Satan as Egoism….’God’ as Humility in Man
Who has seen the ‘Devil’ or ‘Satan’ before? Who has seen ‘God’ before? All the major ‘lettered religions’ have their perception of what ‘God’ and ‘Satan’ is. There are nuances based on the time, the place, and culture from which each of these religions would emerge. But, the essence of all of these religions, and their dictates as to how humanity must conduct himself in his sociological world, are almost the same. Whether one is religious or not, whether one is atheist or agnostic, one must learn the differences between ‘Satan’ and ‘God’ in man – even if these ‘spirits’ are not taken literally, but, metaphorically. When man used to walk hundreds of miles on his feet and tote all load on his head; when man used horses and chariots to wage war; when man moved into the jet age and space age….it has always been the same man in his thoughts and emotions. Individuals, villages, nations, empires; kings and tycoons… have all risen or fallen based on the level of ‘God’ or ‘Satan’ within man, especially leaders. Woe on any nation that has a national leader, or, too many of its leadership, with more of Satan in them.
The Division between the Divine and Demoniac in Man
One of the holy books which I have learned so much about the ‘spirit’ of ‘the divine’ and ‘demoniac’ is the Bhagavad gita – emanating from the Indian sub continent. Whereas it is easy for one to perceive ‘God’ and ‘Satan’ as ‘outside forces in the air’ that afflicts man, the Bhagavad gita paints these two forces as the ‘character’ of man at any given point in time – or, habits that would become long lasting in some people. Thus, in Chapter 16 is on ‘The Division between the Divine and Demoniac’.
Chapter 16, Verse 1-3 of the ‘Gita reads: “The Blessed Lord said: Fearlessness, purification of one’s existence, cultivation of spiritual knowledge, charity, self-control, performance of sacrifice, study of the Vedas, austerity and simplicity; nonviolence, truthfulness, freedom from anger; renunciation, tranquility, aversion to faultfinding, compassion and freedom from covetousness; gentleness, modesty and steady determination; vigor, forgiveness, fortitude, cleanliness, freedom from envy and the passion for honor–these transcendental qualities, O son of Bharata, belong to godly men endowed with divine nature…..”
President Ernest Bai Koroma has ‘Divine Qualities’
I pore on those words. Often!! As I did research to develop Part One on the biography of President Ernest Bai Koroma in 2011, and interviewed those who had known him from infancy through school and tertiary institution; as I worked closely with him over the past one year and I observed him while he would not know I would be studying him, I have been amazed at how much of the divine qualities outlined above he has. Here is a man with so much power yet so humble. Here is a man who genuinely loves people, and goes out of his way to make them feel at ease, and to cater for their needs – irrespective of race, ethnic background, or class. Even if there would be turmoil in the outside, President Koroma would be calm – with that inscrutable visage of his that sometimes rattles his close aides. In the sea of ignorance that most of us wallow in, in a society like ours were ‘Satan’ thrives within most of us, it is hardly a wonder than President Koroma is sometime completely misunderstood. Indeed, understanding President Koroma would mean reading not only the letter, but, expert analysis of, holy books like the Bible, Quran, and ‘Gita….
We do not grapple with the meaning of ‘Satan’ and ‘God’ in man only to appreciate the rare leader we have in President Koroma. For, at every moment, within every one of us, there lurks a speck of the ‘Devil’ whose spirit can be kindled to create a conflagration in our society.
Chapter 16, Verse 8, of the ‘Gita teaches on the qualities of ‘demoniac’: “Arrogance, pride, anger, conceit, harshness and ignorance–these qualities belong to those of demoniac nature, O son of Prtha…..” And, this description of ‘Satan’ is made more vivid in Chapter 16, Verse 13-15: “The demoniac person thinks: ‘So much wealth do I have today, and I will gain more according to my schemes. So much is mine now, and it will increase in the future, more and more. He is my enemy, and I have killed him; and my other enemy will also be killed. I am the lord of everything. I am the enjoyer. I am perfect, powerful and happy. I am the richest man, surrounded by aristocratic relatives. There is none so powerful and happy as I am. I shall perform sacrifices, I shall give some charity, and thus I shall rejoice.’ In this way, such persons are deluded by ignorance…”
All humanity, especially those in positions of authority, or, those who bestow great and greater powers on others, ought to learn basic lessons on pride and ego. Since ego and pride are often linked, and their definitions are so similar, it can be difficult to figure out exactly how they are different.
Pride can be Okay; ego is devastating
A simple way to distinguish them is this: ego is rather selfish and often has no basis in fact, while pride tends to be less selfish and is typically based on the facts of a person’s achievements and qualities. Some people think of ego as self-respect, and though it can lead to a sense of self-respect, it too often leads to arrogance instead.
