Alex Redd

It is bad enough that secularism is a growing problem in the Liberian culture. Given the rebellious spirit that is prevalent in our homeland, it frightens me when some of my friends downplay the relevance of religion in all strata of society. They debate that our country must entrust discussions of national interest to secularism; writes Alexander Redd.

Secularism is the belief that man does not need God or God’s laws in man’s social, governmental, educational, or economic affairs. Ironically, secularism rejects religion. It is itself religion.

Nowadays many Liberian politicians, courts, schools, and business embrace and promote the religion of secularism under the rubric of freedom from religion and by peddling the idea of human autonomy, which inevitably leads to anarchy. Moreover, secularism is making inroads in the church.

Worship is influenced by the felt needs and wants of secularist people; no need to preach about hell for fear of scaring people away. The norm in most churches is self-help messages that are dress up with a veneer of Christianity. It has become secularism’s teaching that embraces self-reality, redefining gender and marriage. Indeed, secularism is a subtle strand of atheism.

In the world of secularism, there’s no room for the spiritual world as if material pleasure is the highest good. Such mind set lends itself to worshiping money as god. In our homeland, countless lives have been lost as a result of raging fight over resources and political advantage. Many people say they trust God, but they act as if God has no authority whatsoever over their lives.

Some of our leaders act as an authority unto themselves, and the root of their self-appointed authority is as unstable as the emotions of their own hearts. I’m not sure whether they know it or not, they have succumbed to secularism, which begins and ends in death! Why are we so tempted to forget about God and avoid to confront the world of growing secularism in the Liberian culture today?

If we forget God, we will forget who we are as a nation. We are His people, and we are called to stand firm against the creeping darkness of secularism, declaring to our hearts, our homes, our churches, and our nation that the LORD Almighty has authority over all and that, emphatically, in God we must trust.

It is my hope and prayer that our nation must genuinely trust God. Sometimes it’s so easy to live as if God really isn’t there, to go about our normal daily routine without reflecting on God’s authority and that we are called to live all of life under His sovereign authority.

Secularism is something we must fight to the teeth. We must fight it in our hearts, our homes, our communities, our churches, and society at large.

God must be the center of our lives, homes, churches, communities, and nation. He must flow through all that we do.