Are we a nation under God? I beg to differ

I hope you, the esteemed readers of the Sunday Times, are enjoying the last day of this weekend. This is the day I choose to laze about and mentally prepare for the long slog that is working week. I absolutely love Sunday’s except for one thing. I’m an avid fan of the national television channel, Rwanda Television (RTV) but I have one major gripe about some of the programs they broadcast on Sunday. Why in the world do they make us listen to never-ending choirs? The musical Chinese torture often has me crawling up the proverbial wall and the worst thing is that I can’t simply change the channel because, guess what, there isn’t any other. While I could simply turn off the television and take a walk outside, the good people of Orinfor shouldn’t force me to make that choice. I have as much right to enjoy the wares that RTV hawks as the bishop of Kigali. The fact of the matter is that Rwanda is a secular nation. There isn’t a mention of ‘God’ in our Constitution and I’m extremely proud of that. Before the overthrow of the genocidaire government in 1994, Rwandans of any faith barring Christianity were treated like second class citizens. They weren’t able to enter the schools they qualified for, public sector employment was almost impossible, their religious days (like Idd) was barely acknowledged and a Muslim in a leadership position was an oxymoron. Under today’s leadership this has all changed. Muslims enjoy all the perks of Rwandan citizenship and I can enjoy the perks of having Muslim friends; no one makes pilao rice as well as Hajat does whenever her family is breaking the Ramadan fast (and I’m a regular guest at their beautiful home). But everything isn’t hunky-dory quite as yet. I feel as if there is still a certain attitude still prevalent here. People that still consider Christianity a national ‘religion’ and the airing of religious programs every Sunday is evidence of this. Let me reiterate the fact that, though I’m an agnostic, I’m not attacking anyone’s Christian faith. To do so would be an attack on my own family, a family that takes it evangelical Christianity quite seriously. Although I’m sure that they regard me, jokingly of course, as the ‘black sheep’ they have the good judgment to accept me the way the aim. So, don’t take this column in the wrong way. I respect people of faith. However I also have a deep respect of constitutionalism and barring that sense of fairness. It is my opinion that public institutions such as Orinfor, which are funded by the tax payer, have the duty to provide services that can be enjoy by the entire spectrum of Rwandans. I feel that the choir music every Sunday doesn’t do this. These overtly Christian choir groups force viewers to take in a message that they may not wish to be exposed to. This is unfair and, in my opinion, actually illegal. My honest opinion is this. The directors of programming in Orinfor have to start broadcasting Islamic messages every Friday, not forgetting Seventh Day Adventist messages on Saturday as well. And while we are at it, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Baha’i messages must be broadcast as well. If we did this, there would be barely a day that we wouldn’t have some kind of religious program on television, this would not be tenable. Here is my simple solution. Stop broadcasting religious programs. Simple. There is a lot of educational programming that RTV can air instead of making us suffer through the ubiquitous ‘hosannas’. Give us more local programs; think about funding a local soap opera instead of making us watch Korean ones. Give us more sport. Give us more local news (and I’m not talking about conferences, workshops or events of similar ilk). We are a secular nation. Orinfor should acknowledge that and not wait to change after a court order. In a more litigious nation, the Supreme Court would have been called to decide on the constitutionality of force feeding us “halleluiah” and “praise God’s” every Sunday. And trust me, it would rule in my favor; don’t make me angry enough to actually seize the Court. Tone the religious stuff done. sunnyntayombya@newtimes.co.rw