Humanism: What’s our fight really about?

“I don’t believe in God.” It’s hard for me to remember the number of times that I have mentioned this sentence and seen this surprising change in my opponent’s appearance: widely opened eyes, a stunned mouth, an astonished, almost shocked expression on the face. It happens almost every time I speak to people about my atheistic world view. In Ghana, according to studies one of the most religious countries in the world, people are not used to someone who does not believe in the supernatural. They are born and raised in a deeply religiously society, and a lot of Ghanaians would not have even considered the option of not believing in God.

“I don’t believe in God.” If I mention this sentence in Germany, people would shrug their shoulders – yes, so what? A lot of people, especially the younger ones, have been raised without a connection to anything supernatural. Even if you call yourself “religious”, the impact of your belief would not be as deep and profound as in Ghana: You attend the religious lessons in school, you go to church on Christmas, maybe Eastern – and that is it in most of the families. Apart from the very conservative, mostly older people that you would find on the countryside, the majority doesn’t see religion to have a heavy impact in their daily life.

​You might believe in the existence of an all-mighty God, you might gain strength out of the assumption that there is someone above, guiding your way, but almost no one would question the theory of evolution or believe that Jesus walked on water. The Bible is not taken literally but rather as a historical document: Centuries of mouth-to-mouth narration have brought a lot of contradictions, and most people are aware of that. A very few percentage of Christians is able to recite a Bible verse – what they rather acquire from it are the moral lessons, and if I tell people that I see the “Christian” values rather to be “human” values, that morality is not based on any religion or belief but on what we call Humanism, a lot of them would agree.

I have never liked churches back in Germany, but compared to the Ghanaian ones they practice a mild, almost liberal version of what we call religion. I have always had an atheist world view, but in Ghana, my rejection of all supernatural has reached new, unknown proportions.

This change was probably caused by my discovery of the evil root, the root which leads to religion. During my work in a Ghanaian school, I learned a lot about the educational system and the upbringing of children – and I realized that this is where a deeply religious society like the Ghanaian one is only made possible. Religion is only the symptom of a sick society, and as long as we do not fight the cause of this symptom, it will not vanish.
Sitting in the JHS classes, I often thought about my last years in school, and I remembered the exams that I wrote: At least in the non-scientific-based subjects, I could literally write anything that I wanted and still passed without any problems – I just needed to explain my point well, bring acceptable arguments and have a look at the pros and cons. As long as I gave valid and convincing reasons, the conclusion I reached was never very important to my teachers. The main purpose of examination was to make us form our own opinion, to be critical about the content, to question everything.

In Ghana, as far as I got to know the educational system, the best student in class is the one reciting the lesson notes most precisely. Exams are only about what is written in your textbook, and students who pose too many questions or criticize their authorities are called “stubborn”. This non-critical way of bringing up children leads to a society that always nods its head to everything; a society that is accepting any nonsense, as long as the reasons are based on the propaganda its members are used to. And this propaganda is, at least in Ghana, a religious one: Everything will go well, just pray hard and trust your preacher – and give enough money to him when it’s time for collection, please.

But this propaganda could never work if its conditions would not be set in the early years of children’s education. That is why religion is not the biggest problem to me – it is rather the non-critical society in which it is acted out. Religion can lead to dogmatism and extremism, sure, but in a liberal and free-thinking climate, it can also be lived in a way that does not harm anyone, that only affects the personal life and is seen as a part of people’s privacy. If you need the assurance of a life after death, if you cannot deal with the big black hole which we all came from and in which we are all going to fall back into again – fine. As long as you do not get into my atheist businesses, as long as you do not force me to believe, you should have your Freedom of Religion, you can worship Jesus, a long-bearded old man or Santa Claus. As long as you do not reject a humanist society that is existing of various opinions, different views, vivid discussions; as long as you are free to question your opponent as well as yourself, I do not care what you believe in. As long as you are a critical-thinking human being.

A society made up of critical-thinking human beings – that is still what we have to achieve in Ghana. Once we have reached it, there is no need to talk about religion and belief any more.

Because from here on, the rest goes with something called Freedom of Speech.

Dshamilja is a German Humanist currently on an intercultural exchange program with the Humanist Association of Ghana.

