We need to rid ethnicity from our minds

There are two things in this world. It is either a yes or a no. You either come or go. That is the world. For this reason, after reading this piece, you would either like it or condemn it.

Whatever you choose to do is your choice. That is life. Sometimes, we need to be honest about some facts of life. Against this background l want to discuss how some people have allowed ethnic background to affect their relationship with people in this country.

Ethnicity and religion are two of the factors that define the diversity in our existence as a nation. While the first is strictly an incidence of birth, the other could be an incidence of birth or a matter of choice. That one finds himself among a caliber of people at birth is not a crime since it is simply an act of God. Nonetheless, out of celebrated ignorance, we fail to realize that our diversities should not be subjected to sentimental surgery in the theater of shallow thoughts.

If we allow our thoughts to be ruled by ethnicity, it gives cause to why a boy born in the Volta cannot embrace his sisters in the Ashanti, while the Southerners dare not walk freely in the Northern regions. This feeling is borne out of ignorance and we have allowed it to become part of our lives.

We have used ethnic feelings to stereotype our own people into various groups. That is why when discussion about rowdyism, we quickly point accusing fingers to Zongo Muslim, when aggression and violence is discussed as a threat to the unity our nation longs for; we chant that the Northerners are at the vanguard of the vices. To us, Ashanti people are the pioneer of fraudulent and dubious acts while the Nzema tribe comes to mind when one needs a perfect example of a dishonest and deceitful tribal group.

As a Muslim man, approach a typical Christian lady for a relationship that would lead to marriage and watch out for the countenance and reply. At that point, you are in for the intellectual torture of your life as innocent biblical injunctions would be murdered to corroborate bogus and laughable position born out of no logical basis but ignorance.

Try it, I mean if you are an emblematic Christian man, seek a Muslim lady’s hand in marriage and hear her tell you what even the Prophet did not envisage in His teachings. It is so ironical that the need for peace, unity and love are the ready topics these calibers of Tartuffe’s are always ready to preach anywhere they go. It is like granting a person the freedom of life and telling him not to breathe.

I wonder where the concept of national unity and peace we lament is absent will come from when we go about hunting for a flying fish in the sky. I was once in a gathering where a lady commented that a good Christian versed in the Biblical teachings would never see a reason to marry a Muslim. I wonder what Jesus Christ did wrong to warrant such a twist in His teachings.

We have made ourselves so inherently low in orison that we do not know that if a person caught in the act of terrorism claims to be a Muslim, it is not because of his religion that he took to violence but because of the brutal nature inherent in him as a person irrespective of his religion. Our collective ignorance has degenerated to a stage where we think we can place religions and ethnic groups on a chart and match crimes peculiar to each.

If a Hausa man is arrested for attacking another man in a lone place, it is not that Hausa people are violent or heartless; it is because of the beast nature inherent in every man which he had failed to curb. I was saddened when a colleague told me a Muslim is more likely to be involved in an act of terrorism than a Christian, while Christians are more often than not guilty of indecency than Muslims. That is how foolish it can get.

I have ran out of patience in expectation of the day we would realize that the mystery behind our birth, the strong bound between us and people we grow to know and the sacrifice we are ready to render to make them happy should also accrue to our brothers and sisters from the other parts of the country. No one brings his father, mother and siblings from heaven, yet we grow to adopt them as an integral part of our lives.

Why then is it hard to adopt someone just because of his religion background and ethnic group? You are a Fante man today; your great grandchild may be the leader of a Konkomba community tomorrow. You are the choir mistress in a renowned church today; your grandson may become the Chief Imam of a mosque tomorrow. Today, you are a Hausa woman; your next three generations may be exclusively Akyem. Why then are we unreasonably determined to dig the grave our unborn children will come to be buried with impunity? To an extent, we have grown generally myopic that we no longer dwell on merit and credibility in choice making.

