When we hear of Suicide, we think of someone hanging themselves on a rope, someone pointing a gun at himself or herself, or someone opting for assisted suicide at the hospital. There is a silent but powerful killer claiming many lives and robbing many of their destinies.

It is called Religious Suicide.

It acts so innocently and tends to be harmless but in the loins of her is an irreversible poison and cancer that ravages g humanity including the rich end the poor, the small and great, the illiterates, and the educated whose years of education have been brought to naught by religious indoctrinations and hearsay.

Religious Suicide in Africa relies on fear, scriptural misinterpretation, indoctrination, and deliberate manipulations, which makes it difficult to flee from.

In the year 2012, I met a man called Kingsley who happened to belong to a certain denomination. They are used to going from house to house doing evangelism. One afternoon, I sat down at the door of my house to escape the unforgivable heat from the sun at Kasoa. The man gently approached me to share a word with me.

He offered a yellow book titled " What does the Bible teach us?" As we began to share the word of God, I quickly asked him a question: Do you believe in prophecy? He responded and said no because God is no longer speaking to mankind and so all prophecies today are false.

His response to me was shocking and funny, and as I began to explain, my friend wasn't ready to listen to my side of the scripture to disprove his stands on prophecy.

As we continued to go back and forth, I heard a voice saying, " He should be very careful about a land dispute from his family that will claim his life." After I prophesied to him, he looked shocked but confirmed that there was an ongoing dispute between his family and another family in the village and said that even though what I was saying was true, it wasn't God speaking to me but a devil somewhere.

In less than two months, this young man fell sick, and when I passed by to visit him, I remembered the prophetic warning for him. As I made an attempt to pray for him, he shook off my hands and said God no longer heals. Out of disappointment, I left and prayed for him. How can you help someone who doesn't believe in prophecy or the healing power of God?

Unfortunately, the gentleman died. Help was ready, but indoctrination had crippled his thoughts. A lot of people like Kingsley have passed on because they are in a certain denomination that makes their members believe that where they are is the best and any attempt to seek help elsewhere is a recipe for disaster and condemnation.

Religious Suicide is mostly perpetuated by folks who hold you for ransom and frown upon seeking help outside their church walls when in fact they have no solution to help you.

God has given everyone his gifts to help the body of Christ. A lot of people are killed every day due to indoctrination.

Some years ago, I attended the funeral service of a young pastor who refused medication for diabetes because of his faith, and sadly, his health deteriorated, leaving behind his wife and young kids. If not for religious indoctrination, he could have been alive or had his life span prolonged to some degree.

Many living people have been killed emotionally and forced to be who they are not just so that they can fit into a religious horoscope.

Those who tend to be themselves are subjected to trolls and rejection and attract all kinds of names such as "Absalom."

A lot of talents have been destroyed, families scattered, and many lost opportunities due to religious indoctrination and manipulation. A lot of people are suffering from things that do not even exist. Religious Suicide is engineered by some cultic tendencies that put fear in you and the dangers should you go or move away.

God's purpose of serving him is to free us from all forms of fear and slavery. We went to church to seek our spiritual freedom. Unfortunately, many churches have rather become the shackles we are trying to flee from.

Religion becomes deadly when it is led by folks whose mode of power is to enslave people to satisfy their ego and greed. It's time to flee from anything that seeks to turn our earthly paradise into hell.