False hope in God is the leading cause of suicide in Ghana

General news for Thursday, September 10, 2020

Source: Peace FM

2020-09-10

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Professor Joseph Osafo, director of psychology at the University of Ghana, says Christianity is one of the leading causes of suicide in Ghana.

Professor Joseph Osafo revealed this as the world commemorates Suicide Prevention Day today, September 10.

He explained that he and his team interviewed some mental health patients in the country and a large number of them attributed their problems to their faith in God.

Speaking in an interview with Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM’s ‘Kokrokoo’, she said that “we interviewed 30 survivors of hospital attempts and it was very interesting. Look what we found, we saw that more than 20 of them were angry with God. This is what we call a psychological crisis of faith. According to them, they are angry with God because [1] They get frustrated asking God to intervene. ”

He revealed that his findings showed that patients were angry with God because of the sermons that their pastors preached to them.

“Within the realm of African prophetic theology, there is something we call triumphalism. Triumphalism means that when you go to many churches, especially prophetic ministries, they give you a picture that God’s intervention is so real that the crisis doesn’t matter. existentially confronting a person, when they preach the Word and give you the prophecy, God will step in. Now what happens is they get frustrated when they don’t get the results … It is this theology of escaping from suffering that creates a problem for them. “.

He appealed to religious leaders, especially prophets, to desist from giving false hope to their parishioners saying “it is necessary to articulate the Bible in a way that transforms the mind of the person” and tell the truth about reality.