The seven deadly social sins of Nigeria (2)

As human beings, these two sides of our nature - Adam I and Adam II - are at war with each other. We live in perpetual self-confrontation between the external success and the internal value. And the tricky thing about these two sides of our nature is that they work by different logics. The external logic is an economic logic - input leads to output, risk leads to reward. This is a purely mathematical logic. The internal logic is a moral logic and often an inverse logic. You have to give to receive. You have to surrender something outside yourself to gain strength within yourself. You have to conquer your desire to get what you want. In order to fulfil yourself you have to forget yourself. In order to find yourself you have to lose yourself. This is a purely spiritual logic. Unfortunately, we happen to live in a society that favours Adam I and often neglects Adam II.

Next is Commerce without Morality. This social sin is the major trouble of the global economic and financial system today. In his book, Moral Sentiment, which precededTheWealth oaf Nations, Adam Smith explained how crucial to the success of our systems is the moral foundation: how we treat each other, the spirit of benevolence, of service, of contribution. Ignoring the moral foundation and allowing economic systems to operate without ethics creates an amoral, if not immoral, society. Economic and political systems are ultimately based on a moral foundation. To Adam Smith, every business transaction is a moral challenge to see that both parties come out fairly. Justice, fairness, equity and benevolence in business are the underpinnings of a just social system where everyone gets his due. As in Wealth without Work we indulge in Commerce without Morality when we decide to make more money by any means possible.

Price gouging, palming off inferior products, cheating and making falseclaims are a few of the obvious ways in which we indulge in Commerce without Morality. Thereare also thousands of other ways in which we do immoral or unethical business. When profitmakingsupersedes the needs of people and becomes the most important aspect of business, morals and ethics usually gooverboard. It is here that employers of labour subject their employees to exploitation, slavery and the indignities of subhuman working conditions. We also see this in the outright refusal of employers to pay their employees a just wage, or in their total disregard for their corporate social responsibilities. The spirit of the Golden Rule is a spirit of morality, of mutual benefit, and of fairness for all concerned. Paraphrasing one of the mottos of the Rotary Club, “Is it fair and does it serve the interests of all the stakeholders?” That is a moral sense of stewardship towards all stakeholders.

What about Science without Humanity? Science, which is a technical and specialised form of knowledge, is a gift of God, which should be put at the service of all God’s creation. If science becomes all technique and technology, it quickly degenerates into man against humanity. Technologies come from the paradigms of science. And if there is very little understanding of the higher human purposes that the technology is striving to serve, we become victims of our own technocracy. The technological dominance over the origin and destiny of the human person today is one of the grave dangers of this deadly sin. Many scientists today are playing God and claiming to do that which is God’s prerogative. The whole ethical domain of human life and the hotly debated moral issues, such as contraception, abortion, euthanasia, IVF, organ donation, stem-cells research are among the troubling ethical dilemmas of our time.

There is also the whole issue of nuclear energy and its uses, and the profiteering motives of the arms and ammunitions industry all over the world, which have become the spurs of war, violence and bloodshed today. Many highly educated people today are climbing the scientific ladder of success without any regard for humanity, and leaning against the wrong wall. We must realise that we are creatures; we are not God. Although God has given us wisdom and knowledge to use the resources of the earth for the benefit of human life, everything technologically possible is not, ipso facto, morally admissible.

As for Religion without Sacrifice, this is one of the clearest manifestations of the social dysfunction in Nigeria today. Many Christians in Nigeria identify with one church or mosque and the overwhelming majority of Nigerians engage in external religious rituals and practices, but many of us are inactive in living by the truths of our religious gospels. Nigeria has been said to be the most religious country in the world, with nearly equal Christian and Muslim populations, making it the Coke and Pepsi of global religion, but the level of corruption, vices and immorality in the Nigerian society is legendary. In other words, many people go for the social outwardly façade of religion and the piety of religious practices, but their hearts and bodies are far away from God. Amidst the poverty and misery in our land, many religious preachers are among the richest people in the country. They say their God is not a poor God; so while the pastor gets rich, his followers get impoverished.

The craze for material prosperity has become one of the canons of Nigerian version of Christianity today. Sermons on integrity, hard work, honesty, truth, righteousness and patriotism are far from many religious pulpits and altars today. That is why many people cut corners, steal and defraud, and bring a portion of their loot to the church in thanksgiving for the “great thing” they claim that God has done for them. No one cares to ask today what a man’s source of wealth is, even when he clearly seems to be spending and living above his means. Many religious houses are more interested in digging out the content in people’s pockets, rather than in saving their souls. Many people want “religion” or at least the appearance of it, without any sacrifice. But the truth is that outward religious observances and all the visible accoutrements of religion will not save us unless our lives are God-centred and principles-centred. As the Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah wrote in the