Are Africans worshipping God or Justifying their Laziness
Most Africans live poor, yet they work less and pray more. Who reduced them to this level of thinking.
One of the greatest deceptions imposed upon the black man is the concept of foreign religion. Religion, which Karl Marx famously defined as the “opium of the masses,” was one of the primary tools used by the Western world to colonize the black man. Surprisingly, the black man has been able to partially dissociate himself from virtually everything else the white man imposed on him, except religion. Its power is great; it captivates your mind and leads you to believe you are nothing without it. It makes you think your future is in total oblivion if you don’t embrace it. It creates disunity by making you feel you are better than your brother.
Now, let’s look to history, as one cannot understand the present and future without the past. Think of the ancient times before the Westerners invaded our continent. Did we believe in anything? Did we worship any being? Were we spiritual? Did we love one another? Of course, the answer to all these questions is yes.
If that was the case, then why are we all suddenly Christians and Muslims, neglecting the traditional religions of our roots? The answer to this, if you are reading this, is that you inherited the religion you saw practiced in your environment; in other words, you were nurtured into it. It is that simple. You came into this world like a tabula rasa; society imprinted upon your mind what you should think and believe. Your religion is not something you discovered—you conformed to it because almost everyone else practiced it, and perhaps, just perhaps, it made sense to you.
But have you ever wondered how your forefathers, or their forefathers, became Christians or Muslims? If this does not bother you, then you are either not curious enough, and without this knowledge, you shall perish. Note that your early ancestors joined these religious movements because they were forced on them by their colonial oppressors. It was part of the colonization process. It was not meant to save them; it was meant to enslave and control them, just as it had been the same process for the colonizers in their part of the world.
Notwithstanding, that historical context is not the primary subject of this article. This write-up is focused on the Sabbath day.
The Command to Labor
It is the wish of every African that the continent flourishes, that it becomes productive, and that it blossoms. This cannot be achieved until its people are productive and industrious. For Christ’s sake, industrialization breeds prosperity! But in Ghana and other African countries, it is appalling to see most people idling and looking for easy ways to succeed, seeking a miraculous or spiritual shortcut to make it in life. Switch on your television any morning, and you will see church sermons from Monday through Sunday across numerous channels. I have asked myself: If our people are not out there working, learning, or thinking, how can this country ever become industrious? Why do these people work to make little money, and then think they can buy salvation or prosperity through tithing and donations? This brainwashing is wrong, and must stop. Where are our leaders? Wait !!! Are they victims as well?
I deem it right to say that worshipping God more than one day a week is against the commands and will of God—at least, the Christian God. God does not expect His children to gather and worship Him more than once a week. This is a basic concept every Christian must grasp, especially those who know how to read and write the English language. Our forefathers might have worshipped more than once a week, but does that surprise you? The religion was literally whipped into them. They accepted a book when they didn’t even know how to read or write a foreign language.
But for you who know how to read and write today, let’s examine the scripture in Exodus 20 together. The Ten Commandments was a law God gave to the ancient Israelites through Moses. The King James Version uses direct commands to emphasize them: “Thou shalt,” and “Thou shalt not.” Think of a few:
Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not steal.
If God says “Thou shalt,” that is a straight command. In other words, you should.
When the command for the Sabbath day observance came, this is what God said:
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
This was the initial command, and I believe nothing ever changed. Let’s break this down: “Remember the Sabbath day.” I was not the smartest in elementary school, but no one can disprove this fact, that the word “day” is singular, not plural. That means it is one single day. I do not care what this day is (let that be a debate for the religious sects), but my point is that it is not more than one day. He further explained, “Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work,” but “the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God.” This confirms God was talking of the Sabbath as a single day of rest.
But let’s focus on verse 9, which reads, “Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work.” This is, in effect, a command: Thou shalt labor and do all your work in six days. Is this not a straight command? Why do most Christians overlook this and turn it the other way around, praying, congregating, and worshipping for six days while resting for just one or two? What a joke! “Are we worshipping God or worshipping our laziness?
Is it because you have freedom of religion and so you can fool around and then turn back and blame the government and the system for your hardships? Do we even recognize that failing to work for six days breaks the commandment of “six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work?” Why did we even skip that verse?
No pastor will tell you this because they want you there so they can make a lot of money off of you. No political leader will affirm this because they get their votes from the churches and have aligned with these religious leaders for the people’s support. If you say this, they will think of you as evil and not loving God, but the truth of the matter is this: worshipping God more than once or twice a week is foolishness. God does not need to tell you this directly; He affirmed it in the Sabbath day command.
Analyze this particular scripture well, and you will see God promoting industrialization and hard work as opposed to worshipping Him most of the time. Hence, religious leaders do not teach this, do not practice this, and do not want to see their members out there working, because they need you to follow them every day, every time.
The Logic of Rest and African Tradition
But think of it: is it not just common sense that man cannot work all week without taking at least one day to rest? Even machines and animals that labor for us need some time for maintenance, rest, and healing.
This branded concept of a Sabbath day is not new. In fact, in African traditional religion, the deities prohibited people from farming, fishing, and doing other work on particular days of the week. For example, among the Akan people of Ghana, specific Sundays, known as “Akwasidae,” were days when it was taboo to be seen farming (the main occupation of the people in ancient times). In coastal areas in Ghana, the gods prohibited people whose main occupation was fishing from fishing on Tuesdays.
This may have spiritual significance, but it is also just common sense that after a man has worked for six days—which he ought to do for most of his life for his own survival—he should at least have a day or two of rest. That day is when the gods require that they be worshipped and adored.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not deterring you from worshiping your God or deity. That is far from it. But I deem it right to say that any religious organization or sect that congregates its members more often than its members are out there working for the survival and productivity of themselves and their country is doing these members a profound disservice. Perhaps you might argue that you are not like that, if that is the case for you, well done. But you should deem it your responsibility to warn or advise your black or African brother/sister. For you cannot build a family, community, nation and continent alone. We need each other.
In conclusion, let’s ask ourselves these questions: if God commands six days of work, why are we in church almost all week? Is religion making Africans lazy or are we just blind? Six days you shall work — why then do Africans misread God’s blueprint to productivity ? Are Africans worshipping God or justifying their laziness?