Religion Over Competence? Maybe This Is Our Problem As A People

I listened as the announcer on Radio reeled out the qualifications needed for a job vacancy he was announcing. The vacancy was for an Admin Officer/Personal Assistant.

He stated "you must be Born again, God fearing, Have a BSc in Business Administration, at least 2 years of work experience..." as he went on I almost laughed out loud, I wanted to believe it was a joke. 

Born again and God fearing as qualifications for a job?
How would you measure how much 'fear of God' a person has?
Can anyone not claim to be Born again and God fearing?
How will these qualities affect their ability to work effectively?
What happened to competence and integrity?
How about past records etal?

You may say it is up to a person to decide what he wants for his organization but I think using these criteria as a yardstick for qualification may make their search an exercise in futility as they may lose competent candidates who may not apply because they are not 'Born again and God fearing' - that is if they choose to be honest.

They may also attract people who out of desperation would claim to be 'Born again and God fearing' even if they are not, just to get the job.

Again, how can you tell that a person is God fearing from a CV or job interview?

How can you even measure 'fear of God'?

It is the thing they say about Nigerians, we are a religious bunch.

We are so religious that we would trump religion over competence and character.
This has in no small way contributed to the predicament we find ourselves in and maybe our problem as a people.

We play the religion card with who we choose to vote to lead, who we buy from and do business with, who we employ for a secular job and even who we deem as beffiting of our help in time of need.

In fact I know of people who go to particular churches because the CEO or manager of an organization they want to work in worships there.
For them it is not about fellowship but about association as they believe attending the church may get them the job.

I also know of people who go to church solely for business connections. So worshipping there makes them the first to be considered for contracts the church wants to execute and vacancies that may be available within the church's business arms or that of members.

They are like the proverbial Okoro that would go to the mountain if the mountain wouldn't come to him and going to church for them is a matter of survival. As science has taught us, in the battle of survival only the fittest survive.

I am a Christian and would gladly tell anyone about Jesus and his saving love but I also know that following Jesus is a matter of faith and has nothing to do with a person's professional competence and capabilities.

I also know that there are people who are not religious but their character and commitment to work would leave you in awe.

I believe it is important to surround yourself with people with similar beliefs and values as you but I think that with work especially when it is not within a religious organization, we should prize integrity, competence, character and a willingness to learn over religion.

These are my thoughts. What do you think?