The views expressed in opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the policy or views of the IHEU.

“I don’t believe in God.” It’s hard for me to remember the number of times that I have mentioned this sentence and seen this surprising change in my opponent’s appearance: widely opened eyes, a stunned mouth, an astonished, almost shocked expression on the face. It happens almost every time I speak to people about my atheistic world view. In Ghana, according to studies one of the most religious countries in the world, people are not used to someone who does not believe in the supernatural. They are born and raised in a deeply religiously society, and a lot of Ghanaians would not have even considered the option of not believing in God.

“I don’t believe in God.” If I mention this sentence in Germany, people would shrug their shoulders – yes, so what? A lot of people, especially the younger ones, have been raised without a connection to anything supernatural. Even if you call yourself “religious”, the impact of your belief would not be as deep and profound as in Ghana: You attend the religious lessons in school, you go to church on Christmas, maybe Eastern – and that is it in most of the families. Apart from the very conservative, mostly older people that you would find on the countryside, the majority doesn’t see religion to have a heavy impact in their daily life.

​You might believe in the existence of an all-mighty God, you might gain strength out of the assumption that there is someone above, guiding your way, but almost no one would question the theory of evolution or believe that Jesus walked on water. The Bible is not taken literally but rather as a historical document: Centuries of mouth-to-mouth narration have brought a lot of contradictions, and most people are aware of that. A very few percentage of Christians is able to recite a Bible verse – what they rather acquire from it are the moral lessons, and if I tell people that I see the “Christian” values rather to be “human” values, that morality is not based on any religion or belief but on what we call Humanism, a lot of them would agree.

I have never liked churches back in Germany, but compared to the Ghanaian ones they practice a mild, almost liberal version of what we call religion. I have always had an atheist world view, but in Ghana, my rejection of all supernatural has reached new, unknown proportions.

This change was probably caused by my discovery of the evil root, the root which leads to religion. During my work in a Ghanaian school, I learned a lot about the educational system and the upbringing of children – and I realized that this is where a deeply religious society like the Ghanaian one is only made possible. Religion is only the symptom of a sick society, and as long as we do not fight the cause of this symptom, it will not vanish.
Sitting in the JHS classes, I often thought about my last years in school, and I remembered the exams that I wrote: At least in the non-scientific-based subjects, I could literally write anything that I wanted and still passed without any problems – I just needed to explain my point well, bring acceptable arguments and have a look at the pros and cons. As long as I gave valid and convincing reasons, the conclusion I reached was never very important to my teachers. The main purpose of examination was to make us form our own opinion, to be critical about the content, to question everything.

In Ghana, as far as I got to know the educational system, the best student in class is the one reciting the lesson notes most precisely. Exams are only about what is written in your textbook, and students who pose too many questions or criticize their authorities are called “stubborn”. This non-critical way of bringing up children leads to a society that always nods its head to everything; a society that is accepting any nonsense, as long as the reasons are based on the propaganda its members are used to. And this propaganda is, at least in Ghana, a religious one: Everything will go well, just pray hard and trust your preacher – and give enough money to him when it’s time for collection, please.

But this propaganda could never work if its conditions would not be set in the early years of children’s education. That is why religion is not the biggest problem to me – it is rather the non-critical society in which it is acted out. Religion can lead to dogmatism and extremism, sure, but in a liberal and free-thinking climate, it can also be lived in a way that does not harm anyone, that only affects the personal life and is seen as a part of people’s privacy. If you need the assurance of a life after death, if you cannot deal with the big black hole which we all came from and in which we are all going to fall back into again – fine. As long as you do not get into my atheist businesses, as long as you do not force me to believe, you should have your Freedom of Religion, you can worship Jesus, a long-bearded old man or Santa Claus. As long as you do not reject a humanist society that is existing of various opinions, different views, vivid discussions; as long as you are free to question your opponent as well as yourself, I do not care what you believe in. As long as you are a critical-thinking human being.

A society made up of critical-thinking human beings – that is still what we have to achieve in Ghana. Once we have reached it, there is no need to talk about religion and belief any more.

Because from here on, the rest goes with something called Freedom of Speech.

