On the Mount of Transfiguration, God the Father counsels that, henceforth, we should only listen to Jesus. He puts this to dramatic effect by having Moses and Elijah, representing the law and the prophets, appear to speak to Jesus. A bright cloud overshadows them and when it clears, only Jesus remains. Then a voice comes from heaven, saying: “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” (Mark 9:7).

A fools paradise is a reality that is beautiful and perfect, supporting values and beliefs that project an illusion of peace; it is tailor made to suit the dreams and aspirations of its owner, it has one fatal flaw; its not real. Almost a decade ago I was accused of living in a fools paradise by a friend on a visit to my home back then. He liked the harmony we enjoyed but felt there was way too much familiarity between me and my domestic staff; “there is a line of authority that you are letting them cross and I am sure you will someday regret it”. I had explained that I didn’t hold any supremacist values and that I believed that save for grace and a lottery of birth we were all one and the same, at least before God.

Democracy is a system of social organization in which profoundly conflicting interests clash, and are resolved in a ballot in which the highest number take precedence. But that’s not all of it: it is also a habit of the mind willing to accept the sacred results of the ballot. The ballot in a democracy is the Holy Grail; sacred because it is the expression of the highest will of the most important factor in the social contract: the governed.

Nigerians are among the most religious people in the world. But most of them hardly spend time to reflect on the origin and nature of religious worship. Moreover, they accept the doctrines of Christianity and Islam uncritically, and hardly deviate from the religions of their parents or of the society to which they belong. Given the recurrent problem of religious intolerance and recrudescence of fundamentalist violence in Nigeria and in different parts of the world presently, it is important that believers should periodically reflect on the essence of their faiths. This is because such reflection can lead to better understanding of the purpose of religion as a means of attaining spiritual enlightenment leading to a better practice of life. To trigger the much-needed reflection is the major objective of this paper.

How much is our vote worth?
The Ekiti people have spoken and they have voted for Ayodele Fayose for governor of the state. It does leave a bitter taste (pardon the pun), when one knows that both main candidates did give raw and cooked rice to the people in the state prior to the election. Long after the rice have finished would it be worth their votes, I wonder. Call me a cynic, but this is not a proper way to conduct a free and fair election, it taints the result, which by the way, was largely a safe and trouble free by Nigerian standards.