Skip to main content

CRIMINALITY AND THE SO-CALLED MONEY GOSPEL



It is interesting to hear reports that not only is  a religious leader paying people to act sick and then claiming to have supernatural powers to heal but sadly visits the streets in the darkness of the night to solicit for sex and recruit ‘award winning thespians’  - twilight girls - for their grand acts.

Anybody who would be shocked or perturbed at this expose is like the proverbial ostrich sticking its head in the sand, and by virtue of the many demands expected of these mere mortals, forcing them to extremes to provide brilliant weekend entertainment away from the hustle and bustle of the week.

Indeed, each Sunday, the faithful that flock churches in all corners of the republic hope to see their money’s worth in terms of; cures for more complicated illnesses, testimonies of enrichment of members of the flock, intriguing stories of successes in secular lives as a result of spiritual interventions etc.

Therefore as you toil away during the week to amass enough for both yourself and tithe, the men of the cloth (if they are still viewed that way) hit the streets in search of persons that will pull off a spectacle – grander than the previous one effectively satisfying our insatiable desire for grander miracles – a return on investment. I wouldn’t be surprised if the faithful got enraged if they went to their places of worship on two consecutive Sundays and failed to experience a “miracle.” In fact, due to the morbid fear we all have for matters religion, they will get bored and silently stop their attendance and probably shop for a new place to get their weekend fodder.

It is not a surprise to hear that churches in the city of Nairobi are managed in mafia-like structures. Tales of killings as a result of crossing the line of a powerful church leader, reported assaults – both sexual and physical- by bodyguards and the leaders themselves are reported at police stations regularly. Gun trotting body guards man entrances to churches of popular televangelists and are never shy – in a very unchristian manner – to wield them in order to protect the celebrity church leader against unruly and uncouth church faithful.

And doesn’t it just leave us in awe when our pastor becomes so important and so much in demand, that he has to get body guards to protect him from ‘satanic unbelievers’? Don’t we always thank the Almighty for blessing our pastor abundantly?

Would I be shocked if it was discovered that the recent attacks on churches by thieves have the blessings of the men and women we trust as our pastors and church leaders who realize that lately this stubborn faithful is just not giving enough to the church – to oil the palms of the man of God? Unfortunately I would not.

Hence begs the questions, where did the rain start beating? When did we get so obsessed with church entertainment completely watering down the need for spiritual quenching and feeding in this evil, depressing and stressful world? When did we make gods out of our church leaders thereby not subjecting them to vetting and holding them accountable as we do in our daily course of affairs whenever we invite strangers into our lives?    

It is a high time we re-examined ourselves and stopped cheating ourselves that these persons are beyond reproach.

The Kenyan law is very clear on soliciting for sex, fraud, extortion under false pretences, assault. The exposed televangelist can and should be arrested, charged and prosecuted for one if not all these charges and none of his faithful should hit the street protesting that the church is being targeted by the faithless or blindly claiming that the person – “a true man of God” is undergoing trials and persecution as did Jesus and his disciples.

The Constitution is very clear on the rights and fundamental freedoms to be enjoyed by all within our borders. Freedom of religion, as well as the freedom to exercise ones religion is certainly an important one for our free and democratic society. However, the law is very clear on the need to ensure that such is done in a responsible way without being abused or propagating an illegality.

The same way Kenyans have become vigilant in ensuring that the Constitution is respected, the same way we as citizens are urged to be vigilant and ensure that the law is respected – a duty we zealously perform - sometimes illegally, to the point of lynching alleged criminals, is the same way we ought to ensure that these men of cloth too respect the law.

 Only through these ways can religion go back to the respectable level we so desperately need it to be.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Madaraka Day @49 – What Exactly Does Attaining Self Rule Mean?

Courtesy of The Daily Nation The Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (adopted 14 th December, 1960) says the following about the importance of Independence; “ The General Assembly, Mindful of the determination proclaimed by the peoples of the world in the Charter of the United Nations to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, Convinced that all peoples have an inalienable right to complete freedom, the exercise of their sovereignty and the integrity of their national territory… .” The Preamble to the Constitution of Kenya 2010 says; “ We the people of Kenya – Honouring those who heroically struggled to bring freedom and justice to our land: Exercising our sovereign and inalienable right to determine the form of governance ...
Post a Comment
Read more

LATEST COURT OF APPEAL APPOINTMENTS - Kudos JSC!!

Once again the JSC is 'on-point' in its latest appointment of 7 new judges of the Court of Appeal. The ration of appointments is clearly in favour of the women i.e. 5 out of the 7 are women. This follows the earlier appointment of 28 new judges of the High Court 13 of whom were women. Indeed, the Court of Appeal has been largely identified with a perpetual delay in the administration with many calling upon it to work at changing its public image. Indeed, the Justice William Ouko led Task force report not only only found that there were vacancies at the court of appeal (11 instead of the then 14 allowed) but even out of the 11 judges, there was no woman judge at the Court of Appeal. The Constitution of Kenya, as a result of a reflection on some of these grave inequities and disparities is very clear on the issue of gender representation at all levels of and in all arms of government. Whether a woman judge matters can be seen from some reflections in this rather short, simple...
Post a Comment
Read more

THE “HOUSE OF TERROR” – Reflections….

The "House of Terror" - Budapest, 1062 Andrassy ut 60 So today I finally got to visit the ‘House of Terror’ one of those places you certainly ought to visit if you ever pass by Budapest, Hungary! It is described as a museum that commemorates the victims of terror as well as a reminder of the dreadful acts of terror carried out by ‘victimizers’. The building, and the museum inside are a vivid, impressive recreation of different periods of Hungarian history that the country has tried to move on from albeit painfully. The Different sections of the Museum that begins with a hallway full of victims, then instruments of torture, actual cells, gallows and a morgue, witness accounts displayed on screens and pictures that tell a thousand words all bear testimony to the atrocities witnessed and meted. The building housed the Hungarian Nazis in the early 1940’s and later a residence of the AVO and subsequently the AVH who are known to have participated in the worst forms of crimes agai...
3 comments
Read more