God-Talk and Violence

The world is being once again overcome by the violence that is being committed in the name of religion. Reading about these events and the opinions of certain individuals, it has become a passion to try to understand God in the midst of all of these tragedies. Interestingly, I have an uncle who is a staunch and outspoken atheist. He claims that religion is responsible for all of the wrong things in this world. It is thus not surprising that current events involving the Boko Haram have given him more than a leg to stand on. This article was inspired by a Facebook post that he put up. Its contents were as thus “I enjoy killing anyone that God commands me to kill, the way I enjoy killing chickens and rams.” This was a quote he took from Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau. He further stated that this was done in the name of religion and ended off his post by stating “…imagine the world without religion”

One cannot dismiss the terror that religion has unleashed on people, especially people in the African continent. To give evidence to this claim, one only has to look at the era of the crusades and how violence was interpreted as a means to bring honour to God. One can also cite the heresy that was apartheid, a system that insisted the superiority of a certain race over others. Unfortunately, this is a legacy (racism) that South Africa is still struggling with. One can never forget the tragic time in American history when the Twin Towers in New York came down and grief overcame the whole world, in the name of God. Contemporary cases are seen with the Boko Haram who are forcefully attempting to establish an Islamic estate in Northern Nigeria. Boko Haram is currently a terror that does not have any regard for human life, terrorising and killing in the name of God. Recently, the world was shook with the shooting that took place in Paris. Islamic extremists opened fire in a publication house that published satirical cartoons of Mohammed. A total of twelve people died from this gruesome attack, in the name of defending God. We live in an era where certain people who believe that the same God who created all things seen and unseen, and gives life to everyone that has it, somehow needs us to defend her. This is confusing.

These are the facts that non-believers of religion seem to be throwing in the faces of those who believe. But is it safe to assume that just because they kill in the name of God it then follows that religion welcomes violence? I concede that us, the people who believe in God are more repulsed and vexed at this situation than the atheists who “imagine a world without religion” as a peaceful one. Religion has been used as a tool for many years, mostly political. The examples cited above prove the likelihood of this assertion. Henceforth religion does not conjure up violence, but rather violence, oppression, discrimination and domination is a vision and religion becomes the vehicle upon which to arrive at that destination. We are irate because these people have hijacked our religion, our God and reduced what we revere to a tool to reach their evil ends. I confidently believe that no one who has been touched by the hand of God would consider taking a person’s life as something that would bring honour to God. A God of life, yes life, is a God that despite our doctrinal differences we believe in, a God of life.

With that said, I can think of few things that we can do in the name of God. We can respond to the terror that is in Boko Haram, bring safety and security to God’s people, in the name of God. We can work tirelessly to confront the challenge of poverty scourging through the African continent, in the name of God. We can respond to the diseases that kill our people every day, HIV and AIDS, the latest outburst of Ebola to mention a few, in the name of God. We can bring hope to the hopeless, in the name of God. As they kill in the name of God, let us heal and give life, in the name of God. A hijacked vehicle does not lawfully become the property of the hijacker. As long as we are steadfast in the work of God, God’s name will always bring a smile to God’s children.