As long as he is a Northerner; he has the South-North, as long as his name is Mumuni; all Muslims will support him, as long as he is from the North; the Northerners will follow him, as long as she is Esenam; she is sure of securing a job at Nutsugah’s company, so far his name is John; all Christians must vote for him. We do not care about the credentials or the nature of the task that lies ahead of the man we want to choose. Someone was once quoted to have said “You will rot in hell if you do not vote your Muslim brother”.

Wait; which hell? Is it the one he prepared? What if there is no hell? Is it about the Muslim brother or the competent Muslim brother? Is it about the church going Sister Blessing or the pious and modest Sister Blessing? Is it about Danjuma from the North or the credible Danjuma from the North? It is not always about where one is; it is about what one is doing there. A Christian never thought the sermon that would change his life for good would be preached in a Mosque and a Muslim never thought his life transforming blessing would come from a Pastor. Unfortunately, lives have been wasted in the quest for the wrong cause and blindly orchestrated struggles.

A Muslim friend was heavily criticized on his Facebook wall by another group of Muslims on the 1st day of January, 2014. The reason for the insult and criticism was so unfounded and strange. The team of over-knowledgeable people condemned my dear friend for saying "Happy new year" and celebrating with his Christian friends. I know that the Islamic calendar is quite different from the Western one Christians have adopted but should the difference pave way for condemning a person for the side he believes in or for wishing a fellow human well?

Definitely, if these religion stone throwers are asked to tell us the date, they proceed to tell us the Western one we all admit. It is now safer to conclude that anytime a celebratory clatter arises on a religion basis, those in the other religion seek to spoil the moment for those involved with stupid self-constructed philosophies and derisory analysis. Shhh! Learn to close your criticizing big mouths and follow the glorious messages of the Bible and noble teachings of the Quran like a reasonable person you ought to be.

No matter how good or convinced he is about his side, a wise person will not adopt violence or pressure to win people to his side, it is done with the example you lay with your life style and not loose-talking strategies. A well-behaved pagan is better than an unrepentant Church-goer. Being a Muslim or a Christian is not an automatic ticket to God's side, abiding by the laws of God and showing love to people irrespective of the diversities is the key.

As a person, the writing skill and literal erudition I exhibit today were discovered by a Muslim friend. He was aware of my religion and did not for once see that as a bar to motivate and inspire me. Interestingly, he does not sing, but he made a first class in Music.

Mr. Fanatic, has his discovery about me affected his life adversely because I am a Christian? Has that prepared a place for him in hell because he discovered a hidden potential in a Christian? Now, I write not just for Muslims to read, but also Christians, Traditional Worshippers, Pagans, Hausas, Frafra, Ewe, etc. Exactly one of the reasons I would never join the bandwagon of people making religion a basis for helping another instead of the zeal to help humanity.

If you see me attend a Mosque for the union of a Muslim friend and his wife in future and you are aggrieved, it will do you better to shut up than allow me call you a certified hypocrite and world class mediocre that you are. If you are a Muslim and I approach you tomorrow for employment and you said No because I am a Christian, it is your loss: a great loss indeed! You would be the one to lose a vibrant, competent, dynamic, promising and industrious young man in your firm. Don't even think you can substitute me; I am one of a kind, so the loss will be irredeemably bad and apparent.

To my Christian readers, your Sunday worship song is not different from a mere ranting and packaged brouhaha if you cannot treat your Muslim neighbours right, to my Muslim readers, you are only polluting the Mosque on Fridays and wasting time if religion is a condition precedent before you render help to a needy.

Forget that you pay your tithe and that you send people on pilgrimage to the Holy lands that does not expunge the fact that you are irresponsible and intolerable. To my Ashanti, Ewe and Akyem friends that cannot embrace each other, I think you should be categorized among the global natural disasters like Tsunami, hurricane, earthquake, flood etc.

Finally, I am a Guan, it is likely I meet a Fante lady reading this; I may get to like you. I would surely make my intention known. You are free to tell me “No” for any reason because I know you have the freedom of choice and I appreciate that. However, if you tell me “No” because I am a Guan boy, I will give birth to a daughter and name her after you one day. By doing that, I would be showing you I am old enough to give birth to you.