Opium of the Masses: How Religion Today Aids Underdevelopment

It’s said that ignorance can’t kill you. That’s a lie. What you don’t know is your death. And ignorance is most rife in the practice of religion. Especially amongst die-hard citizens of underdeveloped countries who faithfully ‘worship’ a deity to make their lives better yet keep struggling to make ends meet. Religious citizens of democratic countries like Nigeria can’t reconcile how their deity promises them a beautiful after-life yet seems incapable of improving their lot in the now.

‎Karl Marx called religion the opiate of the people (opium of the masses). A drug that intoxicates citizens making it impossible for them to respond to the indignities in their society and to improve their situation. We all recognize it as an instrument that should enhance human dignity and quality of life through our relationship with a higher being. This promise of improvement is what compels people's strong devotion to religion. ‎But when it's misunderstood and doesn't produce the expected outcomes the strongest devotion of your life could actually end up being the greatest threat to your dignity. ‎This can be seen in societies like Nigeria, once known as the most religious nation on the earth yet still battling with underdevelopment. Our perceived closeness to God still hasn't improved our overall quality of life.

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‎In his 296-page book 'Opium of the Masses: How Religion Today Aids Underdevelopment', combining his experience in law, human rights education, public policy research, and as a pilgrim of religion and also ‎as a Nigerian citizen, Babatunde Towobola questions the role of religion in our lives today and how the way it is practiced affects our ability to experience development in a democratic setting.

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In plain narrative prose, blended with a straight-forward but incisively philosophical speaking style, Opium presents a compelling argument in support of an extensive critique and expose of religion in our time. Towobola sheds light on a concept Karl Marx warned us about but which, particularly in today’s Nigerian, African and generally third-world economic, social, cultural and political contexts, manifests in ways that would amaze Marx himself were he to behold them.

Opium of the Masses will inspire you to dwell more deeply on

- the complex connection between human rights, democracy, development, and dignity;

- how the average third-world citizen is led to include religion in the mix;

- how religion, which claims to dignify people, as practiced today in third-world societies, perpetuates and reinforces underdevelopment;

- how religious approaches as summarised in the objectives of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) focus on activity and non-engagement;

- how erroneous religious and philosophical frameworks of conflict resolution strip citizens of the impetus to demand socio-economic justice;

- how ‘spiritual parenthood’ in societies that boast ancient traditions stifle the capacity for democratic engagement;

- how to protect yourself against the numerous errors of religion today, and

- whether we must reconsider the role of religion in democratic development.

Supporting his critique of the attitudes of contemporary religious practice through the lens of the Christian holy text, he paints a clear picture of how religion stifles socio-economic development. Fundamentally, the book distils important principles applicable to followers of any religion anywhere in the world who desire to live more dignified lives in democratic settings.