Folks, I'm glad that for some time now, there is nothing from the so-called "Men-of-God" to torment our ears and minds. Their so-called prophecies of doom have made their expected and predictable rounds just as the mischief, treachery, trickery, and chicanery of their political allies have. Together, they have succeeded in spinning reality on its head to suit their purposes. But the truth is that they are known for their fruits. No more!!

Not only am I happy that they are no more on the horizon with their prophecies of doom but I am gratified that happenings have proved that the destiny of human beings is in their own hands. It all depends on how we approach the things of Nature and how we position ourselves to be or not to be.

But here is one particular “Man-of-God” to take note of: T.B. Joshua, Senior Pastor of the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Nigeria. The headline about his latest showing off says a lot about his latest tittle-tattle:” "TB Joshua promises 2,000 bottles of holy water to fight Ebola" (See: http://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2014/August-7th/tb-joshua-promises-2000-bottles-of-holy-water-to-fight-ebola.php).

Fighting Ebola with holy water? I have insisted that for as long as these charlatans parading as "Men-of-God" don't know that spiritual problems are solved spiritually and physical ones physically, they will come across to me as confidence tricksters to be pooh-poohed. 

The Ebola scare has really proved to me that any mindless approach to the things of life in terms of health and sanitation could be more disastrous than imagined. Take, for instance, the situation in the countries being ravaged by this Ebola plague. Where are the "Men-of-God" of those countries who have all along claimed to have been endowed with the "power" to foresee future events? Could they not see the Ebola scourge approaching to alert us to?

And TB Joshua too? Why has he gone the way that submarines go when most needed at this time (based on his own irritating boasts of being able to peek far into the future to alert us about)? His own country, Nigeria, is being ravaged by Boko Haram and he has not been able to predict anything or to help the authorities know what will be happening the next moment.

More than 200 Christian young women at the secondary school in Chibok were kidnapped and have not been heard of or seen since April 14. Could TB Joshua and his counterpart (Bishop Ayedepo ) who owns jets that he wants to sell to make more money (or whatever) not have foreseen that sordid happening to alert the authorities on? Why are they not using their so-called God-given spiritual powers to help us solve existential problems even before we die to be judged and consigned to a perpetual realm of hellfire and brimstone (for the unrepentant ones, according to their doctrine of fear perpetration)?

Turning the searchlight round to focus on Ghana, we wonder where all the so-called spiritualists (Christian or traditional African religionists) are. Why can't they invoke their powers to help us solve our existential problems? What has become of their prowess? Are they going to the same markets that the ordinary Ghanaian goes to complain about the high cost of living? Why can't they invoke their gods to help us find solutions to our existential problems and not only concentrate on politically motivated prophecies of doom?

Have they all not turned into politicians of different shades? Take the Methodist priest in Obuasi (Rev. Bosumtwi), for instance, and place his effusions in the proper context. Is he endowed with only the spiritual power of seeing evil about President Mahama and his government? What kind of God will endow him with that kind of power, anyway? Even the Elijahs and the Elishas did see good things about the systems that they criticized and whose doom they prophesied.

Why is it difficult for the Ghanaian (or African, for that matter) spiritual leader (especially those operating under the guise of Christianity) to see anything good about the government in power that they are not politically inclined to support?

And why is it that it is only the "Men-of-God" who are in the forefront, playing the frontline role of undermining governments that they don't like just because they have been set up by their political paymasters to act the way they do? Where are the "Women-of-Good" in this equation? We ask this question because we know that there are some women spiritualists who can as well be heard of but are suppressed and discriminated against by their male counterparts who have arrogated to themselves this power of being "the messengers of God" and, therefore, hogging space and bulldozing their way through to present themselves as the bearers of messages of gloom and doom. And God looks on unconcerned for his messengers to muddy the waters? What sort of God could that be?

Folks, we can tell that in our part of the world, we are really lazy thinkers and not doers. We bury ourselves in some kind of phantom that ends up confusing us all the more. To imagine that a former President, John Agyekum Kufuor, would even suggest that national leaders need religion to guide them in what they do in office is nauseating. What kind of religion could he be talking about? A religion that allows the privileged people to impose their will on the vast majority of the deprived, poor, and suffering citizens whose toil feeds and sustains the national coffers that the clever thieves parading as their leaders unceasingly pillage? So much to puke over.

Clearly, one may want to question the sensibility or religious justification for what Kufuor did with the Rev. Samuel Asante Antwi (now a big shot in the NPP), Adjin Asare,  and Mensa Otabil, among others, who assembled at the Osu Castle in January 2001 to pray and perform rituals ostensibly to exorcize the evil spirits that the claimed Rawlings had instituted at the Osu Castle? Where are all the so-called "Men-of-God" today that problems beyond human comprehension are erupting to torment poor citizens who attend their churches and offer whatever they have to support their self-aggrandizement?

In this situation, one needs no divine power to conclude that anything that is couched in spirituality and propagated vehemently by people hoisting the flag of religion should be viewed with maximum suspicion. After all, religion has no other objective but to stultify proper thinking. It kills initiative, especially if that initiative will reveal insights to expose its wile and deception. That is why someone like Karl Marx could easily label religion as the opium of the people. It is based on dogma and will survive only on dogma. It seeks to control the individual in any way possible, just as politics does. The painful truth, though is that both religion and politics are bedfellows. Where do the poor citizens not interested in that kind of "fellowship" lie? Between the devil and the deep blue sea? For what purpose but doom?

Folks, it is obvious that Ghana has been hijacked by charlatans parading as religious characters. Every corner in the country is dotted with all manner of churches and people professing Christianity by word of mouth. Indeed, the truth is that Christianity is a lifestyle to be lived and not professed by any word of mouth. As Jesus told those seeking to follow him for the benefits of his Ministry, self-denial does it all. How many of these so-called "Men-of-God" has been able to return home to sell all that they have before returning to pick up the pieces to follow Christ? You, be the judge!

I shall return…

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