By totalitarian religions I refer to the religions that posit that all humans have been mandated by God to follow a single path and that anyone who doesn't follow their own ritual (path) isn't doing the correct thing in the sight of God and is going to hell - a place of eternal torment.
Consider this;
Water has its Taboos. It is different from the Taboos of fire. Ewuro (Bitter leaf) has its components, it is different from the components of Moringa. These differences do not make one of these entities better than the other, their difference is only so because of the purposes that each of these entities are to fulfill.
If the same set of rules are given to these creatures, it will tell on their properties and manifestation.
This is the same thing that totalitarian religion does not factor in. It tries to conform all humans into a single person's ideal mould.
Totalitarian religions might have stemmed out of a good intention, the intention of someone who wanted to see an ideal society - his ideals in this case are based on his own idiosyncrasies, but the limitation of that person's ability to comprehend what Olódùmarè comprehends makes it impossible for him to factor in the uniqueness of all other human entities who have been inbued with different character traits, strengths and weaknesses depending on what their own specific purpose is in the Olódùmarè's eternal order. So while some people might prosper by being in the religion, others won't be able to prosper. In fact, they will never find fulfillment and will live all their lives thinking that such religion is a scam. It is not necessarily a scam, it is not just a religion (spiritual path) for them.
How do we come into our religions in the world?
According to the Yoruba spiritual knowledge bank known to man which is Ifá (which is arguably the oldest), we are made to know that Olódùmarè (the supreme creator) has Co-administrators who are to join him* in organizing the cosmos. These Co-administrators are referred to in Yoruba Language as the Irunmoles or Òrìṣàs. When humans were created, each human was appointed to his ruling Òrìṣà based on the purpose that such human is coming on earth to fulfill. This is why in the Ifá scripture, there is the mention of the individual Òrìṣàs and the admonition of humans to ensure that they remain devoted to their own Òrìṣàs in order to have a fulfilling and prosperous life.
Orunmila, being the Òrìṣà of Wisdom and divination didn't at any point say that people need to follow him and that without him, no one was doing the right thing. Although in some Odus, like Otura-Osa, he said he is a good person to walk with as he was the one who could tell each individual what he needs to know about himself or herself in order to live a prosperous life. Ọ̀rúnmìlà is truthful to the point that if you have to follow Ogun or Ọ̀ṣun or Sango or Èṣù or Obatala or any of the other Òrìṣàs for you to have a great life, he will tell you to follow that Òrìṣà. Ọ̀rúnmìlà will not attempt to convert you to become his follower if you ought to originally be an Ogun follower.
Verses abound in the Ifá scripture where Orunmila admonished people who belong to different Òrìṣàs to ensure that they remain devoted to their Òrìṣàs so that their Òrìṣàs can stay committed to doing right by them.
In the Odu of Irosun-Okanran it is recorded:
Ọ̀rúnmìlà ní ó di ibi kuruu,
Ifa mo ní ó di ibi gbangba
Ó ní ti alaworo Ogun bá ti ń bọ Ogun ẹ̀ níbi kuruu, Ogun ẹ̀ náà á gbe níbi gbangba.
Ọ̀rúnmìlà ni ó di ibi kuruu,
Ifá mo ní ó di ibi gbangba,
Ó ní ti alaworo Uja bá ti ń bọ Uja ẹ̀ níbi kuruu, ó ní Uja ẹ̀ náà á gbe níbi gbangba.
Ọ̀rúnmìlà hi ó di ibi kuruu,
Ifá mo ní ó di ibi gbangba,
Ó ní ti alaworo Ọ̀ṣun bá ti ń bọ Ọ̀ṣun rẹ̀ níbi kuruu, ó ní Ọ̀ṣun ẹ̀ náà á gbe níbi gbangba.
Ọ̀rúnmìlà ni ó di ibi kuruu,
Ifá mo ní ó di ibi gbangba,
Ó ní ti Akapo òun Odù alajogun bá ń bọ òun ni ibi kuruu, ó ní òun náà á gbe níbi gbangba.
That is,
Ọ̀rúnmìlà says in the secret place
Ifa I say in the open,
He said If the child (priest) of Ògún serves his Ogun in the secret, his Ògún too will support him in the open.
Ọ̀rúnmìlà says "in the secret place"
Ifá I say "in the open"
He said "if the child (priest) of Uja serves his Uja in the secret, his Uja will also stand for him in the open.
Ọ̀rúnmìlà says again "in the secret place"
I responded "Ifá, in the open"
He said, "if the child (priest) of Ọ̀ṣun serves his Ọ̀ṣun in the secret, his Ọ̀ṣun will also support him in the open".
Ọ̀rúnmìlà says "in the secret place"
Ifá I say "in the open",
He said, "if his own child (priest) serves him in the secret, he too will support him in the open"...
Here, we see four Òrìṣàs mentioned - Ògún, Uja, Ọ̀ṣun and Ọ̀rúnmìlà himself.
There is a pattern like this in all of the 256 Odus of Ifá and this is a reflection of the understanding that all humans on the earth can't follow one singular Òrìṣà. It reflects the understanding of the diversity of human beliefs/character which, as stated earlier, is tied to each person's individual purpose on earth. This singular spiritual-philosophical thought is responsible for the religious liberalism of the Yoruba (African) people.
This is in large part what made it easy for them to unsuspectingly allow the two major foreign religions to come and exist with them centuries ago without knowing their intentions.
They, despite the warning of Ifá to be weary of the visitors and make Ẹbọ so that the visitors will not destroy their system, allowed the visitors unchecked and unhindered access into the hearts of their people. They allowed the visitors teach their theology of "my way or the high way" to their people in the spirit of religious liberalism - today we are all suffering for that "foolishness".
A verse in Odù Ogunda Méjì (the 8th Chapter of Ifá) opens with this thought to buttress this simplicity of the Yoruba people and its resultant effect:
Ore ni Igunungun ṣe Igunungun pá lórí;
Ore l'akalamagbo ṣe tó yọ gẹ̀gẹ̀ lọrun;
Ọrọ́ ṣoore títí Ọrọ́ o l'éwé;
Àfòmọ́ ṣoore tiẹ̀ kò ní gbongbo l'ẹ́sẹ̀;
Ní ijọ́ mirin ìjọ̀ mirin bi kí á má tiẹ̀ ṣoore mọ́ lórí;
A dífá fún Ọba... {The King}
This opening statement of this verse summarizes everything that we are to learn from the complete Ifá verse.
"the Baldness of the Vulture was as a result of being charitable;
The ground horn bill bird developed the goitre on its neck as a result of its good deeds.
The Cactus plant lost all its leaves because of its persistent good deeds;
the mistletoe doesn't have root, also because of its habit of doing good;
In retrospect, on some days, it appears that one should refrain from hospitable and charitable;
These philosophical thoughts instructed the Ọba...
With respect to what we are saying, this verse is saying that the Ọba entertained visitors out of the goodness of his heart and the visitors have turned around to stab the Ọba in the back.
The human race witnessed a developmental setback to its soul with the rise of totalitarian religions because the religions became a tool of division, segregation, demonization and victimization in a society that had hitherto not been divided on the basis of difference in spiritual worldview.
Perhaps, it's time to look into the past to design a desirable future.
Olódùmarè has no gender.
By Ayobami Ogedengbe
Copyright: © 2021
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