Humanity before eternity
SIR: Among the strongest beliefs that have worked themselves perfectly into the human psyche is that of eternity or paradise, a place said to be the final abode of those who live their lives as piously as they can thereby deserving of such eternal bliss and perpetuity as their reward.
In order to be counted worthy, almost everyone tries to associate with one religion or another and also to put in as much effort so that they can be seen as truly devoted and heaven bound. The stage for competition and rivalry among adherents of different faiths was set as some began to claim superiority over the others. And depending on how convincing and rational some of the arguments put forward by some sects are, it is common to see people formerly belonging to one faith getting converted to another all still in the same bid to seek the face of God more clearly and closely in order to wear the ultimate crown in the end.
However, in his quest to make heaven, there are many pertinent questions that man avoids continually in the usual argument that issues of faith and religion are spiritual and therefore beyond what rational thinking can explain or solve. Among such questions is the fact that if heaven truly exists, who would be the inhabitants since it will be extremely doubtful if any man can make it the reason being that no man is ever adjudged as perfect and the main requirement for heaven is perfection.
To get around such problem of human imperfections, some religious group argue that someone has died for them, taken away all condemnation and nothing will hinder them any further as they already have the direct link and passport to heaven! Even if such claim is true, how justified such arrangement would be whereby some people are given undue advantage over the others into a place where perfection is the main criteria still raises a big question.
The need to question the truism about most religious beliefs has always been considered as sacrilege, and therefore, religious doctrines are accepted hook, line and sinker by whoever chooses to since they are merely passed from generation to generation without anyone raising any eyebrows. Everyone falls into line like robots, confessing and declaring whatever they have been taught over a period of time as if they are prime witnesses to their reality.
Quite sadly though that as man gets tenaciously attached to his controversial religious beliefs, he forsakes the very essence of living which is humanity. Everyone longs for the unseen heaven while turning blind eye to the realistic earth. People find hungry souls all around them but prefer to restrict their piety within their worship places where their members can see their activities and declare them as good. They see utterly poor children and their parents all around them but rather carry food items to orphanages where pictures are taken and uploaded on social media in order to appear as full of acts of charity.