Dshamilja is a German Humanist currently on an intercultural exchange program with the Humanist Association of Ghana. 

“I don’t believe in God.” It’s hard for me to remember the number of times that I have mentioned this sentence and seen this surprising change in my opponent’s appearance: widely opened eyes, a stunned mouth, an astonished, almost shocked expression on the face. It happens almost every time I speak to people about my atheistic world view. In Ghana, according to studies one of the most religious countries in the world, people are not used to someone who does not believe in the supernatural. They are born and raised in a deeply religiously society, and a lot of Ghanaians would not have even considered the option of not believing in God.

“I don’t believe in God.” If I mention this sentence in Germany, people would shrug their shoulders – yes, so what? A lot of people, especially the younger ones, have been raised without a connection to anything supernatural. Even if you call yourself “religious”, the impact of your belief would not be as deep and profound as in Ghana: You attend the religious lessons in school, you go to church on Christmas, maybe Eastern – and that is it in most of the families. Apart from the very conservative, mostly older people that you would find on the countryside, the majority doesn’t see religion to have a heavy impact in their daily life.

​You might believe in the existence of an all-mighty God, you might gain strength out of the assumption that there is someone above, guiding your way, but almost no one would question the theory of evolution or believe that Jesus walked on water. The Bible is not taken literally but rather as a historical document: Centuries of mouth-to-mouth narration have brought a lot of contradictions, and most people are aware of that. A very few percentage of Christians is able to recite a Bible verse – what they rather acquire from it are the moral lessons, and if I tell people that I see the “Christian” values rather to be “human” values, that morality is not based on any religion or belief but on what we call Humanism, a lot of them would agree.

I have never liked churches back in Germany, but compared to the Ghanaian ones they practice a mild, almost liberal version of what we call religion. I have always had an atheist world view, but in Ghana, my rejection of all supernatural has reached new, unknown proportions.

This change was probably caused by my discovery of the evil root, the root which leads to religion. During my work in a Ghanaian school, I learned a lot about the educational system and the upbringing of children – and I realized that this is where a deeply religious society like the Ghanaian one is only made possible. Religion is only the symptom of a sick society, and as long as we do not fight the cause of this symptom, it will not vanish.
Sitting in the JHS classes, I often thought about my last years in school, and I remembered the exams that I wrote: At least in the non-scientific-based subjects, I could literally write anything that I wanted and still passed without any problems – I just needed to explain my point well, bring acceptable arguments and have a look at the pros and cons. As long as I gave valid and convincing reasons, the conclusion I reached was never very important to my teachers. The main purpose of examination was to make us form our own opinion, to be critical about the content, to question everything.

In Ghana, as far as I got to know the educational system, the best student in class is the one reciting the lesson notes most precisely. Exams are only about what is written in your textbook, and students who pose too many questions or criticize their authorities are called “stubborn”. This non-critical way of bringing up children leads to a society that always nods its head to everything; a society that is accepting any nonsense, as long as the reasons are based on the propaganda its members are used to. And this propaganda is, at least in Ghana, a religious one: Everything will go well, just pray hard and trust your preacher – and give enough money to him when it’s time for collection, please.

But this propaganda could never work if its conditions would not be set in the early years of children’s education. That is why religion is not the biggest problem to me – it is rather the non-critical society in which it is acted out. Religion can lead to dogmatism and extremism, sure, but in a liberal and free-thinking climate, it can also be lived in a way that does not harm anyone, that only affects the personal life and is seen as a part of people’s privacy. If you need the assurance of a life after death, if you cannot deal with the big black hole which we all came from and in which we are all going to fall back into again – fine. As long as you do not get into my atheist businesses, as long as you do not force me to believe, you should have your Freedom of Religion, you can worship Jesus, a long-bearded old man or Santa Claus. As long as you do not reject a humanist society that is existing of various opinions, different views, vivid discussions; as long as you are free to question your opponent as well as yourself, I do not care what you believe in. As long as you are a critical-thinking human being.

A society made up of critical-thinking human beings – that is still what we have to achieve in Ghana. Once we have reached it, there is no need to talk about religion and belief any more.

Because from here on, the rest goes with something called Freedom of Speech.