When a person has a genuine ability in a particular field, this could be a source of pride. Instead, however, the person may begin to feel that he is the best in this field and that no one else is or ever will be worthy of working with him; he may feel this way regardless of whether or not there’s actually any truth to his perceptions. Pride would make this person feel happy about his skills and accomplishments, without having to be the best or only one capable of achievement. It leads to confidence instead of the arrogance.
A person can be an excellent public speaker, and begins to think that he is BETTER than all other speakers because of his skill. That is egoism. A person may have more money than all his academic peers, more beautiful women, and begin to look down on all his peers, exhibiting haughtiness or disdain when speaking with them…. That is egoism. This is NOT just philosophical musings, or, semantics.
We have just emerged from one of the nastiest and most brutish wars in human history because the leaders of the RUF, Foday Sankoh, of Sierra Leone and Charles Taylor, leader of the NPFL, were charismatic people with great courage – but, alas, egoistical people. By 1995/1996, Charles Margai would easily have been elected presidential candidate of the SLPP because of the great work he did in resurrecting the SLPP, but, SLPP elders feared Charles Margai’s egoism.
Egoistical and Demonic Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was a mesmerizing public speaker, with enormous self confidence. He was able to inspire Germans to fever pitch belief in their ‘Aryan Superiority’. . With Germany in the midst of an economic depression in the 1920s and1930s, Hitler was able to convince the German people that his politics were the solution to their economic woes. Under his leadership, he expanded industry and the military while slashing unemployment rates. Scapegoats were needed to explain the previous economic depression and make the public fear its repetition. This made it possible for Hitler to demonize Jews and other minority groups and he began a campaign of racial cleansing that ultimately led to the Holocaust and the extermination of nearly 14 million people, including 6 million Jews. Other targets included homosexuals, Soviet prisoners of war, gypsies, the handicapped and mentally ill, trade unionists and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Satanic Joseph Staliin filled with Egoism
Another great leader who had ‘the devil’ within him was Joseph Stalin of the former Soviet Union. Under Joseph Stalin’s rule, the concept of “socialism in one country” became a central tenet of Soviet society. Devils like Stalin are not all bad. Under Stalin there was rapid industrialization and collectivization of the Soviet Union that resulted in the rapid transformation of the USSR from an agrarian society into an industrial power. However, the economic changes coincided with the imprisonment of millions of people in Soviet correctional labour camps[and the deportation of many others to remote areas.. Later, in a period that lasted from 1936–39, Stalin instituted a campaign against alleged enemies of his regime called the Great Purge, in which hundreds of thousands were executed.
While Stalin transformed the former USSR into a nuclear superpower, he achieved much of his power by intimidating, torturing, suppressing and killing his opponents. Entire villages were terrorized and burned if citizens did not swear allegiance to Stalin. Food and other supplies were withheld until villages relented out of sheer desperation. Deserters and other “renegades” were publicly executed as a means of intimidation. Some opponents were exiled or sent to labor camps. He became known for changes to the justice system in which trials of opposition leaders were ordered to take no more than 10 days. There were no appeals, no defense attorneys and no prosecutors. Death sentences were executed quickly to assure that there was no recourse for the condemned. Accusations of high treason against military officials were commonplace, making it impossible for his “supporters” to defect. Stalin was notoriously vicious to even those close to him. He reportedly treated his son, Yakov, with such distain that the younger Stalin attempted suicide by shooting himself. When his suicide attempt failed, Stalin reportedly quipped, “He can’t even shoot straight.”
We must be watchful not to empower ‘demoniac leaders’, no matter how clever, or charming they may be….
I am known by my friends and members of the youth group I co-founded in 2000 (Youth Arise!!!) as ‘The Guru’ (which is the Hindu religious word for ‘Great Spiritual Teacher’). I hope that I would find time shortly to guide all Sierra Leoneans on such spiritual truths as are in this article – especially children and youth. For either deliberately or unwittingly, by our words or silence, by our action or inaction, we empower or disempower people who have spirits of the divine or demoniac in them. There is always no neutrality in this process. We all have the power to stand solidly and empower a leader with divine qualities like President Koroma, Nelson Mandela….. or a leader with demoniac qualities like Adolf Hitler, Foday Sankoh, Charles Taylor….In a lot of cases, people with demoniac qualities show early signs of it as they climb up to power, or, we acquiesce power to them. Woe on those societies that belie the ‘Satan’ within Demonic Leaders as they strive for more power.
Oswald Hanciles
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