KENEZIANISM IS RENASCENT IGBO RELIGION THAT FOCUSES ON TOTALITARIAN OBEDIENCE TO ALL THE ETERNAL AND NATURAL LAWS IN CREATION AS ONE WORLD RELIGION THAT CAN ENTHRONE A LASTING GLOBAL PEACE IN OUR DIGITALISED GLOBAL VILLAGE
THE INTEGRATIONAL SPIRITAN MOVEMENT
Founded in 1990, is an interdisciplinary
socio-cultural organisation for modern scientists who desire a self- fulfilled
life spiced with spiritual devotion, wisdom and peace of mind.
Our
motto speaks volumes for itself;
ONE ALMIGHTY CREATOR,
ONE CREATED UNIVERSE,
ONE HUMAN FAMILY!
ISBN: 987 -
………………..………………..……………………
© 2001 - 2011 Rev. Prof. J. J. KENEZ
First Published as a Newsletter in 1999 &
Revised in 2001
COPYRIGHTS: ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this work may be reproduced, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means; electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, or stored in any retrieval system, of any nature,
without the written permission of the author.
Published
& Printed By:
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Villa, Umuelechi, Umuezeawala, Ihiala.
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BIAFURU AMAMIFE
ND’IGBO NIME R .O. B
Kenez
International Humanitarian Organisations Linkage
Email: saintkenez@yahoo.co.uk or www.happyfamilynetwork.hpage.com
A KENEZIAN PREFACE
INTRODUCTION TO INTEGRATIONAL SPIRITAN MOVEMENT
The Computer-Age Spiritual Fellowship for Citizens of Our
Global Village
Many people are mere
conformists. They are those personalities that are satisfied with ‘going
through the motions’; doing what everyone else is doing to make a living and
waiting for the final ‘call to glory’ as they brand death! Many of us are born
and live an inconsequential life; bland, uneventful and without anything
particular to be remembered for after our exit from this mundane world, a
temporal habitation for the soul. There are some others, whose lives and
contributions to the society made a difference! They changed the ‘status quo’
by either extending the frontiers of knowledge or developing their immediate
communities. They improved the understanding of human nature and taught others the
values of humanitarianism. These heroes and heroines touched the lives of many
both inter-racially and internationally.
They added colour to
the doldrums of routine existence on planet earth!
A few had tall dreams
and went ahead to transform them into reality despite all odds. This group
devised methods of changing the deplorable situations and the deprived
circumstances of the lifestyle they met on becoming adults. Some adolescents
dream of the courage to better their social status, but often take off on the
wrong foot of seeking for titles, money, fame and crowning it all with
indulging in romantic relationships.
Others dared to pursue
the unknown, to break new grounds and blaze trails for followers to tread on.
Their zeal, inquisitiveness, passion, persistence, desire, motivations and
prayers were fully rewarded if they paid the prize for success; optimism,
dedication and the refusal to quit. Their philosophy of life was ‘When the task
gets tough, the tough get it going!’, ‘Never say, never again!’ or ‘All that it
takes to make the impossible possible is the power to remove the ‘im’ in front of the possible!’
They eventually became
geniuses, inventors, explorers, leaders or discoverers! They evolved into the
innovators and pioneers who helped to enlarge the frontiers of human
civilisations and removed the age-old boundaries of the unknown. Joining this
select group of animators or league of achievers is usually not by accident or
by mere wishful thinking. Beyond desire and hard work is a divine factor that
must be recognised, respected and appropriated in unveiling the unknown that
the Divine Architect had hidden there for ages waiting for a brave soul to
convert it from obscure dormancy to utilitarian vibrancy. This author, Dr Kenez
wants to know where you belong in this universal continuum. Or, are you waiting
for ‘manna from heaven’?
Historians inform us
that Christopher Columbus actually set out to discover another route to India Americas Panama Canal has made it possible
to access the Eastern Regions of the World while travelling continuously to the
west! Inventors, Discoverers and occasionally, religious leaders emerge from
obscure communities of despised nations to beam supernatural light and divine
wisdom of the Creator!
Those who search will
eventually discover something unique. Those who ask penetrating questions may
one day obtain answers from above rather than human palliatives that rarely
satisfy the saintly soul. Those who ardently knock on the doors of heavenly
wisdom, sooner than later gain divine inspirations from the Holy Spirit of the
Original Architect and Ultimate Engineer of the earth we inhabit! He alone has
all the answers to all physical, social, mental, spiritual and the personal and
socio-political problems of our mundane world, if only we humble ourselves and
honestly ask for his wisdom and guidance. But, do we?
The Creator has hidden
so much from our intellectual faculties that to date we are still unravelling
those He is allowing humanity to glimpse at through divine dreams, intuitions,
inspirations and revelations to devout souls! Do you want to have supernatural
knowledge mediated by spiritual faculties of seeing, feeling, sensing and
caring for others? Look inwards, for the kingdom of God
The creator gave humans some of
his powers and knowledge for recreating the material universe for the mutual
benefits of all his created beings but today many use his gifts to perpetrate
evil. Either by design or demonic manipulation, the obverse is the case; the
first datum that every living thing recognises is that someone put it here and
caters for its welfare. Dogs respect and fight in defence of their owners.
Every pet realises that it is loved and taken care of by someone who has value
for its existence. It is human who pride themselves of being rational beings
that do not recognise, respect or realise that all of us have a single owner.
It is absurd! Some believe there is an Almighty Creator who provides for each
creature on daily basis, some assert that he has turned his back on us due to
our congenital wickedness and cruel ways, while others simply deny his
existence!
This is my summation of the problem; “Religion
was/is a superstitious search by humanity for its origin, existence, meaning
and relevance before the scientific era. The search was led by acclaimed sages
among the elders of a community who defined its theories and practices. It is
later ratified and recommended for legislation and implementation by state
apparatus by convincing stratagem or coercion by politico-religious leaders.
Thereafter, it is fine tuned and administered by ordained priests and
priestesses who hand it down along ancestral lineages from one generation of
lukewarm adherents, fanatics and mystics to another. Gradually, strong
personalities emerge claiming divine appointment and so pull strong followers
who idolise them as role models with supernatural powers. This obsession
confirms them as beacons of adulation and finally leads to full scale idolatry.
Religion, which is superstition sanctioned by the
state, is actually an addiction to man-made doctrines and dogmas invented,
patented and copyrighted by a few demagogues.
- It
enslaves the mind more than psychoactive drugs,
- Benumbs
human creativity and resourcefulness thereby
- Restricting
the development of the human potential and capital.
It is the main cause of poverty of the mind and
underdevelopment of third world countries as its side-effects are indolence,
redundancy, laziness and dependence of finished products and services. In the
final analysis, it is the predisposing factor to lack of initiative,
debilitating ignorance, fetish belief-systems, abject poverty and perennial
ill-health.
Perhaps its only advantage is that it makes the
polity docile and amenable to the whims and caprices of their oppressive
leaders. Often, it hoodwinks its adherents into believing that ‘The God’ or
‘the gods’ they worship speak to them through the voices of their egocentric
clerics who therefore can conveniently exploit them to satisfy their demonic
desires of sensual pleasure and inordinate ambitions of amassing wealth. Their
wanton indulgence in gluttony, wine and women is seen in every action and
definitely this is the foolproof evidence of their demonic genealogy.
To rescue humanity from the demonic stranglehold of
idolatry that now predominates worldwide, you are invited to reason along with
us and see that we provide an everlasting cure for sensual lust for food, wine,
sex, wealth and power that are the trademarks of society heading for damnation!
Are you going to sit on the fence and wait for another failed experiment in
Messiahship that was riddled with myopic and ethnocentric bias? Who knows the
Creator well enough to declare that he has ‘a chosen people’? Where is the
evidence that Moses actually led the so-called people out of any oppressive regime?
The history books and modern encyclopaedia did not record the enslavement of
the Jewish race except as ‘they were believed as revealed truths’.
Then he went on to introduce the first and most
heinous dichotomy in racism; JEWS and GENTILES! The negative impact of that
first categorisation of humanity gave birth to all the nepotic, apartheid and
racist policies in the entire world. If you care to join us in a sanitation
exercise that will guarantee a better future for your children, the come and
witness the development of religion from time immemorial to evaluate it
subjugation to man-made doctrines, dogmas and modes of worship that are
irreligious. Thereafter, we can seek for solutions as proposed by the
computer-age Integrational fellowship; I S M.
THE REVOLUTIONARY DEPOSITION
IMPORTED
RELIGIONS BROUGHT OUR DECLINE IN SOCIAL MORALITY
The Genesis of Immorality in Biafra Was the Assimilation of Westernisation
The
desecration of our pre-colonial high moral values started with the arrival of
the first white missionaries in West Africa . What the natives called
“NSO-ANI” was re-branded FORGIVEABLE SINS and so watered down the sanctity of
religious values in Biafra . Its partner, WESTERN EDUCATION
neatly completed the ‘coup de grace’ as the foreign concepts and social values
of the colonialists destroyed the social ethics of the natives and rendered our
pristine mores and norms ineffective. In some communities; “aping the white
man’s dress code and mannerisms became fashionable and ignoring the customs and
traditions of the community was seen as the criterion of being EDUCATED and
MORE CIVILISED than the illiterate folks in the villages!
---------DR
JIDEOFO KENECHUKWU DANMBAEZUE, @ 30/06/2013 04:14:32 HRS GMT.
PREAMBLE TO AUTHENTICITY OF RELIGIOUS
BEHAVIOUR
Daily we interact with our parents, siblings, immediate
relatives and neighbours in our small circles of physical habitations. When we
travel outside our ethnic and national boundaries, we run into different
personalities we love to hate or vice versa, who consciously or unconsciously
influence our lives positively or negatively. Have you ever sat down and taken
stock of what you have become over the last ten years?
Many people you see, meet with and/or socialise with are mere
conformists. They are those personalities that are satisfied with ‘going
through the motions’; doing what everyone else is doing to make a living and
waiting for the final ‘call to glory’ as they brand death! Many of us are born
and live an inconsequential life; bland, uneventful and without anything
particular to be remembered for after our exit from this mundane world, a
temporal habitation for the soul.
There are some others, whose lives and contributions to the
society made a difference! They changed the ‘status quo’ by either extending
the frontiers of knowledge or developing their immediate communities. They
improved the understanding of human nature and taught others the values of
humanitarianism. These heroes and heroines touched the lives of many
intellectually and socially which elevated brotherhood of mankind both
inter-racially and internationally.
These agents of change were the true sons and daughters of
the Almighty Creator of the universe. They added colour to daily routines and
the doldrums of routine existence on planet earth! A few had tall dreams and
went ahead to transform them into reality despite all odds. This group devised
methods of changing the deplorable situations and the deprived circumstances of
the lifestyle they met on becoming adults. Some adolescents dream of the
courage to better their social status, but often take off on the wrong foot of
seeking for titles, money, fame and crowning it all with indulging in romantic
relationships.
Others dared to pursue the unknown, to break new
grounds and blaze trails for followers to tread on. Their zeal,
inquisitiveness, passion, persistence, desire, motivations and prayers were
fully rewarded if they paid the prize for success; optimism, dedication and the
refusal to quit. Their philosophy of life was ‘When the task gets tough, the
tough get it going!’, ‘Never say, never again!’ or ‘All that it takes to make
the impossible possible is the power to remove the ‘im’ in front of the possible!’ They
eventually became geniuses, inventors, explorers, leaders or discoverers! They
evolved into the innovators and pioneers who helped to enlarge the frontiers of
human civilisations and removed the age-old boundaries of the unknown. They
were the catalysts of the world!
Historians inform us that Christopher Columbus actually set
out to discover another route to India America Panama Canal has made it possible to access the Eastern
Regions of the world while travelling continuously to the west! Inventors,
Discoverers and occasionally, religious leaders emerge from obscure communities
of despised nations to beam supernatural light and divine wisdom of the
Creator!
Joining this select group of animators or league of achievers
is usually not by accident or by mere wishful thinking. Beyond the routine
duties of satisfying the five senses of the body lies the desire to excel in
unexplored areas of human existence and the freedom to choose a divergent track
that levies hard work is a divine factor that must be recognised, respected and
appropriated in unveiling the unknown that the Divine Architect had hidden
there for ages waiting for a brave soul to convert it from obscure dormancy to
utilitarian vibrancy. This author, a global agent of spiritual evolution, Dr J.
J. Kenez wants to know where you belong in this universal continuum of
innovators. Or, are you waiting for ‘manna from heaven’?
Those who place priority on breaking new grounds and
earnestly search for better alternatives will eventually discover something
unique. Those who ask penetrating questions may one day obtain answers from
above rather than the routine human palliatives that rarely satisfy the saintly
soul. Those who ardently knock on the doors of heavenly wisdom, sooner than
later gain divine inspirations from the Holy Spirit of the Original Architect
and Ultimate Engineer of the earth we inhabit! He alone has all the answers to
all physical, social, mental, spiritual and the personal and socio-political
problems of our mundane world, if only we humble ourselves and honestly ask for
his wisdom and guidance. But, do we?
The Creator has hidden so much from our intellectual faculties
that to date we are still unravelling those He is allowing humanity to glimpse
at through divine dreams, intuitions, inspirations and revelations to devout
souls! Do you want to have supernatural knowledge mediated by spiritual
faculties of seeing, feeling, sensing and caring for others? Look inwards, for
the kingdom of God
The creator gave humans some of his powers and knowledge for
recreating the material universe for the mutual benefits of all his created
beings. The obverse is the case! Today
many use his gifts to perpetrate evil. Either by design or demonic
manipulation, ingrates abound everywhere and dominate the scene. The first
datum that every living thing recognises is that someone put it here and caters
for its welfare. Dogs respect and fight in defence of their owners. Every pet
realises that it is loved and taken care of by someone who has value for its
existence. It is only human beings, who pride themselves of being rational
beings that do not recognise, respect or realise that all of us have a single
owner, a caretaker and benevolent father/mother. Meditate over this assertion
for a minute and provide me an answer.
It is
absurd! It is unintelligent. It is unlike what a rational being can do.
Yet,
that is only a tip of the iceberg of irreverent religiosity in our global
village.
Some learned fools insist that everything came by chance and
hold on to the theory of evolution! Despite knowing that the common wristwatch
could never have arrived by blind chance and that computers and the Internet
had inventors, this brand of demented humans refuse to see and acknowledge the
great artistry and creative ingenuity in what they indulge in on a daily basis
to survive till the next morning! Some believe there is an Almighty Creator who
provides for each creature on a daily basis, some assert that he has turned his
back on us due to our congenital wickedness and cruel ways, while others simply
deny his existence!
DECLINE IN SOCIAL ETHICS IS THE CRUX OF
MORAL DEPRAVITY
Double-faced Christians and
Muslims now abound everywhere; they worship Satan at night and come to
church/mosque on Fridays/Sundays! This lifestyle has eroded the credentials of
our forebears! There is now, an urgent need to redeem our children from these
nefarious practices! We must revert to the legacies of our renowned
grandfathers, improve on it and bequeath the next generation a better religious
legacy than we had!
If you are concerned that our
children need fresh religious air that suits this global village and that
posterity deserves a better lifestyle devoid of wearing masks of deceit,
pretences, subterfuges, ‘holier-than-thou’ attitudes, then join us in the
sanitation exercise. Your offspring will remain forever grateful that a select
group of enlightened ‘Homo sapiens sapientis’ took the bull by the horns to
avert the perilous moral decadence that is steadily turning all of us into
unabashed hypocrites, unrepentant fanatics and deluded mystics. You are welcome!
Culture is a summation of
ethnocentric survival strategies that each sub-unit of humanity had developed
over the centuries, institutionalized and passed on to their
descendants. The sons and daughters of the Almighty Creator have ignored their ONE
CULTURE; which is OBEDIENCE TO ALL THE NATURAL LAWS as ONE WORLD RELIGION. That
is what we desperately need today just we use cellular phones and the Internet
without killing anyone. Respect for and obedience to all the laws of nature is
the key for a peaceful world with beautiful people living, loving and sharing
the Creator's benefits as equal heirs to his blissful global world that we now
share amicably thanks to scientists who have uncovered his designs for our
mutual existence. LET US LIVE IN PEACE! This is the ‘One Global Religion’
that humanity needs now for ‘One Peaceful Global Village! Here I rest my
case/pen!
You are welcome to “Let us reason together”
as Isaiah, the prophet invited his kinsmen many centuries ago or sit on the
fence and die unenlightened by genuine Aristotelian-Kantian combine of
deductive and inductive logic, aided by current fund of science knowledge and
enquiry to unravel the fables and legends that are now labelled as theology!
There is nothing theological about an accumulation of guesswork done by
primitive men! They are simply a collection of puerile belief in man-made
doctrines, dogmas and rituals that is steadily pushing the humane race to
annihilation. Here, I rest my objective of penning this protracted but
comprehensive diatribe. Call it heresy, if you like. I do not care a dime.
Truth is supreme! Truth is Life, my people declare!
The author took his two sons to participate in the ANAMBRA CULTURAL DAY
CELEBRATIONS at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in 1995 for their first exposure to
fully traditional dances and masquerade festival. They enjoyed it!
RESUME OF MY DEPOSITION
Just type RENASCENT IGBO RELIGION into Google Search and see the
volumes I had written on how, why and wherefore our traditional "NSO ANI" i.e. AVOIDNACE OF DESECRATION OF
NATURAL LAWS is the best religion in the whole
world, yet we prefer to swim in foreign religions and create an immoral nation
wherein demonic politicians and pecuniary religious leaders swindle us and
smile to the banks!!
YOU CAN FOOL ALL THE PEOPLE SOME OF THE TIME, AND YOU
CAN ALSO FOOL SOME OF THE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME, BUT YOU CAN NEVER FOOL ALL THE PEOPLE
ALL THE TIME, TALK LESS OF ATTEMPTING TO FOOL GOD AT ANY TIME.
CHAPTER ONE
DELIMITING OUR UNIVERSE OF DISCOURSE
The demands of Formal Logic dictate that we begin our
dissertation from the very beginning of the theories and practices that gave
birth to the doctrines and dogmas that various religious demagogues invented
and developed over the centuries!
UNIVERSAL
DEFINITION OF RELIGION
Let us start with this unabridged and unedited from Microsoft ®
Encarta ® 2009
“Religion is the sacred engagement with that
which is believed to be a spiritual reality. Religion is a worldwide phenomenon
that has played a part in all human culture and so is a much broader, more
complex category than the set of beliefs or practices found in any single
religious tradition. An adequate understanding of religion must take into
account its distinctive qualities and patterns as a form of human experience,
as well as the similarities and differences in religions across human cultures.
In all cultures, human beings make a practice of interacting
with what are taken to be spiritual powers. These powers may be in the form of
gods, spirits, ancestors, or any kind of sacred reality with which humans
believe themselves to be connected. Sometimes a spiritual power is understood
broadly as an all-embracing reality (see Pantheism), and sometimes it is
approached through its manifestation in special symbols. It may be regarded as
external to the self, internal, or both. People interact with such a presence
in a sacred manner—that is, with reverence and care. Religion is the
term most commonly used to designate this complex and diverse realm of human
experience.”
“The word religion is derived
from the Latin noun religio, which denotes both earnest observance of
ritual obligations and an inward spirit of reverence. In modern usage, religion
covers a wide spectrum of meanings that reflect the enormous variety of ways
the term can be interpreted. At one extreme, many committed believers recognize
only their own tradition as a religion, understanding expressions such as worship
and prayer to refer exclusively to the practices of their tradition.
Although many believers stop short of claiming an exclusive status for their
tradition, they may nevertheless use vague or idealizing terms in defining
religion—for example, “true love of God,” or “the path of enlightenment.” At
the other extreme, religion may be equated with ignorance, fanaticism, or
wishful thinking.”
“By defining religion as a
sacred engagement with what is taken to be a spiritual reality, it is possible
to consider the importance of religion in human life without making claims
about what it really is or ought to be. Religion is not an object with a
single, fixed meaning, or even a zone with clear boundaries. It is an aspect of
human experience that may intersect, incorporate, or transcend other aspects of
life and society. Such a definition avoids the drawbacks of limiting the
investigation of religion to Western or biblical categories such as monotheism
(belief in one god only) or to church structure, which are not universal. For
example, in tribal societies, religion—unlike the Christian church—usually is
not a separate institution but pervades the whole of public and private life.
In Buddhism, gods are not as central as the idea of a Buddha (fully
enlightened human being). In many traditional cultures the idea of a sacred
cosmic order is the most prominent religious belief. Because of this variety,
some scholars prefer to use a general term such as the sacred to
designate the common foundation of religious life.”
“Religion in this understanding
includes a complex of activities that cannot be reduced to any single aspect of
human experience. It is a part of individual life but also of group dynamics.
Religion includes patterns of behavior but also patterns of language and
thought. It is sometimes a highly organized institution that sets itself apart
from a culture, and it is sometimes an integral part of a culture. Religious
experience may be expressed in visual symbols, dance and performance, elaborate
philosophical systems, legendary and imaginative stories, formal ceremonies,
meditative techniques, and detailed rules of ethical conduct and law. Each of
these elements assumes innumerable cultural forms. In some ways there are as
many forms of religious expression as there are human cultural environments.”
Microsoft ®
Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
KENEZIAN
DEFINITION OF RELIGION
“Religion was/is a superstitious search by
humanity for its origin, existence, meaning and relevance before the scientific
era. The search was led by acclaimed sages among the elders of a community who
defined its theories and practices. It is later ratified and recommended for
legislation and implementation by state apparatus by convincing stratagem or
coercion by politico-religious leaders. Thereafter, it is fine tuned and
administered by ordained priests and priestesses who hand it down along
ancestral lineages from one generation of lukewarm adherents, fanatics and
mystics to another. Gradually, strong personalities emerge claiming divine
appointment and so pull strong followers who idolise them as role models with
supernatural powers. This obsession confirms them as beacons of adulation and
finally leads to full scale idolatry.
Religion, which is superstition sanctioned by
the state, is actually an addiction to man-made doctrines and dogmas invented,
patented and copyrighted by a few demagogues.
- It enslaves the mind more than psychoactive drugs,
- Benumbs human creativity and resourcefulness thereby
- Restricting the development of the human potential and
capital.
It is the main cause of poverty of the mind and
underdevelopment of third world countries as its side-effects are indolence,
redundancy, laziness and dependence of finished products and services. In the
final analysis, it is the predisposing factor to lack of initiative,
debilitating ignorance, fetish belief-systems, abject poverty and perennial
ill-health. Perhaps its only advantage is that it makes the polity docile and
amenable to the whims and caprices of their oppressive leaders. Often, it
hoodwinks its adherents into believing that ‘The God’ or ‘the gods’ they
worship speak to them through the voices of their egocentric clerics who
therefore can conveniently exploit them to satisfy their demonic desires of
sensual pleasure and inordinate ambitions of amassing wealth. Their wanton
indulgence in gluttony, wine and women is seen in every action and definitely
this is the foolproof evidence of their demonic genealogy.” ( Dr Kenez 1991)
From the Animator’s Introduction to Integrational
Spiritan Movement I S M Manifesto
SEE APPENDIX A
To rescue humanity from the demonic stranglehold of idolatry
that now predominates worldwide, you are invited to reason along with us and
see that we provide an everlasting cure for sensual lust for food, wine, sex,
wealth and power that are the trademarks of a society heading for damnation!
Are you going to sit on the fence and wait for another failed experiment in
Messiahship that was riddled with myopic and ethnocentric bias? Who knows the
Creator well enough to declare that he has ‘a chosen people’? Where is the evidence
that Moses actually led the so-called people out of any oppressive regime? The
history books and modern encyclopaedia did not record the enslavement of the
Jewish race except as ‘they were believed as revealed truths’. Then Moses, who
was brought up in an Egyptian royal court went on to introduce the first and
most heinous dichotomy in racism; JEWS and GENTILES! The negative impact of
that first categorisation of humanity gave birth to all the nepotic, apartheid
and racist policies in the entire world.
There is a plethora of ancient and modern major world
religions. In each, there are factions, sects and denominations. It is
syncretism galore! The name of the game is “join our own, ours is the one
prospering for now!” It is a religious market. It is a mad world. Many
nationals all over the globe are smarting under the colonial yoke of Roman
Catholicism or Islamism. The intriguing aspect of this brand of neo-colonialism
is that it brews dogmas and doctrines that propel fanatical members to kill or
be killed in the name of ‘God’. Religious fanaticism or mysticism is a
religio-psychiatric personality disorder that has never been classified by any
DSM and so has never been diagnosed and managed as other psychopathological
conditions that present in health services all over the world!
If you care to join us in a
sanitation exercise that will guarantee a better future for your children, then
come and witness the development of religion from time immemorial to evaluate
its subjugation to man-made doctrines, dogmas and modes of worship that are
irreligious. Thereafter, we can seek for solutions as proposed by the
computer-age integrational fellowship; INTEGRATIONAL SPIRITAN MOVEMENT,
abbreviated thus: I S M. This medical scientist, pragmatic researcher and existential
therapist, is proposing that we scrutinise all the religious and ethnocentric
prejudices that had enslaved many children right from birth, who were born into
their parents religio-cultural practices and were never given the freedom to
search for objective methods of relating to their maker and other humans. Can
you join us to make this feasible?
………………………………………….……Rev. Prof. J.
J. KENEZ (11th Nov. 2009 )
CHAPTER TWO
A SAMPLE OF HOW IMPORTED FALSE RELIGIOUS LIFESTYLES HAVE DESECRATED OUR
TRADITIONAL SANCTITY; MORES, NORMS AND ETHICAL VALUES
Where I was born,
we have this local saying; ‘He who does not know where the rainfall starting
beating him, will never know where it stopped’. Another warns; “A rat that
joins a lizard in playing in the rain, to remember that when the lizard is dry,
it will still be wet.”
In my culture,
one does not interpret proverbs. I dare do so for my readers who are
non-indigenes of Igbo land; both idioms imply that anyone who does not know who
he is or where he is coming from will definitely not know where he is going!
The words of the elders of my people of Biafra are definitely
words of wisdom. They can write a doctoral thesis with just an idiom or a
statement of the fact with a simple analogy!
Let’s look at
these: The bat is totally blind and is neither an animal of the sky nor of the
land! The bat is neither a bird nor a rodent for it hasn’t any feathers yet it
flies! And though it has the anatomy of mammals and a skin with furs it neither
crawls nor runs on all fours, yet it feeds like birds, amphibians and rodents!
The bat says he knows how ugly it is, so it has resolved to fly only at night!
