For many Munich residents, the good does not come from above. Not by chance either, but through hard work. Quite a few Bavarians have mastered this virtue. They toil so much that – if allowed to – they could almost usurp God’s job in their quest to create a utopian state. They take their fate into their own hands. The refrain that can be heard over and over again among them is: God will not help you unless you help yourself. It irritates me again and again.
I try to translate this to mean that God has given us brains and muscles and it is up to us to use them to our advantage. People have been given eyes, but they still want visions. The Bavarian people with their achievements in automobile construction, in aviation, in beer brewing. Created by human hands and brains. But what do people fall back on when logic is suppressed by nonsense and nonsense?
In the five years that I spent in Bavaria, I was always amazed at how much the secularity superimposed the spirituality of the people of Munich. I come from an environment that was dominated by religion, modernity and culture. In Munich, however, football stadiums get significantly more attention than the city’s churches. Bars are the big hit, the trade fairs were seldom well attended even before Corona.
Instead of church services, there are conferences and seminars that are tailored to professional or social needs. No wonder peaks where evil spirits are banished and driven out, which may open the eyes of the blind and let the lame walk. There are clinics for treating the sick. No liberation campaign that drives the spirits of unemployment out of the community members – instead, employment agencies that give people jobs, at least some. And the church bells are ringing as if they are desperate for attention.
In Nigeria, spirituality is about everything. Religion even plays a role in politics. At political gatherings, prayers are made in three dimensions – Christian, Muslim and traditional, otherwise conflict would arise. The president and his deputy must be a duo of a Christian and a Muslim, or vice versa, in order to be able to run an election, otherwise the allegation of religious discrimination will arise.
The mantra popular among Christians in Nigeria is that God still works miracles. The gospel of prosperity preached says that you can sow small seeds and reap millions of blessings for them. Biblical teachings have been interpreted for personal benefit by religious leaders. Can religion be used to suggest spirituality?
If there is a vacuum of omnipotence in human life, whether in Nigeria or in Bavaria, that emerged during the pandemic, then even the most spiritual of the spiritual are looking for worldly answers to the questions raised by the pandemic: Who are we giving them to To blame for life’s misfortunes? Who has panacea for human problems? The government or the science?
Translation from English: Korbinian Eisenberger