Religious abuse is a huge topic up for debate globally, not just in Uganda. This article is contains the observations of John Kenny Adeya about how people use, perceive and treat religion in Africa especially Uganda. According to wikipedia, Religious abuse is abuse administered through religion, including harassment or humiliation that may result in psychological trauma. Religious abuse may also include the misuse of religion for selfish, secular, or ideological ends, such as the abuse of a clerical position. The following information is my own personal research and should not be used without my permission. Read to the end to see examples of religious abuse and how you can personally fight religious abuse.
Table of contents
The Question Of Religious Abuse according to John Kenny Adeya
Hi there! Wow, this is going to be a long one. My name is John Kenny. Once again, welcome back to our podcast on Kampala Edge Times. I’m really honored that you’re listening in. To everyone who follows this podcast, please go ahead and follow Kampala Edge Times on all social media platforms because we shall always be sharing such links there. Thank you so much.
What is Religion?
So today, our topic is about religion. When I posted about this, a lot of people came to my inbox; they were excited. You know, because this topic is very sensitive, so I realized, wow, so many people are affected by the topic of religion. Religion affects most of the population in the world among all aspects. You can have relationships, family, education, and religion affects most people in the world. It may not be the most affecting aspect, but it affects most people in the world. Most decisions that we make are influenced by the religions we follow. And I thought to myself, why don’t I take some time and create a simple podcast about this crucial topic? Now, one thing we should know is that religion is something that gives us hope, gives us faith, because the world is already complicated. Life gets difficult at times. And the only thing that keeps you going is what we know as hope. Without hope, most people would probably get suicidal. But with religion, people tend to feel like, wow, there’s another reason I should live. And I should respect this life, and I should respect myself. Now, let’s get into details.
Which are the biggest Religions in the world?
There are many religions in the world; I cannot predict how many there are, you know, there are very many. But what I know is that the main religions in the world include Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism. Those are the main three religions in the world. Christianity believes in the Bible, in the story of Jesus Christ; they are based on that to set their rules and their ways of life.
What does the Christianity religion preach in Africa?
In Christianity, people believe that when someone behaves well in this life, they have hope of being accepted into heaven in case they die, and their spirit won’t suffer in eternal scorching in hell. There is a picture of hell that is told in churches: when you die, you are going to hell if you’ve been doing bad things in the world. Whereas if you have been doing good things, you shall go to heaven. And your Creator, your maker, known as God, will receive you, and we have Jesus Christ seated on the right hand side of God. Ever since he died, we have a story of Jesus Christ, where he came to the world and he diminished himself from being a god, because again, God is in three: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So Jesus Christ comes down from heaven from glory, and he diminishes himself just to bear our burden because we had sinned so much and God was angry. And so Jesus had to bear this burden. Many people like to argue about this: why does God have to torture his own son? Couldn’t he have tortured the devil? But again, this is religion. So when Jesus suffered for our sins, He’s ridiculed and people mock him, just like any random person who comes to this world. I mean, nobody is an exception to the treatment we go through in this life. Yeah. So Jesus was ridiculed, and eventually he had to be brought to the books of law. And you know, he had to be crucified, firstly, for claiming that he is God, and secondly, in order to prove that he is the Son of God, so that wait, can’t he save himself when he’s dying? That’s what this guy is claimed to have been trying to prove. The story goes on to say that Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead and he promised to return. Now this, this is the longest time a person can ever tell you they will get back to you. Because actually, people use it as a term like, why are you taking long? Are you Christ? That’s because Jesus is supposedly the person who promised to return around 2000 years ago. Until date, we don’t know how he will return, whether he has already returned, or there’s another way he returns, because they say he will return like a thief. He had disciples, and disciples are the ones who wrote this story. Yeah, that is for Christianity, then for Islam.
What does the Islam Religion preach in Africa?
