We are in the Internet age and in our scientific global village, we do not need armchair philosophers anymore. They have done us enough damage.

FANATICISM IS A PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESS AND SO IS MYSTICISM AS BOTH CONSTITUTE THE TWO SIDES OF A COIN NAMELY EXCESSIVE INDULGENCE IN RELIGION

I had the singular opportunity of critically studying religious excesses from 1980 – 1982 at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin, Nigeria as it was the topic I chose and researched on as my M.Sc. dissertation in Mental Health.

             

I was forced to develop a brand new paper-and-pencil psychological test as there was none in existence as at the material time the Guyana Mass Religious Suicide occurred in Jonestown. Just type Jonestown Mass Suicide into your favourite search engine in the Internet now and read about Rev. Jones and his congregation of more than 900 than drank poison.

Jonestown Mass Suicide

The dead bodies of members of the People’s Temple Commune lie before the “throne” of the cult’s leader, Jim Jones, in Jonestown, Guyana. Acting on Jones’s orders, more than 900 cult members committed suicide at the Jonestown commune in 1978 by consuming a cyanide-laced soft drink. The quotation on the wall is from American philosopher George Santayana.

Corbis

Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

It shocked the world for three years, but did it stop people from becoming fanatics, NO, it did not.

And so, to date, Karl Marx; RELIGION IS THE OPIUM OF THE MASSES, remains a true dictum by a non-medical person that depicts how addictive religion can really be.

·         “Karl Marx, who believed history was driven by purely material considerations, took a dim view of religious faith, calling it “the opium of the masses” in his writings. The Soviet regime’s Marxist roots and its antipathy toward all social associations and belief systems not under its direct control made it openly opposed to religion from the outset. Shortly after 1917 it impounded the property of the Russian Orthodox Church, forbade religious instruction, instituted antireligious propaganda, and persecuted priests. Atheistic fervor, having abated in the 1920s, reached a crescendo after 1929, when thousands of churches were shut down and razed, only to ebb in the late 1930s and to yield during World War II to pragmatic concessions to believers. The crusade against religion was revived by Khrushchev, then toned down under Brezhnev and Gorbachev.

·         Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation.

Bertrand Russell, a renowned British philosopher who pioneered STRAIGHT & CROOKED THINKING argued that 2 plus 2 is 4; a fact in mathematics accepted by all and no one quarrels about it because it is FACT but if or when you force people to agree 2 plus 2 is 5, it ceases to be a FACT, it becomes faith and ends as a problem.

• The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way.
• There's a Bible on that shelf there. But I keep it next to Voltaire—poison and antidote.
• I say quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as organized in its Churches, has been and still is the principle enemy of moral progress in the world.

Bertrand Russell   (1872 - 1970)

British philosopher and mathematician.

Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Dr Kenez traced its aetiological roots more psycho-philosophically when he stated in his M.Sc. dissertation of 1982; BELIEF ONLY BECOMES NECESSARY WHEN THERE ARE NO LOGICAL FACTS or EVIDENT PROOFS of a FABRICATED LIE or FALSE THEORY propounded by a demagogue, so it naturally transforms into A DOCTRINE or a DOGMA. That is the beginning of dissension and the remote genesis of any brand of FANATICISM or MYSTICISM.

In the mathematical analyses preceding a concise formula to develop the required PAPER-&-PENCIL TEST after twelve months of psychometric somersaults, real painful academic rigmaroles or the needed scientific jingoism; his proposed this simplified one; FANATICISM results when STRONG WILL pathological combines with NARROW-MINDEDNESS …. And as a corollary of flipside of the coin; MYSTICISM only results when a WEAK WILL combines with same NARROW-MINDEDNES.

rf = sw(nm) whereas rm = ww(nm)

Therefore “ f “ is a factor that could stand for any other human disposition that is addictive; Politics, Football,  Religion  or Music

This psychometric formula is copyrighted. Do not use it for any other purpose except academic and always acknowledge the originator; - Danmbaezue J. K. (1982) Fanaticism Scale Formula

Go ahead to these websites and read more on mundane religions

1. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/142374/creed

2. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/590855/theology/14945/Relationship-to-philosophy

