5 Major Reasons Religion Is the No.1 Cause of Poverty in Africa | Rev Walter Mwambazi | TEDxLusaka

It was Karl Marx who said that

religion

is the opium of the poor. Religion has historically been used as a means to systematically oppress, suppress and take control of the resources of the elite of the poor and please do not confuse it with spirituality now as a reverend. I will focus on Christianity, but Islam and traditional beliefs certainly have their part here. I am a reverend. Why should I speak so critically about

religion

? Well, first let me tell you a few things about myself. I am a born again Christian. I am filled with the spirit I speak in tongues I am a charismatic evangelical so that gives you an idea of ​​where I am 23 years being saved 17 of those years a minister of the gospel sat under some of the most amazing human beings but also under the sun under some very interesting people, I learned something very interesting in that period.

I learned that several people within religious institutions are not really dedicated to shepherding, grounding, discipling and liberating, but rather manipulation, control and selfish gain, but I think that is the most important lesson I have learned. What I learned is how religion, and I really use that word, religion chains people to personalities and institutions. I learned a very bitter truth and here it is: religion is the number one tool for mind control from the elite to the common man. Now there are three different ways to do it. Sorry, five different ways this happens now before I do it, I have to give some credit to something that most people, especially for me as a Christian, know Jesus Christ, who we follow.

The surprising thing is that Jesus Christ was perhaps one of the most anti-religious people I encountered, in fact, Jesus during his life on earth preached the kingdom, not the institutions, he was so anti-religious that in chapter 23 of Matthew in The Bible contains a scathing attack on the religious leaders of the time, so scathing that it literally sealed this fate, death by crucifixion, so let's ask ourselves this question: exactly how has the ruling class used religion to oppress and repress? So let's walk you through five key ways I've learned. The first is that they have used it as a means of control, okay, so religion has been used throughout history to ensure that the elite can take control of the simple and they have done it in three very specific ways: The first is to push the concept of matador and what that is, that is basically the idea that you go out and do everything you can, including dying if possible for the purposes of your religious agenda.

What's very interesting is that this is done for leaders, but the saddest part is that some people are so fervent about this that they go that far. like blowing up people, as we know very well through the antics of boko haram and al-shabab, the second method is the model of suffering, okay, pie in the sky, life will be good for you when you get there to the realm beyond, so suffer, suffer, suffer. The more you suffer, the holier you are. The irony, as always, is that it is the disciples who suffer. The third is that money is evil and there are two very misquoted scriptures that are used to exacerbate this.

The first, and you all know that it is like that. It is easier for a rich person for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God and the second, equally misquoted, the love of money is the root of all evil, ladies and gentlemen, those two statements have made more damage to wealth creation and the concept of health and wealth in Africa global finance magazine 2020 figures of the 20 poorest countries in the world 16 are in Africa 16. Just thinking about it, ask any African we pray for most .

Quick, we are the most fervently religious people I know and yet all the

poverty

means prayer doesn't work, of course it does. All I need to do is point you to countries that are religious but very rich, the United States, Israel. United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, so if there are countries that are rich but there are poor people like us, something is wrong anyway, let's go back to our list, are we at number four or is it number two? Let's go with number two be

cause

that was the number. one, then number two is the justification of kingdoms and empires, there is a reason, ladies and gentlemen, why in chess there are castles, a king, a queen and a bishop.

At night they see that there is no better person who can justify political control than a religious person and So, throughout history, religion has justified the elite, they call them nobles, they call them blue bloods and if you bring it closer to house, they are called the anointed. The third is slavery and it's one of the darkest chapters in human history, I mean. In one period a group of people forced religious Christianity on another group and then captured and enslaved them, sent them across the Atlantic as slaves and to justify all this they say the Bible justifies these slaves, in fact black people are inferior and the white ones are superior.