Islam actually works perfectly with the First Testament, the Old Testament of Christianity, where we believe that Muhammad is the right Prophet, and there’s no one else greater than this. In Islam, the God is really tough as the God that the early Christians believed in before Jesus, and I’m doing a Google search here about Islam. What does Islam believe in? So I’m going to read for you something directly that comes from Google. And it says, “The belief that there is no other god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God is central to Islam.” This phrase, written in Arabic, is often prominently featured in architecture, and a range of objects including the Quran, Islam’s holy book of divine revelations. Yes. So in Islam, it’s more like Muhammad is their Jesus. But the difference is that Muhammad is not a God. Yes, those are the basic beliefs in Islam. The religious obligations of all Muslims are summed up in the five pillars of Islam, which include belief in God and His Prophet, and obligations of prayer, charity, pilgrimage, and fasting. The fundamental concept of Islam is the Sharia law, which embraces the total way of life commanded by God. Now, one thing I know about Muslims is that they follow their law by heart. You can’t take them away from what they believe in. Muslims, most Muslims, I must say, follow the Ramadan law and celebrate Eid. You know, they really believe in whatever they are taught. So, some people ask, “Do Muslims believe in Jesus?” Muslims do not worship Jesus, who is known as Isa in Arabic, nor do they consider him divine, but they do believe that he was a prophet, a messenger of God, and He is called the Messiah in the Quran. Wait, Jesus is called Messiah in the Quran; however, by affirming Jesus as Messiah, they are attesting to his Messianic message, not his mission as the heavenly Christ. Okay. Yes, that’s one thing right there. So Muslims do know about Jesus and they acknowledge that he existed, but they don’t believe in it. Okay. What are the seven things that Muslims believe in? These basic beliefs shaped the Islamic way of life. Number one, belief in the oneness of God. Number two, belief in the angels of God. Number three, belief in the revelations, the books of God. Number four, belief in the prophets of God. Number five, belief in the Day of Judgment. Number six, belief in the pre-assurement, that is the Qadar. Number seven is belief in the resurrection after death. So here we go. That’s the similarity between Christianity and Islam. Turns out Islam also believes in life after death, whereby, you know, shall we return to our Maker when we rise again. Uh huh. So what is Heaven and Hell in Islam? Okay, we have both Jana and Jahannam. These are believed to have several levels. In the case of Jana, the higher levels are more desirable. And in the case of Jahannam, the lower levels have a heavier level of punishment. In Jannah, the higher the prestige and pleasure, while in Jahannam, the severity of the suffering. So there we go. So the notion that there is a hotter side of Hell is true. Yes. According to these religions, Christianity and Islam, we got the third biggest religion which is Buddhism.
What does the Buddha Religion preach?
What does Buddhism believe in? So here we go. Buddhism is one of the world’s largest religions and originated around 2200 years ago in India. Buddhists believe that human life is one of suffering and that meditation, spiritual and physical labor, and good behavior are the ways to achieve enlightenment or nirvana. So, you know, Nirvana, okay. What are the three Buddhist beliefs? The three Buddhist universal truths are: Everything in life is impermanent and always changing. Number two, because nothing is permanent, a life based on possessing things and persons doesn’t make you happy. Number three, there is no eternal, unchanging soul, and the self is just a collection of changing characteristics or attributes. Great. Five beliefs in Buddhism: Refrain from taking life, do not kill; refrain from taking what is not given, that is not stealing; refrain from misuse of the senses, not having too much sensual pleasure. Wow. Okay. Refrain from wrong speech, refrain from intoxicants that cloud the mind. Okay. So the Buddhists believe in Jesus. Let’s see.
Some high-level Buddhists have drawn analogies between Jesus and Buddhism. For example, in 2001, the Dalai Lama said that Jesus Christ also lived previous lives and added that, “So, you see, he reached a high state, either as a Buddhist Sativa or an enlightened person, through Buddhist practice, or something like that.” So what do the Buddhists worship? Buddhists do not believe in a God; they see Buddha as a man who once lived and became enlightened. They worship him as a sign of respect and devotion to his teachings. Can Buddhists drink alcohol? Observant Buddhists typically avoid consuming alcohol, as it violates the fifth of the five precepts, the basic Buddhist code of ethics, and can disrupt mindfulness and impede one’s progress in the Noble Eightfold Path. So here we go. Buddhism is the different one among the three. Christianity and Islam are typically the same except they just don’t agree on Jesus Christ. But Buddhism does not believe in God, you know, they believe there’s a place our souls began from and there’s a greatness they achieve over time, they’re like wine if you ask me. Now, you have realized this, you know, and I’m thinking to myself, we have become so attached to these religions, which is not a problem, again, because they are what keeps reminding us that we have a maker, and they have to be humble, and we have to respect ourselves because, wait, there’s someone we shall account to.
So what does Satanism say about these main religions?
