Back in the day, we blamed the gods for every ill in our society, now it’s time to blame the pastors!
The recent report in the dailies about Blessing Jimoh, the 30 year old mother of 4 who hacked her own mother, Ijeoma Odo to death because a certain pastor told her her mother was a witch, brings again, to mind the influence our pastors can have on us.
I’m not sure the pastor has been apprehended and if he has, what if he says he never asked the woman to kill her own mother and that the idea itself is a figment of the woman’s deranged mind? Then he should be let off!
But would the police find his statement true?
Or what if pastor says, ‘I prayed for her and saw her mother was behind her misfortunes and so I told her…she did the killing, I have no hand in this?’
Will the pastor be let off?
If there is no concrete evidence linking the pastor to the murder, he will walk!
Where does religion and the law meet?
I am no lawyer but I know the law is about concrete evidence.
Another thing that got me interested in pastors this week is the story of Ada Jesus, who is said to be sick from a kidney disease following after what many say was her mocking prophet Odumeje aka Indaboski!
A video trending online shows Ada Jesu taken to the pastor for healing but he is said to have refused to heal her because she had mocked him as a fake pastor.
Ok.
I understand his righteous anger.
After being touted as fake, why should he heal the same person?
If indeed Ada Jesus was afflicted, I’ve no idea why the pastor would want to afflict another person with any kind of disease particularly if he’s one who is being touted as a miracle worker; and one who enjoyed forgiveness of sins from God.
Perhaps all of these again is someone’s imagination, someone who feels the pastor has been slighted for being touted as fake and so “bought” the pastor’s fight leading to wild speculations that Ada Jesus was afflicted by the pastor.
Now, will the police go and arrest the pastor based on this?
If he is arrested, how would they prove that indeed, the pastor afflicted the young woman?
This reminds me of a couple I used to know, both have since parted ways, one of the reasons being that the husband had somehow got involved with a pastor who he claimed instructed him on virtually everything he did.
This pastor’s influence over the man’s household was strong. One day, while the couple quarreled, the wife blurted that she was sure the pastor even dictated when the man would make love to her!
Now, are the pastors to blame?
I think not. While their influence may be strong, the decision to do anything that he was being told lies strictly with the person carrying out the act.
As for Ada Jesus, I think her people should go find a good doctor, there’s a cure for what’s ailing her, many times, too, these doctors are called ‘miracle workers.’
I have often pointed accusing fingers at some pastors and for good reasons, too; those who rape and sleep with their congregants, they should be held responsible for their roles but when you are talking about sane people, reasonably educated people, who commit crimes because their pastor said so and so, these people deserve to be jailed for their crimes; leave the pastors concerned alone.
However, if indeed the pastor is behind the crime, if he’s the invisible hand behind the scenes…God has a way of dealing with these ones and God doesn’t even need to stretch before He gets them.
