chapter four (New religion)

New religion Virtually anything that is connected to religion has its own spiritual values that hold God as the only way into spiritual helm of man. The idealist are also in this line they maintain that the universe is in some way ordered or dominated by spiritual values, this is the view that there can be no physical objects existing apart from some experience, but not just experience but absolute experience. In view of the fact that idealist philosopher like F. H Bradley who was the most famous, original and philosophical influential of the British idealist. They came into prominence in the closing decades of the nineteenth century, but their effect on the society and philosophy at large persevere well into the first half of the twentieth being one of the proponent of this philosophy Bradley argued that reality is a unified and coherent whole, which he called the absolute, given that Bradley accept the absolute as experience and the whole of reality, then there is a sense in which we can maintain that, the absolute of idealist philosophers is actually the Absolute God in religion. Because when the idealist philosophers are conscious of the Absolute they argue is the material of existence. Philosophically idealist elucidate further that Absolute experience is the experienced that characterized our existent of objects and relations it is in lieu of this fact that we can ascribe to existent objects no characteristic or relation of which it is not true either that it has been experienced itself by us or that it is definable in terms of characteristic or relations which have thus experienced. Nonetheless while idealism put the Absolute at the highest hierarchy of existence, the biblical Graeco- Judaic version took another perspective though without any iota of doubt idealism exemplify their theory as simple as possible when they uphold the Absolute as the origin of what exist, that has been experienced. Religion also from his pure concept has found its way into the genesis of the cosmology i.e. structure of what exist and cosmogony i.e. the origin of what exist, various religion has it in their holy book about the creation of the universe, ministers of god preaches these to their congregations, they teach the content of religious faith, by preaching love, freedom, equality but despite all these the level of moral decadence that permeate the society at large is outrageous some philosophers condemn religion base on this fact, more so that one of the central tenets of Christianity is morality but from all and sundry no single ethic or moral attitude exhibit by the so- called clergy, nuns, bourgeoisie (rich people) and even the working class. Karl Marx who wrote extensively on society especially a society that was control by the bourgeoisie, where there is exploitation and inhuman treatment of the working class, and for a society that is very religious. Critic argued that religious ideology that is uphold by many is not in consonance with the proletariat and the historical materialism Marx talked about, that is why for Marx, materialism which the society is embedded with meant a radical rejection of religion, an attitude which could be describe as militant atheism. Given that religion is unquestionably one of the great conservative social forces, materialism which connotes radicalism naturally denounce it1. In the same vein the dogmatism and fanatics found in religion overshadow the society into the level of hypnotism that mesmerizes any firm believer of this religion to submit themselves to the will of absolute God. In the Middle East there have been reports that some fanatic Muslim cleric brainwash their fellow Muslim brothers and sisters in carrying out their devilish act, like suicide bombing that led to them being refers to as terrorist. The terrorist as they are fondly called belief to avenge the cause of Allah. Anybody that act contrary to their own belief is their enemy, they will go extra mile to achieve their aim and the only way they deem fit is by suicide bombing, that for the terrorist is their own faith and not Allah. By far they are ignorant of their action, according to Marx Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is require for their happiness. The demand to give up the illusion about its condition is the demand to give up a condition which needs illusion2. Incidentally Marx statement reveals that the terrorist are not living in the real world albeit being brainwash and they are in distress carried out this disastrous act to them the religious world is but the reflex of the real world3. The religious fanatics behave most of the time negatively to the society. Their action often tends to negate the cosmic environment. Similarly when they assumed this position they exhaust all their evil agenda on the earth, basically this is what they stand for, but one would be irk when