PSYCHOSOCIAL CONFLICT BROUGHT BY WESTERINISATIO AND IMPORTED RELIGIONS CREATED MASS PERSONALITY DISORDERS

The archaeological remains of ancient civilizations indicate that dazzling clothing and palaces, impressive statues and temples, magic tokens and insignia, and elaborate legal and religious arguments have been used for thousands of years, presumably to convince the common people of the purported greatness and supernatural prowess of kings and priests. Instructive legends and parables, easily memorised proverbs and lists of commandments (such as the Analects of Confucius, the Judaic Ten Commandments, the Hindu Laws of Manu, the Buddhists' Eightfold Noble Path), and highly selective chronicles of rulers' achievements have been used to enlist mass support for particular social and religious systems.
Very probably, much of what was said in antiquity was sincere, in the sense that the underlying religious and social assumptions were so fully accepted that the warlords' spokespersons, the pharaohs' priests and their audiences believed all or most of what was communicated and hence did not deliberate or theorize very much about alternative arguments or means of persuasion. The systematic, detached, and deliberate analysis of propaganda, in the West, at least, may have begun in Athens about 500 BC, as the study of rhetoric (Greek: “the technique of orators”). The tricks of using sonorous and solemn language, carefully gauged humour, artful congeniality, appropriate mixtures of logical and illogical argument, and flattery of a jury or a mob were formulated from the actual practices of successful lawyers, demagogues, and politicians.
THE ROLE OF COLONIAL PROPAGANDA IN RELIGION & POLITICS
The earliest ethical teachers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle compiled rules of rhetoric thus; (1) to make their own arguments and those of their students more persuasive and (2) to design an effective counterpropaganda against opponents and also (3) to teach their students how to detect the logical fallacies and emotional appeals of demagogues. The spread of all complex political systems and religions probably has been due very largely to a combination of earnest conviction and the deliberate use of propaganda.
This mixture can be detected in the recasting in various times and places of the legends of the Judaeo-Christian messiah, of heroes of the Hindu Mahābhārata, of the Buddha, of the ancestral Japanese Sun Goddess, of the lives of Muḥammad and his relatives, of the Christian saints, of such Marxist heroes as Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin, and even in the story of George Washington and the cherry tree. Scattered and sometimes enlightening comment on political and religious propaganda has occurred in all major civilisations. They refer to such propaganda stratagems as the seizure and monopolisation of propaganda initiatives, the displacement of guilt onto others (scape-goating), the presentation of oneself as morally superior, and the coordination of propaganda with violence and bribery. For all these the primitive people that colonialists met on arrival had no answers. So, they were disadvantaged! They could not resist!
A REGION UNDER SIEGE BY COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION

Education is the process, which provides the young with the knowledge, skills, and values that a society believes are necessary. Various forms of traditional education have existed in Africa for hundreds of years before the arrival of the first white man on our shores. Traditionally, education is usually information about survival in one’s cultural milieu. The child learns from his parents and from elders the importance of traditional religion and customary law. He learns the traditions and history of his people. He imitates the habits and customs of his parents and elders. Over a period, he learns the customs and the way of life of his people. In some communities when the child grows up, he has a short period of formal instruction with his age mates in an initiation school and may perform some sort of initiation ceremony before he is accepted as an adult member of the community. 

Formal education in modern times takes place in nursery, primary and secondary schools; followed by institutes, colleges and universities modelled after western styles. These teach young people the skills and knowledge that will be useful in getting a job. 

The economic development of a country depends on the quality of these schools and universities, and on the quality of their teachers, pupils and students. If a country does not have enough skills, the country cannot develop. Therefore, governments treat education as an investment for the future. Governments, therefore usually work out some form of educational planning. 

For example, in 1973 the National Council of Education in Nigeria met in Lagos to establish a national policy for education.  They discussed two important ideas: should the government provide education for its own sake to develop the full personality of the pupil? Or should education prepare pupils to undertake specific jobs which will change their environment. The conference decided that both were essential and drew up a 4-year plan that had specific aims.

A government has to decide how much to invest in education, and how much each part of the educational system will receive. For example, in the Nigerian 4-year development plan that started in 1973, the government decided to spend about 278 million naira (about 140 million pounds sterling) on education. This was about 13.5% of the total budget. The government decided to spend about 67 million naira on primacy education, about 57 million on secondary education, about 24 million naira on technical education, about 26 million naira on teacher training, about 82 million naira on university education and about 20 million naira on adult and other forms of education. 

Different educationists have different ideas about which part of the education system is important. Many believe that primary education is the most important. Many of the newly independent governments would like primary education to become free and compulsory for all the children in their county. This would naturally lead to free secondary education. Others say that technical, scientific and agricultural educations are more important. They argue that a developing country needs skilled farmers, engineers, doctors, plumbers, mechanics and electricians so that it can develop faster and more successfully. 

However, not many of the developing countries have programmes for adult education yet. Some educationists say that much education takes place outside the school – at home, on the job, in adult programmes, in agriculture and health and in other forms of community development. They say that unless there is adult education, it will be difficult to get rid of illiteracy, poverty, unemployment, hooliganism and diseases among the older members of a country. Governments of these newly independent nations also have to decide which regions of their county will receive money for education. 

“A common problem in all countries of Africa is the difference between education in the big cities and education in the rural communities. Schools in the community claim that they do not receive enough money and that most city teachers do not want to come and work in the rural areas of the country. Each government tries to work out a system of education that is best suited to its own country. They work out how much they can spend, how much they will give to each part of the educational system and to each region of their county and they try to keep as their basic aim the need to produce skilled people who will find useful jobs and help their county to develop.”

(Ref.  African Encyclopaedia (1974) Oxford University Press)

THE BASICS IN TRADITIONAL EDUCATION IS THE PANACEA

The role of primitive education in pre-colonial cultures had all along been ignored by the prejudiced notion that the people are uncivilised. The colonialists were always in a hurry to teach them their own modes of socialisation. In their selfish interest to communicate their political structures so as to maximise their economic profits, the first thing that the subjugated people must be taught is their own language. Next is their taxation rule! This is the genesis of the depersonalisation process. Any therapeutic remedy that ignores a return to the original traditional educational programme is bound to fail. The abrupt truncation of this traditional education was, is and will still be the remote cause of de-realisation syndromes in post-colonised mentality.

