Uyi-oghosa :
Across Africa, different communities worship different deities: Òrúnmìlà, Ògún, Amadioha, and many others. This raises important questions: Are these deities creators, or are they created beings? If they are not the Creator, why should they receive the worship that belongs to the ultimate source of life? And when different deities have different rules, demands, and systems of worship, how do we determine which claims are true?
Consider this too: humans sometimes carve images, mould objects, or build shrines with their own hands and then use them in worship. Creating an object does not prove that a spirit inhabits it, nor does a supernatural experience automatically prove that the spirit behind it is good or worthy of worship.
Some traditional practices involve blood sacrifices, fear of punishment, and rituals intended to appease spiritual beings. These practices deserve honest examination. We should not automatically label every African traditional deity evil, but neither should we assume that a spirit is good simply because our ancestors worshipped it.
The central question is simple: Do you actually know the spiritual being you worship, or have you inherited the belief without examining it?
Being African is not proof that a religious belief is true. Respecting our ancestors and preserving our culture are not the same as worshipping every deity they acknowledged. Before worshipping any spiritual being, ask: Is it the Creator or a created being? What evidence establishes its nature? And why does it deserve my worship?
Ancestry explains the origin of a tradition; it does not, by itself, establish the truth of that tradition.
2026-10-13 15:18:54