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Momodou
Denmark
11730 Posts |
 Posted - 12 Jan 2008 : 23:27:41
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FEATURE
Interview With Halifa Sallah
Part 18
Foroyaa: How do you see religion as an institution?
Halifa: In a Secular State the rights of every citizen must be respected. The right to a belief is just one of those rights. Section 25 of the Constitution, which all political representatives take oath or make affirmation to uphold, states, among other things, that, “Every person shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and belief, which shall include academic freedom; freedom to practice any religion and to manifest such practice.”
I am fully committed to such principles. In fact, if PDOIS were to be associated with the operation of any state there would be an interfaith committee which should meet regularly to resolve disputes between faiths and negotiate what they need from the state to get protection.
Foroyaa: Do you have any personal views on religion. Some people claim it is the opium of the masses, what do you say to this?
Halifa: I went through three experiences which shaped my attitude towards religion. The first experience is the respect and protection I received from my parents for having been named after a person they deemed to be holy and revered.
I experienced very little corporal punishment. My parents helped me to develop self respect at a very early age. I had to excel in the memorisation of the qur’an to the point of teaching other children without knowing the translation.
The son of the person I was named after called Shiekh Tijan Sey developed close interest in me when I was young and I started to be inspired by his oratory skills.
My second experience came during high school when I took bible Knowledge as a subject. It was my best subject. The story of Naaman and the parable of the Good Samaritan were very instructive to me. I remember wining the best prize for memorisation of bible verses at Rabun Gap, a boarding school in the USA and the organiser of the competition was surprised that a person who was not a Christian could recite so many bible verses.
The third experience arose when I came across the philosophical thought that, “the unexamined life is not worth living.” These words became deeply embedded in my mind. I was just 18 years. I started to guide my everyday life according to such precepts. For example, I was never tempted to drink alcohol or smoke cigarette because of the questions I examined in my mind regarding the worth of alcohol and cigarettes to the body. Considering the lack of nutritional value of the fumes from cigarette and how intoxicants stifle consciousness, I concluded that they were not worth taking.
I must say that this philosophy helped me to take full control of my actions and emotions.
This philosophy strengthened me to be able to withstand the temptations which go along with innocence and fantasies. It enabled me to have full self control, self direction and self determination. Furthermore, I also had opportunity to open my philosophical horizon when I came across a story of the life of Socrates. My body became cold when I learnt how he was sentenced to death and given the poison to drink for allegedly misleading the youth of his days against the norms of those who controlled power. However, I was more overwhelmed by his defiance of death by refusing to ask for mercy. Instead he decided to indict and convict his own judges in the court of his own conscience. His last words became an epic in my memory. It reads: “ There are many other means in every danger for escaping death if a man can bring himself to do or say any thing or everything; . No gentlemen, the difficult thing is not to escape death, I think but to escape wickedness and that is much more difficult., for that runs faster than death, and now I being slow and old have been caught by the slower one; but my accusers being clever and quick have been caught by the swifter badness; and now I and they depart; I condemned by you to death but they condemned by truth to depravity and injustice. I abide by my penalty and they by theirs”
Hence it became clear to me that there are many good human beings who lived on this earth working day and night to make it a better place to live in. Such people, irrespective of faith, turn their back at wealth and privilege and even give their precious life for their missions.
Since I read about the life of Socrates, I also made a decision that I will never hesitate to face judges to defend my mission in life before any court of law. I became resolved that life can only be meaningful and exciting if one has something to live and die for.
Hence, I see religion from two angles. There are those who utilise it to motivate the poor to accept their poverty as predestined and there are others who rely on it to be their brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. I have learnt human values from so many diverse sources that I can safely assert that many religions and humanist philosophies are the depositories of moral values which could guide the just conscience of human beings who wish to leave the world in a better state than they found it. The opportunist, however, will always hide behind these institutions to promote their personal interest.
Source: Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issue
Issue No. 003/2008, 7 – 8 January 2008
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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