Dshamilja is a German Humanist currently on an intercultural exchange program with the Humanist Association of Ghana. 

“I don’t believe in God.” It’s hard for me to remember the number of times that I have mentioned this sentence and seen this surprising change in my opponent’s appearance: widely opened eyes, a stunned mouth, an astonished, almost shocked expression on the face. It happens almost every time I speak to people about my atheistic world view. In Ghana, according to studies one of the most religious countries in the world, people are not used to someone who does not believe in the supernatural. They are born and raised in a deeply religiously society, and a lot of Ghanaians would not have even considered the option of not believing in God.

“I don’t believe in God.” If I mention this sentence in Germany, people would shrug their shoulders – yes, so what? A lot of people, especially the younger ones, have been raised without a connection to anything supernatural. Even if you call yourself “religious”, the impact of your belief would not be as deep and profound as in Ghana: You attend the religious lessons in school, you go to church on Christmas, maybe Eastern – and that is it in most of the families. Apart from the very conservative, mostly older people that you would find on the countryside, the majority doesn’t see religion to have a heavy impact in their daily life.

​You might believe in the existence of an all-mighty God, you might gain strength out of the assumption that there is someone above, guiding your way, but almost no one would question the theory of evolution or believe that Jesus walked on water. The Bible is not taken literally but rather as a historical document: Centuries of mouth-to-mouth narration have brought a lot of contradictions, and most people are aware of that. A very few percentage of Christians is able to recite a Bible verse – what they rather acquire from it are the moral lessons, and if I tell people that I see the “Christian” values rather to be “human” values, that morality is not based on any religion or belief but on what we call Humanism, a lot of them would agree.

I have never liked churches back in Germany, but compared to the Ghanaian ones they practice a mild, almost liberal version of what we call religion. I have always had an atheist world view, but in Ghana, my rejection of all supernatural has reached new, unknown proportions.

This change was probably caused by my discovery of the evil root, the root which leads to religion. During my work in a Ghanaian school, I learned a lot about the educational system and the upbringing of children – and I realized that this is where a deeply religious society like the Ghanaian one is only made possible. Religion is only the symptom of a sick society, and as long as we do not fight the cause of this symptom, it will not vanish.
Sitting in the JHS classes, I often thought about my last years in school, and I remembered the exams that I wrote: At least in the non-scientific-based subjects, I could literally write anything that I wanted and still passed without any problems – I just needed to explain my point well, bring acceptable arguments and have a look at the pros and cons. As long as I gave valid and convincing reasons, the conclusion I reached was never very important to my teachers. The main purpose of examination was to make us form our own opinion, to be critical about the content, to question everything.

In Ghana, as far as I got to know the educational system, the best student in class is the one reciting the lesson notes most precisely. Exams are only about what is written in your textbook, and students who pose too many questions or criticize their authorities are called “stubborn”. This non-critical way of bringing up children leads to a society that always nods its head to everything; a society that is accepting any nonsense, as long as the reasons are based on the propaganda its members are used to. And this propaganda is, at least in Ghana, a religious one: Everything will go well, just pray hard and trust your preacher – and give enough money to him when it’s time for collection, please.

But this propaganda could never work if its conditions would not be set in the early years of children’s education. That is why religion is not the biggest problem to me – it is rather the non-critical society in which it is acted out. Religion can lead to dogmatism and extremism, sure, but in a liberal and free-thinking climate, it can also be lived in a way that does not harm anyone, that only affects the personal life and is seen as a part of people’s privacy. If you need the assurance of a life after death, if you cannot deal with the big black hole which we all came from and in which we are all going to fall back into again – fine. As long as you do not get into my atheist businesses, as long as you do not force me to believe, you should have your Freedom of Religion, you can worship Jesus, a long-bearded old man or Santa Claus. As long as you do not reject a humanist society that is existing of various opinions, different views, vivid discussions; as long as you are free to question your opponent as well as yourself, I do not care what you believe in. As long as you are a critical-thinking human being.

A society made up of critical-thinking human beings – that is still what we have to achieve in Ghana. Once we have reached it, there is no need to talk about religion and belief any more.

Because from here on, the rest goes with something called Freedom of Speech.

Dshamilja is a German Humanist currently on an intercultural exchange program with the Humanist Association of Ghana. 