What a tragedy! These unreverend men and women should emulate the bat!
There
was a time when Catholic Reverend Fathers and Reverend Sisters on missionary
services in this country were really admired, respected and idolised! That was
in my teens when the Late Bishop Shanahan was still an ordinary priest! Rev.
Fr. Bindel was the Parish Priest of Ihiala, then a very large area extending as
far away as Emekuku, Orlu and Oguta! They rode long distances on Hercules
bicycles carrying out their evangelistic duties. They trekked most of the time
and made converts by using the very few semi-literate natives as their
interpreters!
These
interpreters were later promoted to Catechists and soon wielded much power!
They taught pagans catechism classes in the vernacular language and only those
they certified as having passed their examinations were baptised. They stood
between every catechumen and the sacraments of baptism, confession,
confirmation, matrimony and even the irregular reception of the Holy Eucharist!
You could neither see any Rev. Fr. nor receive any of these sacraments without
greasing their palms! No girls or women ever came close to the parish houses,
not to mention having handshakes with any priest!
The
Rev. Sisters wore sparkling ankle-length white gowns and their head-gear with a
tall hood and overflowing veils covered every part of their heads except for
just the outline of their faces. I never saw their ears! To us little urchins
at the turn of the century, they were angels. After all the pictures in our
catechism classes were made of white skins. They were all white women. We never
dreamt that we would, in later years, have our own black sisters and daughters
qualified to become Rev. Sisters. No one ever imagined that a black skinned
woman could ever be dressed like these white angels. These angels were our
earliest teachers, nurses, midwives and doctors. They ran the few mission
schools and hospitals that were then in existence at Ihiala and Emekuku. We
adored and loved them for their motherly care but, at the same time, we hated
their injection needles!
We
were told that both the priests and nuns were virgins. It was even rumoured
that they had no sexual parts to their bodies. They were ‘castrated’ was the
naïve belief that made the rumour rounds then! We assumed that the nuns had
neither breasts nor large buttocks like our mothers and aunts! How were we to
find out? The priests were covered all over with their flowing white soutanes
that they never put off in our presence. “Did they ever urinate or defecate?”
we wondered! I never saw any of them in short knickers although I was a mass
server for several years at St Martin ’s
Parish, Odo-ata Ihiala, now in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra
State
That
the priests were chaste and the nuns, virgins, were assumed! We never saw the
priests and nuns chat together, hug each other or stroll along any road side by
side. They were discreet and circumspect. They were conscious of their vows of
celibacy and public image knowing that they were continuously being watched day
and night. So, they never scandalised us nor gave us the chance to suspect
them! That was in the early 1930s and 1940s. We gradually began to notice that
many nuns went on leaves that were termed “annual” and understood why some
others that lasted beyond twelve months were termed “sudden”, “casual” or
“sick.” Soon, our own sons and daughters were admitted into seminaries and
convents. By the 1950s, some were ordained and professed respectively. This
first set never scandalised us! We never suspected that they could lower the
standards set by these missionary white angels! That was before the
Nigeria-Biafra civil war that lasted from 1967 to 1970.
- The wind blew strongly so the hen’s anus was
clearly seen by all!
All
that changed as the scales fell off our eyes. Our religious blinkers were
forcibly removed by what we saw during the civil war at the few Caritas Feeding
Centres that we naturally located within the parish premises. We saw a lot.
Some printable, others not whisper-able! Promiscuity was the mildest term for
describing what the refugee women described as own contributions to the war
effort! Our clergymen and women were the butt of their sexual exploits as
relief items like stockfish, egg-yolk and milk were exchanged for amorous
relationships. Some wore the glamorous foreign dresses donated by CARITAS &
WCC
that were meant for homeless refugees that left their wardrobes behind!
- “Have they also eaten the forbidden fruit”
was the mildest joke about what we knew was happening at our local
parishes. There was a conspiracy of silence by all the culprits!
The
war unmasked everyone. Today, my ten-year-old niece knows that priests are
anything but celibate! Most mass servers can swear that beside heterosexual
indulgence involving widows, married and unmarried women in our parishes, our
self-professed celibates clandestinely practise homosexualism and lesbianism!
It is no longer news that paedophilia is the scourge of the Catholic clergy in
the United States of
America
Even
among our Protestant communities, legally married pastors indulge in adulterous
relationships without any qualms of conscience. Prominent television
evangelists are now caught pants down at brothels. In the Catholic hierarchy,
most of our so-called celibates, males and females, are not only promiscuous,
but revel in homosexual and lesbian relationships. Some are pathological
Casanovas and Nymphomaniacs! Hell is let loose as most of the demons there are
now living in our parishes and convents. It is more of a rat race than an
epidemic! There seems to be gold, silver and bronze prizes reserved for those
who excel in this sexual revolution among our celibate community!
In
addition, no one wants to be left behind to pick up a bronze medal! Some have
secretly fathered children and are using church funds to maintain them. The
female celibates go on the pill or commit abortion monthly, dilatation &
curettage being their favourite option! Others build houses and sponsor their
concubines in tertiary educations. The ‘been-tos’ among them send their
girlfriends overseas for summer holidays. Others receive and entertain their
white girlfriends, right here in Nigeria
No
one seems to be bothered by this anomaly. Recently, however, some local
ordinaries were forced to set up special diocesan tribunals to investigate some
of the reports they received from parishioners who were/are the victims of this
immoral revolution! Some married women have lost their husbands to some pretty
and sensuous Rev. Sisters! Equally, some members of the C.M.O, whose wives have
been snatched by vivacious and amorous Rev. Fathers, are also complaining. Who
can redeem us from these demonic onslaughts? In the mass media, one reads about
kidnapping; which many have re-named “MAN-NAPPING’ considering that most of the
abducted are ADULTS not KIDS! Was that ever heard of in the days of yore? That
was only possible in epochs of inter-communal wars or slave trade, both of
which arrived with the white-man’s settling down and establishing foreign
administrative structures and their legal systems. Wife snatching, rape,
abortion, nymphomania and all other sexual sins; contraception, oral sex,
homosexuality and lesbianism came in the wake of aping the white man’s romantic
behaviour that the youths watched on videos and television screens. The
acceptance of confessions and the ‘sacrament’ of penance worsened an already
degenerating moral decadence!
CHAPTER THREE
FUNDAMENTALS OF IGBO RELIGION
A Preliminary Introduction to RENASCENT IGBO RELIGION
- This is the symbol of Renascent Igbo Religion, RIR.
- The highest number in numerology worldwide is nine and
- The highest fine levied for crimes and offered to the Ultimate
Spirit for absolution
- In ritual worship Igbo land is nine kola nuts and nine alligator
pepper and
- The same number applies to presents given in obeisance to the
highest titled men.
The Igbo has no name for the
Ultimate Giver of Life! All we have are appellations that describe the
superlative traits of this Consummate Spirit that created, creates and will
still continue to create and sustain all the beings, visible and invisible, for
ages in the future;
- Chi-na-eke: the ultimate
spirit that creates
- Chi-ukwu: the greatest spirit
- Obasi bi n-elu: the
omnipotent that lives on high
- Ama-di-oha: the supreme
husband of all
- Ogara-nya ngada-nga: the
wealthiest of the rich
- Ugwu ana-ari-atu egwu: the
highest mountain that is climbed with trepidation
- Ogbajiri igwe kpoo ya nku: He
that breaks steel and calls it dry wood
- Utu na agba igwe: bacteria
that eats up iron, i.e. potent ant that tears iron to shreds
- Ogbu onye mbosi ndu n’ato ya
oto: he that snuffs life off the arrogant
In
our culture, one can only give names to what one owns, has authority over and
can dispose of at will! It is not right to give any name to the creator; we
describe what he is and does; “Chi-na-eke”, meaning; “the divine spirit that
creates” or “Chi-Ukwu”; the Ultimate Spirit!
Therefore, I conclude this prelude thus: May Our Chineke prosper the
work of your hands and provide divine guidance and protection for your spouses
and children. I share in this last prayer and hope that all is well for those
who love Chukwu, the Lord that gives us love and children may always be
diligent in obeying His marriage laws! Amen!
Whereas other nations and cultures
built places of worship for their religions, the Igbo know that the sky is the
dome of the Creator and his illuminating lights are the sun, moon and stars.
They grooves or open squares well planned and decorated are our places of
worship come rain come shine! Most devotional rituals are done in moonlighting
periods as it is cool and lasts the whole night. Above are edifices other major
world religions built. For the Igbo, no human engineered structure is good
enough to be the abode of the supreme spirit that owns the sky, the land and
the sea. He is worshipped in the open!
PANTHEON IN RENASIGBOREL NEEDS MODERNISATION
The most widely worshiped deity of the Igbo
was clearly the Earth goddess, ALA
Thus she became the deity that must be
placated first for protection before one is clean enough to approach Chineke or
else face the wrath of Amadioha, the god of thunder and lightning, the
disciplinarian. She is represented by a nursing
mother in sculptures and painting. Today, RIR uses this tripartite symbol of a
family to depict her;
It is impossible to enumerate all the lesser
deities our forebears had, many of whom are now mere names to us. Among them
were the spirits of many mountains, rivers, springs, respected ancestors, and
reputable warriors, past kings and queens who had “become gods” at death.
Demons also existed in pre-colonial era as malevolent spirits under the command
of Amadioha, the disciplinarian. Sickness and misfortune were ascribed either to
these demons, to sorcery or to divine retribution.
Gods
and men
The gods were imagined to have their own
lives, though also needing the service of their worshipers, who in turn were
dependent on the gods for their well-being. They lived in their temples, where
they had to be fed, clothed, washed, and entertained. Part of their time,
however, might be spent in heaven or in roaming the sea or the mountains. They
might withdraw in anger and so cause life on Earth to wither and cease. One of
the most characteristic rituals of the Hittites was the invocation by which a
god who had absented himself was induced to return and attend to his duties by
a combination of prayer and magic.
The relation between man and god resembled
that between servant and master. “If a servant has committed an offence and
confesses his guilt before his master, his master may do with him whatever he
pleases; but because he has confessed his guilt . . . his master's spirit is
appeased and he will not call that servant to account.” Confession and
expiation form the main theme of the extant royal prayers.
BASIC DEFINITIONS FOR NEW MEMBERS OF R I R
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ren·ais·sance [rénnə snss, rènnə snss, ri náyss'nss]
(plural
ren·ais·sanc·es)
noun
[Late 19th century. < French renaître
"be reborn" < Latin renasci < nasci "be born"]
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re·nas·cent [ri náss'nt, ri náyss'nt]
adjective
[Early 18th century. < Latin renascent-,
present participle of renasci "be reborn" (see renaissance)]
|
Microsoft® Encarta® 2009. © 1993-2008
Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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re·li·gion [ri líjjən]
(plural re·li·gions)
noun
[12th century. Via French < Latin
religion- "obligation, reverence"]
-re·lig·ion·less, adjective
get religion (informal)
1. U.S. to stop flouting the rules,
regulations, customs, and expectations of society
2. to become a believer or join a religious
organization, and, usually, start to lead a life that follows its teachings
|
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Af·ri·can [áffrikən]
adjective
noun (plural Af·ri·cans)
[Pre-12th century. < Latin Africanus
< Afri "the ancient inhabitants of
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For More Info Contact:
Rev. Prof. J. J. Kenez, D. Sc.
The Humble Vessel of the Holy Spirit of the Creator of the
Universe
Phone: 0803-9097614, 0805-1764999 or 0809-6765365,
CHAPTER FOUR
THE IGBO THEORY & PRACTICE OF “NSO ANI”
A literal ‘word-for-word’ translation
of the concept is ‘reverence earth’, whose real import implies “Total Reverence for the Prescriptions of the
Sacred Earth Goddess and Avoidance of her Proscriptions” is the sum total of
all the religiosity in Igbo land.
Although the pre-scientific
metaphysics of the people of Biafra will definitely need updating,
their Pristine Social Ethics will never need any existential change despite the
whirlwind of foreign religions raging all around them! This is not only the
opinion of this author but that of many intellectuals who affirm that the
corrupting influence of both Westernisation and Imported Religions will never
erase the respect, adoration and loyalty NSO ANI enjoys in the hearts of
liberated and self-actualised indigenes of the Igbo land! Authentic natives
still live by NSO ANI in their private lives, whether at home or in the
Diaspora, and transmit its mores and norms to their children by words and
deeds!
To date, when all other religious
abracadabra fail to heal an erring son or daughter of Biafra, resort is made to
the pristine modes of cleansing the individual of the guilt he or she had
earned by desecrating the natural laws of the Earth Goddess. No amount of
religious imperialism or psychosocial politicisation of Igbo traditional
religion can ever successfully replace the respect that NSO ANI enjoys in Biafra .
WHAT IS ‘NSO ANI’ IN PRACTICAL TERMS
In one phrase, it is TOTAL
OBEDIENCE TO NATURAL LAWS. This was, has been and will ever remain the
authentic religion of past, present and future generations of true children of
CHI-NEKE, CHI-UKWU, OBASI-BI-N’ELU!
To date, AMADIOHA, the disciplinarian god of THUNDER & LIGHTNING still
carries out the punishment of grave violations of NSO ANI in the entire length
and width of the thick tropical Igbo land of Biafra, whether Christianised or
Islamised!
Here, let me cite the entries of
Igbo scholars who had benefited from western education I found in WIKIPEDIA,
the Free encyclopaedia, to buttress my deposition that THE ORIGINAL IGBO
RELIGION BEFORE MISSIONARIES ARRIVED AND BASTARDISED IT WAS HOLY, JUST,
INTER-RACIAL AND HUMANITARIAN!
NSO-ANI IN IGBO
RELIGION IS OBEDIENCE TO ALL NATURAL LAWS
Ọdinanilt, which is also spelt; ‘Ọdinala, Omenala,Omenana, Odinana or Ọmenani’ is
THE TRADITIONAL CULTURAL BELIEFS AND PRACTICES OF THE IGBO PEOPLE[1] of
West Africa. These terms, as used here in the Igbo language, are synonymous with the
traditional Igbo "religious system" which was not considered separate
from the social norms of ancient or traditional Igbo societies.
Original Igbo Religion now being updated to
RENASCENT IGBO RELIGION was, is and will ever remain Theocentric in nature, for spirituality played
a central role in every activity of the indigenes from waking up to going to
sleep everyday of their lives. Although it has largely been supplanted by
Christianity, the indigenous belief system remains in strong effect among the rural and village populations of the Igbo,
where it has at times been influenced the colonial religions. Odinani is a panentheistic faith, having a strong central
deity at its head. All
things spring from this deity. Although a semi-pantheon exists in the belief
system, as it does in many indigenous African and Eastern religions, the lesser
deities prevalent in Odinani expressly serve as elements of Chukwu or Chukouuee the central deity.[2]
Like
all religions, Odinani is the vehicle used by its practitioners to understand
their World (called "Uwa"), or more specifically, the part of the
World that affects them — which is to say the dry Land on which the Igbo
live and gather sustenance — and it is from this that the belief acquires
its names: "Ọ di" (Igbo: it
is ) + n'(na - Igbo: on/within)
+ "Ani" (Igbo: the
Land or the Earth goddess) in the Northern
Igbo dialects and also "O
me" (Igbo: it
happens ) + n'(na - Igbo:on/within) + "Ala" (Igbo: the
Land or the physical manifestation of the
Earth goddess as dry land) as used primarily in the Southern Igbo dialects.[3]
Chukwu,
as the central deity and driving force in the cosmos is
unknowable, and too great of a power to be approached directly save by the
manifestations that exist on the World (the Land, the Skies, and the Sea).
Thus, Odinani rarely deals directly with the force that is Chukwu. Many other
spirits and forces also exist in Odinani belief and folklore.[2]
Origin
The
term ‘ọdịnala’ also pronounced ‘ọdịnani’
(depending on dialect) is derived from three Igbo words ‘ọdị’
–meaning ‘it is’; ‘na’ – meaning ‘on/within’ and ‘ala’ – meaning ‘the Land or
the Earth’. In this literary sense, Ọdịnala comes to mean ‘it is on the Land’ or ‘something
that is anchored on the Earth or Land’.
In
Igbo nation where this word originated, it is also called omenala, omenana, or
omenani by some tribes. M.O Ene (2000) presented Igbo culture as: "a
dynamic phenomenon that deals with the artifacts and mores by which Ndiigbo of
Africa distinguish themselves from other racial/ethnic groups." To him, it
is a serious mistake to distinguish between Igbo religion and culture but he
later went further to agree that Igbo religion (Ọdịnala)
led to Igbo culture (omenala) by stating that: “..if, the Igbo have no
religion, then they have no culture….. Religion is our culture, our way of
life”. Thus, no matter what it may be called, the truth is that 80% of the Igbo
people use the word ọdịnala to describe the Igbo traditional
religion and have differentiated it from omenala; which is culture.
There
are various definitions of the term ‘Ọdịnala’ from different Igbo scholars, writers,
philosophers and teachers of culture and tradition. The conclusion could be
drawn from Dr. Uju Afulezi (2000) and Ene M.O (2003) that “Ọdịnala
is the ancient Igbo traditional religion”. This definition has some limitations
and is subjected to criticism especially, if we can remember that Ọdịnala
is anchored on the land (ala). Provided that ala exists, it is the same all
over the world. The basic belief and the teachings of this religion (Ọdịnala)
hold in any part of the Earth (Ala); hence the Igbo sentence ‘ala wu otu’ which
translates ‘the land is the same everywhere’. Thus, Ọdịnala
in this view is for every world but originated from Igboland.
Ọdịnala
is therefore, the ancient religion of the people that connect mmadu (human
being) to Chukwu (God) through Chi (personal spiritual guardian or providence).
It is an ancient sacred science that enables people to exist in peace, love and
harmony with Chukwu (God)(also called as Chukouuee, and Guio in differing
dialects), Chi (personal providence) and Arushi (the supernatural forces) on
their way back to eternal.
Like
all religions, Ọdịnala is the vehicle used by its practitioners
(Dibias or priests) and spiritual students (followers of the religion) to
understand their World (called "Uwa"), or more specifically, the part
of the World that affects them — which is to say the dry land on which the
people live and gather sustenance. I call it ‘a gifted spiritual route’.
Alusi
Main article: Alusi
Chukwu's
incarnations in the world (Igbo: uwa)
are the Alusi.
The Alusi, who are also known as Arushi, Anusi or Arusi in differing dialects all spring from
Ala the earth goddess who embodies the workings of the world. There are lesser
deities in Odinani, each of whom are responsible for a specific aspect of
nature or abstract concept. According to Igbo lore, these lesser Alusi, as
elements of Chukwu, have their own specific purpose. They exist only as long as
their purpose does thus many Alusi die off except for the universally served
Alusi. The top four Alusi of the Igbo pantheon are Ala, Igwe, Anyanwu, and Amadioha (or
Kamalu); other less important Alusi exist after these, some depending on the
community. They are, Ogwugwu, Urasi or Ulasi, Ichi, Uchu, Iyi, Agwu etc.[4]
Ala
Main article: Ala (Odinani)
Ala
is the earth goddess who is also responsible for morality and fertility and the
dead ancestors who are stored in the underworld in her womb. Ala translates
to 'earth' in Igbo as she is the ground itself, for this reason taboos and
crimes are known as nsọ ala, "desecration of Ala". As the
highest Alusi in the Igbo pantheon, she was among the first to be created by
Chukwu almighty. Ala is depicted in Mbari temples of the Owerre-Igbo, but smaller shrines are placed in the public
squares of communities and in the homes of her devotees.
Amadioha
Main article: Amadioha
Amadioha
in Igbo means "free will of the people", he is the Alusi of thunder
and lightning and is referred to as Amadiora, Kamalu,Kamanu, or Ofufe in certain parts of Igboland.[5][6][7] His
governing planet is the Sun.[8] His
color is red, and his symbol is a white ram.[9] Metaphysically,
Amadioha represents the collective will of the people and he is often
associated with Anyanwu.[10] While
Anyanwu is more prominent in northern Igboland, Amadioha is more prominent in
the south. His day is Afor, which is the second day of the Igbo four day week.[11]
Anyanwu
Main article: Anyanwu
Igwe
Main article: Igwe
Igwe
is the Alusi of the sky and the husband of Ala. He produces rain to replenish
the earth and the earth goddess to aid her productiveness.[4]
Other Alusi
[edit]Njoku Ji
Main article: Njoku Ji
[edit]Agwu Nsi
Main article: Agwu Nsi
[edit]Ndebunze
Main
article:
Ndebunze,
or Ndichie, are the deceased ancestors deified into Alusi. In Odinani, it is
believed that the dead ancestors are invisible members of the community; their
role in the community, in conjunction with Ala, is to protect the community
from epidemics and strife such as famine and small pox.[4]
[edit]Ikenga
Main article: Ikenga
[edit]Ekwensu
Main article:
Ekwensu
is an Igbo deity with a convoluted modern identity. Among the Christian Igbo,
this deity is misrepresented as the Christian "Devil" or Satan and is seen as a force which places
itself opposite to that of Chukwu.[12] Anthropological
studies suggest however that this traditional deity may have been a revered Trickster God, similar to Eshu in Orisha. This Alusi was adept at bargains and trade, and
praying to Ekwensu was said to guarantee victory in negotiations. As a force of
change and chaos, Ekwensu also represented the God of War among the Igbo. He was invoked during
times of conflict and banished during peacetime to avoid his influences
inciting bloodshed in the community. This is based upon the finding of old
shrines dedicated to the worship of the deity[13] as
well as the recounting of old oral lores which depict the character of Ekwensu.[14] Ekwensu
is also the Igbo word for the tester.
Panentheism
Ọdịnala
is a panentheistic faith, having a strong central deity at its head. All things
spring from this deity. Although semi – pantheon exists in the belief system,
as it does in many indigenous African and Eastern religions.
Chukwu
is the central deity. Chukwu as the creator of everything (visible and
invisible) and the source of other deities is referred to as Chineke. Chukwu is
genderless possessing the supreme power in the cosmos control.
To
the ancient Igbo, the force that is Chukwu is infinitely powerful that no mmadu
(human being) approach this force directly. Also, the force does not impact
into our worlds directly but rather through lower force (s). The general truth
is that no person can work with or deal with Chukwu directly without passing
through the lower force (s). This is why the Igbo people were easily captured
by the teachings of the imported western religion which holds that either
Christ of Christianity or Mohammed of Islam is a lower force.
The
lower force(s) are the outflows from the main stream; sparks from the supreme
force that takes forms. They are the incarnations of the almighty Chukwu. Ọdịnala
identify these lower forces by their names and use a collective term Arushi to
describe them. If an Arushi is assigned to an individual, it becomes a Chi.
The
term ‘panentheism’ refer to as a belief system which posits that God personally
exists, interpenetrates every part of nature and timelessly extends beyond it.
Such interpenetrations in a spiritual view occur as lower deities or Arushi. Ọdịnala
therefore, anchored its belief on the existence of only but one Supreme Being:
Chukwu (God) and many lower supernatural beings or deities (Arushi).
Please note that this author has
refrained from editing or modifying whatever you see here so that people who
are not Igbos can better appreciate what was on the ground that our imperial
religionists blacklisted as PAGANISM in their ignorance!
‘Chukwu’ in Ọdịnala
In Ọdịnala,
every individual is assigned a personal providence; Chi. The mathematics here
is very simple. Depending on the number of people living presently on Earth
(Uwa), as many as possible number of Chis may exist. A person’s Chi is his
right in the main source that is Chukwu. Chi as a spiritual being, takes care
of any mmadu (human being) assigned to him in the lower World.
The
overall Chi that indirectly takes care of everything (visible and invisible) is
therefore, called ‘Chi Ukwu’ or Chukwu, the Supreme Being. This is why the
Igbos used the phrases/sentences: ‘chi awughi otu’--- ‘personal guardians are
not the same for everybody’; ‘otu Chukwu’ or ‘ofu Chukwu’----‘only one God’;
‘Chukwu ebuka’---- ‘God is great’ and ‘mu na chim’-----‘me and my godly
guardian’.
Functions
There
is a general spiritual law that one must pass through the lesser supernatural
forces before he can make his ways to eternal. There are various routes that
enable one to embark on a spiritual journey (i.e. different religion e.g.
Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Eckankar, Judaism, Godianism, Ọdịnalaism
and so on). No matter the route chosen, one must meet these forces severally on
the way. These supernatural forces are the agents of purification of human
beings (mmadu). They effects compressed the road and make it look very narrow.
They may even block the road to eternity and cause people to continue running
on cycles and meeting bad spirits.
The
purpose of Ọdịnala is to restore peace, love and harmony
between mmadu and the supernatural forces or (Arushi or deities). By ensuring
that peace reigned, we can then manipulate they negative outcomes (that
supposed to intrude into our lives) to yield positive effects. Through this
way, we can get to our promise land with less suffering or struggles.
To
restore peace, love and harmony between mmadu and Arushi is all about the
dictation of our personal providence, Chi and doing the right thing. The
spiritual peace, love and harmony will cleansing a person with both inner and
outer experiences and prepare his ways back Chukwu. This will also go a longer way
to determine a person’s level of morality, peaceful existence, harmony and love
to people in the society. Also, the person will be on his way to his destiny in
the physical world (Uwa). Once your destiny is actualized, you can then relate
religion to humanity.
Chi
Chi
is the personal spiritual guardian of a person. Chi as a personal providence is
a divine agent assigned to each human from cradle to the coffin. Chukwu will
assign one’s Chi before and at the time of birth, which remains with the person
for the rest of his/her lives on Earth (Uwa). Chi simply means an Arushi
(supernatural being) that is assigned to a human being for care, guardianship,
and providence, which remains with that person until the end of his/her life on
Earth. Unlike Chukwu which is genderless, Chi can be either feminine or
masculine. It is the ocean Chukwu’s divine love that takes form on the lower
world. It is the spark of Chukwu and the right of any mmadu in the main stream.
Chi
determines a person’s successes, misfortunes, and failures throughout his/her
lifetime. It serves as an intermediary between mmadu and Chukwu. The Igbo
believe that their success in life is determined by their Chi, and that no
human can rise past the greatness of his or her own Chi. In this respect, a person’s
Chi is analogous to the concept of a guardian angel in Western Christianity,
the daimon in ancient Greek religion, and the genius in ancient Roman religion.
To
survive spiritually, one must establish a special relationship between oneself
and one's godly guardian. This places the human person at the forefront of
interlinked activities that involve other cosmic forces. But not so fast: He
who walks before his godly guardian runs the race of his life “Onye buru chi ya
uzo, ogbagbue onwe ya n'oso.”
