‘Johnny come lately’ on religion

Lately I have developed an addiction. Thank God it’s not drugs, alcohol or cigarettes! I wish it was more exciting but it’s not; it’s bloody FM Radio! I just can’t seem to get enough of it. I listen to radio before going to bed, first thing in the morning when I get up and all day while I drive, the radio is on volume mark 20!It will come as no surprise then that I am well versed with the latest local hits and which artist has beef with whom and why! Luckily there is always the BBC world service to provide a sense of respectability to the listener.Through all the tripe, a news item caught my attention; a Rwandan national living in Zimbabwe had been arrested and was to be kicked out of the country after trying to start a ‘Satanist’ church along with two Congolese nationals. Theoneste Bizimana, George Rene Lungange and Ngendo Brangsto apparently angered officials when they applied for a permit to start a church that promotes Satanism as a religion. They are being held in Mutare remand prison as they await deportation.This story reminded me of an encounter I had with a census enumerator in the recently concluded national census. The interview was going swimmingly until we got to the question about what religious denomination I belonged to. I stated that I was a Christian and truly believed in Jesus Christ but currently belonged to no particular denomination.At first the census lady found this funny and engaged me in a light hearted argument. This was until she discovered that I was indeed serious. Her smile quickly turned to a frown as if to emphasise that we were done with the jokes and it was time to get to the business of me revealing my true religious inclination. When I looked at the form she was filling out I immediately understood why. There was no option for non-denominational ‘Christians’.I agonised at the choices to be made. I was baptised catholic but I have since become more liberal in my faith. I attend Anglican and new age evangelical church services more frequently than I do go to catholic mass. I am the typical free lancer when it comes to religion. I was relieved to see that there was an option to choose ‘other’ instead of the conventional religions.While my experience with the census enumerator was more amusing than annoying, the incident in Zimbabwe confirmed my belief that authorities in Africa still get their hands mixed up in citizens’ personal matters such as religion. This directly contravenes the human rights charter as per the UN declaration of 1948.It’s been fifty years give or take a few years since most countries across Africa attained their political independence from our colonial masters. The shackles of polarised religion linger on regardless.The battles of the religious crusades that raged in Europe between 1095 and 1291 may be confined to history books today but sentiments across Africa suggest that it would not take much to ignite such furious face-offs. The two major religions Islam and Christianity are practised to their extremities in equal measure across the African continent.That is why extremist Islamic groups like Al-shabaab and Al-Qaeda can find solace in places such as Somalia and Sudan. Extreme Christianity too is to be found in the shape of the anti gay clergy that are the norm rather than the exception. Prominent among these are Pastor Martin Ssempa of Makerere Community Church in Uganda and the primate of all Nigeria’s Anglican Communion, the Most Rev. Peter J Akinola.Extreme religious views can only result in pain and suffering for the masses. This week the world joined theUS in commemorating eleven years of the 9/11 bombings of the twin towers of the world trade centre headquarters in New York. Over three thousand lives were lost in a space of a few hours. The whole episode was a consequence of Islamic fundamentalism.Not far from our doorstep a year before 9/11, in a place called Kanungu a similar atrocity occurred. This time the only difference is that we had Christian fundamentalism to thank.In March 2000, a group of largely naive peasants was driven to mass suicide by self styled doomsday prophet Joseph Kibwetere and his partner in crime Credonia Mwerinde. Over two thousand people perished in the name of religion that fateful day.What was their crime? That unquestioning belief and faith in the misguided teachings of a man whose motives will forever be hidden from humanity!All evidence vanished in the fire that engulfed the Kibwetere compound in Kanungu on March 17, 2000.For all the piety purported by believers in different religions, an ounce of ‘Ubuntu’ would suffice. Ubuntu, a word common across several Bantu languages evokes the essence of being human. The simple understanding that “I am because you are”; that our fate is intertwined should guarantee mutual respect.The religious jousting that exists between different faiths in a bid to declare superiority over others is nonsense. It has been said before that ‘Only a fool does the same thing over and over expecting different results’.Perhaps it’s time for religion to learn from big business. Large corporations have long realised that the way forward is consolidating the market and forming alliances that allow for a better reach to the target market. Religion too can revisit Ecumenism and better still, the interfaith movement. While ecumenism focuses on Christianity tracing its roots of being one church, the interfaith movement encompasses all religions and strives for mutual respect, tolerance and co-operation without necessarily uniting as one.As dark as the tunnel may seem today, we have to seek the light of mutual understanding!

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‘Johnny come lately’ on religion