“I don’t believe in God.” It’s hard for me to remember the number of times that I have mentioned this sentence and seen this surprising change in my opponent’s appearance: widely opened eyes, a stunned mouth, an astonished, almost shocked expression on the face. It happens almost every time I speak to people about my atheistic world view. In Ghana, according to studies one of the most religious countries in the world, people are not used to someone who does not believe in the supernatural. They are born and raised in a deeply religiously society, and a lot of Ghanaians would not have even considered the option of not believing in God.

“I don’t believe in God.” If I mention this sentence in Germany, people would shrug their shoulders – yes, so what? A lot of people, especially the younger ones, have been raised without a connection to anything supernatural. Even if you call yourself “religious”, the impact of your belief would not be as deep and profound as in Ghana: You attend the religious lessons in school, you go to church on Christmas, maybe Eastern – and that is it in most of the families. Apart from the very conservative, mostly older people that you would find on the countryside, the majority doesn’t see religion to have a heavy impact in their daily life.

​You might believe in the existence of an all-mighty God, you might gain strength out of the assumption that there is someone above, guiding your way, but almost no one would question the theory of evolution or believe that Jesus walked on water. The Bible is not taken literally but rather as a historical document: Centuries of mouth-to-mouth narration have brought a lot of contradictions, and most people are aware of that. A very few percentage of Christians is able to recite a Bible verse – what they rather acquire from it are the moral lessons, and if I tell people that I see the “Christian” values rather to be “human” values, that morality is not based on any religion or belief but on what we call Humanism, a lot of them would agree.

I have never liked churches back in Germany, but compared to the Ghanaian ones they practice a mild, almost liberal version of what we call religion. I have always had an atheist world view, but in Ghana, my rejection of all supernatural has reached new, unknown proportions.

This change was probably caused by my discovery of the evil root, the root which leads to religion. During my work in a Ghanaian school, I learned a lot about the educational system and the upbringing of children – and I realized that this is where a deeply religious society like the Ghanaian one is only made possible. Religion is only the symptom of a sick society, and as long as we do not fight the cause of this symptom, it will not vanish.
Sitting in the JHS classes, I often thought about my last years in school, and I remembered the exams that I wrote: At least in the non-scientific-based subjects, I could literally write anything that I wanted and still passed without any problems – I just needed to explain my point well, bring acceptable arguments and have a look at the pros and cons. As long as I gave valid and convincing reasons, the conclusion I reached was never very important to my teachers. The main purpose of examination was to make us form our own opinion, to be critical about the content, to question everything.

In Ghana, as far as I got to know the educational system, the best student in class is the one reciting the lesson notes most precisely. Exams are only about what is written in your textbook, and students who pose too many questions or criticize their authorities are called “stubborn”. This non-critical way of bringing up children leads to a society that always nods its head to everything; a society that is accepting any nonsense, as long as the reasons are based on the propaganda its members are used to. And this propaganda is, at least in Ghana, a religious one: Everything will go well, just pray hard and trust your preacher – and give enough money to him when it’s time for collection, please.

But this propaganda could never work if its conditions would not be set in the early years of children’s education. That is why religion is not the biggest problem to me – it is rather the non-critical society in which it is acted out. Religion can lead to dogmatism and extremism, sure, but in a liberal and free-thinking climate, it can also be lived in a way that does not harm anyone, that only affects the personal life and is seen as a part of people’s privacy. If you need the assurance of a life after death, if you cannot deal with the big black hole which we all came from and in which we are all going to fall back into again – fine. As long as you do not get into my atheist businesses, as long as you do not force me to believe, you should have your Freedom of Religion, you can worship Jesus, a long-bearded old man or Santa Claus. As long as you do not reject a humanist society that is existing of various opinions, different views, vivid discussions; as long as you are free to question your opponent as well as yourself, I do not care what you believe in. As long as you are a critical-thinking human being.

A society made up of critical-thinking human beings – that is still what we have to achieve in Ghana. Once we have reached it, there is no need to talk about religion and belief any more.

Because from here on, the rest goes with something called Freedom of Speech.

Dshamilja is a German Humanist currently on an intercultural exchange program with the Humanist Association of Ghana. 