So let us explore this notion and witness what most anthropologists found out!

“The purpose of primitive education is to guide children to becoming good members of their tribe or band. There is a marked emphasis upon training for citizenship, because primitive people are highly concerned with the growth of individuals as tribal members and the thorough comprehension of their way of life during passage from pre-puberty to post-puberty. Because of the variety in the countless thousands of primitive cultures, it is difficult to describe any standard and uniform characteristics of pre-puberty education. Nevertheless, certain things are practiced commonly within cultures.”
Therefore, I dare affirm that the term; ‘education’ can also be applied to primitive cultures in the sense of enculturation, which is the process of cultural transmission. A primitive person, whose culture is the totality of his universe, has a relatively fixed sense of cultural continuity and timelessness. The model of life is relatively static and absolute, and it is transmitted from one generation to another with little deviation. As for prehistoric education, it can only be inferred from educational practices in surviving primitive cultures. Children actually participate in the social processes of adult activities, and their participatory learning is based upon what the American anthropologist Margaret Mead has called empathy, identification and imitation. Primitive children, before reaching puberty, learn by doing and observing basic technical practices. Their teachers are not strangers but, rather, their immediate community.
In contrast to the spontaneous and rather unregulated imitations in pre-puberty education, post-puberty education in some cultures is strictly standardised and regulated. The teaching personnel may consist of fully initiated men, often unknown to the initiate though they are his relatives in other clans. The initiation may begin with the initiate being abruptly separated from his familial group and sent to a secluded camp where he joins other initiates. The purpose of this separation is to deflect the initiate's deep attachment his family and by the initiation programme steering away to establish his emotional and social anchorage in the wider web of his kindred’s culture.
The initiation “curriculum” does not usually include practical subjects. Instead, it consists of a whole set of cultural values, tribal religion, myths, philosophy, history, rituals and other knowledge. Primitive people in some cultures regard the body of knowledge constituting the initiation curriculum as most essential to their tribal membership. Within this essential curriculum, religious instruction takes the most prominent place. It is the deliberate removal or omission of inculcating these traditional values in present-day indigenes that constitutes the crux of the depersonalisation and de-realisation syndromes!

THE PSYCHIATRIC IMPLICATIONS OF CULTURE CONFLICYS AND DOMINANCE FROM FOREIGN SOCIAL ETHICS IN AFRICA

A careful evaluation of the brief depositions here coupled with a professional diagnosis touching on the differentials in personality crises a whole region has been thrown into; REGIONAL CULTURE SHOCK AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGICAL ITS CONSEQUENCIES.

You can see that no one ever mentions education in traditional values of the indigenes. It is presumed that education only refers to acquisition of foreign languages, dress codes, science subjects, religious knowledge and mannerisms that shows that one is now as ‘civilised’ as the colonial masters. There lies the trap. Top government officials are equally suffering from depersonalisation syndromes!

FUNDAMENTALS OF IGBO RELIGION THAT HAS NO FANATICAL DOCTRINES AND DOGMAS THAT GIVE RISE TO CRUSADES

 This is merely An Introduction To RENASCENT IGBO RELIGION

This Zionist symbol is to be modified

With nine tree branches and a triangle in a circle

• 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 in Igbo land nine kola nuts and nine alligator peppers is used and finally
• 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;

1. Chi-na-eke: the ultimate spirit that creates
2. Chi-ukwu:   the greatest spirit
3. Obasi bi n-elu: the omnipotent that lives on high
4. Ama-di-oha: the supreme husband of all
5. Ogara-nya ngada-nga: the wealthiest of the rich
6. Ugwu ana-ari-atu egwu: the highest mountain that is climbed with trepidation
7. Ogbajiri igwe kpoo ya nku: He that breaks steel and calls it dry wood
8. Utu na agba igwe: bacteria that eats up iron, i.e. potent ant that tears iron to shreds
9. 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 or ANI due to linguistic nuances. Next in rank to the Father Chineke, she is the Mother that manages the physical beings on earth for the benefit of her children. She provides fertility and the food that sustains all living things. She blesses farm work with bountiful harvest. The beautiful landscapes are the result of her proper feminine grooming!  The ponds, lakes streams and all other sources of drinking water come under her care. The dead are buried in her bosom!

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.

THE IGBO THEORY & PRACTICE OF “NSO ANI”

A literal ‘one-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 Catholicism 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 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 genuine religion 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!

 

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!

   

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)

 

FELLOWSHIP OF TRUE CHILDREN OF THE CREATOR

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."

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!

And in our scientific age, we do not need armchair philosophers anymore. They have done us enough damage. See the current ISIS mass religious psychopathology that is using online media to deceive youths worldwide to join them.

Send your replies to email;  agunabu1948@gmail.com

Signed @ 20:00:26 HRS by DR KENEZ Monday, 30 March 2015