But then there are some people in modern society who believe that people have to be free, you know, and it turns out that they are called Satanists. Satanism is not what you think it is. Satanism has already been said to be the worship of the devil, you know, drinking blood, weird things like that, and having rituals and sacrifices, and giving out your mom’s soul or your dad’s soul. Turns out Satanism is not related in any way to that. I have researched recently, and I realized that Satanism actually is a group of people who believe that people should be free, people should be free with their desires. If you want to say, have sex, you can do it. You want to drink alcohol, you can do it. Or if you want to, you know, the recent stuff, where you want to date a fellow man, you can do it; that is Satanism. And if you want to date a fellow girl, you can do it. If you want to date someone older than you, you can do it. If you want to date a little kid, you can do it. Satanism argues that Christianity and all the original religions, you know, are suppressing people and causing the depression we go through, whereby you can’t have what you want because there is a law that prohibits it. Let’s say you’re fasting, you can’t eat because there is a law that has told you within this month, you don’t eat, you know, uncertain, keep arguing that we are suffering, but there is no other life you get. So as you torture yourself here, and you think you’re obeying certain laws of a God whom you have not yet seen, this might be the last time you actually have a chance to enjoy the things you’re denying yourself. So they have their own point, you know, you’re following these laws, but then wait, what if there is no other life after this one, what will you do?
How is Religious abuse practiced in Africa?
So, wow, that’s quite interesting. Now, this topic of region is extremely sensitive. Once again, I’m not going to express my opinions; I’m not going to mention any names. However, this is my opinion about where religion has reached. I think people are becoming very, very, very manipulative. You know, especially in Christianity, we have new pastors coming up, whereby they tell people to do practically wild things. Let’s say you have cancer, and your pastor instructs you not to take your therapy, your medicine, in the name of Jesus will help you, and people die in such a process. You know, let’s go to Islam. People are commanded to become suicide bombers. Because, again, apparently, when you die with someone else, you’ve saved the world of Haram, something of that sort. And people actually do it. Young people are dying because of money. Because they believe that, you know, older people are sensible, because they believe that leaders are sensible, you know, so a lot of people who are coming up in the name of religious leaders, and these people are actually causing serious damage to the world. Very serious damage, including bankruptcy. I mean, you tell someone for you to pray for them, you need a certain amount of money. And there is no accountability. You know, even if they pay you and things don’t work out, you have prayed for them and that’s it. That’s very interesting, isn’t it? Because, listen, churches, Buddhist groups, and whatever, they’re not monitored, they can do whatever they want and get away with it because, again, their ministry, their service is mysterious. It cannot be understood by the human mind. Because, wait, they’re connecting with the spirit world, sometimes with witch doctors. Yes, witch doctors also connect with the Spiritual World, so you can never fully understand what they’re doing unless you’re also a witch doctor. So the constitution doesn’t provide any laws concerning these people. Because, you know, they are so mysterious. And it would be very, very complicated to, you know, to draft strict laws for them here. So, the problem is that there are no laws against sacrificing people. And yet, we hear news of people sacrificing other people in order to get wealth, and people get away with that, you know, whereby, like, everybody is saying the same thing. But wow. Nobody believes it. Okay, let’s move away from that.
Why are people falling for Religious abuse?
So, what is happening to people? People are believing everything, you know, everything. Like, literally, every pastor has followers, every random person who comes up and says they are god has followers. And that’s wild. You know, you come up and you say, “You are a God,” and people just follow you out of the blue. Like, they have never ever really seen God, but they just believe that you are God. I think that’s really wild. And we are becoming so naive, people are becoming very, very desperate. And I think this is because, firstly, it’s because of lack of education. People should be educated about how things work, you know, like, you don’t just believe things because they have been spoken. I mean, like, people are really falling prey to things. They’re being scammed. Again, they’re being scammed; you pay money for things that never really come up. They are being, you know, tortured. You know, it’s really wild. And then people are becoming idle. Like, someone spends their entire life in church and, and guess what they’re praying for? They’re praying for wealth, of which the wealth they are praying for does not work by prayer. It works by having a service you’re offering, and even these pastors have jobs. Trust me, these pastors actually have jobs and they earn a lot of money from these jobs. Besides the unrealistic amount of money they earn from the churches, you know, and it’s wild.
