Thursday, 28th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search
Breaking News:

Here, Caesar’s laws are mocked

By Simon Abah, Port Harcourt, Rivers State
22 May 2016   |   1:40 am
Sir: Every sanitation day in Rivers State sees the Church leaders behind my street come early to organise dawn services, pray aggressively, shouting, playing musical equipment loudly, boldly, in defiance...

letter

Sir: Every sanitation day in Rivers State sees the Church leaders behind my street come early to organise dawn services, pray aggressively, shouting, playing musical equipment loudly, boldly, in defiance of the state’s environmental laws up until the expiration of sanitation period. Sanitation laws it appears, extend to everyone but the religious homes.

On Fridays, likewise, major roads are cordoned off in many areas, when Muslims gather to perform Friday prayers, against traffic laws, making it so difficult for thoroughfare. You had to take circuitous routes instead.

It saddens to see that we are not service-oriented in our country. While some people elsewhere have put in place worthy platform of service to humanity, at least, to those within their enclave, we have done virtually nothing but to practice religion without genuine service to humanity.

We seem to be oblivious of the fact that service to man is service to God. While I do not disparage the place of prayers, it seems to me the only panacea to any problem dished out by people in Nigeria is this approach.

Yet these spiritual houses across board (Muslims and Christians) do not have charities that feed the homeless. They try to prove to the state that their religion is higher than the state by brazenly defying stately laws. Most Nigerians, unfortunately hardly realize, that they practice the religion of ego rather than love.

According to a Persian Sufist-philosopher…..”In the religion of Love there are no believers and unbelievers. LOVE embraces all.” Rumi. And that includes the love for the obedience to Caesar’s law. I do hope our government will do everything possible to enforce Caesar’s laws.
I pray that Caesar gets some positive news in the coming days.
• Simon Abah,
Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

0 Comments