Need to study cultism-education link
Reports over the past month that the more than 500 people are missing and more than 173 have been found buried after fasting in Shakahola Forest, in Kilifi County, under the influence and direction of a Christian preacher are horrifying.
The issue raises questions about the psychological state of the victims before and during the period of fasting until they died.
In science, there are three dimensions to the life of a human being. The cognitive dimension involves knowledge and the development of the intellectual skills is the first. The psychomotor dimension includes physical movement, coordination and the use of motor skills areas.
The third is the spiritual dimension, which involves exploring the key principles, beliefs and values that give meaning and purpose to one’s life.
People, in their daily lives, operate under the influence of external stimuli and forces that lead them to think and consider the spiritual or moral implications of the activities that they may have to take as a result. Finally, they perform some activity—such as walking, running, shouting or making phone calls—as a reaction to the stimuli.
The three dimensions to life must have some form of synergy for one to carry out their activities. It is also believed that the reaction to these stimuli depends on which of the three dimensions has had the greatest influence on someone. There is also the horde mentality, through which some people participate in certain activities because they have seen many other people perform them.
Extensive research on these behaviours were undertaken by Benjamin Bloom and Sigmund Freud, who are considered as authorities in psychology.
In the case of Shakahola, the victims were presumably exposed to some preaching that appealed to their spiritual dimension of life. They must have given serious thought to what they were hearing and finally decided to travel to the secluded forest to begin fasting; the cognitive and spiritual dimensions were commanding the psychomotor dimension to locomotion.
Is suicide acceptable?
This raises further questions: First, is fasting to death a form of suicide or not, the promise to get to Heaven notwithstanding? Secondly, if it is suicide, is it acceptable in Christian teachings and the Bible to commit suicide, even if the intention is to ascend to Heaven?
Thirdly, does the ascent to Heaven have to be fast-tracked through fasting as opposed to an individual living a life of salvation and eventually joining at an advanced age? Why the hurry to die and get there yet there is the promise of eternal life after death? Why the hurry to go to Heaven to meet the Creator when the victims could assist other Christians to spread the Gospel to the uninitiated?
There is also the role of education in shaping one’s spiritual dimension. Does higher education, say acquisition of secondary and post-secondary education, promote or diminish the chances of one becoming a spiritual fanatic of the Shakahola type? Does education matter in spirituality and the conduct and mien of the ‘saved’ individuals? Would a ‘Shakahola’ occur in a country with a highly educated population—say, Finland, Sweden, Japan, the United Kingdom or Germany?
Could the security agencies find out the educational qualifications of those who allegedly starved themselves, those who were rescued while fasting and those who reported to be missing? This could help in profiling the people who are predisposed to cultism and help to forestall a similar calamity.
The other variable that investigators may need to consider is the poverty levels of the victims. Would rich people be easily convinced to starve so as to enter the Kingdom of Heaven? Would they spend days and nights in unsanitary conditions in the wilderness, driven by their faith, to die and go to Heaven? Would the poor be more amenable to be convinced to fast to death?
Is there a correlation between higher educational standards and wealth levels of the citizens of a country and their spiritual inclinations, especially religious fanaticism? Whatever the case, ‘Shakahola’ is an eye opener to the security system; education sector; religious, especially Christian, organisations; and the government. It should never recur. BY DAILY NATION
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