It was centuries before abolitionists and human rights activists came together to fight this revulsive behavior, but that was not before the price had been taken and here's the big problem: this whole slavery scene set the tone for the fourth factor of colonialism. honest with each of us here colonialism was the back of christianity look when the missionaries were sent those who sent the missionaries had an agenda they called it the three c's civilize christianize commercialize so they came but here is something very interesting when they started To do their work they brought a very powerful meme, an image of white Jesus, blonde hair, blue eyes, he looked like missionaries, I mean, and I'll be honest with you, it was powerful, it worked to make things worse, they took our names and said oh these They are pagan demonic names they better get Christian names the interesting thing everyone knows is that Christian names were nothing more than English or French or Portuguese names they weren't really Christian as if that weren't enough ethnic groups divided us by the color of our scheme at the top of the food chain where the whites and then they followed the Indians and then they followed the coloreds and right at the bottom where the blacks were, but the worst was yet to come, which is my fifth point, white supremacy.

You know, the sad thing is that white supremacy had its greatest defender in religious Christianity. It was religious Christianity that promoted the concept. The idea that white people are actually supreme and superior to black people. The truth is that religious Christianity was used as a Trojan horse to hide. this very evil seed and of course don't forget the linguistic terms like white is good, black is bad, white on the blacklist, white market, black market, add a good portion of the appetite for slavery, jim crolls really justified again by the Bible and then this was enforced by the use of lynching, murder, black disenfranchisement, inferior education, inferior opportunities and what that god did was essentially keep black people enslaved through conditioning and Keep in mind this took centuries, the seed that was sown further, which is so evil, was also the use of linguistics. language words, I apologize in advance be

cause

this is dead, but I have to use this word.

A good example of the use of word caricature terminologies is the word, the word and all its related terms were used to further reinforce the idea of ​​a black man's inferiority. Man, you can really take the time and go visit Ferris State University's Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia and learn for yourself how damaging the irony was, ladies and gentlemen, that these very terms have become reality today and, therefore, are lies. The proof of what I just said is that black people now believe that they are so cursed and inferior that the only way to measure up is to look like the same oppressor that brought them down and skin whitening is a good example. the use of the word you already know means white man or big boss and, by the way, they are terms used for black colleagues who are seen to be progressing.

Let me illustrate it with a real example. I have a friend of mine who got a very good contract. Recently, a deal was closed where he was going to distribute a particular product through a chain, so he organized a deal, prepared a presentation, got all the details and launched, unfortunately, despite meeting all the conditions. , your deal was rejected, you had any idea, so what did you do? He called his partners in South Africa who, by the way, were white lol and had them come over and then they threw him in nowhere in sight. I think you know what happened, let's say he got the deal, now his deal and his business is everywhere, but here's the part that really makes you think: the people he talked to and introduced were indigenous black Africans like You and I today have seen that many Africans are now at a stage because of all this conditioning.

I've said that "We're about to trade him for another new kid on the block, the Chinese, so what are we doing? What's the solution? How do we get out of all this right? My solutions aren't going to be fun, but These are ideas worth spreading, so number one, we need to free ourselves from the mental chains of religious dogma and mind control, which is really what religion is about. Freedom from truth must be a substitute. , we must stop following rules and regulations, rituals and reach the freedom of truth. Furthermore, we must free ourselves from the mental chains of religious dogma and mind control you know that there is so much distance in religious ceremonies and procedures worsened by mediators. selfish

reasons

that we need to eliminate that distance, we need to get to a place where we know the creator and the person and we know the truth in him and when that happens, that will lead us to an epiphany of clarity of purpose and destiny, listen, it is spirituality centered on the interior, that is the key, not just a dissent without institutions and people, but here is my big thing, we need a change of mentality and no, no, it is not just a phrase because the change of mentality or paradigm that is a big thing nowadays, but no, no, no, I'm talking about serious reprogramming.

Lastly, we need empowerment and that empowerment comes from the empowerment of education, something that is really about freeing people in their destiny, not about keeping them subservient to an institution forever and ever until the kingdom comes. I'm going to end with this saying that everyone knows says: give a man fish and you feed him for a day, but teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime, but you know something I want us to be disruptive, forget it completely. about teaching man to fish, this is the deal, empower the man to own the lake and you feed him for generations after him, ladies and gentlemen, Africans must learn the empowering truth and they will no longer be in severe slavery of religion and its impoverishment, but, instead, We will see wealth for all the citizens of this very rich continent.

I apreciate it.