Soyinka in his own words about Yoruba Religion
Bunmi fatoye-matory
cornelius...@gmail.com
When your name is Wole Soyinka, mostly, what you say goes. There's always someone / some busy bodies just waiting to jot down what you say, to later on quote or misquote you. If - unlike some sour grapes illiterati, or, relatively speaking ( as we say in Nigeria) a “nonentity” like Charly Boy (trying desperately to be relevant on the world stage) you were also a pioneer - had e.g. bagged the Nobel Prize in Literature back in ‘86 of the last century, then you too would find yourself being consulted from time to time, sometimes as a prophet (to tell which way the wind is blowing, will be blowing, and at what velocity) sometimes for your opinion, or your advice, sometimes as a soothsayer, and if you're from Africa, as African as Wole Soyinka and as familiar with the white man's ways, the white man's and the white woman’s wiles, you may even be consulted as a so called witch doctor, the Juju man, the herbalist, the medicine man, the grand wizard of words, for incantations, love poems, love potions, charms and spells - and - sometimes - they will even expect you to issue decrees concerning the fate of nations, at which point you may well ask them, “Do you think I am the Oracle of Delphi?”
However, at this point, given bard Soyinka's background ( I almost wrote blackground) and his previous statements such as “ If one person is allowed to have nuclear weapons,then everybody should be allowed,” there are very few Pro-Israel sympathisers who would risk asking a serious, high profile dude like him (a human rights activist and all) for his opinion on what's currently going on in Gaza….
At first I thought the revelation had been posted by Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju, since Yoruba Religion has a special niche in his heart, especially Ifa Divination
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Ifa++-+Yoruba+Religion
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Ifa++and+the+Orisas+-+Yoruba+Religion
Now that central Gaza is the epicentre of the on-going genocide being perpetrated by the followers of the Prophet Moses, it should be expected that the religion that is the root cause of man’s inhumanity to man will eventually be deserted in droves , even if, as is currently the case, some people think that following some hocus-pocus rituals will save their sorry so called “souls” from the fire. And voilà - Ifa and some other non-judgmental African traditional religions are there as viable alternatives to Yahwist violence
I had previously always had my doubts about Brer Soyinka, in that regard ( with regard to his sincerity about Yoruba religion - apart from as a dramatic scaffolding - in spite of his magnum opus) since according to the biographical data, he is the son - the outcome - of Christian missionary endeavours which means - to me and perhaps, also to him, that he probably did not get / imbibe / receive Yoruba Religion with his mother’s milk. It goes without saying, that if that did not happen from day one, then we are to conclude that at a much later date, post-baptismal whether with holy water, akpeteshie, ogogoro or wine - or - as happens in the blessed Eastern Orthodox Church where Chrismation is the word, then once past the age of innocence one can only be initiated into an adulterated form of the original, pristine Yoruba Religion, uncontaminated, not yet polluted by all the baggage that comes with “ when holy water slapped our cringing brows”. There are of course exceptions to the rule, chief of whom Samuel Ajayi Crowther comes to mind. He succumbed to a much later baptism; infant baptism was not for him. He didn't receive it with his mother's milk. Nor did Edward Wilmot Blyden, for that matter. And Chief Obafemi Awolowo?
“Soyinka in his own words about Yoruba Religion”: the possibility of him summing it all up in just one clear and concise statement - such a promise sounded too good to be true, so Cornelius Ignoramus simply had to consult with the almost omniscient besserwisser Pa Google for the last word, the definitive , the succinct, as perchance ” faith comes through hearing”: Soyinka in his own words about Yoruba Religion
The excerpt quoted by Bunmi fatoye-matory is edifying - it’s exhilarating to note that the sagacious Soyinka is now donning the missionary mantle and proselytising Yoruba Religion - as the alternative to wanton war and folly :
“ but let me break that tradition yet again in the worthy cause of a global quest for harmonized coexistence, and offer the world a lesson from African spirituality, taken specifically from the religion of the Orisa, the pantheon of faith of the Yoruba people “
Hallelujah !
However, beware , and may he not missionize the wrong people from whom he should thereby expect some trouble - not just from the Jews For Judaism people :
37. Not to love the missionary—Deuteronomy 13:9
38. Not to cease hating the missionary—Deuteronomy 13:9
39. Not to save the missionary—Deuteronomy 13:9
40. Not to say anything in his defense—Deuteronomy 13:9
41. Not to refrain from incriminating him—Deuteronomy 13:9
cornelius...@gmail.com
More big grammar : “a global quest for harmonized coexistence”
Could Wole Soyinka’s dream possibly come true, that the whole world converts to the Yoruba Religion ?
The Trinitarians will object and inform Mr. Soyinka that the redemption he's dreaming about can only come through Jesus and say that “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Muslims would most certainly resist the idea - if need be, perhaps even most violently, because the most monotheistic religion in the world - Islam - would frown at the idea of converting to a religion that has a pantheon of deities.
