What if human beings never evolved to conscious sentient beings? What if our evolution had stopped at, say, Homo Erectus? What would have become of us by now? Would we have dared to conquer the seas with galleons filled with gold, spices and slaves? Would we have dared to conquer life with cloning, artificial intelligence, DNA tweaking and hybrids? Would we have dared to aim at conquering the moon and the stars?
What if the spiritual experience of opium poppy was not discovered and developed? What if the inspirational and imaginative capabilities of marijuana were not extolled? What if the pain killing ability of cocaine was not entertained? Would we have the men and women in jail today for drug offences? Would we have the junkies seeing things beyond their understanding, addicted to habits that they cannot afford, living in a world of senseless pain and abandonment? Would we have malnourished children of unconscious mothers and gun shot wounds on unconscious children? Would we have missing fathers and cartel wars that claim more lives than can be ever confirmed?
What if the Bible had not said suffer not a witch to live, would the Salem witch trials have occured? Would witchcraft become so maligned to the point that it is now interesting? Would there be covens or movies that celebrate the powers of witchcraft? Would we have held an old woman responsible for the death of our children? Would we have cut down plantain grooves or Indian almond fruit trees for fear of witchcraft coven meetings? Would we have warned our children from taking food from strangers?
What if God had accepted Cain's offering, would Cain had killed Abel? Would he have had reasons to run away? Would he have built his own kingdom? Would Abel had been better? Would have the lineage of men be different? Would we be living still ,close to the garden of Eden? Would there have been a need for the flood? Would the race of giants have died off? Would there be different races divided by skin colour, language, culture and beliefs?
What if Lucifer had held on to some humility and respected his own responsibility instead of seeking higher power? Would the world be without sin? Would human beings live forever? Would there be no sickness, no war, no tears, no pain? Would that not be boring? Would there be no Hell? Would sex matter? Would people stop amassing wealth?
What if Duke Ferdinand never got assassinated? Would the world wars have been averted? Would the Third Reich never become a part of history? Would Hitler have become a Poet or a dramatist? Would the Jewish people have been Cremated? Would Warsaw host a ghetto? Would the United States have discovered her power? Would the atomic bomb be created? Would communism have triumphed over capitalism?
What if Mary Slessor never went to Calabar or Lord Lugard never almagamated Nigeria? Would there have been the Biafran war? Would Christopher Okigbo still be alive writing poetry and philosophizing? Would there be electric power in this part of the world? Would the elected propel truth and justice? Would there be food, water, shelter and hope for the young ones? Would Chinua Achebe have written Things Fall Apart?
What if there is no God and all our prayers have been received by no one and the miracles were just pure chance reactions of atoms and molecules aligning with cosmic vibrations? What if there was no one to worship, no religion to fight over, no rights of path to salvation to claim? Would people be good to each other? Would there be fighting in the Middle East? Would women and children carry bombs into market places and places of worship in the name of God? Would lovers battle their families to accept their choice? Would people reject the solutions science offer to their ailments? Would prostitutes be respected and abortion be supported? Would pastors be richer than their congregation? Would churches be bigger than hospitals and schools? Would people pay to be saved, to be healed, to be protected from evil?
Do you have answers to these questions or you find them unworthy of being pored or peered into? Do you think me irreverent or disrespectful to your person, your beliefs, your people, your ideology? Do you feel a need to defend your beliefs, uphold your position, protect your interests? Do you feel we should have an argument, a fight, a tantrum, a row, a war over these questions? Well if you do, let me ask you this, what if you were dead, would any of these things matter?
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