24th September, 2013
By Akin Obasa
Many Nigerians would remember the iconic social crusader, Tai Solarin, who died 19 years ago. During his lifetime, the founder of Mayflower College, Ikenne, in present day Ogun State, was a renowned motivator. Not one to merely decry existing inequalities in the system, he acted on his convictions. In this regard, one of his preoccupations was to scour the streets of seedy or less-than-highbrow areas of rotting corpses, many of them victims of hit-and-run drivers, abandoned by the health authorities. These he would convey to hospital mortuaries.
Solarin lived a simple life. Not for him the trappings of ostentation. He could not afford it; not with his philanthropy, which was legendary. And except for one time in his adult life – at the launch of People’s Bank, which he chaired – he was not seen donning anything other than khaki shirt and shorts.
Probity was his watchword. Having been appointed public complaints commissioner by the government of now-defunct Western State, he shocked many when he resigned the appointment, on the ground that he was caught driving without a valid driver’s licence. As it turned out, his licence had lapsed the day preceding his arrest. But the arresting officer was ignorant of the two-week window for licence renewal. This, however, did not make Solarin rescind his decision to quit when his defenders pointed it out.
Nigerians acknowledged that Solarin possessed a saintly character. But to many, he had a great flaw: he was a professed atheist. And when he died, a great many of those who mourned, especially Christians, did so not so much because his good deeds would be missed but because they believed that, being an atheist, he would not make heaven.
Nigeria is blessed with people imbued with Solarin’s milk of kindness – though they are very few. But his example epitomises the crux of the current disagreement between Pope Francis, whom the Catholic Church considers infallible, and The Vatican, the administrative headquarters of the Catholic Church.
Pope Francis is in the habit of saying daily Mass for the people at St. Martha’s House and invited guests, and when he does so, rather than reading from a prepared text, as John Paul II and Benedict XVI did, he gives an off-the-cuff homily.
On 22 May, Pope Francis gave a homily based on Mark 9:38-40, in which the disciples told a man to stop casting out demons in Jesus’ name because he was not a follower of Jesus in their ilk.
The disciples, Pope Francis explained, “were a little intolerant”, convinced that “those who do not have the truth, cannot do good”.
“This was wrong… Jesus broadens the horizon,” Pope Francis said, “The root of this possibility of doing good – that we all have – is in creation.”
Pope Francis then proceeded to engage in dialogue with an imaginary interlocutor:
But, Father, this [person] is not Catholic! He cannot do good.
“Yes, he can. He must. Not can: must! Because he has this commandment within him… The Lord has created us in His image and likeness, and has given us this commandment in the depths of our heart: do good and do not do evil…The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone!”
Father, [what about] the atheists?
“Even the atheists. Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class! We are created children in the likeness of God and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us all! And we all have a duty to do good…”
But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!
“But do good: we will meet one another there.”
The homily was widely interpreted as a declaration by Pope Francis that Heaven’s gates would be opened to even atheists who do good on earth. The Vatican’s response was that he was wrong to have said so.
No doubt the Pope shocked many Christians by his declaration. It goes against the grain of centuries of Christian exhortation of faith above good deeds as prerequisite for heaven. But with the miasma currently pervading the world, I dare say it was soul uplifting.
Incidentally, Pope Francis was merely reinforcing an earlier view espoused by Archbishop Desmond Tutu in his book, God Is Not A Christian: And Other Provocations. Asserting that no religion can lay exclusive claim to a monopoly of the truth, Tutu posited that the accidents of birth and geography determine to a very large extent what faith we belong. Like in many other parts of the world, religious leaders in Nigeria – not only Christians – are quick to proclaim that not only atheists, but also adherents of faiths other than theirs, are sure candidates of hell. The emphasis is on faith. But with their less-than-godly behaviour, as depicted by their arrogance, greed and wickedness, to mention a few, these leaders do not pave the way for a better society if their followers are to emulate their lifestyles. It is not uncommon to see pastors wallowing in obscene affluence leading poverty-stricken congregations, who they lead by the nose, promising them untold wealth and prosperity if they believe in Jesus. They exhort members to donate copiously to projects embarked on by the church and, worse, gleefully accept such money even when it is glaring that it could not have been earned legitimately. Even the pastors of old, who threatened brimstone and fire against sinners, were better society builders. At least, they were not seized by the passion for flamboyance and they put the fear of punishment in would-be transgressors.
So, who deserves to go to Paradise? A good-natured atheist or a malevolent Christian? Though many may prefer the former, the question may be unnecessary. After all, atheists were only prompted by the dictates of their conscience. They never believed in the existence of God, heaven or paradise.