“I don’t believe in God.” It’s hard for me to remember the number of times that I have mentioned this sentence and seen this surprising change in my opponent’s appearance: widely opened eyes, a stunned mouth, an astonished, almost shocked expression on the face. It happens almost every time I speak to people about my atheistic world view. In Ghana, according to studies one of the most religious countries in the world, people are not used to someone who does not believe in the supernatural. They are born and raised in a deeply religiously society, and a lot of Ghanaians would not have even considered the option of not believing in God.

“I don’t believe in God.” If I mention this sentence in Germany, people would shrug their shoulders – yes, so what? A lot of people, especially the younger ones, have been raised without a connection to anything supernatural. Even if you call yourself “religious”, the impact of your belief would not be as deep and profound as in Ghana: You attend the religious lessons in school, you go to church on Christmas, maybe Eastern – and that is it in most of the families. Apart from the very conservative, mostly older people that you would find on the countryside, the majority doesn’t see religion to have a heavy impact in their daily life.

​You might believe in the existence of an all-mighty God, you might gain strength out of the assumption that there is someone above, guiding your way, but almost no one would question the theory of evolution or believe that Jesus walked on water. The Bible is not taken literally but rather as a historical document: Centuries of mouth-to-mouth narration have brought a lot of contradictions, and most people are aware of that. A very few percentage of Christians is able to recite a Bible verse – what they rather acquire from it are the moral lessons, and if I tell people that I see the “Christian” values rather to be “human” values, that morality is not based on any religion or belief but on what we call Humanism, a lot of them would agree.

I have never liked churches back in Germany, but compared to the Ghanaian ones they practice a mild, almost liberal version of what we call religion. I have always had an atheist world view, but in Ghana, my rejection of all supernatural has reached new, unknown proportions.

This change was probably caused by my discovery of the evil root, the root which leads to religion. During my work in a Ghanaian school, I learned a lot about the educational system and the upbringing of children – and I realized that this is where a deeply religious society like the Ghanaian one is only made possible. Religion is only the symptom of a sick society, and as long as we do not fight the cause of this symptom, it will not vanish.
Sitting in the JHS classes, I often thought about my last years in school, and I remembered the exams that I wrote: At least in the non-scientific-based subjects, I could literally write anything that I wanted and still passed without any problems – I just needed to explain my point well, bring acceptable arguments and have a look at the pros and cons. As long as I gave valid and convincing reasons, the conclusion I reached was never very important to my teachers. The main purpose of examination was to make us form our own opinion, to be critical about the content, to question everything.

In Ghana, as far as I got to know the educational system, the best student in class is the one reciting the lesson notes most precisely. Exams are only about what is written in your textbook, and students who pose too many questions or criticize their authorities are called “stubborn”. This non-critical way of bringing up children leads to a society that always nods its head to everything; a society that is accepting any nonsense, as long as the reasons are based on the propaganda its members are used to. And this propaganda is, at least in Ghana, a religious one: Everything will go well, just pray hard and trust your preacher – and give enough money to him when it’s time for collection, please.

But this propaganda could never work if its conditions would not be set in the early years of children’s education. That is why religion is not the biggest problem to me – it is rather the non-critical society in which it is acted out. Religion can lead to dogmatism and extremism, sure, but in a liberal and free-thinking climate, it can also be lived in a way that does not harm anyone, that only affects the personal life and is seen as a part of people’s privacy. If you need the assurance of a life after death, if you cannot deal with the big black hole which we all came from and in which we are all going to fall back into again – fine. As long as you do not get into my atheist businesses, as long as you do not force me to believe, you should have your Freedom of Religion, you can worship Jesus, a long-bearded old man or Santa Claus. As long as you do not reject a humanist society that is existing of various opinions, different views, vivid discussions; as long as you are free to question your opponent as well as yourself, I do not care what you believe in. As long as you are a critical-thinking human being.

A society made up of critical-thinking human beings – that is still what we have to achieve in Ghana. Once we have reached it, there is no need to talk about religion and belief any more.

Because from here on, the rest goes with something called Freedom of Speech.

Dshamilja is a German Humanist currently on an intercultural exchange program with the Humanist Association of Ghana. 