Dictation of Chi
The
Igbo know that the Almighty Chukwu (God) cannot be manipulated in any way. Our
lot is etched on the palm of our hands as destiny. One can’t decode it, but one
can derail it. Chi, the personal godly guardian, can be coerced to help here:
“Onye kwe chi ya ekwe” (whoever believeth, achieveth).
Chi
as the lower force of Chukwu is the only means through which one can get
connected. One spiritual law here is that “No one reaches Chukwu directly or
gets favor directly from the same supreme force except through Chi.” In this
sense, dictation of one’s Chi marks the beginning of one’s spiritual journey on
Earth. This is one of the major practices of Ndiigbo.
Often,
people receive prophecy that the major cause of their failure is a spirit of
their home town. This is not a general spirit for everybody but rather one’s
personal Chi. If you receive such a prophecy, it means that Ọdịnala
is calling you, which is a problem to some people. The only solution to such a
problem is to dictate your personal providence, Chi; identify it by name and
know what the spirit wants and how to placate/negotiate with it.
This
may be difficult if the Dibias (priest in Ọdịnala) are not there. The Dibia can identify a
person’s Chi through divination and give more of an idea how to placate it. For
such spiritual purposes, one can visit any of the real temples of Ọdịnala
e.g. Ukoma/Duruojikeeme Temple, Umunumo Amandugba, Isu, LGA, Imo State. There
are many other temples around Igboland and the Igbo diaspora.
Kolanut Communion
Kolanut
communion is the only holy communion in Ọdịnala. It is used to honor Chukwu, Chi, Arushi
and Ndiichie. In this case, it is expected that the lower forces will
participate and send the glory to almighty Chukwu. Also, by pouring libations,
participating in kolanut communions entails being innocent before applying
justice ("jide ofo, jide ogu").
Kolanut
communion can be performed personally between one and his spirit or in group.
It is actually the only time Ndiigbo traditionally pray together. Here, one is
expected to go into communion with his personal providence, Chi as well as
other concerned Arushi and Ndiichie (ancestors’ saints). This will clear the
narrow road to Chukwu and create an increase in spiritual consciousness as you
bargain in your spiritual journey.
Taking into Benevolence of Deities
The
spiritual journey back to Chukwu is considered to be too tough; and the road
very narrow. The Igbo considered it more appropriate to negotiate and navigate
natural forces around them; the will of God cannot be manipulated or changed.
They just need to get there without too much hassle.
The
Earth Deities control the activities of good and evil spirits, which
occasionally attempt to misdirect the destiny of human beings. The Igbo enter
into pacts with these forces to take into their benevolence. The process is
called "igommuo"(to placate/negotiate—not worship—spirits). Even Agwu
("the divination force" or the trickster Arushi, which causes
confusion in the life of human beings) can be manipulated in afa (divination)
to yield good effects.
It
should be noted that the term ‘igommuo’ is an Igbo word meaning ‘to placate or
to negotiate’. This term is sometime used in a derogatory manner by some people
who described themselves as children of God and criticized others as children
of devil. Meanwhile, as either a practitioner or a spiritual student of Ọdịnala
you shouldn’t be afraid when they use the term in such way. You are on the
right channel to Chukwu.
Afterlife
Ọdịnala
belief in the concept of ‘life after life’. There are two cycles of life here.
One cycle of this life is on earth while the other is in the spiritual world
i.e. the other side of the realm. There are also two major calls in these
cycles: (a). The inner call (which is to co-work with Chukwu in the spiritual
world) and (b). The outer call (which is your destiny).
The
final goal in Ọdịnala is anchored on answering the two calls
once and for all in this lifetime with not too much hassle. Upon dictation of
our personal providence (Chi), we are on our ways to our destiny (akalaaka).
Actualizing ones destiny entails relating religion to humanity on Earth, thus
answering the first call. The pattern of life chosen after meeting your destiny
point will determine your level of acceptability after death as an ichie (a
hallowed ancestor spirit or saint) in the spiritual world. In this case those
who did good things on earth after meeting their destiny point; respect the
laws of the land (iwu ala); died at ripened age and buried according to the
traditions of the religion are usually accepted in the spiritual world to
answer the final call.
Ekwensu
Ekwensu
is a deity in Ọdịnala. Ekwensu is also the Igbo word for “the
tester”. In Igbo mythology, Ekwensu was explained as a force of change and
chaos and also represents the Arushi (deity) of war.
As a
male Arushi in Igbo pantheon, he was believed by the ancient Igbo people as a
deity who was invoked during times of conflict and banished during peacetime to
avoid his influences inciting bloodshed in the community. The ancient Igbo
descriptions of Ekwensu could be seen as a deity with a convoluted modern
identity.
Among
the Christian Igbo, this deity is misrepresented as the Christian ‘Devil’ or
‘Satan’ or ‘Demon’ and is seen as a force which places itself opposite to that
of Chukwu (God). They conclusion is that Ekwensu is an evil spirit; thus,
creating a false dichotomy. Acceptance of such teaching by some Igbo was
possible simply because Ndiigbo have forgotten the Igbo mythology which places
God in everything.
You
shouldn’t be confused. No body! No spirit or deity! In fact no being (either
visible or invisible) opposes the force that is Chukwu. The good, the bad and
the ugly; all come from the ‘supreme being’ for one purpose or the other.
Dibia
Dibias
are the spiritual masters and guardian of all spiritual students in the lower
world (Uwa). The love of Chukwu has led to many dibias all over the Igbo land.
Although, there are a lot of fake dibias and priest but the truth is still
prevailing that dibias are the intermediates between a spiritual student and
the spiritual world in Ọdịnala.
The
physical destiny of a dibia is spiritual work. The dibias can see the spiritual
world at any time and interpret what saw to his spiritual students. They are
given the power to identify any Arushi by its name and as well prescribe
possible ways of placating/negotiating with such spirit. They also use their
power to identify herbs and their functions.
Spiritual Students
Spiritual
students could be every other person other than the dibia. They are the
followers of the religion. Unlike dibias, spiritual students do not see the
spiritual world and are not even in need to do so. They have other business or
work doing. They depend on the priest or dibias (i.e. the practitioner) for
possible spiritual interpretations, placation / negotiation and divination.
They may also depend on the dibias for herbs, charms and talisman –which may be
used to overcome evil forces.
Where
are you classified? Are you a dibia or a spiritual student? If you are a dibia,
don’t panic because it is your destiny. Failure to do the work means rejection
of a divine call in the physical world then the evil forces will take over your
life. Also if you are a spiritual student, please remain on track. You may wish
to sign –up with ‘Ọdịnala mystic world’ for your spiritual lessons
to enable you forge ahead.
If you
are neither a dibias nor a spiritual student, your name is sorry. You are
therefore a ‘confused person’ of Igboland. Any ‘confused person’ may continue
to run on cycles meeting bad spirits or even Satan (Ekwensu) itself. The
person’s destiny may also be misdirected by these evil spirits. In an attempt
to clear them using other routes, the person may place himself into suffer and
hardship or eventually die on the way and reincarnate.
SOCIAL MOBILITY IN IGBO LAND WAS BY PERSONAL
ACHIEVEMENT
THE CHOICE OF A
CEREMONIAL LEADER IS DEPENDENT ON THE SOCIAL LADDER ONE HAD SUCCESSFULLY
CLIMBED OR ACHIEVED IN LIFE APPROVED FOR KEEPING NSO ANI FROM CHILDHOOD, BEING
AN HONEST HARDWORKING MAN OR WOMAN WHO HAS BEEN PURE, CHASTE AND DILIGENT
BEFORE AND AFTER MARRIAGE TILL THE COMMUNITY RECOGNISES AND RESPECTS ONE’S
INDIVIDUAL MERIT TO LEAD. IT HAS NEVER BEEN BY INHERITANCE BEFORE THE ARRIVAL
OF WHITE MEN ON OUR SHORES! TODAY ALL THAT HAS CHANGED!
The narrative
you find in Genesis 5, vv.21 – 24 and again in the Book of Sirach; Chapter 44,
verse 16 makes a brief reference to Enoch. Read them now before evaluating my
resume. Those narratives are instructive and it might be very beneficial for
you spending some time analysing their import. The following are my humble
conclusions after perusing them.
1. Enoch was an illiterate man. He obeyed the natural laws God put in his mind and the environment. Yet
he was not corrupt like those around him who were described as ‘sinners’.
2. No one taught Enoch these natural laws that merited favour with the
Almighty Creator of the whole universe even at the ripe age 365 years!
Therefore the knowledge is in-born in humans!
3. Enoch who gave birth to
Methuselah, a legend that lived 969 years, was neither a priest nor a prophet,
yet he was pleasing to God! So could you and I!
SO IT IS STILL POSSIBLE TO
PLEASE ALMIGHTY GOD WITHOUT BELONGING TO THE WARRING RELIGIONS OF TODAY. THIS
IS EXACTLY WHAT ISM IS ALL ABOUT. YOU TOO, CAN REALLY PLEASE GOD WITHOUT BEING
DEEPLY INVOLVED WITH THE MUNDANE RELIGIOUS POLITICS OF THIS AGE OF FANATICISM
OR SYNCRETISM.
THE SECRET OF ENOCH WAS THAT HE
HAD NO IDOLS.
He did not worship these idols:
self-pride, love-of-money, indulgence-in-erotic-pleasures, lust-for-power, food
& alcoholism. Rather, he obeyed all the natural laws he could decipher and
was loyal to the Creator of his parents. He loved his fellow human beings, took
care of them and showed his concern for them. A simple and uncomplicated life
on this planet Earth will merit you the same reward HE got! Imitate him in
thoughts, words and deeds. That is
exactly I. S. M!
CHAPTER FIVE
ALL THE FALSE CLAIMS BY IDOLATROUS CHRISTENDOM THAT WAS
PATENTED IN ROME
Religious symbols have been borrowed across cultures and
religious boundaries for centuries that they rarely mean same things to a
variety of fanatical followers or worshippers of the plethora of religions and
denominations in our present world. How do we penetrate centuries of historical
distortions of the originals to define the pristine truths from nature and
established by our Creator so that we can arrive at the most objective version
that is egalitarian, humane and applicable in all cultures, time and clime for
world peace?
Or, put in another fashion, how can we be certain that the
doctrines and dogmas we hold on to today were/are not merely fake theories from
the past. In short, how do we sift truth from human beliefs, myths, legends
and/or fables forged and fabricated by sages of old or demagogues whose
objectives were merely manipulating the masses of their generation into
reverencing and/or obeying them sheepishly? This is the task before all of us.
It is the only way to arrive at ONE WORLD RELIGION. That is Integrational
Spiritan Movement, led by the Holy Spirit of the Genuine Creator we all ought
to worship! A.k.a KENEZIANISM.
Where I was born, we have this local saying; ‘He who does not
know where the rainfall starting beating him, will never know where it
stopped’. Another warns; “A rat that joins a lizard in playing in the rain, to
remember that when the lizard is dry, it will still be wet.” In my culture, one
does not interpret proverbs. Simply put, “One, who does not know who he is and
where he is coming from, does not know where he is going especially in
religion!”
The music I am about to play is not for every human being to
dance! It is only for those matured humans with sturdy legs and pliable pelvic
girdles. Only those who are prepared to stand out of the crowd are qualified to
read this controversial dissertation. For my local lyrics for the brave
warriors of old counsels; “If you have strengthened your heart for real
challenges, then put your hands!” This is purely a literal rendition. Its true
import is this: “Unless you are fortified as a lion-hearted warrior, do not
join in this war dance!”
All over the world, the supposedly rational animal that prides
itself with being the only one with language and reason has been manipulated
into swallowing toxic wastes in the name of faith! From birth, one is
conditioned to swallow the community’s or parents’ religious practices without
questions! The general mass hysteria is that doctrines, dogmas and rituals were
handed down through some prophets and priests and therefore no one dares
challenge their real worth; neither their veracity, their utilitarian values
nor their mutual benefits! That is now history for intelligent humans who will
read and understand this book! That has been the remote cause of racism,
religious intolerance and the production of majority and minority races.
In the thick rainforests of Biafra , before the arrival
of the first white man on the African continent, bond-fide male indigenes in
Eze Awara’s kingdom were warriors reputed for swallowing razor-sharp cutlasses
or swords and thereafter excreting them at will or whenever they wanted. They
solved the ‘impossibles’ by removing the ‘im’ to convert them to the
‘possibles”. “If you have strengthened your heart for real challenges, then put
forward your hands!” You, too, can vomit the toxic cutlass of dogmas today!
This book puts an end to myopic crusades and jihads!
The religious tradition of our forefathers has been overthrown
by imported versions that our youths disregard or pay lip service to. It is the
adult population that is corrupting the youth. There are no role models for the
youth; neither among the fake pastors and money seeking evangelists nor among
the inept public servants and the corrupt political class. That is the genesis
of youth restiveness, social malaise and adult/juvenile delinquency that has
escalated to unmanageable proportions in Nigeria
There is a plethora of ancient and modern major world religions.
In each, there are factions, sects and denominations. It is syncretism galore!
The name of the game is “join our own, ours is the one prospering for now!” It
is a religious market!! It is a mad world!!! Many nationals all over the globe
are smarting under the colonial yoke of Roman Catholicism or Islamism. The
intriguing aspect of this brand of neo-colonialism is that it brews dogmas and
doctrines that propel fanatical members to kill or be killed in the name of
‘God’. Religious fanaticism or mysticism is a religio-psychiatric personality
disorder that has never been classified by any DSM and so has never been
diagnosed and managed as other psychopathological conditions that present in
health services all over the world!
The Almighty Creator or Ultimate Controller of the Universe has
no name! One can only give names to what one completely owns and has power over
their existence; life or death! In my community, we only use his divine
attributes to address him in speech and supplication. This is how it ought to
be. Those using the term “God” have never spelt it backwards! Do so now! Do you
now realise that the terminology is not only demonic but derogatory and insane.
Stop using it!
Human knowledge wears blinkers. At other times, it wears
coloured sun glasses and so we see only the colorinations presented as truth.
Truth does not wear any make-up. Our knowledge of things is definitely
incomplete! Religious symbols have been borrowed across cultures and religious
boundaries for centuries that they rarely mean same things to a variety of
fanatical followers or worshippers of the plethora of religions and
denominations in our present world.
At this juncture, let me repeat; “How do we penetrate centuries of
historical distortions of the originals to define the pristine truths from
nature and established by our Creator so that we can arrive at the most
objective version that is egalitarian, humane and applicable in all cultures,
time and clime for world peace?” It
is our ignorance and outright incompetence about the nature of divine beings
and the true nature of independence among finite beings that generate religious
bigotry and world wars!
The fallacy of HUMAN CONCEPTS OF THE ULTIMATE CREATOR AND WHAT
HE DEMANDS OF ALL OF US is similar to the verdicts of the four blind men who
went on an excursion to know what the elephant looked like. But in our case in
religious buffoonery, it is not the personal verdicts of the first set of the
blind men that we hold on to; that unfortunately is the tragedy of current day
Religionists and the breeding ground for puerile bigotry, fanaticism,
doctrines, dogmas, crusades and jihads. It is futile to not only believe the
verdicts of the earliest FOUR BLIND MEN who were actually wrong but
psychotically paranoid to swallow the bastardised versions handed down by
degenerate grandsons of those cowardly and shameless blind men who never made
the trip at all!
So many blind religious leaders do not even set out to make the
trip! Rather, they are satisfied by propagating what other blind men heard from
the original four blend men that really touched the elephant. So it is that a
thousand interpretations of what the wise explorers concluded is now bandied
about what the original elephant looked and still looks like. The Elephant in
his majesty refuses to say a word! Why, you may ask! It is unnecessary for the
glory, majesty and truths about true worship of Our Almighty Creator abound in
Nature and the sane observe them on a daily and hourly basis 365 days every
year! Only the blind do not want to see the Natural and Eternal Laws he
engraved into each macrocosm and microcosm He has made and given to all His
Creations to share. We are equal heirs to His Infinite Love!
To rescue
humanity from the demonic stranglehold of idolatry that now predominates
worldwide, you are invited to reason along with us and see that we provide an
everlasting cure for sensual lust for food, wine, sex, wealth and power that
are the trademarks of a society heading for damnation! Are you going to sit on
the fence and wait for another failed experiment in Messiahship that was
riddled with myopic and ethnocentric bias? Who knows the Creator well enough to
declare that he has ‘a chosen people’? Or, that he had only one son? If mere
mortals, like this writer and other virile men can have seven sons from one
fertile woman, then, who limited him to only one son? Who is the father of all
the other men who had been sent earlier on? --Rev.
Prof. J. J. Kenez is asking everyone!
Where is the evidence that Moses actually led the so-called
people out of any oppressive regime? The history books and modern encyclopaedia
did not record the enslavement of the Jewish race except as ‘they were believed
as revealed truths’. Then Moses, who was brought up in an Egyptian royal court
went on to introduce the first and most heinous dichotomy in racism; JEWS and
GENTILES! The negative impact of that first categorisation of humanity gave
birth to all the nepotic, apartheid and racist policies in the entire world.
Could a universal saviour utter; “It is not good to take the
children's bread and throw it to the little dogs.” Matt 15:26-27, NKJV. When
shall we ever learn? Did Confucius, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus or Mohammed ever
preach syncretism? The answer is an affirmative NO! Only Moses, due to depersonalisation
syndromes emanating from years of the enslavement of his kith and kin in Egypt
and his personal refugee status in Midian before he was recalled to lead them
out, inadvertently introduced segregationist concepts encapsulated in the
Mosaic laws of ‘clean and unclean’ injunctions that culminated in ‘the Jew and
the Gentile’ racist policies. Jesus failed to address this succinctly before he
was crucified. As it stands today, there is no evidence that he actually
succeeded in his mission.
As far as we are concerned in Kenezianism, it was disastrous! It
was a costly price for every religious leader who failed to address parochial
issues embedded in its tenets and modes of worship! To date, any failure to
resolve ethnic issues in the sermons of current preachers will have similar
repercussions! Did he reconcile the descendants of Esau, Ishmael and Jacob? No!
Did he identify with the Samaritans, Greek or other ‘Gentile’ citizens of his
epoch? No! Did he integrate the Roman Rulers of his time with his ethnic group?
No! That is why Arab-Israeli wars will never have an end! There were many other
leaders, religious and/or political, in history that paid for the same
negligence. The concept that he died for everyone is not only preposterous,
irrational and obsolete but also idiosyncratic and outrageously fanatical, for
up till now, present Jews and previous ones never acknowledged that idea.
To-date, the Jewish race is still expecting a Saviour! The scenario is the same in Islam, as can be
seen by all the violence that breakaway factions have introduced to it! Some
scholars argue that it is not a Religion, but a Rebellion against the
highhandedness of Roman Catholic Church all down the ages when the Roman
Pontiff ruled the entire world and carried their infamous crusades!
It was Saul of Tarsus
The
truth will always surface no matter for how long it is buried. Let us learn to
apportion blame wherever and whenever they are due. Hero worship never pays any
lasting dividends. Idolising a great leader detracts from total loyalty and the
true worship we owe to the Almighty Father; the Indisputable Immovable Mover,
the Great Architect and Omniscient Creator of the universe and all of us; human
beings, plants, animals, animate microcosms and other inanimate macrocosms. It
is time to proclaim the true Unitarian Godhead! It will erase the concept of
“infidels” and “gentiles” that has been the albatross of factionalism in the
religious circles worldwide and usher in an internationally recognised theology
that can unify humanity. This is the main objective of Kenezianism, a.k.a.
Integrational Spiritan Movement, (ISM). All Trinitarians are idolaters who
copied it from the ancient symbols of the religions of the Far East and those of Egyptian mythology! The “Madonna” and “Queen
of the Coast” were all borrowed from previous religions, so also is the
recitations of the chaplet that now traverse a variety of denominations!
How can we be certain that the doctrines and dogmas we hold on
to today were/are not merely fake theories from the past? In short, how do we
sift truth from human beliefs, myths, legends and/or fables forged and
fabricated by sages of old or demagogues whose objectives were merely
manipulating the masses of their generation into reverencing and/or obeying
them sheepishly? This is the task before all of us. It is the only way to
arrive at ONE WORLD RELIGION. That is Integrational Spiritan Movement, led by
the Holy Spirit of the Genuine Creator we all ought to worship, a.k.a
Kenezianism. If you care to join us in a sanitation exercise that will
guarantee a better future for your children, then come, read, observe, witness
and finally analyse the development of religion from time immemorial to
evaluate its subjugation to man-made doctrines, dogmas and modes of worship
that are irreligious! Thereafter, we can seek for solutions as proposed by the
computer-age integrational fellowship; INTEGRATIONAL SPIRITAN MOVEMENT,
abbreviated thus: I S M.
Every individual nature is part of the cosmos. To live virtuously
means to live in accord with one's nature, to live according to the natural and
eternal laws the designer of the universe intended by employing truth and right
reason in all we do. Because passion and emotion are considered irrational
movements of the soul, the wise individual seeks to eradicate the passions and
consciously embrace the rational life. “True law is right reason in agreement
with Nature; it is of universal application, unchanging and everlasting; it
summons to duty by its commands and averts from wrongdoing by its prohibitions.
. . . There will not be different laws at different countries or
communities, or different laws now and in the future, BUT ONE ETERNAL AND
UNCHANGEABLE LAW WILL BE VALID FOR ALL NATIONS AND FOR ALL TIMES.” The natural
laws governing all living things; birth, growth, respiration, movement,
nutrition, excretion, reproduction and finally death hold sway in every place
on planet earth under normal temperature and pressure. Humans have the same
anatomy and physiology despite our differing languages, child-rearing
practices, skin colour, racial differences and social statuses. We are the
offspring of the Almighty Creator of the macrocosms and microcosms we share.
Our survival in our variety of physical environment follows the same laws. No
man is an island. We need each other! Rev. Prof. J. J. Kenez also contends that
natural laws are sacrosanct for they were made by the Almighty Architect and
Engineer who created every being on planet; EARTH. They are divine and eternal;
because they are universal and are no respecters of places and times of birth,
parentage, race, educational level or religion! There are so many self-evident
examples; the movement of the sun and moon regulate the hours of day, night,
weeks, months and years; so also do gravity, temperature, pressure, emotion,
motivation, conception, pregnancy, labour and birth regulate family life. If
anyone disagrees, let him provide evidence to the contrary. The founders of
HAPPY FAMILY NETWORK, INTEGRATIONAL SPIRITAN MOVEMENT AND FINALLY FAMILY LIFE
COLLEGE, therefore, posit that human slavery, in whatever form it is used to
deny any Homo sapiens and others their fundamental human rights, was/is and
will forever remain illegal! Caste systems must be abrogated both in civil and
religious circles all over the world to arrive at;
ONE ALMIGHTY CREATOR, ONE CREATED
UNIVERSE, ONE HUMAN FAMILY, ONE GLOBAL FAITH and
ONE MODE OF WORSHIP; which is our creed
SERVICE TO HUMANITY INTERNATIONALLY;
is the lifestyle of all bona-fide members,
LOYALTY TO THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH; in
every thought, word or deed is our international social ethics &
OBEDIENCE TO ALL THE NATURAL &
ETERNAL LAWS OF THE CREATOR; is our gospel worldwide.
If you want to be a
foundation member of the board of directors for this all-inclusive humanitarian FAMILY LIFE COLLEGE send us a proposal of what you can
contribute and attach a brief CV, your contact addresses and a current passport
sized photo of yourself.
Once you can pool your resources and co-ordinate a hundred
like-minds who are rational thinkers in your community either by Face book
networking or any other ingenious methodology, contact us for inauguration. We
do not care whether you ‘believe in God or gods’! The Creator has never had,
has and will never have a name by any language or be labelled by his creatures!
Those who use ‘God or god’ have never spelt it backwards to see its demonic
origin! The only qualification you need is that you are a sane human being who
is naturally objective, is ready to respect the opinions of others and is
prepared to disabuse the mind of all previous indoctrinations that you had been
forced to swallow hook, line and sinker since childhood.
This medical scientist, pragmatic researcher and existential
therapist, Dr Jideofo Kenechukwu Danmbaezue also known as Rev. Prof. J. J.
Kenez is proposing that we scrutinise all the religious and ethnocentric
prejudices that had enslaved many children right from birth, who were born into
their parents religio-cultural practices and were never given the freedom to
search for objective methods of relating to their maker and other humans. Can
you join us to make this feasible?
A KENEZIAN EPILOGUE
DR KENEZ SUMMATION OF FAITH
FROM PREVIOUS RELIGIONS THAT CAN ENTHRONE REAL PEACE FOR CITIZENS OF THE GLOBAL
VILLAGE
There is one
supreme eternal reality; the truth; imminent in all things; creator of all
things; immanent in creation. Without fear and without hatred; not subject to
time; beyond birth and death; self-revealing. This Eternal Reality is known
only by the Divine Revelations from His Grace.
Faith is
ultimately the acceptance of the divine authority of the Omnipotent and
Omniscient Almighty Creator of the universe we share with all the other beings
he has made; micro/macrocosms, living and non-living beings that regularly obey
the natural and eternal laws he embedded in his creations for our mutual
benefits.
----Rev.
Prof. J. J. Kenez (1999)
By faith is meant,
first, conscious knowledge, and second, the practice of good deeds. "Know,
therefore, that only the LORD your Creator is the Ultimate Reality, the
Absolute Truth. Only he is the steadfast Godhead who keeps His gracious
covenant to the all who believe and trust in his everlasting love and fatherly
care for beings, seen and unseen to the tens, hundreds and thousandth
generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments." Hence, recognizing and affirming that this One Almighty Creator of
the entire Universe is our Father/Mother and therefore, only to this Creator is
total worship due. Our corporate willingness, commitment and submission
to this One Creator that exists guarantees all that are alive sustenance, and
to His prescriptions for living in accordance with his ordained eternal and
natural laws is surely the only assurance of living a good life assured to
anyone who (1) believes in Him, and (2) believes in the Last Day, and (3) leads
a righteous life, will receive their recompense from the Lord. They have
nothing to fear, nor will they grieve." -------------
ISM Integrational Faith (2013)
Faith in Buddhism centres
on the understanding that the Buddha is an Awakened being, on his
superior role as teacher, in the truth of his Dharma (spiritual teachings), and in his Sangha (community
of spiritually developed followers).
In the teachings,
saddhā is often described as:
·
a conviction that something is
·
a determination to accomplish one's goals
·
a sense of joy deriving from the other two
spiritual teachings and in community of spiritually developed followers.
