I have no problem with your first point. It is the degree to which religions and religiousity have drowned our reasoning daculty and enthroned complacency, promoted lethargy, endorsed violence and corruption! It is a common scene to read about the corrupt leaders who daily rob the society silly and have caused the whole mess we find ourselves in, pontificating and recommending that the same people he had robbed and deprived of basic amenities and social infrastructure should turn to God for help! Guess what? The people would listen to his bundle of lies and troop to Mosques on Friday and Churches on Sunday. Of course Baba God cannot be deceived nor will He bother Himself will a bunch of ignorant people.(My people perish for lack of knowledge)
But I feel worried about your position on, " (2) That the just God approved a project in which an innocent man was killed for the sins of others is the greatest blasphemy." I think your assumption is premised on quoting out of context.
The "scapegoat motif" is a universal concept which at first appears babaric but on a closer look, shows a profound logic that the best of truly cultured human minds have come to embrace as a better options of two ugly situations. Let me make it simpler. Which one is more preferable, God's preference for shedding the precious blood of a "just man" and sparing a whole human race, in the case of Jesus Christ, or should He simply close His eyes and watch the entire human race perish?
Let me illustrate with two of Wole Soyinka's classics, "The Strong Breed" and "Death and the King's Horseman" in which he explored the theme of scapegoatism and goes further to approve it by way of the roles of Ema in the Strong Breed, and the story narrated by Olunde (son of the Horseman) while discussing with Mrs Pilkins in Death and the King's Horseman.
The story involves a ship captain, presumably, during WWII. The ship which was said to be carrying some lethal gas had berthed at the coast of a city. There was a leakage of the poisonous gas on board the ship which put the lives of all the people at the coastal city at great risk of perishing. The only solution was for a volunteer to torch the gas tank so the whole gas could be consumed in a ball of fire. Of course the volunteer would perish in the inferno but the whole city would be spared of looming death by lethal gas.
The narrative concludes that the captain of the ship volunteered himself and was celebrated through the drama as a great hero. The brief narrative is indeed the sub plot of Death and the King's Horseman and it undercores the interventionist role of the "scapegoat hero". Yes, life is precious, one or two or millions but there is a fine and universally accepted logic in sacrificing one life to save many.
Let me bore you a little more: about a year or so ago, an American ship was "captured" by some sea pirates along the African coasts. The ship captain simply surrendered himself and pleaded that the pirates should allow his crew members to go. The pirates obliged the captain who was then whisked away. He was willing to lay his life down for his crew. But you can trust President Obama's America, the ship captain was freed a couple of hours later by a detachment of American military personnel in a rescue operation. I am sure he was ready for the worse. The captain could have been killed by the pirates but the crew members were spared. That is the logic of the scapegoat motif.
Any lesson for Nigerians? Definitely, yes!
If the Nigerian leaders could think less of themselves and their own family and do more for the society they represent or pretend to govern even at the cost of dear life, like the two ship captains did, or like Olunde who willingly takes the place of his father by commiting ritual suicide in order to save his community, there certainly would have been less corruption in the land, and the country would have been the better for it.
Therefore, it is not blasphemous for Christians to appreciate, confess and express God's love for the world as demonstrated by His decision to give the "Just Man" the sacrificial Lamb in order to save a condemened world.(John 3:16).
Ademola Omobewaji DASYLVA, PhD,
Visiting Professor of African Literature,
Department of English,
Redeemer's University (RUN),
Mowe, Km 46, Lagos-Ibadan Express Way,
Ogun State, Nigeria.
Mobile: +234 (0)802 350 4755
+234 (0)706 226 4090
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Web: arts.ui.edu.ng/aodasylva
E-mail: a.dasylva@ibadanculturalstudiesgroup.org
a.dasylva@mail.ui.edu.ng
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