they claim that they are fighting the cause of Allah. It will be more reasonable when they looked at it from the angle of causality. In applying this parameter to man and his daily activities, the determinist would aver that we are gaining a better understanding of human behavior by searching for the causal laws that explain it4.this argument could be summed up thus; every event, in whatever form is causally determined by prior events5. Undeniably many catastrophic events and scientific events has definitely shape our lives. From Darwin’s research it became evident that all organisms whether they are plants, animals, insects, or man developed first from simple lower organisms, whose features and natural chemistry changed as a result of the natural activity of the inherent forces of the environment by following the law of natural selections which is a necessary condition responsible for the blueprint contained within the life field of all organisms for growth and development in nature. Darwin was of the opinion that man was a product of a long process of evolution of living matter which took place millions of year ago6. in the life field of man and nature it occurs as the organizing principle that makes possible the physical structure of all organism as well as the ordering of the atoms, molecules, cells, and organs conditioning them to the form they take and the function they perform7. the old religion in the western world must be said is in the area of science and magic which differ greatly from the moral religion being preach, anyone that went through various philosophers on their exegesis about religion conspicuously know that in the past there exist dichotomy of religions probably because various belief system of religions were base on nebulous deity, in Christianity they held high Jesus Christ as the lord while in the same Christianity God which is the deity they worship is also in the highest hierarchy, the secularism found in traditional religion awakening the western world to rebuff the Christian god, by so doing philosophers like Feuerbach challenges man, that is the whole of mankind without exception, to reclaim what he has invested upon a self – centered deity called God8. The first man that take notice of Feuerbach calls were the scientist. In other word those that unleash terror on the society were empowered by the invention of science God which is worship by the new religion in 21st century. The new religion is a fusion of Christianity, Islam and other lesser religion and on the highest hierarchy is the science God. In a nutshell the new religion profess that neither Allah nor Jesus or Buddha are the absolute God rather the science God is omnipotence that is visible for every one to see. In the new religion the status of a visible God take the blend of the nucleus of the atom and the manufacture of atomic bomb, the western world attained omnipotence through this God. Again due to scientific development, invention of and the launching of satellites into the orbit coupled with auto- tech information devices planted the world into chaos. References 1. F.N. Ndubusi, Man and State, Lagos, foresight press, 2008 p.74 2.http://atheism.about.com/od/weeklyquotes/a/marx01.htm 3. http// atheism.about.com/od/philosophy of religion/a/marx.htm 4. F.N. Ndubuisi, freedom and determinism: An inquiry into man’s moral responsibility. Lagos, foresight press, Ltd 2006, p.136 1. Ibid, 137 2. J.I. Unah, (ed), Philosophy, society and Anthropology. Lagos Fadec publishers 2002, p. 180 3. Ibid, 180 4. J.I. Unah (ed), philosophy, society and Anthropology, op. cit. p. 170 BIBLIOGRAPHY Azenabor Godwin, Understanding the problems in African Philosophy, (First Academic Publishers Lagos 2002) Daily Sun “ Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, US forged Iran nuclear trigger report 23/12/2009 Francis crick – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/francis_crick Karl Marx on religion: Is religion the Opiate of the Masses? http://atheism.about.com/od/weeklyquotes/a/marx01.htm Ndubuisi, F.N., Freedom and Determinism: An inquiry into man’s moral responsibility, (Foresight press Ltd Lagos 2006) Ndubuisi, F.N., Man and State, (foresight press Ltd Lagos 2008) Ogundowole, E, K., Concerning Self – retrieval of the self: Problems of retrieving African primordial universe of Being, (correct counsel Ltd, Lagos 2005) Ogundowole, E, K., Nature of Man: History and Philosophy of Science, (correct counsel Ltd, Lagos 2003) Omoregbe, J.I., A simplified History of Western Philosophy: Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, vol. 1, (Joja press Ltd Lagos 1991) Omoregbe, J.I., Ethics: a systematic and historical study, (Joja press Ltd Lagos 1993) Unah, J.I., (ed) Metaphysics phenomenology and African Philosophy (fadec publishers, Lagos 1996) Unah, J.I., (ed) Philosophy, society and Anthropology, (fadec publishers, Lagos 2