As a counter to
any form of "blind faith", the Buddha's teachings included those
included in the Kalama
Sutra, exhorting his disciples to investigate any
teaching and to live by what is learnt and accepted, rather than believing in
something simply because it is taught.
Meher Baba described
three types of faith, emphasizing the importance of faith in a spiritual
master:
"One of the most important
qualifications for the aspirant is faith. There are three kinds of faith: (i)
faith in oneself, (ii) faith in the Master and (iii) faith in life. Faith is so indispensable to life that unless it is present
in some degree, life itself would be impossible. It is because of faith that
cooperative and social life becomes possible. It is faith in each other that
facilitates a free give and take of love, a free sharing of work and its
results. When life is burdened with unjustified fear of one another it
becomes cramped and restricted....Faith in the Master becomes all-important
because it nourishes and sustains faith in oneself and faith in life in the
very teeth of set-backs and failures, handicaps and difficulties, limitations
and failings. Life, as man knows it in himself, or in most of his fellow-men,
may be narrow, twisted and perverse, but life as he sees it in the Master is
unlimited, pure and untainted. In the Master, man sees his own ideal realised;
the Master is what his own deeper self would rather be. He sees in the Master
the reflection of the best in himself which is yet to be, but which he will
surely one day attain. Faith in the Master therefore becomes the chief
motive-power for realising the divinity which is latent in man."
THE BAROMETRE OF MORAL DECADENNCE
In summary, one can measure the moral ethics, moral
health and social ethics of any civilised or uncivilised society or semi-urban,
urban or rural community by the pre-eminent value they inculcate in their
younger generation of marriage and family life and the mores and norms they
place on sexual relationships.
Before the arrival of foreign religions in Biafra , ONE COULD NOT IMAGINE DREAM NOR HEAR OF ABORTION, INFANTICIDE OR
DIVORCE. Today it is no news as the presumed religious leaders are the one in
the forefront of the desecration of family values. May be an excerptfrom my
book entitled GRADUATES OF SATAN’S UNIVERSITY will bring home to you the extent
of damage already done on NSO ANI and MORAL PROBITY in Igbo Land;
The Association for the Abrogation
of Celibacy in the Catholic Church is the answer to all the immoral acts that
irreverent priest and nuns have unleashed on our erstwhile holy and sacrosanct
rural and urban communities in Igbo Land.! Their Animator International states
that; “Celibacy is a legislation that can be abrogated anytime.” It is a
convenience that can be dispensed with as soon as it is grossly abused and
becomes counterproductive. That is what it is for now! Therefore, it must be
abrogated or, in the least optionalised!
“If clerical celibacy has out-lived its usefulness, what is the need of
clinging tenaciously to it? This is an absurdity on the part of the Roman
Catholic Church hierarchy”. In medical language, it is giving a wrong diagnosis
while a sick patient is in a comatose state! Alternatively, shall we take it
that the Church Fathers support the numerous sex scandals rocking the boat? Or,
has it become so insensitive to the evidence of cases of paedophilia in USA
Our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, had prophesied about them when he
compared them to the religious leaders of his time. He reiterated that they
were hypocrites that devoured the homes of widows. He labelled them, “white
sepulchres, which on the outside looked clean but were rotten and decaying on
the inside.” Anyone who deceptively takes a vow of celibacy, deliberately
violates it regularly without any pricks of the conscience is a definitely a
disciple of Satan. That is why we refer to them as ‘Postgraduates of Satan’s
University.’ They are candidates for hellfire and they will lead as many of us
as they can to the same place. They are only working for their master, Lucifer!
Listen to what Jesus Christ said about such hypocrites who take false vows in
New Testament account of Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 23, vv. 25 - 28:
“How terrible for you,
teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You clean the outside of
your cup and plate, while the inside is full of what you have obtained by
violence and selfishness. Blind
Pharisee! Clean what is inside the cup first, and then the outside will be
clean too!: “How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You
hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look fine on the outside but
are full of bones and decaying corpses on the inside. In the same way, on the
outside you appear good to everybody, but on the inside, you are full of hypocrisy
and sins.”
Does anyone need
an interpretation for those simple statements of facts? What does a tomb
covered with tiles look like theses days? White! Suppose you dig up the
contents after three months, what will you find inside? Dry bones, nails, hairs,
the teeth, the skull and may be some decaying flesh!
Today, that is
what the Nigerian clergy is! Our Protestant married priests are now preferred! Many of these erring brothers and sisters of our
Catholic community come to my clinic. Nevertheless, that does not solve the
matter! They go to physicians and gynaecologists who are not Catholics; and
probably in mufti, and still accomplish their infanticide mission. My
colleagues laugh at me! Our teaching hospitals and private clinics are
inundated with so many cases that I blush whenever I meet with some of the
irreverent ‘Rev. Fathers and Sisters!’ I may be forced to document some of
these aberrations if nothing tangible is done by the local ordinaries of these
erring sons and daughters of ours! This is definitely “abomination standing in
a holy place”!
During the civil war, I handled more than five hundred cases, mostly out
of paternal concern and humanitarian principles. I pitied the refugee girls and
women who were the commonest preys of these amorous parish priests that used
stockfish, egg-yolk and milk, donated by CARITAS as their baits! Often, I had
to turn them back. The story has not changed much! Only their baits have
changed and their methodologies have greatly been improved on. Their new treacheries
and cover-ups have undergone metamorphosis, but they can never outwit old hands
in our profession!
My colleagues, still in active service, report that the upsurge is
astronomical. The most current evidence to buttress the incidence and frequency
of these scandalous practices by our ‘celibate children’ is that five hundred
cases of HIV/AIDS involving Rev. Fathers and Sisters have been recorded at all
the teaching hospitals nation-wide. The story is the same in other sister
African countries; Ghana Ivory
Coast Gambia Kenya Malawi Angola South
Africa
By God’s grace, I am an octogenarian. It is equally ‘Un-African’ for an
elder to see evil, sit complacently and not warn the youth about its impending
and disastrous consequences. I have done my duty! If nothing is done, and fast
too, we shall be left with no option than to assert that celibacy is a
canonical camouflage designed to shelter all those who are incapable of living
the monogamous lifestyle demanded by the sacrament of Holy Matrimony! It shall
then be obvious that it is an institutionalised welcome haven for those having
sociopathological inadequacies! For now, that is what it represents among the
Igbos of Biafra in West Africa , who love
children and cherish family life dearly!
P R E F A C E
THE RAISON
D’ÊTRE
Current sex scandals in Catholic
dioceses all over the world and in many parishes of the African Church have
necessitated the timely formation of an association of deeply concerned
parents, with the sole objective of sanitising the congregation of what is
regarded today as the greatest demonic attack on decency, purity, holiness and
social ethics! Many postgraduates of Satan’s universities have invaded our
churches. We urgently need to checkmate them!
IT IS SEX SCANDALS GALORE AS AT
NOW!
It is hoped that this association,
as a child of necessity, will save us the recurrent shame, stigmatisation and
embarrassment serious minded members of the clergy and our faithful laity
suffer at the hands of our separated brethren. They are fully aware of the
deceit going on. Now they deride us on the false claims we make on celibacy and
so laugh us to scorn! We have no excuses for the flagrant violations of the
vows of chastity and virginity by our sons and daughters!
The words of Apostle Peter, in 2nd
Peter 2: 17-22, Good News Bible edition (GNB) is prophetic and says it all!
v.17: These men are like dried-up
springs, like clouds blown along by a storm; God has reserved a place for them
in the deepest darkness.
v.18: They make proud and stupid
statements, and use immoral bodily lusts to trap those who are just beginning
to escape from among people who live in error.
v.19: They promise them freedom while they
themselves are slaves of destructive habits—for a person is a slave of anything
that has conquered him.
v.20: If people have escaped from the corrupting
forces of the world through their knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, and then are again caught and conquered by them, such people are in a
worse state at the end than they were at the beginning.
v.21: It would have been much better for them never
to have known the way of righteousness than to know it and then turn away from
the sacred command that was given them.
v.22: What happened to them shows that the proverbs
are true:
“A dog goes back to what it has
vomited” and “A pig that has been washed goes back to roll in the mud.”
What else can be more appropriate
in describing our erring religious hypocrites than the last two verses? One
takes a vow of chastity or that of virginity after fifteen years of training at
the seminary or a minimum of seven years after a postulancy at a convent
respectively. Thereafter, such
candidates flaunt the vow and unrepentantly indulge in promiscuous sexual
exploits shortly after a mission-sponsored tutelage and the diocesan ceremonies
of ordinations or solemn professions usually well orchestrated and extensively
financed by the laity! This cancerous sore deserves a surgical excision!
Is this not a variant of the
abominations of desolation standing in holy places?
Has Satan taken over our seminaries
and convents or are the spiritual directors and formators to be held
responsible for this turn of events? Subterfuge, deceit and pretence must have
been so eulogised, practised and indulged in at some of the religious training
grounds, otherwise how can anyone explain how these wolves in sheep’s clothing
survived the rigorous classical conditioning and role-modelling of their
formators for so long. The sorrows of parents of these wayward candidates are
better imagined than experienced!
The situation has so got out of
hand that the warnings of Jesus Christ himself now apply to our clergy. The
whole of chapter twenty-three of the gospel according to Matthew is an apt
description of the depravity of most of our present day priests! Currently,
about fifty-five cases of reported HIV/AIDS patients in our teaching hospitals
are those of our young men and women in religious cassocks, gowns and veils of
all descriptions. However only one appellation truly fits them all, and that
is- HYPOCRITES!
THE STATUS QUO OF CLERICAL
CELIBACY TODAY
“CELIBACY,
is the state of being unmarried, with abstinence from sexual activity.
Considered a form of asceticism (q.v.), it has been practiced in many religious
traditions: in ancient Judaism, by the Essenes; and in Buddhism, Jainism and
Hinduism, by the members of monastic groups.
In
Christianity, monks and nuns in both the Western and Eastern churches have
practiced celibacy. In the Eastern Church, parish clergy are permitted to marry
before ordination, but bishops are selected from among the unmarried clergy. In
the Roman Catholic Church, celibacy is required of all clergy in the Latin
Rite. The church holds that this practice is sanctioned, although not required,
by the New Testament, basing this claim upon what it avers to have been the
constant tradition of the church and upon several biblical texts (notably, 1
Cor. 7:6-7, 25; Matt. 19:12). The principles upon which the law of celibacy is
founded are (1) that the clergy may serve God with more freedom and with undivided
heart; and (2) that, being called to serve Jesus Christ; they may embrace the
holier life of self-restraint. This statement does not imply, it is said, that
matrimony is not a holy state but simply that celibacy is a state of greater
perfection.
Having
no doctrinal bearing in the Roman Catholic Church, celibacy is regarded as a
purely disciplinary law. A dispensation from the obligation of celibacy has
occasionally been granted to ecclesiastics under exceptional circumstances, for
instance, to provide an heir for a noble family in danger of extinction.
The
Protestant reformers rejected the celibacy of the clergy, Martin Luther setting
the example to his followers by marrying a former nun. Both the marriage of
ministers and the abolition of monastic vows became common features of those
bodies that withdrew their allegiance from the Roman Catholic Church. According
to the articles of religion of the Church of England, "bishops, priests,
and deacons are not commanded by God's law, either to vow the estate of single
life, or to abstain from marriage; therefore it is lawful for them, as for all
other Christian men, to marry at their own discretion, as they shall judge the
same to serve better to godliness."
The
history of priestly celibacy has been a stormy one since it became law for the
clergy of the Latin Rite in the 6th century. Although Pope Paul VI, in his
encyclical of June 24, 1967 ,
reaffirmed the traditional position, the requirement of priestly celibacy
remains a much-disputed ecclesiastical question.”
Excerpts
from INFOPEDIA, the ultimate in information & historical data, USA
THE SCENARIO IN NIGERIA
·
At UNTH some years back, a convent girl was
used at the medical students’ practical session to demonstrate the early signs
of pregnancy in a virgin. The naïve postulant was made to stand in front of
students of her age and narrate what happens to her early in the morning. ‘Of
course her descriptions are nothing peculiar’, the mischievous Consultant
explained to the class, ‘Congrats my dear, you are a very good sample of a
healthy mother-to-be, you are pregnant!” he thundered.
You can only conceptualise the
loud ovation or the sarcastic uproar that greeted the Consultant’s verdict!
Then imagine the scorn and shame the Catholic medical students had to bear
because of a parish priest’s secret love affair with the adolescent girl who
honestly desired the vocation and seriously hoped to become an exemplary
Reverend Sister!
·
At a wedding in my hometown back in 1992, a handsome light complexioned Rev. Fr.
travelled all the way from Umuahia to officiate at St Martin ’s Parish, Odoata-Ihiala. The
grandmother of the bridegroom was at hand to witness the ceremony despite her
aging frame and figure! She insisted on being present at her first grandson’s
wedding feast, but for a different reason altogether as the events of the
wedding celebration unfolded. At the end of the cutting of the wedding cake,
she requested to speak. Sitting in front of the audience with the microphone
secure in her trembling hands, she feebly implored the visiting Rev. Fr. not to
forget to take along with him the beautiful daughter the bride bore for him
prior to being engaged to her grandson. “We have taken care of her for you for
three years now!” she concluded. You can imagine the livid consternation her
confession caused in the reception hall!
This is only the tip of the
iceberg, as many such violations of the vow of celibacy and worse stories from
the convents litter all our parishes. One cannot recount even ninety percent of
them were such a one to narrate for ten hours the sex scandals perpetrated
under the unnatural guise of a celibate life that no African is qualified for,
let alone programmed to keep! We have been deceiving ourselves all these years.
Before the civil war, this author could vouch for 33% of the Rev. Gentlemen who
took their sacred vows seriously. Now, he cannot even swear an affidavit for as
little as 0.05%.
The current vocation explosion is
thanks to this nonchalant attitude to the vows of obedience, poverty and
chastity. Most of the candidates for the religious life nowadays, are
frustrated applicants who now see easy life and sensual pleasure as the
exclusive preserve of clandestine Rev. Frs. and impious Rev. Srs. They are the
only ones permitted by the Church to dissect the sexual enjoyment in Holy
Matrimony from the difficult roles and duties of parenthood as demanded by the
Canon Laws of the Holy Roman Catholic Church. They enjoy sex without the
corresponding responsibility of pregnancy, gestation period, labour pains,
delivery and child rearing involved in it. Let those who want to marry come
out and do so honourably! It is time to put an end to pretence and public
deceit!
The seven or more items listed on
the title page will be treated on separate well research volumes. For now, only
the first has been examined. The treatise is neither comprehensive nor
exhaustive! Every concerned parent or Christian is invited to make his or her
inputs on any of the listed aberrations in the theory and practice of Christianity
today and mail it to the headquarters of the INTEGRATIONAL SPIRITAN MOVEMENT, a
fellowship for all natural scientists for immediate publication.
Feel free to communicate with us
by dialling 042-550344 or 0804-2719800, e-mail saintkenez@yahoo.co.uk.
Many seminarians and postulants
are virgins at their ordinations and first professions! They are sincere on the
vows they take. However, their seniors who are already morally depraved and
demonised seduce them into joining the cohort of fraudsters in cassocks and
veils!
Many young Reverend Sisters
equally, report that they were initiated into illicit sex exploits by their
parish priests or those they trusted. Platonic love affairs became translated
into concubinage within the first three years of their profession. Some,
rather than withdrawing and getting married legally, are then convinced that
everyone was indulging in it, so why should they leave?
That there is an option to this
deceitful aberration is all that the association for the abrogation of celibacy
in the Catholic Church is saying. This clandestine misapplication of what Paul
said in his letter to the Corinthian Church is the genesis of the mass
deception! It did not make celibacy either obligatory or mandatory, but
optional. So, who invented this compulsory application?
1 Corinthians 7:1-9
7:1 Now for the matters you wrote
about: It is good for a man not to marry.
2 But since there is so much
immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.
3 The husband should fulfil his
marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.
4 The wife's body does not belong
to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does
not belong to him alone but also to his wife.
5 Do not deprive each other except
by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer.
Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack
of self-control.
6 I say this as a concession, not
as a command.
7 I wish that all men were as I
am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has
that.
8 Now to the unmarried and the
widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am.
9 But if they cannot control
themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with
passion.
It is this wrong misapplication of
what the apostle recommended that is the crux of the matter. Our association is
only asking that we sanitise the priesthood and stop the mass deception. It is
evident to members of the mass servers and altar girls that both Rev. Frs.
& Rev. Srs. Do not keep the vow. Here is our position:
1.
Celibacy
must be made optional, with priests allowed to renew their choice every three
years for the first ten years of their ordination. They should be as free as
Reverend Sisters to marry if they have fallen in love with someone they feel
can assist them live a happily married life and an exemplary Christian life!
2.
Only
those who are resolute in their virginity can then aspire to becoming full-
time Parish Priests, with
the prospect of becoming Papal Chamberlains
at the fifteenth year of
their ordination! They have the option of voluntarily
undergoing vasectomy to
confirm their perpetual loyalty to the Church!
3.
A
broad-based Diocesan Commission of both the laity and the clergy can interview
and appoint some of the married priests as reliable vicars in their home
parishes. However, they will find their own accommodation and cater for their
families as they will be paid salaries and sick-call allowances!
Both the few honest celibates and
the uncountable dishonest ‘celibates’ know that this is the truth of the
matter. Therefore, the African Synod of Bishops should take the option Pope
John Paul II gave them. In African culture, elders do not tell lies nor
propagate falsehood or false lifestyles. That is the essence of the Ozo-titles
that are conferred on trust-worthy citizens, whose tongues are washed and minds
rid of subterfuge during the rituals of purification in the long drawn out
ceremonies. Most of these clerics want the abolition of the obnoxious dogma but
are cautious lest any one says that he or she has been indulging in its
violation. That is the origin of all the ‘hide-me-& I-hide-you’ scenario we
are being treated to! Let the honest ones come out boldly and condemn the
unnatural law of celibacy. They will gain greater respect!
We are equal partners in this
business of sanitising all Christian Churches! We cannot shy away from our
responsibilities to chart a new course and so sanitise our Catholic Church! Get
as many people as possible to fill out the registration forms at the back of
the book. Enlist only dedicated and devout practitioners of the Christian Faith
to join us. God be with you as the Holy Spirit guides you. For “Surely, His
Goodness and Mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives and we shall dwell
in the house of the Almighty God, for ever and ever”.
In support of my recommendations,
now read 1st Maccabees 1, 2 & 3.
I might as well insert verbatim my earlier dedication
page to that diatribe here:
DEDICATION
To
the million souls that were deliberately aborted and have been sent
to limbo due to the promiscuous lifestyles of our erring brothers and sisters!
To
all the underage that have been abused sexually by the homosexual and lesbian
graduates of Satan’s university adorning cassocks or veils of varying colours!
To
the memory of naïve girls who were deceived, seduced, impregnated and forced
to have D&C, from which they did not survive!
To
the repentant celibates who want to renounce the inhuman vow and wed
canonically with the appropriate dispensations!
Finally, TO
THE FEW HONEST AND DEDICATED SERVANTS OF THE LORD WHO HAVE KEPT THEIR VOWS VERY
RELIGIOUSLY!
May the Blood of Jesus Christ, Plead For All of You, Amen!
This
is a very good birthday gift for seminarians and convent girls. Please give out
copies of this memorable book as souvenirs to your loved sons and daughters at
their ordinations and final professions!
CONCLUDING REMARKS BY TWO MORAL
AGENTS:
Bertrand Russell noted, "Where there is evidence,
no one speaks of 'faith'. We do not speak of faith that two and two are four or
that the earth is round. We only speak of faith when we wish to substitute
emotion for evidence."
Kenez Danmbaezue observes; “ The only truthful thing anyone can say about the Almighty
and Benevolent Creator known in many cultures and languages by a variety of
names is; AN INTELLIGENT SUPERNATURAL BEING EXISTS WHO CREATED ALL WE CAN EVER
SEE, THINK AND FEEL! Any other statement we make about this Ultimate Reality,
Absolute Truth that is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent being is mere
guesswork that only feeds doctrine and dogmas!
FELLOWSHIP
OF TRUE CHILDREN OF THE CREATOR
APPENDIX A
A UNIVERSAL MEDITATION FOR WORLD PEACE
INTEGRATIONAL SPIRITAN MOVEMENT
The Computer Age Fellowship for Rational Children of the
Creator
Religion was/is a superstitious search by humanity for its origin, existence, meaning and relevance before the scientific era. The search was led by acclaimed sages among the elders of a community who defined its theories and practices. It is later ratified and recommended for legislation and implementation by state apparatus by convincing stratagem or coercion by politico-religious leaders. Thereafter, it is fine tuned and administered by ordained priests and priestesses who hand it down along ancestral lineages from one generation of lukewarm adherents, fanatics and mystics to another. Gradually, strong personalities emerge claiming divine appointment and so pull strong followers who idolise them as role models with supernatural powers. This obsession confirms them as beacons of adulation and finally leads to full scale idolatry.
ALTERNATIVE
DEFINITION BY SAME AUTHOR
Religion, which is superstition sanctioned by
the state, is actually an addiction to man-made doctrines and dogmas invented,
patented and copyrighted by a few demagogues.
- It enslaves the mind more than psychoactive drugs,
- Benumbs human creativity and resourcefulness thereby
- Restricting the development of the human potential and
capital.
It is the main cause of poverty of the mind
and underdevelopment of third world countries as its side-effects are
indolence, redundancy, laziness and dependence of finished products and
services. In the final analysis, it is the predisposing factor to lack of
initiative, debilitating ignorance, fetish belief-systems, abject poverty and
perennial ill-health.
Perhaps its only advantage is that it makes
the polity docile and amenable to the whims and caprices of their oppressive
leaders. Often, it hoodwinks its adherents into believing that ‘The God’ or
‘the gods’ they worship speak to them through the voices of their egocentric
clerics who therefore can conveniently exploit them to satisfy their demonic
desires of sensual pleasure and inordinate ambitions of amassing wealth. Their
wanton indulgence in gluttony, wine and women is seen in every action and
definitely this is the foolproof evidence of their demonic genealogy.
PROLOGUE:
I once met three philosophers arguing about the nature of God. The
Christian theologian among them insisted on the Trinitarian doctrine, the
Oriental Christian emphasized that the Holy Spirit proceeded only from the
Father whereas the Roman Christian argued that the Holy Spirit proceeded from
both the Father and the Son!
I
laughed at them. They got angry. In unison, they demanded to know why I was
laughing them to scorn. I said, “Why not bother yourselves about the
things in the world that you can comprehend? Leave God alone!” One
of them interjected, “Why do you say that, are you wiser than the Holy
Church fathers and the great theologians that handed down these doctrines?”
“Thank
you very much for being truthful. You just called them ‘doctrines’ and that’s
exactly what they are! You can’t arrive at any meaningful conclusion in your
argument since all we can ever know or say about him is, “God exists!” And what
that really means is this: “God is the Almighty Being that created everything
that exists in the universe. Anything else anybody says or we say is puerile,
futile and simply mundane guesswork!” I concluded.
Many people are mere conformists. They are those personalities
that are satisfied with ‘going through the motions’; doing what everyone else
is doing to make a living and waiting for the final ‘call to glory’ as they
brand death! Many of us are born and live an inconsequential life; bland,
uneventful and without anything particular to be remembered for after our exit
from this mundane world, a temporal habitation for the soul. There are some
others, whose lives and contributions to the society made a difference! They
changed the ‘status quo’ by either extending the frontiers of knowledge or
developing their immediate communities. They improved the understanding of
human nature and taught others the values of humanitarianism. These heroes and
heroines touched the lives of many both inter-racially and internationally.
These are the calibre of people we have, need and desire for FRCC.
In
I.S.M. we do not theorise about what we have no existential answers that can
satisfy human reasoning! We limit ourselves to provable and rational concepts,
no mysteries, no dogmas and no doctrines. You are very welcome to disproving
anything we posit, provided you can defend your position convincingly and carry
along seventy-five per cent of humankind. We are okay!
I S M IS ON A RESCUE MISSION
To liberate those
who desire independence from the shackles of dogmatism and indoctrination, ISM
only requires those who are willing and rational enough to think for themselves
to apply simple logic and arrive at certain basic universal truths devoid of intellectual
enslavements.
- Read the KENEZIAN CREED and
see for yourself whether the truths catalogued there apply to all beings
on planet earth.
- Study DR KENEZ LETTER TO
TEACHERS OF HIS CHILDREN and evaluate the universality of the ethics
enshrined in the stanzas.
- Finally, analyse the
principles of equality of all races of mankind contained in HARMONISATION
OF YOUTH SOCIALISATION;
If these do not open
your eyes to the futility of ethnocentrisms embedded in most dogmatic
religions, then you are lost to individual thought and clear rationalisations.
You are either a fanatic or a misguided mystic!
ISM is founded on
the discovery of all the natural and eternal laws in creation and full
obedience to all of them. In brief, Kenezians worship the Absolute Truth wherever
it is found; on, below or above the earth! TELL, LIVE, PROPAGATE AND DIE FOR
THE TRUTH! These and only this principle guide the true sons & daughters of
God!
THE KENEZIAN CREED (The Brief Version)
Nuggets of Wisdom by Dr Kenez Danmbaezue for the Unification of all
Belief Systems.
1. I am of age; therefore, I
affirm that I exist! I am “ME”, you are “YOU” and we are “US”. I affirm that I
am a Created Being living in the present, hoping to come to an end as other
creatures I have observed, do come to a definitive end.
2. I therefore know that all
finite creatures obey some natural laws that govern existence. I affirm that
these laws are also eternal and like every other law, must have a Giver. I
deduce therefore that there are commensurate sanctions for any deliberate
violation of these laws.
3. When I observe the heavens
and landscapes, hills and valleys, rivers and oceans, sunrise and sunset,
equinoxes and eclipses, I am certain that this Eternal Lawgiver is Great and
Powerful in all respects and possesses Superhuman Intelligence, Power and
Control over all of us?
4. When I inspect living and
non-living beings, their beauty and variety, their numbers and their sizes,
especially their modes of survival in varying environments and particularly their
ability to reproduce their kinds, I confess that this Eternal Lawgiver must be
Beautiful, Loving and All-Creative.
5. I respect “IT” in all “ITS”
creations while admiring in particular those that move about. For I do realise
that I share the traits they have; we all have the same basic structures, we
survive by performing similar functions, have similar feelings and produce
comparable results. I cannot but bow in reverence and worship this Almighty
Being, the Eternal Lawgiver, who sustains everything on this planet.
