Faith is ambiguous and means different thing to different people. It is said to be a complete trust and confidence in someone or something. Or a strong belief in religious doctrines based on spiritual conviction and no proof. In some religious doctrines, faith is an expectation of something hoped for. If these definitions are subjected to critical evaluation, there is bound to be a problem. Anyone having complete trust and confidence in any mortal is sure to be disappointed while believing in doctrines that lack proof makes one nothing but a robot. Again, if faith suggests something being expected and hoping that such things would come when in actual sense, there is concrete proof of its fulfillment, it is akin to fooling oneself or simply living in a fool’s paradise. Now to turn the central focus on religion and faith, the problem is that it is never self-evident but passed from one person to another beginning mostly from birth and then the individual grows up to becoming its staunch supporter based purely on nothing but indoctrination.

Everyone is born into and grows through one religion or another, and it is not surprising that religion and faith have worked themselves into the human psyche so well that they are hardly easy to contest or debunk. It is even agreed in some quarters that only a fool would attempt going on such a prohibited direction and most of those who object or deny religion and faith still subscribe to them in one way or another either consciously or otherwise while keeping their thoughts to themselves for fear of being labeled as apostates.

Faith comes by hearing and needs someone to convince another about its reality. Religion and faith, lack empirical evidence but are spread from generation to generation as a product of an age-long tradition of trying to give hope to man by claiming that there is a place better than the earth where there is no pain or stress. Such stories and the songs connected to most religions have such a wide spectrum of appeal on everybody especially as it is all about of bliss and happiness after death.

Religion and faith are like hard drugs which whoever is hooked may never be convinced otherwise. Such alluring alternative to the human earth attracts everyone because the large percentage of the human race who live in squalor hopes to get compensated in the afterlife. And good enough, everyone is sure to return to the same beautiful home since every family is its own judge. For that reason, each family writes on the obituaries of their loved ones phrases of hope such as: ‘Gone too soon’ , ‘Gone to be with the Lord’ , ‘Glorious exit’ , ‘Transition to glory’ ,’We shall meet not to part again at the resurrection,’ etc. And then the dead is asked to ‘Rest in peace’ when in actual sense, he or she is only sure to rot in peace.

The stories attached to religion, faith and heaven are so appealing and compelling just as it is unimaginable to think of ending it all up in hell. However, while the original nature of man is dominated by self leading to greed and corruption, everyone nonetheless pretends to be candidates of heaven when activities of survival point at a completely different direction. The different survival strategies which force man to play smart in his quest for material breakthroughs is his greatest albatross. The psychology of faith dictates that everyone will always hold on tenaciously to his faith mostly only as a form of solidarity and then defends also wherever his bread is buttered even if it is at variance with his faith. The actions and attitudes of the advocates of faith and religion therefore prove them still as imperfect beings.

Then the next argument will always be that no one is perfect. If that is so, how then can an imperfect man hope to inherit a life meant only for the perfect? The love of money is said to be the root of all evil. Even leaders of religion and faith themselves are never concerned about whatever their members do to make money but are only interested in whoever brings forth the highest dole. In the mean time, the same leaders who preach so eloquently about heaven and laying treasures there see nothing wrong in building their own castles on earth and securing for themselves all earthly gadgets that make life comfortable all of which are products of science and technology which they insinuate lead to hell. Talking about final judgment itself, there is problem. The difference in terminal age for everyone suggests that every human cannot be placed on the same scale of judgment.

Since humans die at different age, there is no way everyone can be subjected to the same judgment or it would amount to a complete injustice. How, for instance, will someone who died at the age of twenty be put under the same judgment as another person who left at eighty when it is a well-known fact that the latter has gained an advantage over the former? It means that one of them was given the privilege of ‘sin and repent’ while the other was not. Common experience of people turning new leaf reveals that such change often occurs at old age after so many atrocities have been committed including offences as grievous as murder and then they suddenly become remorseful and become strong members of some faiths. What then happens to those who die young who never had the opportunity to repent? Besides, the world is populated by different species of creatures and survival is through interdependent relationships. If animals and plants have no place in heaven, what will be the essence of such heaven?

Even the theory of good and evil is highly contentious and contradictory. If every man is said to be created with a destiny for those who believe so, it means no man has any say about whatever life he lives while on earth since it is according to his destiny. If this is true, what then would be the reason for anyone facing any judgment after fulfilling whatever purpose was written for him? It means a thief or prostitute is born to be so and there’s nothing he or she can do about it. And if we argue that it is possible to change the course of destiny through prayers, why is the larger percentage of believers the poorest on earth’? Should this not point any rational being to the fact that prayer cannot change anything and the best policy is to work hard and be sincere to oneself? Nothing debunks the reality of religion and faith as the wide gulf existing between the advanced world and third world countries. Whereas the latter are great believers in God and miracles, the former concentrate their energy on a more realistic approach to understanding life and its intricacies.

Surprisingly, people in the so-called godless nations are more honest and sincere in their ways and so are far ahead of so-called ‘Godly’ nations whose leaders and citizens neither speak the truth nor love one another, nor even fear the same God they speak so vociferously about. And so, while the advanced nations are making so much breakthroughs in all areas of human endeavors, those who spend all their time at worship centres rely on products manufactured from the godless nations for their survival. If religion and faith are to be real, shouldn’t the reverse be the case and shouldn’t the Godly nations be the ones dictating the pace as far as human development is concerned as a lesson to the godless nations that progress only comes through prayers? How can Africa with its annoying extreme backwardness convince the non believers that God truly exists and answers prayers?

• Oyewusi the coordinator of Ethics Watch International wrote from Lagos