“I don’t believe in God.” It’s hard for me to remember the number of times that I have mentioned this sentence and seen this surprising change in my opponent’s appearance: widely opened eyes, a stunned mouth, an astonished, almost shocked expression on the face. It happens almost every time I speak to people about my atheistic world view. In Ghana, according to studies one of the most religious countries in the world, people are not used to someone who does not believe in the supernatural. They are born and raised in a deeply religiously society, and a lot of Ghanaians would not have even considered the option of not believing in God.

“I don’t believe in God.” If I mention this sentence in Germany, people would shrug their shoulders – yes, so what? A lot of people, especially the younger ones, have been raised without a connection to anything supernatural. Even if you call yourself “religious”, the impact of your belief would not be as deep and profound as in Ghana: You attend the religious lessons in school, you go to church on Christmas, maybe Eastern – and that is it in most of the families. Apart from the very conservative, mostly older people that you would find on the countryside, the majority doesn’t see religion to have a heavy impact in their daily life.

​You might believe in the existence of an all-mighty God, you might gain strength out of the assumption that there is someone above, guiding your way, but almost no one would question the theory of evolution or believe that Jesus walked on water. The Bible is not taken literally but rather as a historical document: Centuries of mouth-to-mouth narration have brought a lot of contradictions, and most people are aware of that. A very few percentage of Christians is able to recite a Bible verse – what they rather acquire from it are the moral lessons, and if I tell people that I see the “Christian” values rather to be “human” values, that morality is not based on any religion or belief but on what we call Humanism, a lot of them would agree.

I have never liked churches back in Germany, but compared to the Ghanaian ones they practice a mild, almost liberal version of what we call religion. I have always had an atheist world view, but in Ghana, my rejection of all supernatural has reached new, unknown proportions.

This change was probably caused by my discovery of the evil root, the root which leads to religion. During my work in a Ghanaian school, I learned a lot about the educational system and the upbringing of children – and I realized that this is where a deeply religious society like the Ghanaian one is only made possible. Religion is only the symptom of a sick society, and as long as we do not fight the cause of this symptom, it will not vanish.
Sitting in the JHS classes, I often thought about my last years in school, and I remembered the exams that I wrote: At least in the non-scientific-based subjects, I could literally write anything that I wanted and still passed without any problems – I just needed to explain my point well, bring acceptable arguments and have a look at the pros and cons. As long as I gave valid and convincing reasons, the conclusion I reached was never very important to my teachers. The main purpose of examination was to make us form our own opinion, to be critical about the content, to question everything.

In Ghana, as far as I got to know the educational system, the best student in class is the one reciting the lesson notes most precisely. Exams are only about what is written in your textbook, and students who pose too many questions or criticize their authorities are called “stubborn”. This non-critical way of bringing up children leads to a society that always nods its head to everything; a society that is accepting any nonsense, as long as the reasons are based on the propaganda its members are used to. And this propaganda is, at least in Ghana, a religious one: Everything will go well, just pray hard and trust your preacher – and give enough money to him when it’s time for collection, please.

But this propaganda could never work if its conditions would not be set in the early years of children’s education. That is why religion is not the biggest problem to me – it is rather the non-critical society in which it is acted out. Religion can lead to dogmatism and extremism, sure, but in a liberal and free-thinking climate, it can also be lived in a way that does not harm anyone, that only affects the personal life and is seen as a part of people’s privacy. If you need the assurance of a life after death, if you cannot deal with the big black hole which we all came from and in which we are all going to fall back into again – fine. As long as you do not get into my atheist businesses, as long as you do not force me to believe, you should have your Freedom of Religion, you can worship Jesus, a long-bearded old man or Santa Claus. As long as you do not reject a humanist society that is existing of various opinions, different views, vivid discussions; as long as you are free to question your opponent as well as yourself, I do not care what you believe in. As long as you are a critical-thinking human being.

A society made up of critical-thinking human beings – that is still what we have to achieve in Ghana. Once we have reached it, there is no need to talk about religion and belief any more.

Because from here on, the rest goes with something called Freedom of Speech.

Dshamilja is a German Humanist currently on an intercultural exchange program with the Humanist Association of Ghana. 