6. This Almighty Being set all
things in motion. “IT” directs their courses and life spans, keeps them in
space and time, now and always. Moreover, because there are no accidents in
nature when “IT’S” laws are strictly adhered to, I attest to the fact that “IT”
is the greatest GOOD; the All-knowing, All-caring and Ever Present Being.
7. To “IT” be all my respect,
obedience and loyalty, as I extend my hands of love and brotherhood to all
human beings, co-heirs and offspring of this Almighty Creator and Father of
all. Therefore, my creed concisely is this:
(a) THE UNIVERSE IS MY COUNTRY AND INHERITANCE,
(b) ALL MANKIND, MY BLOOD RELATIVES AND EQUALS,
(c) SEEKING THE TRUTH, LIVING THE TRUTH, PROPAGATING
THE TRUTH AND DOING GOOD AT ALL TIMES – IS MY RELIGION.
This
is the concise version. There is a more comprehensive / longer version
DR. KENEZ DANMBAEZUE’S PLEAS TO EVERY
TEACHER OF HIS CHILDREN AND ALL EDUCATIONISTS ALL OVER THW WORLD
**(Each paragraph/plea
can be used as the theme of Morning Assembly Talks)**
Dear
Teacher,
Preamble: Your job is an onerous one, commendable by
both God and man,
My
child will look up to you as a role model, a mirror to view the world;
You will
have to father him for 5 hours a day, 5 days a week and 35 weeks per year,
That’s long enough to make
or mar his future, his classmates and that of this country.
1. Teach him to look around and admire the
beauty in nature, himself inclusive,
Let him know that for every child he sees, there are
two parents – a father and a mother;
So for the birds he sees, trees, animals, hills,
rivers, sun, daylight, night and moonlight,
There is but One Almighty Father, who created and
takes care of us all on a daily basis.
2. Teach him to trust and obey The Almighty
Creator with worship in humility,
And
to love every other being, as we all are sons and daughters of the same
Creator;
Let
him realise that when it rains, it’s for every one: plants, animals and man,
The
Creator’s kindness and benevolence does not choose those to hate or love.
3. Teach him that for every lie he tells, he
will tell ten more lies to cover it up,
And
for ten lies, he needs one hundred more lies – that is foolishness;
So
let him learn that truth is golden, more precious than wealth and riches,
Knowledge,
wisdom and fame are the rewards earned by truthful people.
4. In school, let him love and respect his
classmates and fight to protect the weaker ones,
Allow
him to taste bitter and sweet things; and to combine laughter and suffering;
That
way you will have prepared him to deal with wicked and honest human beings,
Thereby
teaching him to differentiate good from evil and to do good all his life.
5. Teach him that lying, cheating and stealing
produce criminals and rogues,
Teach
him that a kobo earned is better than a hundred won by lottery;
It’s
better to go hungry for days than enjoy a meal prepared with stolen money,
Or
eat crumbs of bread among finest friends than a loaf among dishonest men.
6. Teach him that a passage studied,
understood and memorised,
Is
far better than one simply crammed and repeated like a parrot;
The
former leads to ingenuity, resourcefulness and creativity,
The
latter to imitative behaviour, and lack of self-confidence;
Teach
him that it’s more honourable to fail an examination,
Than
to copy, cheat or use “expo” methods to pass any examination.
7. Finally teach him that it is better to be
neither too poor nor too rich,
Than
to become wealthy by stealing, deceit and cutting corners;
The
former leads to contentment, peace of mind and long life,
The
latter to arrogance, greed, restlessness and sudden death;
Explain
to him what “Honesty is the best policy” really means,
And
the practical implications of the saying: “More haste, less speed”.
Postscript:
You’ll have to believe and practise
these yourself,
Before you can
teach them to my son and his mates;
But be assured
that if you succeed in this assignment,
You will be a
hero and the father of heroes and heroines;
And that’s what
our dear country needs most.
May God guide
your endeavours!
A CROSS-CULTURAL HARMONISATION OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
*THE PANACEA FOR RACISM*
By
Dr. J. K. Danmbaezue,
D. Psych., FACRS,
Consultant Clinical
Psychologist / Existential Family Therapist.
MEDICAL DIRECTOR, Kenez
Health Klinik, &
ANIMATOR, Happy Family
Network International
Block: C, House: 82, Federal
Housing Estate, Trans-Ekulu, Enugu.
P. O. Box 1995. Phone 0803-9097614 or 0805-1764999, ENUGU,
NIGERIA
Being the Paper presented at
THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON RACISM
Held at Durban, South Africa
From 23rd August – 2nd September 2001.
ABSTRACT
This guest paper emphasizes the
origins and development of prejudice, discrimination, ethnocentrism, stereotypy
and religious bigotry as the seeds that germinate into racism or political
radicalism, dominant and minority ethnic groups that culminate in stressful
relations, violence and wars.
A cross-cultural harmonization of
child-rearing practices is the author’s therapeutic prescription if youths must
be re-oriented towards the universal brotherhood of mankind. We have the same basic anatomy and
physiology; we share the same air, water, food and rest periods. Blood groupings, emotions, motivations, and
libido allow for similar sex attractions, pregnancies and births. So, where do these ethnic superiority and
inferiority complexes come from?
The “Kenezian Creed” and “The Letter to
Educationists all over the world”, epitomise the ideals that this Existential
Therapeutic Programme enunciates. The
panacea for racism is a systematic re-education, religious liberalism and
socio-political equality, which should form the foundations of cross-cultural
harmonisation of youth counselling and personality development initiatives.
Concise C.V.
Dr. J. K.
Danmbaezue is a fifty-three year old privately employed
psychotherapist/psychometrician with an outfit named KENEZ HEALTH KLINIK, where
he counsels young adults about to wed, administering psychological tests and
utilizing them objectively to re-direct incompatible couples. He also has an NGO-christened HAPPY FAMILY
NETWORK INTERNATIONAL, which aims at the globalization of those principles
neatly encapsulated in ‘The Kenezian Creed’ and ‘Dr. Kenez Letter to All
Educationists’. He is happily married
and has three kids. He holds a Doctor of
Science degree in Psychometrics, and the prestigious Fellowship of the African
College of Research Scientists. He is married with three children and is an
Existentialist to the core!
INTRODUCTION:
Philosophy demands the
delimitation of concepts, terms or nomenclatures for clarity of discussions,
analyses, conclusions and recommendations.
The following are relevant in our case:
Prejudice is “a system of negative conceptions, feelings and
action-orientations regarding the members of a particular group”; whereas “Discrimination” refers to
“overt action in which members of a group are accorded unfavourable treatment
on the basis of their religious, ethnic or racial membership” Zanden, (1972).
Ethnocentrism is “an exaggerated tendency to think the
characteristics of one’s own group or race superior to those of other groups or
races” whereas “stereotypy”
means “a pathological symptom of mental or nervous disorder showing itself in
continuous repetition of seemingly senseless words and syllables, or of certain
posture’s and actions”. Drever (1972).
Religious bigotry refers to “an obsessive belief and practice system
whereby a person or group of people has strong and unreasonable opinion and will
not listen to or accept any contrary views or religious opinions of anyone who
disagrees”. Hornby (1976).
Racism or Racialism refers to “any set of beliefs that organic
genetically transmitted differences (whether real or imagined) between human
groups are intrinsically associated with the presence or absence of certain
socially relevant abilities or characteristics, hence that such differences are
a legitimate basis of invidious distinctions between groups socially defined as
races” Berghe (1967).
Ethnic Group is a parallel term for race “which is often socially defined on the
basis of cultural characteristics superimposed on perceived physical traits
defined by the group and/or is defined by other groups as different.... by
virtue of innate... inherited on genetically induced behavioural
patterns”. A. H. Coleman-cited in –
Krauss (1976) and this naturally leads us to Dominant and Minority groups –
which are the remote and immediate causes of violence, terrorism and wars.
A Dominant Group is “one within a national state whose distinctive
culture and/or physiognomy is established as superior in the society and which
treats differentially/unequally other groups in the society with other cultures
or physiognomy “Marden and Meyer (1968), and correspondingly;
A Minority Group is a “culturally or physically distinctive and
self–conscious social aggregate, with hereditary membership and a high degree
of endogamy, which is subject to political, economic or social discrimination
by a dominant segment of an environing political society” Williams (1964).
Analytically therefore, the recurrent decimal in all these definitions
is that racists are misguided, self-opinionated and neurotic people who need
ego trips or massage to suppress their feelings of inadequacy, otherwise termed
INFERIORITY COMPLEX.
Ethnology and Ethnography do not support apartheid, religious bigotry or
racism. For want of space and time,
there are two traditions in ethnic relations and socio-anthropological studies,
which this existential author subscribes to (i) the psychosocial orientation, which is phenomenological, and (ii)
the socio-cultural orientation,
which is existential. Both form the
contrasting research perspectives that most scholars patronize. However they should complement each other.
Individuals are born “tabula raza” - a clean slate! It is parents and
relevant others that write on and crowd this slate with parochial
traditions! No child hates another
child! Hatred is a learned
behaviour! So many films and dramas
portray this. Individual prejudice comes
mainly from the internalization of the prejudicial norms of one’s society. A case in point is the historical origin of
Hitler’s hatred for the Jews. A mistaken
identity and maltreatment in his primary school days when he freely associated
with Jewish children -–was the remote cause of anti-Semitism which he
internationalized, followed by ‘German blood superiority’ he championed which
eventually led to the two world wars he engineered!
The adult populations manufactured Black-white relations in U.S.A.,
Indians, Mexicans and Puerto Ricans segregationist policies, not teenagers nor
adolescents! South Africa’s multiracial society and apartheid system have been
studied as the ultimate in structured inequality while Hawaii and Brazil as
multiracial societies with a low degree of racism. Why can’t we replicate the latter form of
ethnic relations in all countries of the world?
The choice is ours!
YOUTH
DEVELOPMENT:
It is interesting to note what anthropologists,
psychiatrists, sociologists and psychologists have concluded after varying
researches into various aspects of child-rearing practices all over the world.
Collumb and Valatin (1970), French psychiatrists, concluded thus:
“The social changes attendant on
modernization cause far reaching disturbances in traditional family
organization and bring about alterations in the relationship of the child to
the family group. Love and authority are
no longer provided for the child by the communal group of the whole family but
(only) by the biological parents.... Are the parents able to take on these
loving and disciplinary roles alone? Cut
off from their extended family group on all sides, can they overcome their own
problems and fears and make themselves ready to fulfill their new
functions? How does the child experience
these changes? Is it already possible to
set out their pathological consequences?
It is difficult to say; however, one may state that the number of
maladjusted children, the number of adolescents with problems is growing
considerably, especially in towns. The
present generation will be followed by another which will have the same
incidence of schizophrenia as in West” p. 127
This international Conference in South Africa in 2001 should address
those fundamental questions. What this
author offers is only a palliative/prophylactic recommendation. Before that however – we need to recall what
Erikson (1972) and Kohlberg (1969) posited as the critical stages of moral
development in teenagers and adolescents.
These will help us formulate the cross-cultural harmonization this paper
proposes. In his “EIGHT AGES OF MAN,”
Chap. 7 pp. 239-266; Erikson established eight sensitive developmental patterns
that parents, teachers and relevant others must take advantage of, if children
must grow up into mature, respectful and responsible citizens of the
world. Correspondingly, in his
“DEVELOPMENT OF MORAL CHARACTER AND MORAL IDEOLOGY” – a cognitive developmental
approach – Lawrence Kohlberg of Harvard University posted six moral stages that
teenagers pass through – namely:
pre-moral, instrumental-hedonistic, role taking, law-and-order,
autonomous-principle, and finally the universal-ethical-principle.
Time and space
may not allow a detailed discussion of these stages. However, let it be known also that: Bandura
& Walters, (1963) have their SOCIAL LEARNING AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENTAL
APPROACH, while Goshin, (1969) has relevant topics in their HANDBOOK OF
SOCIALIZATION THEORY AND RESEARCH; while Hoffman Martin has his “Moral Development
Theory” cited in Paul. H. Mussen (Ed.) CARMICHAEL’S MANUAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
(3rd Ed.)
All point
to this one fact: That what we give or fail to give growing children, teenagers
or adolescents form the base of all racial discriminations, hatred, fear and
apartheid tendencies. There are no known
genetic traits, or inherited behavioural patterns that warrant racial
discrimination. The adult population
manufactured, patented and marketed RACISM.
Therefore, it remains their duty and urgent responsibility to dismantle
and obliterate the consequences of their mischievous and xenophobic creations;
apartheid, religious bigotry, anti-Semitism, Zionism and all other forms of
racial inequalities that they breed!
The creator of the Universe did not input any racial
inequalities in his created universe and beings. Nor did Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution,
even mention any scientific basis for racism.
Politicians, warmongers, and demonic rulers who traded in human beings
and monetary values invented racism based on their inferiority complexes,
xenophobic reactions and vainglorious exploits.
For how long must we all suffer for their mischief? The onerous duty of liberated minds, as
exemplified by the participants at this United Nation’s Conference will come
into sharper focus as we deliberate on the therapeutic measures proposed by
this paper.
CROSS-CULTURAL
HARMONISATION
In the light of the
foregone scientific references, this psychotherapist has developed two basic
inter-ethnic and inter-racial compositions – spanning a period of thirty years
and has labelled them “THE KENEZIAN CREED” and “THE LETTER TO TEACHERS OF HIS
CHILDREN”. The pair is crucial
re-orientation ploys to revolutionize the religious and educational climates of
the world and subsequently ameliorate or slow down the incidence of/or the
increase in racial tensions, religious fanaticism and ethnic cleansing.
“CROSS-CULTURAL” here is
used as an adjective meaning “involving, or containing ideas or elements from
two or more different cultures, while “HARMONIZE” to make something harmonious
e.g. colours that harmonize well (i.e. together produce a pleasing effect) or
the cottages harmonize well with the landscape.
In music “harmonization” means to play or sing notes that accompany the
main tune and produce harmony with the lead singer”. Hornby (1995) pp 279 &
544
From the above the therapeutic regimen for racialism
and other ethnic stressful relationships lies in the Homo sapiens sapiens accepting that each culture must harmonize
with the lead race; that is, the HUMAN RACE.
If musicians can harmonize with the lead singer why are whites, blacks
and yellows unable to harmonize? Its is
due to ignorance, petty jealousy, morbid fear of strangers and unbridled
self-pride. An attempt must be made to
de-emphasize religion which is the greatest harbinger of fanatical zeal to
discriminate against and dominate others. MISINFORMATION or DISINFORMATION –
also known as propaganda that completes the racial tones dictated by maniacal
leaders, politicians and governments must be halted and reversed
systematically.
The Kenezian Creed sifts
the L.C.M and H.C.F. of the human race.
Then it dresses them in philosophic, ethical and scientific language
which harmonises with the main language of nature – “WE ARE HUMAN BEINGS, WITH SAME CREATOR, SAME BLOOD AND PLASMA, SIMILAR
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY and WE
INTER-MARRY AND PRODUCE SAME SPECIES.
Of what value are our World Cups, Olympics and Arts Festivals, if at the
end of the day we still discriminate and derogate others based simply on the
colour of their skin, eyes and/or the texture of their hairs? Does emotion and motivation vary among the
races of mankind? No, is the only right
answer! Any man or woman can learn the
language of the ethnic groups they are born into and mingle with; hence,
English, French, Swahili, German and some other languages have gained
international appeal and usage. In the
like manner, let’s amplify those areas of cognition, memory and recall that
unify the races rather than propagate those minor differences that separate and
antagonise us.”
“In education, any child irrespective of skin colour,
genetic endowment and child rearing practice can become a genius in nuclear
physics, computer science, acrobatics and music. There has never been, nor will
there ever be a scientific proof of the superiority of one race to
another. These xenophobic
rationalizations are ego defence mechanisms that emanate from depraved and
demented minds and must not be allowed to drag us to another world war. A word is enough for the wise.”
The systematic incorporation of the tenets of the
following compositions into primary school/educational curricula will eradicate
racism worldwide:
THE KENEZIAN
CREED
Nuggets of
Wisdom for the Unification of all Belief Systems.
1. I am of age; therefore, I affirm that I exist! I am “ME”, you are “YOU” and we are “US”. I
affirm that I am a Created Being living in the present, hoping to come to an
end as other creatures I have observed, do come to a definitive end.
2. I therefore know that all finite creatures obey some natural
laws that govern existence. I affirm
that these laws are also eternal and like every other law, must have a
Giver. I deduce therefore that there are
commensurate sanctions for any deliberate violation of these laws.
3. When I observe the heavens and landscapes, hills and valleys,
rivers and oceans, sunrise and sunset, equinoxes and eclipses, I am certain
that this Eternal Law-giver is Great and Powerful in all respects and possesses
Superhuman Intelligence, Power and Control over all of us?
4. When I inspect living and non-living beings, their beauty and
variety, their numbers and their sizes, especially their modes of survival in
varying environments, and particularly their ability to reproduce their kinds,
I confess that this Eternal Law-giver must be Beautiful, Loving and
All-Creative.
5. I respect “IT” in all “ITS” creations while admiring in
particular those that move about. For I
do realise that I share the traits they have; we all have the same basic
structures, we survive by performing similar functions, have similar feelings
and produce comparable results. I cannot but bow in reverence and worship this
Almighty Being, the Eternal Law-Giver who sustains everything on this planet.
6. This Almighty Being set all things in motion. “IT” directs their
courses and life spans, keeps them in space and time, now and always. And because there are no accidents in nature
when “IT’S” laws are strictly adhered to, I attest to the fact that “IT” is the
greatest GOOD; All-knowing, All-caring and Ever Present Being.
7. To “IT” be all my respect, obedience and loyalty, as I extend my
hands of love and brotherhood to all Human Beings, co-heirs and offspring of
this Almighty Creator and Father of all. Therefore, my creed concisely is
this: (a) THE UNIVERSE IS MY COUNTRY AND
INHERITANCE, (b) ALL MANKIND, MY BLOOD RELATIVES AND EQUALS, (c) SEEKING THE
TRUTH, LIVING THE TRUTH AND DOING GOOD AT LL TIMES – MY RELIGION.
My 50th Birthday gift to Mankind. Composed,
Revised and Ratified between 1970-1998
DR KENEZ PLEAS TO EVERY TEACHER OF HIS CHILDREN
*(Each paragraph/plea can be used
as the theme of Morning Assembly Talks)
Dear
Teacher, Your job is an onerous one,
commendable by both God and man,
My
child will look up to you as a role model, a mirror to view the world;
You
will have to father him for 5 hours a day, 5 days a week and 35 weeks per year,
That’s
long enough to make or mar his future, his classmates and that of this country.
1.Teach
him to look around and admire the beauty in nature, himself inclusive,
Let
him know that for every child he sees, there are two parents – a father and a
mother;
So
for the birds he sees, trees, animals, hills, rivers, sun, daylight, night and
moonlight,
There
is but One Almighty Father, who created and takes care of us all on a daily
basis.
2.Teach
him to trust and obey The Almighty Creator with worship in humility,
And
to love every other being, as we all are sons and daughters of the same
Creator;
Let
him realise that when it rains, it’s for every one: plants, animals and man,
The
Creator’s kindness and benevolence does not choose those to hate or love.
3.Teach
him that for every lie he tells, he will tell ten more lies to cover it up,
And
for ten lies, he needs one hundred more lies – that is foolishness;
So
let him learn that truth is golden, more precious than wealth and riches,
Knowledge,
wisdom and fame are the rewards earned by truthful people.
4.In
school, let him love and respect his classmates and fight to protect the weaker
ones,
Allow
him to taste bitter and sweet things; and to combine laughter and suffering;
That
way you will have prepared him to deal with wicked and honest human beings,
Thereby
teaching him to differentiate good from evil and to do good all his life.
5.Teach
him that lying, cheating and stealing produce criminals and rogues,
Teach
him that a kobo earned is better than a hundred won by lottery;
It’s
better to go hungry than enjoy a meal prepared with stolen money,
Or
eat crumbs of bread among finest friends than a whole loaf among dishonest men.
6.Teach
him that a passage studied, understood and memorised,
Is
far better than one simply crammed and repeated like a parrot;
The
former leads to ingenuity, resourcefulness and creativity,
The
latter to imitative behaviour, and lack of self-confidence;
Teach
him that it’s more honourable to fail an examination,
Than
to copy, cheat or use “expo” methods to pass any examination.
7.Finally
teach him that it is better to be neither too poor nor too rich,
Than
to become wealthy by stealing, deceit and cutting corners;
The
former leads to contentment, peace of mind and long life,
The
latter to arrogance, greed, restlessness and sudden death;
Explain
to him what “Honesty is the best policy” really means,
And
the practical implications of the saying: “More haste, less speed”.
Postscript:
You’ll have to believe and practise these yourself,
Before you
can teach them to my son and his mates;
But be
assured that if you succeed in this assignment,
You will
be a hero and the father of heroes and heroines;
And that’s
what our dear country needs most.
May God
guide your endeavours!
*My 53rd Birthday Gift to all
Educationists,
Inspired by Abraham Lincoln’s letter,
Gestation Period: 1997-2001*
RESUME,
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The
etiological origin of racism is ethnocentric megalomania best exemplified by
Adolph Hitler’s xenophobic ideas. “Xenophobia” as defined by Drever (1972) is
“a morbid fear of strangers”, and Hornby (1995) concerns by defining it as “an
intense dislike or fear of strangers or people from other countries”....
“excessive patriotism can lead to xenophobia” – he concluded p. 1385.
“Racism
or racialism” van den Berghe (1967) affirms, “are beliefs (not facts) that
organic genetically transmitted differences (real or imagined) exist between
social groups” which he concluded were false.
There has never been any existential or scientific proof that a
Caucasian is superior to Negroid or Mongoloid specie of the human race. Racism is puerile and futile!
Professor
M. Nesturkh, a Russian anthropologist has a 133-page hardbound book, with over
100 black and white and coloured pictures - entitled THE RACES OF MANKIND. In
the preface, Professor N. N. Cheboksarov, a Doctor of History and a Miklukho-Maklai
Prize Winner, opens up thus:
“The problem of the races of mankind is one of the
most important in anthropology, the science that studies the natural history of
man with all the variations due to age, sex, and geographical factors. The races of mankind are, in actual fact,
geographical (or territorial) variations, historically conditioned, of a single
physical type-MAN.
“The writings of the founders of
Marxism-Leninism contain many valuable statements on such problems as the
connection between the origin of races and the natural geographical conditions
of life of primitive man; the distant ancestors of the present–day peoples, the
gradual obliteration of racial differences in the course of historical
development, the racial mixtures that make up modern nations and the absolute
invalidity of racism.
“A correct conception of the
races of mankind is of particularly great political and scientific importance
today, in the period of the collapse of the colonial system and the
unparalleled development of the struggle for national liberation by the
dependent and colonial peoples. The
ideologists of imperialism, in their effort to provide a basis for class,
national and colonial oppression, have advanced the false “theory” of the
physical and mental inequality of races, or the existence of “higher” and
“lower” races, of races that are capable and those that are incapable of
independent, social, economic and cultural development.
“Racism is closely bound up
with reactionary nationalism and chauvinism.
The Programme of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, adopted by the
Twenty-Second Party Congress, lays special stress on the fact that
nationalistic prejudice and the survivals of former national discord constitute
the sphere in which resistance to social progress may be the longest, fiercest,
most stubborn and most implacable. The misanthropic inventions of the racists
stand in direct contradiction to the data provided by anthropology”. Pp 5 &
6
All scientists agree with
the learned Russian Professor and Prize-winner! Moreover, Professor M.
Nesturukh, himself concludes his introduction to the book thus:
“The author realises the difficulties
attaching to the task he has undertaken and will be satisfied if his readers
obtain from his book a general idea of the concept of races and their origin
and a conviction of the unscientific nature of racism”. P. 10.
It is the conclusions of this paper that only intellectual
pygmies and anthropological misfits can, and do propagate racism in ethnic or
religious relations. But for the fact
that this is a scientific paper, passages in the Torah, Bible, Koran and the
Bhagavad-Gita would have been used to substantiate the stupidity of racialism
and the demonic possession of all racists.
They are all adenescents!
Suffice it to recommend the following:
i.
That all racists be subjected to a psychiatric
evaluation. It is possible that they
have congenital deficiencies that warrant their schizophrenia fantasies.
ii.
That participants at this conference devise means and
modalities for appealing to religious leaders of all shades, colours and faith
to repudiate discriminatory sermons, doctrines or catechesis in their religious
worship.
iii.
That all film makers and drama writers expunge
sentences or scenes depicting superiority or inferiority in all their
products. On the other hand they must
encourage scriptwriters to douse the embers of hatred, violence and ethnic
jealousies in their productions e.g. GUESS, WHO’S COMING TO DINNER.
iv.
That musicians review their lyrics and emulate the
consortium of international stars that gave us the famous song: WE ARE THE
WORLD. In like manner, let all
intelligent people all over the world stand up to be counted among music lovers
who appreciate that orchestras and choirs need soprano, alto, tenor and bass to
harmonise the lead instrument or singer.
So also should white, black and yellow races blend or harmonize the
leading HUMAN RACE.
v.
All newly established families must make conscious
efforts to give their offspring a better deal or lease of life rather than feed
them the same nepotic ideas or prejudices their own parents condemned to feed
on during their growing years
vi.
Re-education in all nursery, kindergarten and primary
schools, must eliminate segregation based on skin colour, class or creed. Each stanza or paragraph of the Kenezian
Letter to all Liberated Educationist can be used to conduct morning assemblies.
vii.
National constitutions should incorporate sections
that make it a crime to discriminate against any citizen, guest or stranger in
one’s native land. Moreover, national prizes may be awarded to those adjudged
to have demonstrated the tenets of the Kenezian Creed practically in their
daily living.
Permit me to add a brief version of an
international prayer I composed for ten years here to support my view that
there could be a universal mode of worshipping this almighty creator of us all.
KENEZIAN I. S. M. UNIVERSAL
PRAYER
My eternal creator and lord of
the universe, I know that you exist,
I observe that you made all
beings interdependent, we need each other,
Therefore, increase my loyalty
and dependence on your benevolence.
I love you as the Father of all
that exists; I want to love other beings,
As well as I love myself; permit
me to truly achieve this increasingly!
I worship you as my first
beginning; I wish to do this as long as I live.
I acknowledge your constant
sustenance and care for me and all that is.
Guide me by your divine wisdom;
correct me with your eternal justice,
Comfort me with your mercy and
protect me with your limitless power,
So that I may obey all the laws,
you put in creation for our own good!
