The Voice Of The People!      

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7: 13-14 NKJV).

This reflects the fact that people have dichotomous destinations, contingent on the gate they choose. By analogy, the voice that characterises the narrow gate leads to life; and the one that characterises the wide gate or broad way leads to destruction. While on the one hand, the Bible is blatantly emphatic on the consequence of entering by the wide gate, it offers solicitous advice, on the other hand. Beware of the voice of the majority. Flee the voice of the people that emanates from the wide gate (or the broadway), because it leads to destruction.

How do we reconcile the above with the aphorism: “The voice of the people is the voice of God” (Latin: Vox populi, vox Dei)? This aphorism draws a distinction between “majority” and “minority”, egregiously illuminating the former as being of God and the latter as being of the devil. Whatever comes from the majority comes from God. He speaks through them. The voice of an individual is not the voice of God.

As far as I can biblically decipher, on their way to the Promised Land, with the execrable and erroneous thought that Moses was not returning to them from the mountain, the Israelites mounted pressure on Aaron to get them a god. He collected their golden earrings, used an engraving tool to make an exquisitely crafted and stylistically elegant golden calf of a god for them to worship (see Exodus 32). Of course, the voice of the people made him do it. Meanwhile, God tells us in His commandments not to worship any god (Deuteronomy 5: 7-8). So if the voice of the people is the voice of God, and that same voice made the Israelites do that (a taboo to Him), then He is confused. But I tell you, He can never be confused.

Back home, the behaviour of some of our Members of Parliament leaves a lot be desired. Consider all we go through in voting for them. The resources we expend: traveling to a settlement or polling station, feeding and being at the vacillating mercy of the sun. Yet, some of them throw decency, caution, if you like, to the wind and act in an unpardonably uncouth manner.

Take for instance an MP who publicly launches vitriolic attacks on a woman, describing her with words that are repugnant as much as vulgar, to the outrage of all and sundry. Even if the woman also attacked the MP, is an “Honourable” MP supposed to ebulliently insult a woman publicly? It is a pity that an MP can show the picture of an investigative journalist on TV, admonishing people to beat him, only for the journalist to be brutally murdered a few weeks later. How painful! Perhaps the MP is not guilty. But what if he had not shown Ahmed's picture? And why should MPs who are supposed to be law-makers suddenly become law-breakers by turning the parliament house into a boxing arena?

Arguably, Ghanaians spoke – demonstrated through voting – and the voice of the people sent them to parliament. If indeed the voice of the people is the voice of God, it then follows that God sent them to parliament to cause mayhem and disorder in Ghana. But what needs to be emphasised is that God is not a God of disorder and confusion, rather, He is one of order and peace (1 Corinthians 14: 33).

It is devilishly difficult and largely fruitless to determine the origin of that aphorism. After all, what is the point in quibbling about petty details of it? However, what is extremely baffling, if not enormously surprising, is why people still use that expression in Ghana, especially in football and political circles. The people have spoken, so God has spoken! Really? Apparently, it is meant to pull the wool over the eyes of people.

Thus, it is crystal clear that the voice of the people is not necessarily the voice of God. The voice of the people from the wide gate can cause the destruction of people. It is utterly incontrovertible to accentuate that the voice of the people made God destroy the Israelites. In Ghana, our MPs have destroyed us beyond redemption. Only God knows the number of people who will get away with their evil deeds now that Ahmed Hussein-Suale is no more. Additionally, the heart-breaks, shame, and disappointment that have engulfed some of us, the least said about them, the better. Hence, taking the intransigent decision to get on the bandwagon to the wide gate or broadway is a pernicious venture. Suffice it to observe that the decision to join would be flagrantly tantamount to one's own decision to join the heavenly choir. Enter by the narrow gate.

The Almighty can use several people or just one person to accomplish a task. What we have to do to glowingly and gloriously be in His presence is to exude intractable piety, rather than a belief in a mendacious presumption of His predilection for numbers. Whenever you are to hearken to a voice, pause and ask yourself if it will not be a wide gate or broad way that leads to destruction. Let us wake up and smell the coffee, people!

Kwabena Aboagye-Gyan
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