Why I slowed down on Religion
I slowed down on religion, I really did. Because religion is something you can’t predict. You can never predict it. Because there are people who have been burnt before in the church, and in the name of the world ending in 1999. That was really weird. Someone burnt human beings in a church. And they promised them that they were going to the next life, not sure that they actually saw the next life. But we should respect life, I think we should respect life. And then people, whenever you’re making a decision, you know, religiously, please have limits as a person. You know, I’m a follower of Apostle Grace. Another person, maybe a follower of Pastor Bugingo, another a follower of Pastor Joseph Prince and all these kinds of preachers, but we should have limits, you get? Because people are manipulative. Whether they are a pastor or not, they can easily be manipulative. Let me give an example. So you may believe in a pastor, or a bishop or whoever, and at some point, he just needs help, you know, he needs help. But instead of telling you the help he needs, he uses something you might believe, you know, and it gives you unrealistic expectations. And he’s like, “If you don’t do this, this will happen to you. If you don’t do this, this will happen to you.” Like, why do you have to threaten me if you know like, I am a member of your church or a member of your mosque? Or, you know, why? Why do you have to, you don’t need to threaten me, I have to do things at will, and again, religion should not work with price tags and blood offerings. Why? Because we are past that, again, Hello, we are past that, we don’t need to pay for, you know, like spiritual things. These are spiritual things, like how does God really receive money? When I paid, I should give it as a token of thanks at will, it should not be demanded. That is, you know, some sort of common sense I would like to share with people out there. Don’t just fall prey to things, you know, it’s fine, you can have someone who leads you but don’t fall prey.
Does God exist?
Personally, I have time for myself. And when I pray, things actually work. God listens, God exists. I actually believe in God. God exists. But then people use his name for their own good. You know, anybody can come up and say, “Hey, I’m a pastor. I’m going to lead you for the rest of your life.” Anybody can do that, I can wake up tomorrow on Sunday pastor and people actually follow me and I’ll do whatever I want, with whatever they think. I’m just giving an example. I can do that. You get it. So why do you think that these people you follow cannot flow? They are humans. They are all.
How religious should leaders like pastors stop religious abuse?
Actually, pastors pray the most because of these temptations. Women entrust you with information, especially when you’re a man. Sometimes even women actually want to be yours because they feel like you’re divine and you have all the resources and you know, I don’t know, you’re able to do all things for them. So again, women are attracted to people who seem successful, and pastors are the biggest example, example of the Prophet Elvis Mbonye. Every woman would want to end up with him. Why? Because he’s luxurious. He has everything, well, he wears white clothes all the time. And those are not the most common clothes on the streets if you ask me. So we should be very, very careful. The decisions we make. And again, to the pastors, please don’t be manipulative. You know, people have trusted you. People have trusted you. Don’t be manipulative. Just because people are following you doesn’t mean they are goats or sheep, they are not sheep. These are human beings, like you. Do not manipulate them. They have families, they have friends, they have things they take care of, and they even have their own lives that they could lose if they do anything silly just because of you. Don’t. The biggest gift you can receive in this world from people is trust. You know, because humans have nothing much to offer. But if people trust you, my idea, use that properly.
Even if you’re not sure that you’re a pastor, come on, get better at it. Get better at it. You know, get better at it. Let people trust you and use that trust properly. Because once people’s trust breaks, trust me, you’re going to fail completely. If you fail as a pastor, there’s nowhere else you’re going, like nobody will trust you as a bank manager. I’m kidding. Nobody will trust you in any other sector if you break their trust as a pastor. If you assault a child or you’re caught with another person’s wife, you know, there’s a way it completely destroys you. So if you’re a pastor, either stop being a pastor or hold people’s trust with care. This is not a suggestion to switch to religious abuse, because false leaders end up culprits of religious abuse.
How can I stop being manipulated through religion?
Back to the people. Every random person out there, whether you’re big or you’re fat, or you’re tall or small, whether you’re Muslim or Buddhist. Use your senses. You know, if something doesn’t seem to head anywhere, ask questions. And if the answers don’t make sense, ask more questions. If that doesn’t make sense, then use your mind. Use your mind and think twice. Before you do these things before you sacrifice your mom. Ask yourself, “What are you going to leave for when you’ve sacrificed your mom?” Before you give him 100 million shillings for a miracle? Ask yourself, “Really? If God really needs this amount of money, then I’m better off.” You know, if God really needs 100 million from me, I might be better off than God. God is listening to me. But this is common sense. You know. And if you have to stay in the church for a million years in order to get rich, then you would rather not be there at all. Because, again, the reason we pray is to have a better life.
How to know you’re wasting time
If your life is not getting any better, it means there’s something wrong you’re doing. It doesn’t mean that God is not working. But it means there’s something you’re doing so wrong that it is just completely failing. You might die poor thinking that God has a plan for you. No, he doesn’t. You’re suffering, stop whatever you’re doing. WORK. Pray and work. We always ask God for help because, you know, there is some effort we have put in, and we want God to help us. God is not a thief; he’s not going to rob someone’s shop to give you money. Remember, money is in the hands of people. So another reason people really love religion and are so desperate is because they worship money; they don’t really worship God. People worship money. And this is totally wrong. I’ve seen a lot of young people, they’re so obsessed with money, they’re always talking about money, they’re always hungry, they want a better life, they want this, they want that, they want to buy a flat screen, they want to buy an iPhone 16, they want to buy iPhone 17, they want to buy all these things.
