Sustainable development goals. In another video, he
strips a man who is said to be impotent, and in the full glare of the church
and cameras, holds his penis as he prays. This is real violent extremist.
In 2014, he descended into the
ditch with some people who had chided him in the media.If vulgarity and
domination of foul language were gifts of the Holy Spirit, Bishop Daniel Obinim
could be said to be very gifted and talented in them. In the presence if his
congregation and TV cameras, he slighted and cursed all those who had issues
with him. He once stormed the studios of an Accra-based radio stations to
attack people who were criticizing him on a live programme. These are only a
few of his pastoral aerobics/gymnastics.
Now get this: Bishop Dag Heward
Mills, Apostle Opoku Onyinah and Bishop Daniel Obinim are both Christians. They
both use the same Bible. So if someone wants to describe Christians, would he
or she be fair to say that all Christians are like Obinim?
To kindly serve as a reminder, in case you are
not aware, Bishop Obinim’s actions are very mild if you compared him with some
other Christian leaders and their weird doctrines. A Brazilian pastor asked his
church members to suck his penis because it contained some kind of milk from
the Holy Spirit. They obeyed. A South African pastor asked his church members
to eat grass and they did. A Nigerian pastor impregnated over 20 members of his
church and said he had been directed by the Holy Spirit to do it. Some pastors
and churches also subject members suspected to be possessed by the evil spirit
to torture and physical abuse.
A pastor told his members he had
to lash them with cane and they obeyed and another pastor asked his member to
naked themselves any time they come to church, because, he claimed ''everyone
was born naked''. Other religious leaders still operate in the old
law, ‘’a tooth for a tooth’’ and an eye for an eye’’ taking the law into their
own has threaten the rule of law. Whiles
the new covenant teaches that, LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF, perhaps some
preachers still holds on to the old law ; a tooth for a tooth , an eye for an
eye. For me, this is not Christianity but rather, a different theology being
preached altogether of which I termed as, ‘’REVENGE CHRISTIANITY’’ and
extremist. This is inimical and hinder progress and threatens world peace.
It is obvious these so-called pastors are
doing abominable acts that are alien to the religion they profess to follow.
But do we see all Christians in the light of only the bad ones? The answer is
no. At least, that’s not how the media tell us.
“As extremists try to inspire acts of violence within us and our sub regions, we must respond with the strength of our communities, with the respect for the rule of law, and with the conviction that rational Muslims or Christians, traditionalist or pagans, Jews or gentiles, Buddhist or Confucians, are part of our family and struggle to fight this extremist.”
Promise Edem Nukunu
Ag. Secretary-General
PeaceAids
International
The same cannot be said of
Islam. If Bishop Dag Heward Mills, Apostle Opoku Onyinah and Bishop Daniel
Obinim were Muslims, I am sure we would use Bishop Obinim to represent Muslims
and ignore the likes of Bishop Dag Heward Mills, Apostle Opoku Onyinah who are
transforming society through the Word of God.
Religious extremism is hurting
the world today. And it is not only in Islam that we find extremists. There are
extremists in Christianity too. As Manasseh Azure narrated his experience, ‘’In
2014, I walked into a thick forest near Oyibi here in Accra. In that thick
forest live some Christians who see the rest of the world as sinful and refer
to it as Sodom and Gomorrah. They live in simple tents and grow mushrooms to
survive. Speaking to them, I realized that they were not gullible illiterates, as
one would imagine. Some were university graduates. A director of the Ghana
Education Service and tutor of a senior high school was there in the forest. I
also met a very intelligent lady who had left her job as a lecturer at the
Ghana Institute of Languages and is living in that forest with her husband’’.
Well if this is not extremism, I do not know how else you will refer to it.?
Should we abandoned our houses and lived in the jungle at the expenses of
making the so called religious leaders lived well before, we realized we are worshiping God?
Some pastors, go to the extreme
to tell their followers to given them their vehicles or houses claiming to be a
direction from God.
There are different
manifestations of religious extremism. Whiles society metamorphosed, they still
hold onto, old ideologies and to achieve their old parochial interest. They are
locked in psychological dungeon and paralyzed in the mind to initiate their
brain crippled ideas. I really remember, when the bibles states, ‘’Behold that
all things have become new.
The old has passed away’’. Such church leaders as extremist want to counter it and operate on their self insular interest and formulations. For those linking theirs with Islam, their mode of operation is mostly violent. To defeat religious extremism, we need to condemn the actions of the extremists without crucifying their religion. To make an antidote for a snake bite, you do not kill the snake to heal the person, but rather you get the venom/serum to prepare the antidote. The same way, you cannot treat malaria infection by killing the mosquitoes that bit you, rather you destroy their breeding grounds and take a drug or vaccine purposely design for your system. When we attack the entire religion we make the good adherents of that religion defensive and we push moderate devotees of the religion to become extremists. When people feel threatened, they get defensive. Offensive to be more aggressive and agitated. For example; how do you feel, when you did something wrong, and your colleague result you connecting to your parents, probably insulting your mother? Bad!! Exactly what I mean.
