‘’I DON’T BELIEVE IN HEAVEN’’;
President Museveni Sterns Religious Leaders with His Blasphemous-Atheist
Beliefs
· M7 should know that where science fails, religion becomes a powerful
option for hope in a hopeless society.
‘’for me I
am here, I was born here; I will die here and get buried here. I don’t believe
in heaven myself’’ said president
Museveni.
He made the
sacrilegious statement last Saturday (28th August 2020) during the
national prayer day which took place at state house Entebbe.
The prayers
which were attended by almost the entire ‘high command’ of the religious
leaders was aimed at bringing back the ‘Godly feel’ in a country whose
religious places have been under lockdown for the last six months.
The
religious leaders convinced the Ugandan president to have prayers together with
the cryptic intentions of luring him to relax the restrictions and open up
religious places for prayers.
After all
had been said and done by a clique of religious leaders led by bishop Kizito
Luwalira and pastor Joseph Serwadda , president Museveni exposed his lack of
faith in religions when he labored to emphasize the importance of science in
safeguarding life.
He
occasionally used the bible by quoting verses where lockdowns were imposed when
epidemics sprung up in the Old Testament.
He particularly
referred to a verse in Jeremiah where it recommends the banishment of lepers
from main stream society.
THE BOMBSHELL
Museveni
then dropped a bombshell when he told the congregation that for him he doesn’t
believe in heaven.
The fact
that heaven is the pivotal objective of most religions (a particular foundation
for Christianity and Islam) mean that anyone who doesn’t have faith in ‘life
after death’ is fundamentally considered an outcast, pagan or at best an
atheist.
Christianity
was founded specifically to address the issue of assuring a life after death. The
most important religious doctrines presupposes that Good behavior earns the
believer a ticket to heaven while the sinners are confined to hell fire.
For very many
years that is the principle that has made religion relevant.
Without that
doctrine, religion is dead.
Therefore
anyone who doesn’t have faith in the chance of going to heaven is largely
considered to be an atheist.
There is no
way people can be controlled without hope for life after death. Life after death is the center piece upon
which religion thrives.
Since nobody
knows what happens when we die, religion has remained the most relevant option
for the world in regard to offering assurance after death.
Therefore
fear of death drives people to believe that they need to die when they have
reconciled their evil deeds with God. If
someone has been a sinner, he (the sinner) then goes on to repent in church for
his sins to be forgiven.
That hope
(for heaven) is what has made religion the opium of the masses (as Karl max is
known to have said many years ago)
Any slight
contradiction with that projection of life after death is blasphemy of the
highest order.
President
Museveni seems to have got away with it (with his lack of faith in life after
death) but it is one of the biggest sins anyone can commit against most
religions. Not even the fearless dictator Idi Amin could make such a statement.
If he had
made that statement in a Muslim leaning country, a jihad would have been
declared against him.
Psychologically
speaking, that statement summed up the fundamental reason why churches and
mosques have remained closed, six months after the lockdown was imposed in March
2020.
The fact
that Uganda is regarded as a God fearing country makes it one of the terrible
blunders he (M7) has ever made as a leader.
Although
Ugandan is largely a secular country, it has a national motto ‘’For God and My
Country’’ that projects it as a God fearing and religions country.
SEVO AND SCIENCE
Museveni has
got a very big faith in science. When he imposed the lockdown he justified it
by suggesting that he had been ‘science-led’
Some of us
had to remind him (in our writings) that it was wrong to put total faith in the
modern day medical scientists because they have so far failed to find vaccines
and cures for pandemics like HIV/AIDS,
Ebola, Zika virus, SARS , and corona virus itself will not be an exception.
Today the
world is still grappling with the idea of finding a vaccine that can cure the
corona virus but the most realistic expectation is that it may take long before
they find it.
China and
Russia are quietly bragging that they have discovered their vaccines, but
nobody can confirm their claims.
Therefore
the science community is in such an embarrassing situation at the moment that there
are reports that most of the innovations in medicine were actually coined in
the 19th century. This means that the young scientists of the 21st
century have been either redundant or incompetent.
Although
there are powerful innovations in the field of technology where we have stuff
like drones, there is almost nothing innovative in the field of medical science
at the moment.
AND REMEMBER, WHERE SCIENCE FAILS,
RELIGIOUS FAITH TAKES OVER.
Some of us
have for many years argued that religion is a backward concept that has kept
the world imprisoned in backward traditions , but some incidents have happened
that have made it (religion) appear a powerful option.
In cases
where science has failed to resolve fundamental question, the religious groups
have emerged with powerful consoling messages of hope (not necessarily
practical solutions but faith based psychological feelings)
President
Museveni might be right in his absolute belief in science, like most of us, but
he should be honest enough to admit that medical scientists are not as
effective as we thought.
Like I said
earlier, where science fails, religion becomes a powerful option for society.
That
probably explains why he should consider opening up mosques and churches to
give them the chance to pray for the evaporation of the corona virus.
The religious leaders may not condemn what president Museveni said in regard to his lack of faith in heaven or life after death as sacrilegious or blasphemous, but they now know that they are dealing with a very big atheist leader.
The Author
Fred Daka Kamwada Is a Voluntary Think And Blogger
kamwadafred@gmail.com
by Okelai John Ariko
ReplyDeleteI read your article with great interest and do agree with you on the embarrassing comments of the presidents who invites a whole nation to prayer and then insults them by declaring his atheist beliefs.
I am however alarmed at your lack of understanding of advances in contemporary medical science and criticisms of medical scientists.
First Ugandan medics like Dr. Obuku, Dr. Besigye, the Medical association and others have independently spoken and contradicted the presidents questionable science, but their voices have been suppressed. Obviously the president listens to political scientists not pure scientists because his science is riddled with politics. A science that believes holding political meetings in Church does not transit covid but praying in church does, social distancing works in the market but didnt work in church etc is questionable science.
Surely the president fronting fradulent science can not be the fault of scientists or imply scientist have become less competent. The likes ofcDr. Achieng are politicians serving a vicious political master not science.
Secondly major epidemics like flue in the 1914s, the bubonic plague, leprosy, smallpox have in the past ravaged human life and in many cases it took natural immunity to contain them or many years before science came up with solutions. Today because of the advances in medical science its simply taken a few months for scientists to understand and figure out the behavior and containment measures for covid. Its the reason we no longer hear about death in thousands per day, despite the rising number of infections and hospitalizations. Candidate vaccines have been fast tracked in record time because of modern science. Under traditional science it takes 10-15 years to take a vaccine from candidate to market. Today we already have candidate vaccines entering market phase by November, less than a year.
I therefore put to you that today's skill and competence levels in the fields of medical science are better than ever before in terms of technological advancements, skills, medical innovations and response rates to health catastrophies and emergencies.
your mr Okelai John Ariko