Modern Israelites such as David Bar-Hayim would probably just ignore Soyinka, whereas Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi would be sure to ridicule the idea that in “a global quest for harmonized coexistence”, he Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi should start following a Babalawo.
The impertinence in making such a suggestion would be a prime example of crazy antisemitism.
True, just like Dr. King , Brer Soyinka also has a dream, and if Brer Soyinka's dream should come true, then perhaps there would finally be peace in the Middle East, but would Mecca continue to flourish as Mecca, and would Jerusalem then start living up to its name, according to ancient prophecies, as the city of peace ?
Back in 1988, Harry Belafonte had a similar dream which he expressed in his song about what he hoped would be the annual Global Carnival, with
“Israel and Palestine forming up a conga line
Ayatollah and the Pope
Doing a limbo under a rope”
Sadhguru on Hinduism (that the goal is liberation) and should all of humanity aspire to that way of life, the IDF could then begin to adhere to the idea of ahimsa, and for Hamas, when shit happens, the need to take hostages would be a thing of the past.
So, let’s be reasonable: in the name of reason what does poet laureate think of this El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz quote:
“There's nothing in our book, the Quran — you call it “Ko-ran” — that teaches us to suffer peacefully. Our religion teaches us to be intelligent. Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery. That's a good religion”
cornelius...@gmail.com
“Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky…”
“Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too…”
“Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man…”
(The Late John Lennon : Imagine
Then there’s the late Alan Watts taking the whole edifice down with “They made it all up”
Last but not least the iconoclast jokester George Carlin poking some fun at Blake’s Nobodaddy in this stand-up session about RELIGION
Re - this enigmatic wording , “...its infectious hold extending to their European violators”
To what extent are Europeans embracing Yoruba religion or Yoruba religious ethics?
To be fair to Nobel Laureate Soyinka, he did not say or put it all in black and white that the whole world should convert to “the religion of the Orisha” so that peace and love will reign on mother earth; on the contrary about the Orisha spirituality of the Yoruba people, the quoted excerpt concludes “Its watchword is tolerance, a belief that there are many paths to truth and godhead, and that the world should not be set on fire to prove the supremacy of a belief or the righteousness of a cause.”
Since charity does in fact begin at home, how can we on the one hand be boasting about teaching the rest of the world how to solve their war problems - re-“ in the worthy cause of a global quest for harmonized coexistence, and offer the world a lesson from African spirituality, taken specifically from the religion of the Orisa, the pantheon of faith of the Yoruba people.”-
when the reality on the ground in Nigeria is
“Suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer Suffer for world , enjoy for heaven :Na your fault be that“ :
In the moral cosmos of Yoruba spirituality, I suppose that there is / must be some kind of system of crime and punishment - perhaps - just as in the so-called “Abrahamic“ faiths (supposedly being practised by the Abrahamic faithfuls ( of the various divisions and priestly castes) with either spontaneous justice ( immediate reward or punishment) - or the ultimate punishment to be delayed - delivered posthumously, on the last day (The Day of Judgement) which from some more impatient points of view is a little unfair, as even the Rev Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr the dreamer and martyr famously said in that his letter from a jail in Birmingham, "Justice too long delayed is justice denied." - leaving the sufferers in the world of sufferation agonising, “How long do we have to wait , dear Lord , how long, for You to punish the miscreants for their cruelty and their impunity?”
Not only in mediaeval Denmark or Elizabethan England does Hamlet cry,
“For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th'oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of dispriz'd love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of th'unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin?”
I was half expecting the heavens to open up and rain down some thunder and lightning, fire and brimstone, and a few iron-tipped spears and javelins from Shango and Ogun on the miscreants : the racists, the missionaries, the slave traders, the slaves masters, the plantation managers, the colonialists, the apartheidists, the terrorists and some of the corrupt prime ministers, presidents, and commanders-in-chief….
Indeed, according to Brer Soyinka, and he seems to be limiting himself to religious wars/ religion-based wars, “the world should not be set on fire to prove the supremacy of a belief or the righteousness of a cause.”
The fact is, according to Donovan - Universal Soldier
“And he knows he shouldn't kill
And he knows he always will”
The fact also is, that warmongers’ religions also have their strict moral codes espousing love and compassion, Christianity being the main proponent of the “ love thy enemy” ethic / doctrine , yet Hitler and Mussolini were baptised Catholics…
# The Bhagavad Gita starts on the battlefield at Kurukshetra
I should also like to note that miraculously, the people following the Hindu dharma/ “Hinduism” have never persecuted the Jewish people
Nuff said…
cornelius...@gmail.com
Trust me to go on making these mistakes. My apologies.
I erroneously posted “Alan Watts: ”They made it all up”
but the contents I had in mind are to be found in
It's Time To Wake Up - Alan Watts on Religion