I have a princely heritage in
that I function at three levels of operations,
In that tripartite functionality
of thought, word and action, I am like you.
Grant me a large heart and mind
to understand the universal knowledge
That all humankind are blood
relatives and co-heirs of this your ability,
Therefore, we all are brothers
and sisters, children of the same Father!
Double-faced Christians now abound everywhere; they worship Satan
at night and come to church on Sundays! This lifestyle has eroded the
credentials of our forebears! There is now, an urgent need to redeem our
children from these nefarious practices! We must revert to the legacies of our
renowned grandfathers, improve on it and bequeath the next generation a better
religious legacy than we had!
Dr Jideofo Kenechukwu Danmbaezue,
11th March 1999
REFERENCES
Bandura A. & Walters, R. H. (1963)
Social Learning and
Personality Development, New York. Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Coleman A. K. (1976)
Race and Ethnic Relations. p. 451. Cited in Krauss S. (ed.) Encyclopedic Handbook of Medical
Psychology, Butterworths. London Boston.
Collomb H & Valantin S (1970)
Ethopsychiatrie et evolution de
la schizophrenia” in Famille Africaine “de” L’enfant dans la
Famille”, ed. by E.J. Anthony and C. Koupermik, Paris; Masson et Cie.
Danmbaezue J. K. (1998)
The Kenezian Creed – Interethnic Ethical Principles for the Universal Brotherhood of
Mankind. Hafani Publications, Kihol Products
Ltd. Ihiala, Anambra State of Nigeria.
Danmbaezue, J. K. (2001)
Letter to Teachers of
Children World-wide”. International Education
Project, Kenez Health Klinik C 82, Federal Housing Estate, Enugu.
Drever James (1972)
A Dictionary of Psychology – Penguin Reference Books-Revised by Harvey Wallersten – Hazell Watson
& Viney Ltd. Great Britain.
Erikson E. H. (1972)
Childhood and Society – a Pelican Book, Penguin Books Ltd, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England.
Goslin., D.A. Ed. (1969)
Hand Book of Socialisation
Theory and Research, Chicago, Rand Mc Nally and Co.
Holffman, Martin (1970)
Moral Development in Paul H.
Mussen (Ed.) Carmichael’s Manual of Child Psychology, 3rd.
Ed. Vol. II, New York, Wiley 1970.
Hornby A. S. (1995)
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 5th Ed. by Jonathan Crowder Oxford University Press. Walton Street, Oxford 0X2 6DP.
Kohlberg L. (1964)
Development of Moral
Character and Moral Ideology in M.L. Hoffman and L. W.
Hoffman (eds.) Review of Child Development Research, New York; Russel Sage
Foundation.
Marden C. F. And Meyer G. (1967)
Minorities in American
Society. 3rd Ed. New York and London. John Wiley.
Nesturkh M. (undated)
The Races of Mankind: Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow; Translated from the Russian by George
Hanna. Designed by Vladimir A.N.
van den Borghe, P. L. (1967)
Race and Racism pp
9,11, New York and London. John Wiley.
Zanden Vander J. W. (1972)
American Minority
Relations. 3rd Ed. P. 21, 26, New York, Ronald Press.
THE PRINCIPLES OF KENEZIANISM
A.k.a.
INTEGRATIONAL SPIRITAN MOVEMENT
General
Introduction
The
theory and practice of Kenezianism started in 1970, at the end of the civil war
when its originator Major Kenechukwu Nzeogwu Mbaezue; BA/6532, of the Degema Strike Force, 12th Commando Brigade, Biafra,
returned from the war front with multiple injuries and artillery shock! He felt
shattered by the outcome of the fratricidal debacle of three years that
abruptly postponed his post-secondary education at C.K.C. Onitsha.
THE AUTHOR AS AN UNDER-AGED BIAFRAN SOLDIER
The Nigerian civil war
started in 1967 when Nigeria’s Eastern Region, due to excessive pogroms
unleashed on the Igbos in the north seceded and proclaimed itself the Republic
of Biafra. Here, this author as a youth of nineteen years participated in the
defence of Oguta, converted to a river port and used to import medical
necessities as blockades by land, sea and air became a weapon of war by the
Nigerian government. Starvation, hunger and disease; malnutrition, kwashiorkor,
marasmus and hepatitis took their toll on children, refugees and soldiers on
the Biafran side before it eventually capitulated. The brave leaders of the
dislocated Biafran forces then surrendered to the Nigerian armed forces in
January 1970.
Photo by;
Hulton Deutsch/Corbis & Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation.
“Why did we lose the war of survival?
Should Nigeria the aggressor defeat us the victims of their cruel and
premeditated pogroms? Of what use were the prayers to a god that never answered
us? Or did our leaders commit unpardonable war crimes or indulge in
sacrilegious absurdities? Is the Muslim religion more authentic and reliable
than Christianity? If yes, then let us join them and go on pilgrimages to
Mecca!”
Finding
answers to these existential questions drove the young war veteran crazy. He
could not comprehend how an unjust war ended in favour of the aggressors. For
him it meant that we wasted all our time and youthfulness in the war fronts
praying to the God of Christians! He truly deserved veritable explanations! He
withdrew from all religious engagement for a period of ten consecutive years,
from 1970 to 1980. That gave him enough time to reflect on some existential
questions about all he had learnt from the Christian missionaries that moulded
his early life in the junior and senior seminaries.
FAMINE IN BIAFRA
During the Nigerian civil
war of 1967 to 1970, the Nigerian government imposed blockades around Biafra,
effectively cutting off the secessionist state’s food supply. The resulting
famine in Biafra was devastating, as upwards of one million people died of
starvation. The swollen bellies and ankles of these Biafran children are
symptoms of kwashiorkor, an extreme form of protein-energy malnutrition.
Culled from Archive Photos & Microsoft ®
Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
There
arose the need for him to re-evaluate his belief system, moderate his
scrupulous orientation to social life and thereafter, formulate a realistic
code of conduct that could guarantee his survival in the conflicting world of
the Nigerian society he found himself trapped in! He lived as a war captive for
the next 30 years! Within this period, he fully practised the introverted
meditative lifestyle of Viktor Frankl or that detached life of a research
scientist reminiscent of the great Austrian monk geneticist, MacGregor Mendel.
He earned
four university degrees that spanned a period of 15 years, with breaks here and
there to assist his eight younger brothers and sisters, siblings of the same
humble family of a school teacher/catechist! To achieve this, he again joined
the armed forces of the nation he lived as an exile, the fallout of which was
that he neatly sandwiched a military diploma, pjsc, from the Nigerian
Air Force in between the four degrees!
A
bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, sponsored by the Catholic missionaries in1970,
then another bachelor’s degree in Psychology, self-sponsored and partly aided
by a Federal Government Loans Bursary award in 1975. This loan was later paid
in full after his NYSC, which he served at the Department of Psychiatry,
University College Hospital, Ibadan and Lambo’s Aro-Village System, Abeokuta
from 1975- 1976! This was followed by the three-year stint as an Air Force
Medical Officer, NAF 759. Upon
winning the Anambra State Ph.D. Scholarship Award in 1977 he resigned in 1979
and later earned a Masters in Clinical Psychology, from the School of Medicine,
University of Benin, in 1982. He rounded his training with a Doctor of Science
degree in Research Psychometrics, earned by innovative researches in
personality evaluation, organisational psychology and family counselling in
1993! This doctorate degree qualified him to join the prestigious African
College of Research Scientists, Addis Ababa Campus, of which he is now, a
Fellow! A rare feat of academic achievement for anyone to obtain through
self-reliance, ingenuity and resourcefulness!
For
the next phase of his research/academic life he combined family roles and
clinical duties, churning out psychological tests for guidance/career
counselling, personality evaluation and marriage/family counselling. In the
interim he got married and to date has two boys and a girl, who became the
well-deserved consolation for his long years of ambivalence! Today he is a
retired Flight Lieutenant in private clinical practice as a HUMANISTIC-EXISTENTIAL PSYCHOTHERAPIST.
He still does extensive research in Family Counselling, Existential Family
Therapy and Community Medicine. His published psychological tests and books
exceed fifteen, as at the last count. He is a respected authority in
Psychometrics, a Member of the National Association of Clinical Psychologists
and the Founder/Animator of three world-wide NGOs;
i.
KENEZ HEALTH KLINIK, an Interdisciplinary Therapeutic Organisation for Family
Health,
ii.
HAPPY FAMILY NETWORK an Inter-ethnic CBO
for grooming healthy & successful families,
iii.
INTEGRATIONAL SPIRITAN MOVEMENT, a Spiritual Fellowship for Modern Scientists!
The
greatest contribution he has made so far seems to be in the area of family
counselling and existential therapy where he has developed, constructed,
validated and standardised more than thirteen psychological tests for school
career guidance, pre-marital counselling and crises intervention in families
that need help! In addition, he has written nine books covering such areas of
knowledge as: social ethics, theosophy, cosmology, social and community
medicine. The manuscripts of these inspirational works are, in the real sense
of the phrase, begging for funds to print them. Can anyone publish these
books so that others may benefit from the information stashed away in them? His
religious involvement in early life became an asset as this book in moral
ethics has turned out to be the best outcome of his contemplative lifestyle.
Below are some of the verses he wrote that kept him mentally alive and hopeful
that his children would have a better future! You may benefit from reading and
practising some of them in your daily living! There are existential truths
rather than theological jargons! Establishment of Universal Truths and control of one’s tongue and
selfless service summarises ISM.
THESE ARE THE KENEZIAN FOUNDATION
STONES OF
INTEGRATIONAL SPIRITAN MOVEMENT (I. S. M.)
If
anyone does not control his sensual desires and tongue, his religion is
worthless and he deceives himself. What the Creator and Father of all living
beings put on planet earth considers to be pure and genuine religion is this:
being truthful in every thing ones does by worshipping him in spirit; being
pure in thoughts, word and deeds, taking care of suffering orphans and widows
while keeping oneself from being corrupted by the world. The essence of
Kenezianism, a.k.a. ISM , is graciously encapsulated in its eternal motto: ONE
ALMIGHTY CREATOR, ONE CREATED UNIVERSE and therefore ONE HUMAN FAMILY, who are
equal beneficiaries and heirs to his omnipresent graces, his omniscient benefits
and omnipotent protection!
CHAPTER
1:
AN OVERVIEW
i.
Oh! Mortal man, why do you pride yourself
with such titles as “ Homo sapiens”, “His or Her Excellency”, “His Lordship or
His Grace”, His Royal Highness” and finally the “Lord of the Material
Universe”, when you can never hear better than a common bat, nor see better
than the eagle?
ii.
What achievement has any man
made that is not built on what has already been provided by Nature? Just name
one. Is it not enough to humble us down to our knees in respect to whatever put
us here on planet earth?
iii.
What is it that took care of
our forefathers and ensured that they survived to rear us the best they could?
Who protected us in our mothers’ wombs and those deadly infant diseases that
some of our peers so that we survived to flaunt our high resounding titles.
iv.
Now let us all bow our
heads. Be silent for a while and listen to Nature communicate wisdom in its
simplest forms. When you hear the cock that crows at night, starting from about
3.00am till it is 6.00 a .m. marking out
the hours while you sleep, what is it saying? -- It is thanking its Creator for
another day. And secondly, it is obeying Him by doing its duty twenty-four
hours a day marking out the hours of each day for all other animals and you,
man, the lord of the material universe as you choose to call yourself!
v.
It does it regularly and has
been doing so before you, oh little creature copied him to make your
wristwatches in an attempt to supplant him, but you have failed. The cock is
more precise than the best chronometer you ever invented or will soon
manufacture! For one thing, it does not need a battery to operate nor does it
need servicing!
vi.
So man, learn to imitate the
birds that wake each morning chirping their morning prayers of thanks, while
pleading to the Lord for their daily bread.
vii.
What of trees that daily release oxygen for
your use? Have you ever gone to the gas station to purchase human fuel, either
air or water? How much air and water do you use each hour of your life? Who
provides and purifies them?
viii.
Did you thank the Creator of
this universe for these two items only? When will you do so? Do it now! Stop at
this page, kneel down and reverence whatever put you here on planet Earth
ix.
From today when the birds
start their own morning hymns, oh you little man, join them. That is why He
feeds them on a daily basis, but you have to struggle and suffer or steal to
have food on an irregular basis besides our human greed that makes it difficult
for his fellow men to even have a little!
x.
Whatever or whoever created
us all must have put some laws to govern whatever breathes his air and drinks
his water, for there are accidents and suffocation when these elementary
functions are performed inappropriately.
xi.
We must eat to live, drink
to survive, sleep to rest and procreate to save out species from extinction.
Each of these functions we perform from generation to generation, educated or
not, civilised or not pious or crooked! It wonderful isn’t it.
xii.
Order and grace, beauty and serenity adorn
His creations wherever you find them in their natural habitats unperturbed by
the most destructive animal; man! So let us relent!
xiii.
The voice of wisdom speaks
in all His creations but only the wise can hear them! Can you interpret the
language of honeybees or bring fellow men to march in formation like the
soldier ants without coercion and spending some funds on training programmes,
which the ants never do even at birth!
xiv.
These and similar precision
occurrences like sunrise and sunset should make more pious and respectful but
what do we find? Arrogance and buffoonery intoxicates most of us.
xv.
The wisdom of the Creator
shines forth everyday like the sunlight, but we prefer to walk around like
blind men vaunting our ignorance of His natural laws that govern our very
existence.
xvi.
So how do you assist a blind
that does not see properly but claims that he is okay and is not in need of
your help, as he will never accept that he does not know everything!
xvii.
That is the problem with our
human race. Other animals are ready to learn from their parents and obey them
diligently, only man claims to know when he does not! When shall ever learn as
other baby animals learn?
xviii. The
time is now, not tomorrow, not next month, not next year but this very moment.
How does one do exactly that, you may ask?
xix.
Don’t ask me, Kenez, rather ask King Solomon,
the Wise! Go and read and memorise 1st Kings, Chapter 3, verses
6-15. Or for an elaborate treatise, find the complete bible edition and read
chapter 9 verses 1- 18 of the WISDOM OF SOLOMON.
Always use the Good News
Bible Edition for all references!
CHAPTER
2:
PRACTICAL
LESSONS FROM NATURE
i.
Open
your eyes and look at newborn babies. Study them for a whole week. Who taught
them to cry? Why do they cry? Watch them during breastfeeding. Who taught them
to suck properly? Did you, or did their mothers teach them? Answer me, Oh man!
ii.
Look at babies everywhere, you were once like
that, so learn to be humble and thank your father and mother if they are still
alive! You were a helpless animal that a cat or a dog could have eaten raw, were
it not for their paternal and maternal care!
iii.
There from, O arrogant creature learn the
virtue of gratitude, it does not hurt you nor will it cost you anything more
than to always say a loud “Thank You” all the rest of your short span of
existence on this planet
iv.
Carry a baby and note that it looks you
straight in the eyes and either smiles or begins to cry. If the latter, be sure
you are a bad person or you looked aggressive. Babies are the best judges of
character! So, learn to drop your worries and frowns when you approach others
in life.
v.
Everyone
else you meet has personal problems but they do not advertise them all the
time, so why that scowl on your face? Smile at difficulties and so learn
forbearance, tolerance and equanimity! There are virtues that you will need all
the time!
vi.
Babies
have weight as you must have noticed, and this increases as they feed well and
grow. What makes them grow? How do they learn to sit, crawl, stand, and then
walk? Answer me, oh Homo sapiens! Lord of the material universe!
vii.
Why
does an object fall to the ground? Even when you throw objects far into the
air, they return to the earth on which you stand. You may simply answer that it
is because of the force of gravity, as you must have learnt by rote memory far
back in elementary school.
viii.
But
that answer was not so easy for the first men and women on earth! Prehistoric
men once worshiped that magnetic phenomenon. So learn to investigate nature,
discover new facts and share your knowledge with others. It is a fundamental
lesson of life!
ix.
The
ground you stand on carries your weight, no matter how large and heavy you
think you are! All those heavyweight wrestlers you watch on television all walk
on the same ground. Those heavy trucks that compete with trains in carrying
loads are also resting on the same ground! It carries all of us besides all the
tall buildings man has constructed everywhere in the world. Have you ever
wondered what would happen if the earth for once refused to carry our weight?
x.
We
bury dead men and animals in the ground to avoid their stench and the epidemics
they could cause! Yet has it at any time rejected to accept more corpses? Why?
Answer me, the self-styled “Man, the
summit of creation”
xi.
It
is no use answering titles one cannot defend, nor lumber around under the
euphoria of crammed information gathered from books and school curricula. Put
on your thinking cap and attempt an answer.
xii.
The
wisdom of the Almighty Creator fashioned all those macrocosms and microcosms
and assigned them eternal duties which they religiously obey at all times, come
rain, come sunshine! So have you found out yours? If not, when will you begin?
Start now. It is yet early morning on creation day for you! Make an honest
inquiry. Imitate them. Therefore in life don’t expect a “thank you” for doing
your duties!
xiii.
Those
macrocosms that serve your purposes; the sun, the moon, water, air and the
ground never demanded any from you! They all co-operate to grow the crops from
which we prepare the meals at our dinner tables daily! Or are you the one who
produces the grains, tubers, roots and fruits that wild animals, birds and
humans consume?
xiv.
I
have not forgotten that the breast milk is by far better than any infant
formula that any scientist can ever produce! The same goes for the natural and
clean water collected during a heavy rainfall. Its purer, as it contains all
the minerals the animal body needs, both wild and domesticated, including man
himself!
xv.
When
last did you eat an egg laid by a non-poultry-raised hen, for example a guinea
fowl? Or to make it simpler, taste a sample of wild eggs and that of poultry
eggs, and you will be amazed that despite all the veterinary care and husbandry
of agricultural farmers, the wild eggs taste not only better but also contain
more concentrates of the nutrients that build the body! Ask any qualified
scientist in that field!
xvi.
Who
ensures all these? Can any created being human or non-humans perform these
feats? If your answer is positive please
tell us where you got your materials! If
negative, then bow down and worship Nature or whoever produces them for our
enjoyment!
xvii.
The
focus is still on babyhood. You have many more lessons to learn from infants!
Do you remember who carried you about when you were small? Ask your parents.
Find him or her and please give a big hug or a large gift in appreciation!
xviii.
Your
weight alone must have deformed the natural structure of your babysitter's
figure. The spinal column, the backbones or the waist of such a one must have
altered its structure, no matter how infinitesimal! Ask physiotherapists. You
caused that; and therefore you owe an apology or a “thank you”! Which do you
prefer?
xix.
All
go to show the interdependence of created beings. House helps; stewards, cooks,
maids and servants must be valued and appreciated! We need each other to grow,
mature and enjoy life to the fullest. The name of the game of life is; “you rub my backside and I rub yours!”
xx.
The
innocence of nudity is the most important lesson the baby teaches. Why do we
need clothes if not to cover our guilt and the embarrassment that it
enunciates? Try to regain your innocence if you can, however note that shame or
societal disdain is what we deserve as the just punishment for disobeying any
natural laws!
CHAPTER
3:
SOME
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGES
i.
Did
you know that you were once a linguist? Yes, you were once an international
orator and everyone listened and reacted to your famous speeches! You must have
lost that talent or suppressed it. But you can reclaim it if you really want to
be an international sage!! Read on, if you do!
ii.
Visit the home of a couple that has a newborn
and quietly observe everyone in the house for an hour when the baby is
wide-awake. Relax. Just watch mummy, daddy, children and others in the house!
This is a very important practical. Don’t miss it. Do this before reading any further, please!
iii.
What did you see in the home you visited? Who
was dishing out orders to everyone else? Who was the parade commander? Who was
obeyed and must be obeyed? And finally what did you learn about children and
their ability to order everyone around them. Do they get immediate obedience or
compliance? ----Yes, they always do!
iv.
You were once an autocratic baby like the one you observed! You
gave commands and everyone came running to obey you. At times you even caused a
quarrel between daddy and mummy when there was a delay in compliance to your
demands!
v.
Am I making any useful remarks? Of course, I am! The world of
the infant is full of “give me, carry me,
feed me, change my wet pants, cant you see I am hot? - do something about it, cant
you feel the cold?- common, cover me with a blanket,.. etc”
vi.
Some of that language still remains in everyone’s subconscious
mind and we occasionally demand immediate gratification. If you do so, it shows
that you are still a baby when you are among adults. So stop it now!
Selfishness or egocentricity is childish behaviour! Drop any vestiges of it
remaining with you today!
vii.
But that is not all. Did you also assimilate the love showered
on the infant by all around, including yourself? Atimes, while you were there,
you felt like scolding the mum for delaying the prompt breastfeeding of the
baby. Did you?
viii.
That is called “empathy”. You felt for the helpless infant and
wanted to assist in the little way you could. You were right then, but do you
do so nowadays helping or assisting others in this selfish country and world
that we live in? Sympathy is an international language!
ix.
Did you notice that even daddy was ready to fight for the baby?
He was ready to abandon the love he has for the wife just to please the infant.
Why? I need an answer from you, the proud Homo sapiens!
x.
It is called international justice! The weak are always to be
defended or protected before the strong. It is a natural code written in our
minds but we sooner than later stifle it, replacing it with cultural
stereotypes and ethnic prejudices. Re-learn it today!!
xi.
My dear, I am not giving you any new codes of conduct. No! These
have always been there! I am only unearthing them for mankind to become
conscious of the international language that everyone once spoke and
understood.
xii.
Crying is an international language that translates thus: I am in difficulty… I need your assistance
to get out of this sad situation, please
help me… will someone listen to me? Did
you get my message? How many people have you rescued in the past week?
xiii.
However note that sometimes teardrops could indicate extreme
pleasure, unexpected joy or negative emotional upset! But you always tell the
difference by assessing the cues in the immediate environment of the one
concerned!
xiv.
Smiling is an international language, and converts to laughter
when doubled or multiplied in geometric proportions! Both translate into;“ I am pleased at the moment,.. thank you
for the pleasant stimulus,.. it is hilarious here, why don’t you join us and
laugh! Am I making any sense to you? Do not say yes when you really mean
no.
xv.
Frowning is an international language, which when serious
becomes a scowl, threat or hatred and a prelude to mischief. In all your life
avoid it. It does you no good. Ask Cain, the brother of Abel in the Christian
Bible! He is a professor in that subject. He graduated in it and became the
first murderer in the history of mankind, as we are told!
xvi.
Music is an international language! And when dramatised turns
into various types of dancing! Good ones cut across ethnic, religious and
national boundaries. All domesticated and wild animals, especially snakes
listen to and enjoy good music. Ask any zookeeper! Even criminals enjoy their
own kind of music.
xvii.
Romance is an international language! Falling in love cuts
across all human demarcations. It has even resulted in peace accords, unions
and festivals as well as murders, wars and enmity!
xviii.
There are many other international languages! Learn to cultivate
the good ones and minimise the use of any bad language like scolding, shouting,
gossiping, backbiting, slandering and finally maligning others!
xix.
Two other international languages are; urinating and defecating!
As an infant we all did it wherever and whenever pressed, but we were also
trained to postpone or delay them till we get to the appropriate places for
doing so. Have you been doing these rightly?
xx.
Finally, this is definitely the one that runs haywire for
immature people! Libido or sexual energy, its profitable use or misuse!!
Promiscuity is bad in concept and unhealthy / futile in execution; anywhere,
any day, anytime. Control your passions! The ability to do so separates mature
rational human beings from all infantile, hedonistic and regressed ones! Which
are you? Adieu!
CHAPTER
4:
LECTURES
FROM A TODDLER
i.
Have you ever heard of Sigmund Freud, Jean Piaget, Erik Erickson
or Lawrence Kohlberghas? These are well known research scientists that spent
years, studying children in minute detail. So you need to get into a library or
consult a current encyclopaedia to appreciate the wisdom contained in this
chapter!
ii.
We may take off with the toddler. Do you
remember some of the things you did at that age? I can only summarise some of
them here; you sucked your thumb so much
that you had to be punished to stop that 'naughty' habit. Again as you dropped
that one, you began to babble monosyllabic words and very much later you were
able to pronounce your first meaning words, which were; mama, dada, ada, aha
aba, then -mummy, daddy, etc followed gradually!
iii.
But the greatest achievement was what Jean Piaget called; the
acquisition of pre-operational concepts of mass, volume, height, and depth. But
let's take thumb sucking first, which the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund
Freud elaborated on in great detail. It contains so much on personality
formation! It is normal for children to suck, for they even started it right
there in the womb long before they were delivered!
iv.
Thumb sucking relieves an infant’s tension and stimulates the
sensitive membranes of the mouth pleasantly. In this respect the thumb is to
the infant what the cigarette is to the adult. When children are tired, sleepy,
hungry, sick, or are teething, their finger sucking increases.
v.
Scolding a child for thumb sucking will make him feel guilty,
which he will try to relieve by more thumb sucking. This is
counter-productive! It is more effective
to keep him well fed and to provide him with adequate toys to occupy his hands
and fingers.
vi.
So newly weds should take note. You could be damaging your
infant’s future personality by your ignorant enforcement of age-old discipline
that was only done in error and is really a cultural proscription!
vii.
For cigarette smokers, you now know that you are regressing to a
toddler's method of reducing tension or anxiety, thereby informing all around
you that you still immature. This is equally applicable to ladies who always
delight in chewing gums! A word is enough for the wise!
viii.
However the most important lesson to learn from the infant at
this time is to face your tensions as a mature adult and seek for help if need
be! Don’t resort to infantile behaviour!! Excessive drinking is akin to this
problem. Alcohol never solved any problems, rather it adds to it!
ix.
The next lesson is what Freud called “fixations”. “Fixation at the oral stage leads to extreme selfishness” states
Sigmund Freud. This naturally leads the child onto seeking pleasurable things
in later life, thereby developing as an egocentric personality! Sensuality,
avarice and gluttony follow in the wake of retaining this misdemeanour!
x.
The next fixation is that of the anal stage, when the child
derives pleasure from controlling the anus. Due to routine you may not have
noticed that defecation is pleasurable! It relieves tension. But in infancy the
toddler notices that he/she can control the parents by inappropriate release or
withholding of bowel movements!
xi.
In later life, those that resort to this regression of infantile
manoeuvre develop stingy personality traits. They tend to hoard in order to
control the relevant others' behaviour! Traders take note! When this trait
combines with the previous one; greed, stealing and robbery are the triplets
that are delivered!
xii.