The Worship Of Money In the name of Religion
Then they forget that money is just a means of exchange. You know, just learn the art of exchange. I mean, if man is the means of exchange, then there must be something you give for money to be given to you. Some people use their bodies, especially slay queens, are you listening? Some people use their knowledge. Like me, I’m doing this Google my payment, some few cents for putting this up. You know, it’s just a means of exchange. You don’t have to pray for a million years for money to show up; you’re worshipping that money, you’re not even shipping God. Most people who spend time in churches are just hungry. They are just broke most times. Otherwise, people who have money, they know. They have to pray. But they are not desperate as if God is deaf, you know, God has ears. You don’t need to scream. That’s my idea, you know? And I’m living proof that God has ears. I’m always busy. But the time I give God good answers. When I tell God, I need this, God actually responds. You know, God is there, he exists. You just don’t need to scream it out loud, whatever you believe in. So Buddhists, my apologies, because Buddhists don’t believe in God. Okay, whatever you believe in exists. You get it. So, let us stop being this desperate because again, the more desperate you are, the more you might suffer unknowingly. You have to be knowledgeable, stop following things blindly.
Why should you not overly believe in your Pastor / Sheik / Monk?
And I don’t think any particular religious leader is perfect. You know, these people all have private lives, and they can easily be put on a pedestal because of what they look like at the forefront, but they have private lives. And they also live normal lives. They also get angry, they also get happy, they get excited, they get fooled, they get scammed. Yes. So there are a lot of things that happen to these people. And so there’s a song that Beyonce wrote, and she was singing with Eminem, and she was saying, “I walk on water, but I’m not Jesus. So I don’t think you should believe in me the way that you do. I’ve been making my mistakes. Oh, if you only knew.” You know, I don’t think you should believe in me the way you do. Because I am terrified to let you down. Those are the words of Beyonce. You know, if I walk on water, I will drown. Did you hear that she begins by saying, “I walk on water, but I am not Jesus.” Then she ends by saying, “If I actually walk on water, I will drown.” So the initial water she talks about is actually ice; she can walk on ice, but she cannot literally walk on water.
They are not perfect as you think
So this is the same with these pastors. We see them as great people, yes, they are excellent people. They’re helping us with our depression. They’re helping us with our dilemmas and everything we are going through. But it doesn’t mean they don’t have dilemmas. They also have things they go through. Most of them actually are struggling with numbers. You know, they want to increase how many followers they have and stuff like that. They struggle. You can listen to that in their preaching; some of them are either dissing the others, while others are actually saying we need more people here, you get, they want to break records, you know, Phaneroo actually broke a record. And you can imagine. They also have goals they’re pursuing. And that’s not your business. Go there and pray. That’s it.
How can I stop religious abuse
Listen to the Word of God. Listen to the word of Buddha or whatever you believe in; Allah, or Muhammad. But don’t fall prey to anything, don’t fall prey. Yeah, that is what I can tell you. Be wise, be sharp. People who are illiterate, they need to listen to this message. Share it with someone who is illiterate and explain it to them. You need to use your brains in the decisions you make. Don’t just make decisions because you can make them. Do things using your mind like, why am I standing under the sunshine for the whole day yet I will get a headache at night? Like why? You know, you have to use your mind. Carry an umbrella or leave earlier or something like that. You know, use your mind. There’s a reason you have a brain and you have a head on top of your neck. My name is John Kenny. Have a beautiful day ahead.
More facts about Religious Abuse
Religious abuse can be perpetuated by religious leaders or other members of a religious community, and it can happen in any religion or faith. Some examples of religious abuse include using religious teachings to justify abuse, enforcing strict religious rules and practices that are harmful, shaming or ostracizing individuals who do not conform to religious norms, using religious authority to manipulate or control others, and denying access to medical care or other basic needs in the name of religion. These are just a few examples of religious abuse.
Religious abuse can have serious and long-lasting effects on individuals and communities, including trauma, emotional distress, loss of faith, and even physical harm. It is important for individuals and religious communities to be aware of the signs of religious abuse and to take steps to prevent it from happening.