There are thousands and
millions of Muslims in Ghana. They co-exist peacefully with Christians and
members of other faiths. Just recently a group of pastors and imams met to sign
a peace declaration. Why do we have to look to Syria or Nigeria to conclude
that Muslims are violent or terrorists? What about the peaceful ones at home?
There are probably more human rights abuses by Christian churches in Ghana than
by Muslims. Extortion in churches and maltreatment of the vulnerable people in
prayer camps abound in many communities. Do we single out such individual
pastors and churches for condemnation or we condemn Christianity in general?
‘’While
such money minded church leaders sometimes embezzle church money, others are
not accountable to anybody since the church is their private company. After,
acquiring money from such questionable sources, these church leaders usher
themselves into gratuitous materialism. They are also usually caught up in the
trap of Neophilism, which is the
excessive love of new things. This, they do, by purchasing the latest cars,
musical instruments, dresses and many other things. Before long, such pastors
and church leaders are caught in the web of consumerism, which describes the
effects of equating personal happiness with purchasing material possession and
consumption. For such pastors and church leaders, there is nothing like
‘’Godliness with contentment...’’ ( 1 Timothy 6:6). They project their
affluence to the masses to suggest to them that material acquisitions is a sign
of God’s blessing irrespective of how it was acquired.’’
A research will show that the likes of Boko
Haram, Al-Qaida and Islamic States are
not fighting the cause of Islam. They are only using religion to fight purely
political wars.
Other powerful western countries
are partly responsible for what is happening. The Arab world has a lot of oil
and so they are interested in what goes on in those countries. In the name of
entrenching democracy, they adopt divide-and-rule tactics to set various sects
of the religion against one another for political gains. Sometimes the
so-called Islamic terrorists are a creation of the West.
The very rebel forces the Super
Powers of the world gave deadly weapons to fight President Assad of Syria are
the same people who are beheading, torturing and killing innocent people like
animals. Their actions have nothing to do with Islam, except to use the
religion as a way of attracting more extremists. Nigeria’s Boko Haram have
killed more Muslims than people of other faiths. If they were Muslims fighting
to entrench Islam, they would not be killing and bombing Muslims.
We can defeat religious
extremism. The way to do it is not to label everyone of that religion with the
same brush. The only way we can get Muslims to boldly condemn and disown those
visiting terror on the world in the name of Islam is to appreciate the fact
that not all Muslims are violent.
The National Chief Imam, Sheikh Dr Osman Nuhu
Sharubutu in Ghana with President John Mahama (President of the republic of
Ghana) has publicly condemned religious
extremism and intolerance
If religious extremism can end,
we must stop the greed, injustice and hypocrisy. Whatever time we may have to
devote to the discovery and exposure of the weakness and fault of others we
will you will have to devote, more profitably to the discovery of your own. Do
not let your brain be the receptacles of people’s rubbish and deceitful acts.
We must stop tagging a whole religion as violent. Doing so means accusing the
very people who can help to end the extremism.
Hypocrisy and injustice on the
world stage is what has set the world ablaze with unending conflicts. The
Western powers are quick to go to Libya and kill Gadaffi like an animal because
he did not uphold the principles democracy and human rights. But those same
countries do not see anything wrong with Saudi Arabia, where women are not
allowed to drive cars or vote in elections. In the period when Islamic State
militants started beheading people, Saudi Arabia is said to have beheaded more
people over various offenses. Do Saudis not have human rights?
Let’s
again look at this people Bishop Dag
Heward Mills, Apostle Opoku Onyinah and Bishop Daniel Obinim. All are
Christians. They serve the same God. They use the same Bible.
They all says they operate with the same Holy Spirit. In Utmost outlook, no
religion can be mark as bad in the world. We only have bad followers. We can
fight terrorism by uprooting the cause. What could cause the young university
graduate from the Kwame Nkrumah University to join a terrorist group? Is it
because he is a Muslim? No! but it’s because of his own conceited ways and
false doctrine. Being with Muslims, I know Islam means ‘’peace’’, unless
otherwise connoted differently a new and crafted meanings. Violent extremist
just to fulfill their evil acts just like in every other religion, pastors and
church leaders hide behind the pulpit to orchestrate their dubious agenda in
the name of church. And so does Muslims in the name of Islams. Let all come
together in a symphony of brotherhood and (of cause in sisterhood) to champion
and respect the rule of law to foster unity and prevent violence.
Image references.
1. Upper left image
2. Upper Middle image
https://www.google.com.gh/search?q=violent+extremist&biw=1024&bih=537&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj7i9zwxO_KAhVCvhQKHT0zDx8Q_AUIBigB#imgrc=fGLYgkN-deyTcM%3A
3. lower middle right
https://www.google.com.gh/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fleftfootforward.org%2F2014%2F09%2Ffemale-private-school-educated-there-is-no-such-thing-as-typical-extremist%2F&psig=AFQjCNF6JYikxDzYhRj0zFN9RbqlggkzLQ&ust=145529185118907
3. lower middle right
https://www.google.com.gh/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fleftfootforward.org%2F2014%2F09%2Ffemale-private-school-educated-there-is-no-such-thing-as-typical-extremist%2F&psig=AFQjCNF6JYikxDzYhRj0zFN9RbqlggkzLQ&ust=145529185118907
4. lower let