Stingy parents, please
realise that your marriage partner is unduly being stressed by you regressed
fixation! Some sexual relationships suffer because of this subconscious
manipulation learnt in early life!! I have treated many cases of this type in
my clinical practice.
xiii.
Bosses in offices, Principals of schools, Pastors in parishes,
Bursars or Purchasing Officers in various organisations should take a good note
of this and re-evaluate their behaviour henceforth!
xiv.
The next lecture from that toddler is the fixation at the
phallic stage! Most infants derive pleasure from caressing their sex organs
early in life. Some parents notice this and reclaim their kids before much
damage is done. Others ignore this or do not even take notice!
xv.
In reality everyone indulged temporarily in masturbation early
in life to relieve tensions. However some carry it to teenage, adolescence, and
even to adulthood! This results in promiscuity! It is as simple as that!
Retrain yourself if you are involved or consult a sex therapist!
xvi.
By now you may think that all these are psychological jargons,
but I assure you that they are not! Sigmund Freud spent all his life after
medical college studying these and he is an authority in this area!
xvii.
That one did not take notice of what one did, as a child does
not translate to that they never occurred! Observe your own kids from now on
and you will be grateful to that great psychoanalyst!
xviii.
The hurdles that every toddler has to cross to develop into a
well-balanced personality have been highlighted for you to begin a sanitation
exercise within yourself! Consult a clinical psychologist for remedies!
xix.
The integrated personality that we all desire consists in
passing those stage in life appropriately assisted by our cultural norm and
mores. Parental awareness of these stages is hereby canvassed for. Religion
often comes to the rescue, but with varying degrees of success. Some develop
scruples or other depersonalisation syndromes!
xx.
A normal heterosexual relationship is hard to attain but it is
achievable! Don’t give up! Make the best use of the knowledge your garnered
from this chapter to raise your lovely children and leave the rest for the
Almighty Creator of both you and you kids!
INTERLUDE FOR REFLECTIONS
Those who search will
eventually discover something unique. Those who ask penetrating questions may
one day obtain answers from above rather than human palliatives that rarely
satisfy the saintly soul. Those who ardently knock on the doors of heavenly
wisdom, sooner than later gain divine inspirations from the Holy Spirit of the
Original Architect and Ultimate Engineer of the earth we inhabit! He alone has
all the answers to all physical, social, mental, spiritual and the personal and
socio-political problems of our mundane world, if only we humble ourselves and
honestly ask for his wisdom and guidance. But, do we?
The Creator has hidden
so much from our intellectual faculties that to date we are still unravelling
those He is allowing humanity to glimpse at through divine dreams, intuitions,
inspirations and revelations to devout souls! Do you want to have supernatural
knowledge mediated by spiritual faculties of seeing, feeling, sensing and
caring for others? Look inwards, for the kingdom of God is inside you , not
outside as many preachers tell you. No one ever got eternal bliss by keeping
the commandments of men. It is given to altruistic seekers of that Divine Guidance
in the affairs of mankind, which many yearn for but do not know where, when and
how to find it. Search for it in this book!
The creator gave humans some of
his powers and knowledge for recreating the material universe for the mutual
benefits of all his created beings but today many use his gifts to perpetrate
evil. Either by design or demonic manipulation, the obverse is the case; the
first datum that every living thing recognises is that someone put it here and
caters for its welfare. Dogs respect and fight in defence of their owners.
Every pet realises that it is loved and taken care of by someone who has value
for its existence. It is human who pride themselves of being rational beings
that do not recognise, respect or realise that all of us have a single owner.
It is absurd! Some believe there is an Almighty Creator who provides for each
creature on daily basis, some assert that he has turned his back on us due to
our congenital wickedness and cruel ways, while others simply deny his
existence!
DO
YOU REALISE THAT EVERY BEING HAS A SOUL? AND EACH IS VALUED BY OUR CREATOR?
CHAPTER 5:
WINDOWS OF THE SOUL
i.
Before you misinterpret this subheading, note that it is
only a continuation of “Lectures from a toddler” but from a different
perspective. As I was typing this on my computer it occurred to me that we
humans perform similar tasks as the hard disc, floppy diskette or CD-ROM.
ii.
All computers need windows to function, and so does the
human central nervous system. I quickly remembered also that in the science of
ergonomics machines are made to fit human operators. Then the really big one is
that electronic engineers studied the human brain, how it functions in everyday
life, and copied it to invent the computer itself!
iii.
The eyes, ears, nose, mouth and the skin of the infant allow
it to communicate with the external environment just as the keyboard, the
mouse, and modems permit the computer to appreciate the “garbage in, garbage
out “ paradigm!
iv.
So it is with the human soul! It has many windows with which
it interacts with, controls and responds to both the internal and the external
environments of the human body!
v.
We feel hot, cold, warm, and have tactile responses because
nature’s gift of feeling is a window of the soul! So also are the other windows
you may observe in the body of our little lecturer, “the toddler”.
vi.
A brand new hard disc, “the C drive”, is blank until
programs are fed into it! And so is the new-born / babe's mind, its early
responses and later in life its traits, mannerisms, and ultimately its good and
bad behaviours!
vii.
Has it ever occurred to you that differences in children are
due to a variety of programmers working on its “CPU”, by the very same ways
different soft wares fed into a computer determines the behaviours and services
it can render?
viii.
So, we intend to reflect on how we influence the making of
saints or criminals in our family interactions with toddlers in this chapter!
In reality, we are the products of parental influences, cultural, ethnic and
religious stereotypes and social prejudices! This is the hard truth!
ix.
If you rear a set of identical male twins, one in a prison
yard and the other in a monastery. What would you expect at the end of
twenty-five years? Or, on the other hand, you rear a set of female identical
twins, one in a convent and the other in a brothel, what will the results of
your experiment behaviour-wise?
x.
That is exactly what happens to us all within our short life
span of home upbringing by responsible or irresponsible adults around us! Make
no mistakes about it; stealing, aggressiveness, telling lies, cleanliness,
carefulness, loyalty promiscuity etc are all programmed behaviours!
xi.
So we must be wary and conscious of what we do or fail to do
in the presence of toddlers, teenagers and adolescents! They constitute the best
imitators and artistes in the world. The irony of it being that they take it
for real and the beat way to survive in he socio-cultural milieu they grew up!
And they carry it about to other areas of the world unable to differentiate
“the good, the bad and the ugly”.
xii.
When I bought my first computer, I had “Microsoft Windows 95” as its pre-installation program
from Compaq, the factory that made it. Later on I learnt that two more windows
were already in existence since then, but there little I could do about a
change. I made the best use of that primary learning program, even though most
of my more informed friends pressurised me to re-program it.
xiii.
Sooner than later, fluctuations in electric current in my
neighbourhood took its toll on my hard disc, and all I got after my computer
had booted out was; “operating system, not found”. Truly, that was exactly
“experimental neurosis” for my poor CPU, and it won my sympathy. I took the
whole compartment that houses the hard disc to Lagos, parted with a large chunk
of my income and had “Microsoft Windows 98” installed!
xiv.
Before that decision, however, I had made inquiries on the
best program that was in the market, for by then two more windows had been
introduced into the computer world! And so it is with every toddler's mind! It
is programmed. But unlike the computer, it cannot be reprogrammed easily. There
are always traces of the original programs, software, on line, Internet (surfed
or browsed) and downloaded programs!
xv.
You can begin to appreciate more why parents and other
relevant adults around every new-born must be wise and selective about what the
baby sees, hears, tastes, feels or touches within the first five years of life!
Do I need to explain an idiom? No! It is never done in my culture. You just
have to grow up to unravel the nuggets of wisdom wrapped in an idiom! Do so
now!
xvi.
The ‘icons, shortcuts, mouse’ and other methods of
recognising and inserting good and bad behaviour patterns in the infant,
graduates into more sophistication as it learns to walk, talk, read, listen to
radio/ tape recorders and watch television programs!
xvii. Therefore,
bringing up a balanced and well-groomed teenager is not a simple task.
Unfortunately that is exactly what obtains in most homes! Parents think that
all they need do is; feed the baby well, take it hospital, Nursery school or
Sunday service. They are as wrong as they can ever be in life!
xviii. And such
parents are the first to exclaim, “ What’s wrong with junior? Why is this child
behaving abnormally? During my teenage years, I never did things like these?
What is wrong with children of nowadays? I cannot exhaust the list of
embarrassing statements I have heard!
xix.
For an answer, I have only this “They had immature parents
who ignored them early in life, but were busy chasing money, and those parents
are delinquents!” We over-emphasise what
is trivial, magnify or over-prioritise that which does not build good human
relationships but in the same vein neglect our children’s proper upbringing.
xx.
Please rethink after reading this chapter. The greatest
investment you can ever make in life is training you child properly, not a fat
bank account or landed properties scattered all over the world! Many homes have
no children but you are toying with the fruits of love Nature has bountifully
and/or gracefully given to you! Do you deserve them? Relent, my friend, I mean
repent!
CHAPTER 6
OF BECOMING A GREAT SOUL
i.
Everything that lives and possesses immanent motion has a soul!
Do you want a debate on that? Simple, tell me any invention of man that is
self- propelled? The nearest we have come to that, is the novel solar system
whereby some prototypes of electrical machines are energised by the power of
the sun. This would definitely benefit those living in the tropics and that
explains why European scientists are dragging their feet over their mass
production!
ii.
But what are our so-called professors in engineering waiting
for? When shall all those warming academic stools in our glorified universities
in the tropics compete with their counterparts? In order not to derail, lets
focus on how one can aspire to and eventually become a great soul worthy of
mention after one's lifespan on earth!
iii.
What or who is a great soul? To answer that question let us
consider some great statements that have changed the course of man's history
and identify those who made them; - “The moment the slave resolves that he will
no longer be a slave, his fetters fall. He frees himself and shows the way
to others. Freedom and slavery are mental states.” Guess who made that
everlasting statement!
iv.
“ If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich
in contrasting values, we must recognise the whole gamut of human
potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each
diverse human gift will find a fitting place.”
I
hope you will get this very easily, can you?
v.
“ I submit that an individual who breaks an
unjust law that his conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts
the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community
over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.”
vi.
Have you attempted to find the Great Souls that made those
watersheds of eternal truths? If not, you need the services of a historian of
repute to unravel their identities! Let me give you some more clues.
vii.
Add this to the first quotation; --– A diminutive man possessed of an indomitable will, who not only
secured national independence for his native land, but also introduced to world
politics a concept of active, non-violent civil disobedience an idea
whose myriad applications have only begun to be explored. Have you
remembered him by now?
viii.
Add this to the second quotation; --As an anthropologist, she advocated progressive social action, as
is evident in one of her most famous quotes: “ Never doubt that a small group
of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it’s the only
thing that ever has.”
ix.
Add this to the third quotation; -- When he was in jail, he wrote, “ I am in
Birmingham because injustice is here”, and then added this to his fellow
clergymen… “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
x.
If by now you have not guessed anyone of the three Great Souls
correctly, then stop reading this Kenezian Ethics, for it will do you no good!
You need to refine your thoughts, enlarge your heart, begin to learn new ideas
about humanitarian principles and a little more from history books!
xi.
Mohandas Karamchand
Gandhi,
also known as Mahatma (Great Soul)
wrote the first one in 1949, in his book: NON-VIOLENCE IN PEACE
AND WAR. He is today regarded as the greatest revolutionary of the century. He
has many disciples, to date, including this author!
xii.
Margaret Mead, while popularising anthropology
through her field studies on the cultures of New Guinea and Samoa, wrote the
second quotation in 1935, in her classic: “SEX AND TEMPERAMENT
IN THREE PRIMITIVE SOCIETIES.” She argued that culture and society, not
biological inheritance, determine individual character. The idea disarmed
theorists who asserted that personality and intelligence, like the colour of
skin, stemmed from biology, and it discredited arguments that supported
race-based policies of segregation.
xiii.
Martin Luther King,
jnr. wrote
the third quotation in a book compiled from the letters he wrote on scraps of
paper and smuggled out from prison cell in 1963, entitled: “ LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL.” The letters
were mainly addressed to his critics in the clergy who opposed his civil rights
marches.
xiv.
King credited Indian leader Mohandas Gandhi for the non-violent
methods of civil disobedience he used against unjust laws. In subsequent years
before his assassination in 1968, King – against much resistance – led the
drive toward civil rights legislation while promoting peaceful civil
disobedience as a universal method of demanding social and economic justice.
xv.
Have you learnt any veritable lessons from those quotes of Great
Souls? I deliberately chose from three different cultures and from both sexes,
to assert that great minds exist in most men and women of great repute! You
too, can become a beacon of light in this present life and a source of
inspiration after death!
xvi.
A single voice can change the world! Whether the voice describes
a new scientific theory, tells the stories of a culture, or speaks for a
previously voiceless group of people! It can reach across national borders and
across time to influence a wider world and transform the world that follows.
xvii.
That voice could be yours. Start today to have universal
thoughts that will benefit the whole humanity. Yes, that’s the way all Great Souls
began! Influential thinkers perform such feats! You too, can become a Great
Soul!!
xviii.
The twentieth century is nearing an end. Powerful ideas in
physical and medical sciences, arts and humanities, politics and religion have
changed our social relationships for better or for worse! Don’t sit on the
fence. Choose a role model today and begin to emulate him or her!
xix.
Some great minds have altered humanity, increased understanding
between individuals and cultures, and helped to define our present world for
good or for bad. Nothing ever remains the same always. Change is a natural law
that we all must obey at all times!
xx.
Do you want to make history? Today is your genesis! Seize the
opportunity of this moment. Let this meditation on becoming a Great Soul be the
impetus that you have been waiting for! Don’t procrastinate! It is a lazy man’s
excuse!
BOTH
IN RURAL VILLAGES AND URBAN CITIES, IT HAS BEEN FOUND THAT ONE’S BEHAVIOUR
CLASSIFIES ONE AS CHILDISH, REGRESSED, ADOLESCENT, AND ADULT OR ADENESCENT.
WHERE DO YOU BELONG IN THIS CATEGORISATIONS?
CHAPTER
7
EIGHT
AGES OF MAN
i Now we shall consult another
expert on the development of the toddler. How does the infant acquire some
personality traits? In other words, how did you become the individual you are
today with all your peculiar mannerisms? What roles did your parents and
relevant others play in the shaping your present personality traits?
ii Erik Homburger Erikson, while practising
at the Centre for the Advanced Study in the Behavioural Sciences, Stanford,
California in March 1963 wrote:
“CHILDHOOD AND SOCIETY”, a Pelican Book, that was the result of more
than ten years of clinical observations of two American Indian tribes.
iii On the front cover he summarised his work
thus: “ While tribes and nations, in many
intuitive ways, use child training to the end of gaining their particular form
of mature human identity, their unique version of integrity, they are and
remain, beset by the irrational fears which stem from the very state of childhood
which they exploited in their specific ways.”
iv Professor Erikson is
a Freudian. Using a number of fascinating case histories as springboards for
theoretical discussions of the formative years of childhood, he reveals human
life as a delicate balance between bodily, mental and social influences in the
masterpiece!
v.
You just have to locate that handy book and read it in a hurry,
in order to follow my conclusions here! The title of our chapter is lifted from
his book and coincidentally it is also a chapter seven! I can only summarise
them here, and my précis may not convey all the information you need. So, find
it and read it!
vi.
The first age of man, Erikson labelled as; “Basic
Trust versus Basic Mistrust” which refers to the relaxation the infant
feels with parental provision of his basic survival needs. “The first demonstration of social trust in the baby is the ease of his
feeding, the depth of his sleep, the relaxation of his bowels. The experience
of a mutual regulation of his increasingly receptive capacities, with the
maternal techniques of provision gradually helps him to balance the discomfort
caused by the immaturity of homeostasis with which he was born”.
vii.
In practice, the infant’s first social
achievement, then, is his willingness to let the mother out of sight without
undue anxiety or rage, because she has become an inner certainty as well as an
outer predictability. A maternal bond formed by long and regular breastfeeding
ensures this! Such consistency, continuity and sameness of experience provide a
rudimentary sense of ego identity.
The lesson to learn from that analysis is that parents should take the blame if
their children do not trust anyone in later life! Build confidence in your
little infants today!!
viii.
The next age is labelled: “Autonomy versus Shame & Doubt” which
has to do with locomotion. Maturation of the limbs and the ability to move
around brings in its wake anxiety! Muscular maturation sets the stage for
experimentation with two simultaneous sets of social modalities; their basic
conflicts can lead in the end to either hostile or benign expectations or
attitudes. These are very important facts which parents neglect either due to
ignorance or dereliction of duties towards new-borns that are priceless gifts
from Mother Nature!
ix.
“Thus, to hold can become
as destructive and cruel as retaining or restraining, and it can become a
pattern of care: to have and to hold! To let go, too, can turn into an inimical
letting loose of destructive forces, or it can become a relaxed “to let pass”
and “to let be”. In other words, we need to realise that self-confidence
and independence depends on how much autonomy we allow our children in early
life. Allow them to be on their own. Don’t over-protect nor pamper your
children. When they fall down, allow them to get up by themselves!
x.
The age of “Initiative versus Guilt”
follows, which Erikson describes as the most important factor in morality
development! There is in every child at every stage a new miracle of vigorous
unfolding, which constitutes a New Hope and a New Responsibility for all. Such
is the sense and the pervading quality of initiative.
xi.
The criteria for all these senses and qualities are the same: a
crisis, more or less beset with fumbling and fear, is resolved, in that the
child suddenly seems to “grow together” both in his person and in his body. He
appears “more himself”, more loving, relaxed and brighter in his judgement,
more activated and activating.
xii.
He is in free possession of a surplus of energy, which permits
him to forget failures quickly and to approach what seems desirable (even if it
also seems uncertain and even dangerous) with undiminished and more accurate
direction. Initiative adds to autonomy the quality of undertaking, planning and
“attacking” a task for the sake of being active and on the move, where before
self-will, more often than not, inspires acts of defiance or, at any rate,
protested independence!
xiii.
The point for all adults around growing children to note, is
that we must permit freedom to infants to makes mistakes, bear the consequences
for their indiscretions and thereby learn to obey norms and mores on their own
initiative rather than to please anyone! Does this make any sense to you? Moral
codes must be rationalised and internalised on their own, not by religious or
parental coercion!
xiv.
The next age is that of “Industry
versus Inferiority”, wherein Erikson next introduces the genesis of
laxity, truancy and malingering. The last stage is the foundation of
initiative, thus the inner stage seems all set for “entrance into life”, except
that life must first be school life, whether school is in a field or a jungle
or a classroom! The child must forget past hopes and wishes while his exuberant
imagination is tamed and harnessed to the laws of impersonal things – even the
three Rs!
xv.
With the oncoming latency period, the normally advanced child
forgets, or rather sublimates, the necessity to “make” people by direct attack
or to become a papa or a mama in a hurry! S/he now learns to win recognition by
producing things, becomes ready to apply her/himself to given skills and tasks,
which go far beyond the mere playful expression of her/his sexual organ's modes
of pleasure in the function of his limbs.
xvi.
The growing child or teenager now develops a sense of industry –
i.e., s/he adjusts her/himself to the inorganic laws of the tool world. S/he
can become an eager and absorbed unit of a productive situation, and to bring
it to completion is an aim/objective, which gradually supersedes the whims and
wishes of play! A successful adjustment results in a well-balanced adult! So,
guide your kids to achieve independence and industry in later life and you
would have scored a 100% as good and dutiful parent!!!
xvii.
The fifth age, Erikson called “Identity versus Role
Confusion” which simply states what is happening as the teenager
evolves into an adolescent. With the establishment of a good initial
relationship to the world of skills and tools, and with the advent of puberty,
childhood proper ends. Youth begins!
xviii.
With the maturation of their gonads; menarche in females and wet
dreams in males, they are now primarily concerned with what they appear to be
in the eyes of others as compared with what they feel they are, and also with
the question of how to connect the roles and skills cultivated earlier with the
occupational prototypes of the day!
xix.
The integration now taking place in the form of ego identity is,
as pointed out earlier, more than the sum of the childhood identifications. It
is the accrued experience of the ego's ability to integrate all identifications
with the vicissitudes of the libido, with the aptitudes developed out of
endowment and with the opportunities offered in social roles!
xx.
The danger of this stage is role
confusion! Where this is based on a strong previous doubt as to one's
sexual identity, delinquency and/or outright psychotic episodes are common! But
when properly resolved and to keep themselves together, they temporarily over
identify, to the point of apparent complete loss of identity, with heroes of
cliques and crowds!
xxi.
This initiates the stage of “falling in love”, which is by no
means entirely, or even primarily, a sexual matter – except where the mores demand it. To a considerable
extent, adolescent love is an attempt to arrive at a definition of one's
identity by projecting one's diffused ego-image on another and by seeing it
thus reflected and gradually clarified. This is why; so much of young love is
conversation and an over-doze of chattering spiced with giggles!
xxii. “Intimacy versus Isolation” is the next
age of man, according to Professor Erik Erikson! The young adult, emerging from
the search for and the insistence on identity, is eager and willing to fuse his
identity with that of others. S/he is ready for intimacy, that is, the capacity
to commit her/himself to concrete affiliations and partnerships and to develop
the ethical strength to abide by such commitments, even though they may call
for significant sacrifices and compromises.
xxiii. The physical body and the ego must
now become masters of the organ modes (instinctual energies)
and of the nuclear conflicts (sexual
urges), in order to be able to face the fear of ego loss (inferiority
complex) in situations which call for self-abandon (self denial): in the
solidarity of close affiliations, in orgasms and sexual unions, in close
friendship and in physical combat, in experiences of inspiration by teachers
and of intuition from the recesses of the self!
xxiv. The avoidance of such experiences because of
fear of ego-loss may lead to a deep sense of isolation, withdrawn personality
traits and consequent self-absorption. These predisposing factors lead to
masturbation, homosexuality and lesbianism! Be observant and rescue your little
ones from these abnormalities early in life! Show them true love. Display
genuine heterosexual relationships whenever you and your spouse are in front of
them!
xxv. The seventh age of
man then, is “Generativity versus Stagnation”, a term that encompasses
the evolutionary development that has made man the teaching and instituting as
well as the learning animal. Generativity, then, is primarily the concern in
establishing and guiding the next generation of human beings, although there
are individuals who, through misfortune or because of special and genuine gifts
in other directions, do not apply this drive to their own offspring.
xxvi. Generativity thus is
an essential on the psychosexual as well as on the psychosocial schedule. Where
such enrichment fails altogether, regression to an obsessive need for
pseudo-intimacy takes place, often with a pervading sense of stagnation and
personal impoverishment. This is the predisposing factor for the variety of
abnormal sexual behaviour mentioned earlier! In fact, some young parents suffer
from the retardation of the ability to develop this stage!
xxvii. And finally, we
arrive at the last age of man; “Ego integrity versus
Despair”, which the learned professor describes thus; “Only in him who in some way has taken care
of things and people and has adapted her/himself to the triumphs and
disappointments adherent to being, the originator of others or the generator of
products and ideas – only in him/her may gradually ripen the fruits of these
seven stages”.
xxviii. “It
is the ego's accrued assurance of its proclivity for order and meaning. It is a
post-narcissistic love of the human ego – not of the self – as an experience
which conveys some world order and spiritual sense, no matter how dearly paid
for! It is the acceptance of one's one and only life cycle as something that
had to be and that, by necessity, permitted of no substitutions: it thus means
a new, a different love of one's parents” affirms Erikson!
xxix.“The lack or loss of this accrued ego
integration is signified by fear of death: the one and only life cycle is not
accepted as the ultimate of life. Despair expresses the feeling that the time
is now short, too short for the attempt to start another life and to try out
alternative roads to integrity! Disgust hides despair, if often only in form of
a thousand little disgusts which do not add up to one big remorse”, concludes our learned professor!”
xxx.
My dear reader, with the wisdom gained here, you can
now assert that it is not religion that makes one feel guilty, develop into a
sex pervert and/or become a recluse! Modern man has to learn to
de-emphasise scruples induced by religious injunctions and accept his
responsibility for personal failures in life! If that is the only lesson you
have learnt from this chapter, you are a wise person!! Go ahead and implement
that principle in all your dealings in life!
CHAPTER
8:
MORAL DEVELOPMENT IN
CHILDREN
i Another recent research
scientist that studied childhood in detail is Lawrence Kohlberghas, an American
psychologist, who stated that as we grew up each one of us passed six
developmental stages of morality! He carefully monitored and documented how
infants develop the sense of right and wrong. He is a current scientist, and we
can learn a lot from his research!
ii Stage one, he
labelled; PRE-MORAL , here moral development is essentially at the pre-moral level. Children at this stage
behave properly simply to avoid punishment. They show an unquestioning
deference to power /authority, moreover, the physical consequences of any
action determine its goodness or badness for the child.
iii. Stage two, is INSTRUMENTAL-HEDONISTIC, morality here is like a marketable commodity for the
teenager. What is considered right is primarily what is good for the child
himself; occasionally, the satisfaction of other’s needs is a factor, but the
outlook of these persons is essentially an instrumental-hedonistic one; e.g.
‘You scratch my back, I scratch yours.’
iv. Stage three, is PEER GROUP APPROVAL; morality is what is approved by others. Peer group
satisfaction gradually replaces parent’s approval. At this level the child is
able to take the role of others, he can understand what will please them and
tries to gain recognition as “the good child”.
v. Stage four; The LAW–AND–ORDER stage. Here, children’s respect for authority,
whether parents, teachers, policemen, priests or pastor originates in anticipation
of honour and avoidance of dishonour. The orientation is to do one’s duty, obey
fixed rules and maintain the social order.
vi. Stage five; AUTONOMY, principally behaviour is based on what is right or wrong,
decisions are made on what is proper or improper on the basis of contracts,
social or personal at the stage. Adolescents are able to take into account the
viewpoint of society in general or play the roles of adults.
vii. Stage six; is the UNIVERSAL ETHICAL PRINCIPLE orientation. According to Kohlberg,
only Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King jnr. have displayed in
their lives; respect for the rights and dignity of their fellow human beings
and had been concerned that this mutual respect becomes a universal law!
viii.
