'The fool who has said in his heart there is no God above.'
I have only just returned from Nigeria; while I was there, I became acquainted with some of the issues that are being debated at the heights of government. One of these issues was the push by Cameron and the US for Nigeria to legalise or support Gay unions. Anyway, this has not been received well by many, if not a majority of the Nigerian people and I had a quite interesting discussion about this with my brother in law. Somewhere in our conversation, he veered into the God/Bible issue which is quite difficult to argue against without bringing in Evolution, so I did. The interesting thing is that - and I have mentioned this in a previous article - evolution is still not properly taught in our schools, if at all. It is quite like there is a concerted and collective effort to keep the nation ignorant of what is a demonstrated scientific fact - like gravity. I should know because I studied Biology in Nigeria and evolution was glossed over almost like a third hand account of what some people said. It wasn't focused on and taught like I learned of gravity and the laws of motion, like the causes of disease and the circulatory system. But maybe, this isn't for all schools; maybe, there are some schools where people are taught properly.
There can only be one reason for this; the Federal Republic of Nigerian believers have not and are reluctant to accept evolution as truth because it inherently challenges their comfortable religious beliefs. We all reinforce these beliefs by banding with people of similar opinions, especially as these people are all around us - yes, everyone else. How do I spell this out? Evolution is a fact, one that has been painstakingly desmonstrated and proved by science over and over again. The only aspects of evolution that science is still working on are the nitty-gritty, the why's and when's; the event itself has been robustly proved. Oh, there are arguments against evolution, mainly by creationists who sometimes field 'scientists'. Even the Bible alludes to evolution as things are created at different times, with humans coming last, although, why a Creator wouldn't simply create everything at once, beats me. No real scientist can deny evolution as all they would have to do to disprove evolution is show fossils in the wrong developmental era; as some scientist pointed out: "Show me rabbit fossils in the Cambrian and I will abandon the theory of Evolution". For Evolution is about a sequence in the appearance of living things from minor to greater complexity, with links and relational structure.
I am appalled to think that we are living about four centuries behind the educational knowledge of many countries in the world; we are in denial, quite like Christian Europe was when Copernicus and Galileo demonstrated that the Earth moved round the Sun and not the other way round. The similarities are so clear; history repeats itself once again. Those two scientists were persecuted by Christianity and silenced just as Evolution is being silenced today by a very religious Nigeria.
We refuse to accept demonstrated facts and instead choose to believe in religious theories that have no way of being proved right or wrong. We feed thieving and exploitative religious leaders who are rising up in vast numbers every minute and polluting the average Nigerian mind with superstitions and panicky messages of Hell, the Devil, Witchcraft, evil powers, the Enemy etc. These leaders understand that as long as people are running scared - and what better way to drive people to God than through fear - they will stay loyal to the church and will pay their dues. And my people keep getting destroyed for lack of knowledge. (Reference by a Christian please)
So dear reader, if you want a little light on your understanding of Nature, God and the origin of life on Earth, then you want to read up on Evolution. There is plenty of literature out there, sadly, not many might be readily accessible in Nigeria - but maybe I am wrong. Read up on Charles Darwin and Richard Dawkins but most importantly, question your own beliefs in every way possible, beginning with the most basic question of all - why you hold those beliefs. If a belief doesn't make sense or serve a concrete purpose - is there a chance it is simply bullshit? And if you hold this belief simply because it makes you feel good and you are willing to admit that to yourself, then you must be ready to keep telling yourself you really do believe because you may really not.
There can only be one reason for this; the Federal Republic of Nigerian believers have not and are reluctant to accept evolution as truth because it inherently challenges their comfortable religious beliefs. We all reinforce these beliefs by banding with people of similar opinions, especially as these people are all around us - yes, everyone else. How do I spell this out? Evolution is a fact, one that has been painstakingly desmonstrated and proved by science over and over again. The only aspects of evolution that science is still working on are the nitty-gritty, the why's and when's; the event itself has been robustly proved. Oh, there are arguments against evolution, mainly by creationists who sometimes field 'scientists'. Even the Bible alludes to evolution as things are created at different times, with humans coming last, although, why a Creator wouldn't simply create everything at once, beats me. No real scientist can deny evolution as all they would have to do to disprove evolution is show fossils in the wrong developmental era; as some scientist pointed out: "Show me rabbit fossils in the Cambrian and I will abandon the theory of Evolution". For Evolution is about a sequence in the appearance of living things from minor to greater complexity, with links and relational structure.
I am appalled to think that we are living about four centuries behind the educational knowledge of many countries in the world; we are in denial, quite like Christian Europe was when Copernicus and Galileo demonstrated that the Earth moved round the Sun and not the other way round. The similarities are so clear; history repeats itself once again. Those two scientists were persecuted by Christianity and silenced just as Evolution is being silenced today by a very religious Nigeria.
We refuse to accept demonstrated facts and instead choose to believe in religious theories that have no way of being proved right or wrong. We feed thieving and exploitative religious leaders who are rising up in vast numbers every minute and polluting the average Nigerian mind with superstitions and panicky messages of Hell, the Devil, Witchcraft, evil powers, the Enemy etc. These leaders understand that as long as people are running scared - and what better way to drive people to God than through fear - they will stay loyal to the church and will pay their dues. And my people keep getting destroyed for lack of knowledge. (Reference by a Christian please)
So dear reader, if you want a little light on your understanding of Nature, God and the origin of life on Earth, then you want to read up on Evolution. There is plenty of literature out there, sadly, not many might be readily accessible in Nigeria - but maybe I am wrong. Read up on Charles Darwin and Richard Dawkins but most importantly, question your own beliefs in every way possible, beginning with the most basic question of all - why you hold those beliefs. If a belief doesn't make sense or serve a concrete purpose - is there a chance it is simply bullshit? And if you hold this belief simply because it makes you feel good and you are willing to admit that to yourself, then you must be ready to keep telling yourself you really do believe because you may really not.
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