To be fair, I was insensitive to your request ... you are in pain, and instead of empathizing, I pontificated! My apologies.

That said, other than empathy, I am unable to offer you with a course of action, other than recognizing the motivations behind ideas, concepts and positions being put forward.

Wow. Your narrative is moving. I do feel for you and the people you serve. In my state, for me a day does not go by without someone reference a god or some other ridiculous superstition.

Your story sadly brings to mind a few nuggets of related trivia. Many years ago a report from NPR consisting of a long interview with two social anthropologists that published a study (or book?) they collected their data in an African region that had not yet been overtaken by other world religions. They spent two weeks recording social interactions and the function of the members in the society and were just about to leave when a small group of Christian missionaries joined the camp and began to indoctrinate members of the tribe. The scientists decided to stay and record the result. - - um - - Wow. In a nutshell, some, not all, decided to buy into the Yahweh story. This created a schism in the fabric of society and for those who did not fall under or ascribe to the teaching or expectations of the Christians, severe physical economic and emotional harm and dysfunction was practised. The Scientists were able to documented how a once healthy society had quickly descended into a very unhealthy environment.

There are many more stories that come to mind but they are very long and equally dismal.

As for what can you do?

A few years back my best friend was in a job/environment that was stifling. One day he suffered a panic attack and went to a doctor to ask what was wrong with him. The doctor replied, "Your symptoms are a classic panic attack." When my friend asked what he can do, the doctor told him. "You must leave that environment. You body is telling you. You do not have a choice. The sooner the better." He quit that job and found a better position and is now doing very well.

I don't know how much latitude you have in choosing your environment/position or if you have had or are near the point of a panic attack but whatever your position, I wish for you the best possible outcome.

Your pain, Your loathing. You do not suffer it alone my friend. We who have made our place outside the "magical world" and manage to retain any empathy suffer with you. We share the same fears with you for those who cannot see what we see for all of us in their wake. We need to carry on, We are the few to carry this burden. Seek friends like you, You are surely not alone among your own to have gotten away and some of us westerners are not too vile or condescending to make fine friends. We surely need each other, We know that We are all we have.

Many in the West fail to realize that superstitious beliefs and practices, which often predate the arrival of Islam and Christianity, appear not to have diminished greatly in sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, religion seems only to have exacerbated, if not institutionalized, certain practices. A firm belief in the existence of witches sometimes leads to witch hunts ending with executions by mobs, or court-ordered incarceration, as a review of Human Rights Watch reports, or a reading of Trevor Noah’s book “Born a Crime,” attest. And yet with our faith healers, televangelists and snake handlers, we in the US have little room to criticize!

You are making two point here.

The first one is that nice people might be religious.

The second one is deeper. Religion has held your country back. It's that way with Nigeria - it's not that way with The Gambia - though they have their hangups too. First recognise that your people are not primitive - they just don't have the benefit of a decent education, and, let's face it: money..

You'll handle it.

Struggling to understand our roots and still avoid believing in nonsense is a pretty difficult proposition.

We hate to lose our heritage, yet so much of it is belief in nonsense, no matter what your heritage actually is.

I hear you. Religion works ok until people become obsessed with it