From the information garnered from Lawrence Kohlberghas, most of us humans are
still struggling to graduate from the third stage of moral development and this
accounts for so many puerile and purposeless leaders all over the globe!
ix. The
second stage of moral development fits what we observe in Third World
countries, whereas, only a few of the so-called Fist and Second world country
are fixated at the third stage.
x. In INTEGRATIONAL SPIRITAN MOVEMENT. (I.S.M.), the
target of each member is to reach the sixth stage within ten years of joining
the fellowship. Any one who lags behind will be asked to resign his/her
membership! It is a sure proof that such a one is neither rational nor
scientific and we detest such regressive behaviour!
xi. If as
scientists or rationalists we are agreed that only AN UNMOVED MOVER or AN
UNCUSED CAUSER was responsible for existence, the universe and life; then we
are brothers and sisters with equal rights, privileges and responsibilities to
one another.
xii. Some
philosophers prefer the term ‘The Summum Bonuum’ but we are not restricting our
discussion to languages that are cumbersome for some to master. ‘The Supreme
Good’ is neither an idiomatic translation nor an adequate literal translation!
More over both are subject to myopic misrepresentations as what is ‘good’ to
one person or culture may be ‘bad’ to another, for example, polygamy whether
polyandry or polygyny!
xiii. At
this point it might be fundamental to summarise what Gestalt Therapy has to
offer! The mainstay or the notion here is that people are born wonderful, happy
creatures and would remain that was if allowed to grow up naturally.
xiv. It
is the society one grows up in which begins to influence us as children, that
sometimes pushes us onto the wrong track. Our problems occur when we absorb
other people’s value-judgements, like our parents, siblings, uncles, aunts,
teachers, religious or political leaders.
xv. When
these value-judgements are in sharp contrast to our own real feelings,
life-long conflicts arise. We often experience these conflicts as
self-disapproval for own genuine feelings and rather impose the opinions of our
culture or religion!
xvi. That
alone spells the beginning of the end. So in I.S.M. it is your duty to identify
these impositions and ratify them based on the divine natural laws the Almighty
Creator put in the universe. This is the basic theory and practice of
Kenezianism
xvii.
Finding them is easy. Look inwards and find the natural laws written boldly in
your heart. The little voice that speaks to you anytime you are about to
violate the natural laws are international and non-partisan. What your parents
and culture tried to do was only to stifle it and imprint what they thought
would be good for you!
xviii.
You and you are the final arbiter in what you think, decide and implement! No
one can imprison your mind, thoughts and words. Yes, no one can bend your
will–power if you are resolute. Are you going to be the driver in the seat of
your vehicle (your material body) or are you going to be a passenger? This and
only this is the golden price ISM demands of you, and thereafter you can gain
eternal freedom!
xix In Kenezianism, only One True God exists,
namely; GOD,THE ALMIGHTY CREATOR! He
initiated initiates and will forever initiate all thoughts, words and actions
that are global, eternal and metaphysical in all beings, animate as well as
inanimate. He is the Only One that deserves our unalloyed worship, praise,
honour and adoration!
xxi.
Every other being
that ever existed, exists or will ever exist, does so at His pleasure and comes
under His Natural and Eternal Laws that govern all macrocosms and microcosms He
created! Hence every other great religious leader, dead or alive, those
acclaimed as divine prophets, gurus, saviours or mystics are all classified as
‘lords’.
xxii.
Therefore Shankara & Ramanuja, K’ung Ch’iu (Confucius),
Siddhartha Guatama (Buddha), Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Noah, Abraham, Moses,
Joshua, David, Solomon, John the Baptist, Jesus the Christ, Peter and/or Paul
the apostles, Mohammed the Prophet, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Sa’i
Baba and/or any other prominent moralist must be referred to only as ‘Lords’!
xxiii.
None of them or anyone else that may come hereafter is near to
or co-equal with Our Almighty Father, who created and sustains everything in
existence! This knowledge and its eternal acceptance as the stepping stone to
all educational programmes are the beginning of wisdom for scientists of all
generations, as well as for all shades of religious affiliations!
xxiv.
Our great grandfathers knew that much! So why did some fanatics
deify their heroes and idolised what was created and finite at any stage of its
material/physical existence in this universe? Ignorance is the one and only
correct answer!
xxv.
None of these famous religious leaders was there at the dawn of
creations. Read the books credited to Job, Solomon, Issaiah, Sirach, Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John. None of these authors suggested anything like that! No,
not even the great Patriarch Moses who founded Judaism was ever credited with dualising
the Godhead, not to mention Christians tripling it!
xxvi.
Even the great apostle of the gentiles, Saul of Tarsus, later
called Paul after his miraculous conversion, emphatically states that the
Almighty God is One and has no equal or deputy! Read more of this in his first
letter to his loyal converts at Corinthians, Chapter 8 verses 1-6. Moses did a
better job in the whole of his book named EXODUS!
xxvii. So let us all stop
this buffoonery of attributing equality in personhood to anything else! It is
not only idolatrous but sacrilegious and irrational! It breeds fanaticism,
segregation, partisanship and finally syncretism. It is the harbinger of
all-religious differences, schisms, feuds and wars!
xxviii.
The world of science, medicine and electronics have demonstrated
that all human beings can believe, learn and accept certain universal ways of
doing things! This is because these areas of knowledge are impartial, objective
and devoid of sentimental attachment or any form of socio-political patronage.
We hold international conferences on most departments of academics and arrive
at world-wide principles and standards, so why not in religion?
xxix.
The answer is simple;
Religion is constructed on the shifting sands of emotions, politics and
hero-worships. These are inimical to modern man. And the sooner we recognised
it and addressed it, the better for our generation! That is all that I.S.M.
stands for. Join us today, and provide the human race with a scientifically
oriented spiritual fellowship where all are brothers and sisters. Thank you and
God bless everyone!
*** Christian fanatics should read Matt.19:
16 -30 or Mk.10: 17 -31 or again Lk.18: 18 -30,
And thereafter recognise that it was Saul of
Tarsus that deified Jesus at Philippians 2: 6 –11;
Realising that Is.45: 23 given as a foot
reference does not confirm nor corroborate that deification!
It was a Pauline error, which has diverted
the true worship of the only Creator - Almighty God!
So also did the Doctrine of Holy Trinity,
which was copied, from Hindu religion and from Greco-Roman mythology!
CHAPTER 9:
CONTROVERSY CAUSED BY RELIGIONS
i My dear reader,
can I now call you a disciple? It will help me avoid the error of many
religionists who unwittingly masculinise all their injunctions with “he, his,
himself, man” as if only males are moralistic! In today’s world, women are more
religiously minded than men, yet many preachers and evangelists still deliver
their sermons as if the womenfolk were not around!
ii.
My dear disciple, have you ever noticed the competition among
various churches and ministries around where you live? Would there be so much
strife, slandering, castigation and/or outright condemnation of each other if
leaders of these groups really understood the existential meaning of religion?
iii.
The true meaning of the term “religion” is “ to bind oneself to
doing something willy-nilly”. Whether it is the belief in or the worship of
gods or a God, as the dictionaries would have us believe, the word originally
came from the Latin root “religere”
which literally translates to “to bind”,
as if tied with a rope. Its origin was derogatory. It was meant to castigate
the early Christians whom Nero ‘the mad emperor’ tied to stakes and made sport
of, by allowing lions to tear their bodies apart while the victims screamed in
pains!
iv.
Read historical writings about how the early Christians were
martyred and you will even realise that today we have very little faith. Where
is the LOVE that these early Christians demonstrated? Where is ‘the sharing all
their belongings among themselves’ that Chapter 4 verses 32 –37 of the Acts of
the Apostles credited them with? When shall the present crowd of hypnotised
fanatics realize that they are being taken for a ride by ‘a brood of vipers’ or
demonic preachers, ‘whose only god is their belly’ as Jesus, the Christ
referred to them in the Christian bible? Hypocrisy has elevated to an art that
yields millions for these half-baked charlatans and school dropouts!
v.
We have lost true love and religious piety that to greed,
selfishness, avarice, pride and the monetisation or commercialisation of
religious worship, crusades and other clandestine activities, all in the name
of religion! While these pastors smile to the banks, their followers wallow in
penury, starvation and ignorance! Did Christ or any other religious leader in
history ever preach competition, hatred, calumny, gossiping, slandering and a
myriad of other divisive behaviour that characterise today’s mode of pecuniary
evangelisation antics?
vi.
So, my dear disciple, can you now see the plan of the Evil One
that was predicted in the Bible, the Anti-Christ and his devilish strategy?
Don’t ever be caught up in their materialistic religious deceptions! Free
yourself today. Rationalise what you hear, choose the one that satisfies
international ethics, as all altruistic moralists would enjoin us. This is the
scientific age, not the early or prehistoric ages when everything was based on
introspective vituperations or theological speculations of self-proclaimed
visionaries. Logical arguments and satisfactory conclusions should be your
guidelines in religious activities, not emotions!
vii.
If you have not acquired any logical skills, then now is the
best time to learn the basics of scientific reasoning. It is the solution to so
many differences of opinions in life. I encourage you to be rational in your
thinking, discussions and actions from now on. You will be surprised by the
amount of freedom you will feel. Take time to evaluate all you have accepted
from childhood as truths without having had neither the chance nor the
capability to reason them out by then! Free yourself from self-imprisonment!
Throw away those dogmatic and doctrinal shackles that have held you hostage for
so many years.
viii.
Witness these practical samples of Kenezian wisdom: everyone
uses telephone, whether cellular or non- cellular, these days without
quarrelling over who invented it; no arguments arise from the use of computers
or the internet; and so does transportation either by land, sea or air! None of
these has ever brought any strife neither between any religious groups nor
between nationalities of various nomenclatures. Why does religion generate so
much strife and disagreements? The answer is very simple! It operates on the
level of irrational emotions; what appeals to one group of worshippers do not
appeal to others, because they are primarily based on personal opinions of
their leaders. Moreover the human mind is so egocentric, impressionistic and
parochial! It dichotomises what naturally does not need any divisions,
segregations or compartmentalisations.
ix.
Check this one out. Will
two medical doctors quarrel over the treatment of headaches or bruises or
fractures? No, is the natural answer. But often we do not realize why! That is
exactly where Kenezianism comes in as a science of morals that cuts across
national, political and religious boundaries. It reduces every concept about
the supernatural to logic, facts, data and practical knowledge that are
independent of its originator’s personal opinions. The concepts in Kenezianism
are natural phenomena that are replicable in any part of the world,
irrespective of the literacy level of its practitioner!
x.
An example will demonstrate its universality. In Kenezianism,
all human beings are accepted as brothers and sisters for the mere scientific
fact that we have similar blood groupings, identical anatomy, comparable
physiology and heterosexual behavioural patterns! The proofs are there for
everyone to see and accept rationally, not emotionally nor parochially! We intermarry;
blacks, whites, and yellows interchangeably; and produce children not apes. And
these off springs of ours are neither ethnocentric at birth nor apartheid in
social relationships until their parents introduce them to stereotypic
child-rearing practices and segregationist education! This Gestalt Therapy
deals with. The avid reader can explore it!
xi.
The principle of Kenezianism abhors such, and will not be
dragged into such mundane socio-political balderdash or any religious
buffoonery! Its mission statement spells that out in the KENEZIAN CREED and the
LETTER TO ALL EDUCATIONISTS. Read them over and over. Rationalise their
universal utility for a more equitable and egalitarian world government! If you
cannot accept nor internalise the concept therein, drop this book here and now
and never border to read any other publications of the Kenezians! It is very
essential that we abrogate ethnic, racial, status and religio-cultural
divisions in our world of today that has become a global village. The way we
fight pandemics and terrorism should serve us well in socio-political
dimensions also! We must genuinely be our brothers’ keepers!
xii.
The literacy level of many adherents of various religious groups
is very low. Add to this, the reluctance of human beings to adjust quickly to
changes, and then you will better appreciate why many wallow in ignorance. Many
do not like to explore unknown areas of knowledge in their short life spans.
Most accept the religion they were born into, swallow all their parental
injunctions and cap them all with the dogmas/doctrines manufactured by their
myopic leaders. Thus we have religious wars, crusades and jihads today, that
culminate in terrorism of varying magnitudes; the highest of which was the now
notorious “September 11th of U.S.A.”
xiii.
When shall we ever learn? Did Confucius,
Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus or Mohammed ever preach syncretism? The answer is an
affirmative NO! Only Moses, due to depersonalisation syndromes emanating from
years of the enslavement of his kith and kin in Egypt and his personal refugee
status in Midian before he was recalled to lead them out, inadvertently
introduced segregationist concepts encapsulated in the Mosaic laws of ‘clean
and unclean’ religious injunctions that culminated in ‘the Jew and the Gentile’
racist policies Chris failed to address succinctly before he was sacrificed.
xiv.
As far as we are concerned in Kenezianism, that was a costly
price for every religious leader who fails to resolve ethnic issues in his
sermons. Did he reconcile the descendants of Esau, Ishmael and Jacob? No! Did
he identify with the Samaritans, Greek or other ‘Gentile’ citizens of his
epoch? No! Did he integrate the Roman Rulers of his time with his ethnic group?
No! There were many other leaders, religious and/or political, in history that
paid for the same negligence. The concept that he died for everyone is not only
obsolete but also idiosyncratic and outrageously fanatical, for up till now,
present Jews and previous ones never acknowledged that idea. To-date, the
Jewish race is still expecting a Saviour! It was Saul of Tarsus who marketed
the idea, as he was making reparations for murdering Stephen and many early
followers that he had dispatched to impromptu graves!
xv.
The truth will always surface no matter for how long it is
buried. Let us learn to apportion blame wherever and whenever they are due.
Hero worship never pays lasting dividends. Idolising a great leader detracts
from total loyalty and the true worship we owe to the Almighty Father, the
Indisputable Creator of the universe and all of us; human beings, plants,
animals, animate microcosms and other inanimate macrocosms. It is time to
proclaim the true Unitarian Godhead! Trinitarians are idolaters who copied from
the ancient symbols of the religions of the Far East and those of Egyptian
mythology!
xvi.
Pragmatism, Rationalism and Existentialism (P.R.E) remain the
tripod on which Kenezianism rests! Subject every novel idea you learn, to the
acid test of satisfying those ‘Three Kings’ and if it passes, then internalise
and practise it in your daily life. If not, vomit it, for it is a counterfeit
and therefore it is anti-thetical to the present scientific age of man; ‘the
Homo sapiens’! You are hereby appointed a judge of all our write-ups that do
not meet those criteria, namely PRE. In
addition, every injunction of Kenezianism must be people oriented, meaning that
it must be truly humanitarian in all ramifications; thus giving us the formula;
k= (ica / pre) hapo, where ‘k’ is same as Kenezianism, ‘ica’ equates to; ideas, communication &
actions, ‘pre’ represents the three
kings just mentioned above, whereas ‘hapo’
stands for; humanitarian and people oriented! Ask a mathematician to explain
the rest to you, while we proceed to other pressing fundamentals.
xvii.
Whereas other
spiritual organisations emphasise ‘beliefs-systems’and ‘dogmas/doctrines’
Kenezianism emphatically encourages you to know, experiment and prove beyond
every reasonable doubt, every construct we propose to you for a lucid
evaluation that can formulate the building blocks for an all-embracive world government. We do not believe that God exists; rather we know
that HE/SHE/IT exists irrespective of our acceptance or otherwise of the great
truth! God is the ONE and ONLY GODHEAD that is and has no need for a
Trinitarian explanation. We prefer to refer to this godhead as ‘The Almighty
Creator’ at all times and use the pronoun ‘IT’ as there is no proof that IT is
either male or female!! And as the Prime Mover of all else that moves, it can
manifest as sound, light, energy and even as a physical entity!
xviii.
The ambition of all Kenezians is to internationalise ‘obedience
to all natural and eternal laws as the bedrock of a world spiritual fellowship
of realists and/or scientists not a congregation of theologians, fanatics nor
religionists. There are many international religions already existing in the
scientific community, like the FIFA, OLYMPIC COMMITTEE, the WCC, the ICRC or
even the latest and most popular religion as at now; the internet
(http/www.org) to mention but a few, with dedicated adherents from all walks of
life, esoteric/mystical sects and a variety of mundane/fanatical fraternities
or denominations that we can ill-afford to increase the number. Rather, we
crave to stand in the gaps to bridge the sentimental divides and knock down the
perennial walls of differences in doctrinal conflicts.
xix.
We know that it is possible to get all intelligent people to
agree to and share an international concept provided it appeals to reason and
arrests the interest of literate citizens of the global community who feel
concerned. Our integrational spiritual fellowship, hereafter referred to as ISF,
is based on scientific principles that obey all natural laws in creation. You,
too, can contribute your altruistic quota to the consolidation of this brand of
interdisciplinary, inter-racial and inter-devotional organisation. Any bright
formulation is welcome provided it meets the basic requirements stated above as
summarised by our scientific formula.
xx.
You may refer to us as the UNAID, UNICEF, UNO
or WHO of all known, registered and yet to be registered religions. We are, in
a real sense, the meeting/melting point of all belief-systems. Every
rationalist is welcome! If you appreciate what we stand for, communicate with
us today. Don’t postpone or procrastinate.
Historians inform us that Christopher Columbus actually set out to
discover another route to India when he stumbled at the Americas and thus
opened up humanity to a large continent partitioned into northern and southern
halves but connected by a strip of islands.
Today, the Panama Canal has made it possible to access the Eastern
Regions of the World while travelling continuously to the west! Inventors,
Discoverers and occasionally, religious leaders emerge from obscure communities
of despised nations to beam supernatural light and divine wisdom of the
Creator!
CHAPTER 10:
LECTURES FROM THREE UNIVERSITIES
i We now come to the basics of nature
study. Have you ever observed soldier ants on the march? It will definitely be
difficult for those of us who did not grow up in a rural community or in a
farm! For such persons, their elementary biology textbooks will suffice. All
they need do is revise what they learnt in secondary school about social insects or look up that title in
an encyclopaedia or browse the Internet.
ii.
In either case, what they will learn is that these small insects
are so well organised that it is a wonder why we, the so-called ‘Homo sapiens
sapientes’ are so disorganised. Why do we need the police force to beat us into
line, whereas these minute insects do not step out of line nor try to do
another insect’s duty?
iii.
They have specialists for any and every problem they group will
ever encounter while they are on any march. Pity yourself, if you interrupt
their movement. By the time they swarm around you and sink their jaws into your
exposed skin area, you will feel so much pain that next time you will not only
fear to cross their path, but you will dread and avoid any other insects that
resemble them! Why?
iv.
These little creatures have soldier ants with larger mandibles
specialised for aggressive actions against any intruder and their duty it is to
fight and protect the group. And their job ends there. They do not interfere in
other duties like reproductive activities or in feeding the younger ones in the
group. We have copied that much, but do our own soldiers mind their duty only?
v.
There, is an important lesson for us humans to learn! A little
common sense is all that we need to learn only one trade, specialise in it, be
proud of it and not interfere in other people’s professions! But this rarely
happens in the social organisation of mankind, yet we claim to be ‘the lord of
the material universe’.
vi.
Or shall we take lectures from another university? This time,
from honeybees? Read all you can about this other social insect that even has a
language communicated by a dance ritual. It is wonderful how minute beings
out-class us in organising their little worlds. They eschew in- fighting.
Rather they co-operate so well that their hives are always peaceful until man,
the selfish scavenger intrudes to harvest where he never sowed, namely their
honey that we steal in order to please our tongues!
vii.
Again, they are so specialised that only one queen and a king
may be found in each community at a time. Unlike what obtains in our human
world, where we fight to establish supremacy! How many kings, queens,
presidents, chairmen/women and traditional or religious rulers do we have? Are
we ready to serve, take orders and obey even our own constitutions? Yet we
pride ourselves as ‘Homo sapiens’!
viii.
Visit web sites and learn how the honeybee communicates to the
members of the hive that it has found nectar, either nearby or faraway. It is
amazing, especially when one realises that they never learn these things. They
are born with the peculiar knowledge of the waggle or straight dance.
Scientists call this ‘species-specific’ behaviour, thereby indicating that they
are born with the information stored in their memory and they must willy-nilly
manifest them at the appropriate developmental stages of their lifecycles.
ix.
The inquisitive minds will at once want to find out whether
human infants have anything that resembles this. The answer is an affirmative
YES! So the next natural question that follows is what happened to the human
infant. You want an answer? Are you really that inquisitive or you want to
behave like your species of proud apes?
x.
You will have to wait till we have received tutorials from
another university of nature, the termite colony! You must do yourself this
favor. Don’t believe me, nor trust the information you surf from the Internet.
Go out there, into the fields and have a firsthand experience of these data
that biologists have spent years documenting so as to spoon-feed our infants at
schools. That may also explain to you how and why human beings, are the laziest
and craziest veterbrates in existence.
xi.
The termites are the greatest engineers in the universe! That
you doubt me fades into insignificance when you compare their anthill,
structure weight for weight with their bodies. Our skyscrapers are nothing
wonderful if we recognise that these minute ants don’t use mechanical machines
to assist them in the construction work, nor do they use building plans scaled
and drafted by architects!
xii.
Again, what happens inside the termite palace is another natural
wonder! The social organisation, though absurdly hierarchical, commands our
respect! There is specialisation, not only in body structures, but also in the
roles and duties each ant plays for the mutual benefit of the community.
xiii.
That, precisely, is the point I am trying to emphasise. We,
humans need to send our politicians to these anthill universities scattered all
over the globe, to learn public administration! For as long as we allow
mediocres to manage the affairs of any nation all in the name of political
patronage, for so long shall the masses bear the brunt of their bungling of the
administrative apparatus of the state.
xiv.
It does no one good to function as a Minister of Health with
credentials in engineering or even business administration! I am sorry for
developing countries that waste their little resources by so doing. My opinion is that they must learn to put
square pegs in square holes and round ones in round holes! They need these
tutorials from termites, honeybees and soldier ants!
xv.
My dear reader, are you following my trend of meditation? What
of in our individual homes, kindreds and villages? Should fathers, mothers and
children not take notes of lessons from these insects? My emphatic answer is a
capital YES! What a mess is made of family life and peace by parents who throw
their weight all round the place, all in the name of stamping their authority
and exacting immediate obedience from everyone around!
xvi.
Let’s quote an example to illustrate my point; “Apart
from the reproductives, all castes are sterile and wingless and have whitish
bodies, Typically, the workers constitute the most numerous caste and are the
smallest of the adult forms. Workers build and provision the nest, tend the
eggs, and feed and groom all the other inmates of the community.”
xvii.
“ All species have soldiers with greatly
enlarged heads. The soldiers of certain species are equipped with huge jaws for
defence of the colony; in some species, the soldiers have long snouts, from
which they eject a sticky, poisonous substance to envelop an enemy and render
it helpless.”
xviii.
Do you see what I mean? They owe their efficiency to dedication
to duty despite the fact that they do not enjoy the basic rights of all other
animals, namely the joy of sexual intercourse. May be I should have said
‘mainly because they do not indulge in the time-consuming and diversionary
sexual copulation’ that is the genesis of distraction and depravity in the
human species. Do you get my gist?
xix.
The rivalry and competition to attract and please the opposite
sex is the bane of all in-fighting animals on earth, be it in higher or lower
creatures, the unicellular or multicellular forms of all animate beings. In
olden days, and in some cultures to date man-made eunuchs exist and perform
their duties more religiously than our so-called priests and nuns!
xx.
The radical position being canvassed for by this writer for a
wiser society is this: ‘It is time for selective social engineering,
genetical selection and specialisation of men and women!’ Reproductive
activities must be controlled to reduce defective babies as well as the over
-production of a generation of human beings with a very high load of defective
genes! You may scream ‘Tufia-kwa!’ or
curse in any other dialect or language ‘God forbid this!’ But only time will
tell whether the recommendation is completely anathema! For now, most religions
of the Far East and the Catholic Church do not think I am crazy!
These verses or stanzas took at least
twenty five years post-doctoral research in theosophy, ethics and psychology to
piece together. You can improve on it. Please send us your modifications so we
can let others critique it for the benefit of humanity.
Use our e-mail addresses;
That is our eternal
desire; THAT ALL MEN AND WOMEN SEE THEMSELVES ARE EQUAL PARTNERS IN THIS
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST.
We are descendants of the
same Almighty Creator, we share the same earth with its food productivity and
we intermarry and produce human infants that have similar developmental stages
till death! Do this and your life will
be enriched beyond your wildest dreams. Your eternal self-fulfilment is only
one click away on any internet explorer nearest to you now.
Dr Jideofo Kenechukwu Danmbaezue, D.Sc.
a.k.a.
Rev. Prof. J. J. Kenez, the Animator of
I. S. M.
A KENEZIAN RESUME
I have humbly stated what I was inspired
to write to benefit rational beings that deserve to approach the Almighty
Creator as bona-fide creations of His universe. We were neither consulted nor
were there when He made all of us; however we are all heirs to the mutual
benefits derivable by utilising his gifts maximally devoid of racism and
religious bigotry.
Here is
the genesis of the call which I received as early as 1981 after the Guyana Mass
suicide of Rev. Jones and his followers. I wrote a magazine article on the
event and followed it up with a comprehensive analysis of remote and immediate
causes of religious psychopathology for my Ph.D. dissertation, which I
entitled; THE PSYCHOPATHOLOGY OF RELIGIOUS FANATICISM, but it did not impress
my supervisors. They rejected it on the lame excuse that the psychological test
I was developing to evaluate subjects for the research work was lengthy and
could alone constitute a major research proposal I could never finish in three
years! They were right! They were my revered Consultants and Professors in
Psychological Medicine. I acquiesced and subsequently went ahead to re-write my
proposal and so ended up writing a belated dissertation that they watered down
to; PERSONALITY ADJUSTMENT AND RELIGION.
Over the
years, I have written over fifty-five articles on how the whole world could
adopt one mode of worship of the Creator and save humanity from the religious
bigotry, ethnic cleansing, wars and homicide associated with crusades and
jihads. For, as far I was concerned, we are of the same anatomy/physiology, we
reproduce in the same manner having same blood chemistry and die in similar
circumstances. Therefore, inter-religious genocides were and will remain
fratricidal campaigns led by fanatical, mystical or demented leaders with
misconceived religious military campaigns as the panacea for the unification of
faith. I have a better option, so that is why I have introduced you to its
foundation clauses of I.S.M. a.k.a. Kenezianism, which is this;
“A
well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the
room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands started
going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first,
let me do this”. He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up. He then asked,
"Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air.
"Well," he replied, "what if I do this?" And he dropped it
on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked
it up, now all crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Still
the hands went into the air. "My friends, you have all learned a very
valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because
it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives,
we are dropped, crumpled and grounded into the dirt by the decisions we make
and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless.
But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your
value in God's eyes. To Him, dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you
are still priceless to Him.” That is ISM
or KENEZIANISM in practice!
I hope you cherish these
words of wisdom of an Unknown Author!
Internet abbreviation; wwwrenigborel or wwwrenascentigborel
