The TB Joshua revelations are sadly nothing new. The documentary however is fantastic.
In the aftermath of the revelations that TB Joshua did terrible things, there is considerable distress on the part of people who loved him.
And it sucks, big time. Cults are ubiquitous, and some of them are very harmful. Like trying to solve violence, wanting to “do something about it” when it comes to cults feels impossible.
It seems reasonable to say that we should “educate” people so that they are able to spot bad situation better. Surely, the more you know the more likely you are to behave rationally, right?
Well. Let me just state right here that talking about religion is a terrible idea. Faith is central to belief, and the way faith is taught is often in opposition to “thinking”.
It is meant to be impervious to reason, suspicious of inquiry. Confusingly, many religions nonetheless elevate humans as special, because we have the ability to reason, setting us apart from “dumb beasts.” So we have this conflict going on. We are spiritual beings, favoured because we can think, but thinking too much is antithetical to faith.
You know what other systems do not like “too much thinking?” Totalitarian regimes. Fascist groupings. The Church of Scientology. Cults of personality. Cults in general…
The TB Joshua revelations are sadly nothing new. The documentary however is fantastic. Whatever one might think of the situation, this two-year project reveals the anatomy of a cult from the inside as it consists almost entirely of testimony from people who left the Synagogue, Church of All Nations.
Because of this it bears a striking resemblance to documentaries that explore other situations in which people have been taken advantage of to a stunning extent. Documentaries about Bernie Maddoff, for example, or Sam Bankman-Freid, or those folks in Japan who used nerve gas in the subway system.
All of them have something in common that I find frightening: The ability of one malevolent human to hold sway over multitudes. Whether it is money or salvation through money via Gospel of Salvation, or desire for an End of Days, there is always someone around to take advantage of our most unreasonable desires, those that make us vulnerable.
It is an open secret that Africa is the place to go if you have a religion to establish or grow. We are particularly open to spirituality in a manner that is increasingly rare elsewhere. If our embrace of spirituality guards us against the worst of the ravages of atomised modern life, I think it is a good thing. But it comes with a critical flaw — pun intended.
This emphasis on the spiritual seems to encourage people to leave the door to their brains open for any kind of “supernatural” folderol to stroll in while keeping the mind closed to information, education and analytical thinking.
I do not think we will learn anything from the TB Joshua experience, the optimism of my youth has given way to middle-aged acceptance.
But I am assured that because the media did a superlative job to expose TB Joshua on a massive platform like the BBC, perhaps next time a mega church sprouts under the command of a psychopath, it might have a harder time establishing itself. Perhaps fewer people will suffer. Hope abounds, but time will tell.
Elsie Eyakuze is an independent consultant and blogger for The Mikocheni Report; Email elsieeyakuze@gmail.com