“I don’t believe in God.” It’s hard for me to remember the number of times that I have mentioned this sentence and seen this surprising change in my opponent’s appearance: widely opened eyes, a stunned mouth, an astonished, almost shocked expression on the face. It happens almost every time I speak to people about my atheistic world view. In Ghana, according to studies one of the most religious countries in the world, people are not used to someone who does not believe in the supernatural. They are born and raised in a deeply religiously society, and a lot of Ghanaians would not have even considered the option of not believing in God.

“I don’t believe in God.” If I mention this sentence in Germany, people would shrug their shoulders – yes, so what? A lot of people, especially the younger ones, have been raised without a connection to anything supernatural. Even if you call yourself “religious”, the impact of your belief would not be as deep and profound as in Ghana: You attend the religious lessons in school, you go to church on Christmas, maybe Eastern – and that is it in most of the families. Apart from the very conservative, mostly older people that you would find on the countryside, the majority doesn’t see religion to have a heavy impact in their daily life.

​You might believe in the existence of an all-mighty God, you might gain strength out of the assumption that there is someone above, guiding your way, but almost no one would question the theory of evolution or believe that Jesus walked on water. The Bible is not taken literally but rather as a historical document: Centuries of mouth-to-mouth narration have brought a lot of contradictions, and most people are aware of that. A very few percentage of Christians is able to recite a Bible verse – what they rather acquire from it are the moral lessons, and if I tell people that I see the “Christian” values rather to be “human” values, that morality is not based on any religion or belief but on what we call Humanism, a lot of them would agree.

I have never liked churches back in Germany, but compared to the Ghanaian ones they practice a mild, almost liberal version of what we call religion. I have always had an atheist world view, but in Ghana, my rejection of all supernatural has reached new, unknown proportions.

This change was probably caused by my discovery of the evil root, the root which leads to religion. During my work in a Ghanaian school, I learned a lot about the educational system and the upbringing of children – and I realized that this is where a deeply religious society like the Ghanaian one is only made possible. Religion is only the symptom of a sick society, and as long as we do not fight the cause of this symptom, it will not vanish.
Sitting in the JHS classes, I often thought about my last years in school, and I remembered the exams that I wrote: At least in the non-scientific-based subjects, I could literally write anything that I wanted and still passed without any problems – I just needed to explain my point well, bring acceptable arguments and have a look at the pros and cons. As long as I gave valid and convincing reasons, the conclusion I reached was never very important to my teachers. The main purpose of examination was to make us form our own opinion, to be critical about the content, to question everything.

In Ghana, as far as I got to know the educational system, the best student in class is the one reciting the lesson notes most precisely. Exams are only about what is written in your textbook, and students who pose too many questions or criticize their authorities are called “stubborn”. This non-critical way of bringing up children leads to a society that always nods its head to everything; a society that is accepting any nonsense, as long as the reasons are based on the propaganda its members are used to. And this propaganda is, at least in Ghana, a religious one: Everything will go well, just pray hard and trust your preacher – and give enough money to him when it’s time for collection, please.

But this propaganda could never work if its conditions would not be set in the early years of children’s education. That is why religion is not the biggest problem to me – it is rather the non-critical society in which it is acted out. Religion can lead to dogmatism and extremism, sure, but in a liberal and free-thinking climate, it can also be lived in a way that does not harm anyone, that only affects the personal life and is seen as a part of people’s privacy. If you need the assurance of a life after death, if you cannot deal with the big black hole which we all came from and in which we are all going to fall back into again – fine. As long as you do not get into my atheist businesses, as long as you do not force me to believe, you should have your Freedom of Religion, you can worship Jesus, a long-bearded old man or Santa Claus. As long as you do not reject a humanist society that is existing of various opinions, different views, vivid discussions; as long as you are free to question your opponent as well as yourself, I do not care what you believe in. As long as you are a critical-thinking human being.

A society made up of critical-thinking human beings – that is still what we have to achieve in Ghana. Once we have reached it, there is no need to talk about religion and belief any more.

Because from here on, the rest goes with something called Freedom of Speech.

Dshamilja is a German Humanist currently on an intercultural exchange program with the Humanist Association of Ghana.