It is clear from our history that we
have always had different views on politics and creed. When political power has
been used to suppress religious freedoms, it has turned out to be a bitter
phlegm for us. We wish to forget Mwanga’s killings of the martyrs at Namugongo.
When Idi Amin took over power in 1971, the decade that followed witnessed religious
persecution of epic proportions. Janan Luwum’s coldblooded murder is a relic of
the religious witch-hunt in our country.
To restore liberty of religious
expression and burry the evils of Mwanga and Amin, Ugandans entrenched in Article 7 of the Constitution that
Uganda shall not adopt a state religion. This means, that such a position can
only be reversed by a referendum and not just majority votes by Members of
Parliament or another branch of government. The Constitution provides a haven
for incubation and debate of religious ideas, recognition of African
Traditional practices in the main stream, a sprinkling of atheists; some visits
from the papacy, different shades of Protestantism and Islam. Our small country
is a melting pot of many tribes, clans, cultures and beliefs. Tolerance and
acceptance of diversity is the only way to make this shrubbery work out.
However, we have returned to that
place where our leaders are using political power to revert this country to
Amin days in terms of religious persecution. Are we comfortable turning Uganda
into another Syria or Afghanistan on religious grounds? If we choose selective
amnesia of our history, we can at least channel surf on the television and
learn from the mistakes being made in our day.
Where persecution from Rome may have
united the disciples, an unholy alliance never helps the Great Commission.
Rather than get more lost sheep through the narrow gates of the sweet by and
by, Uganda’s clerics have been caught up in a fight for influence over disillusioned
followers. Rather than put faith in the maker, they have become extensions of
political ideology and their hope is in patronage by government.
It is said that some clerics have even
given up preaching of the gospel and are running typical NGOs, social
gatherings and business empires. They now find issue with almost everything Jesus
did: from healing the sick to prophesying and rebuking the tax collectors. Preaching “good news to the poor” is now
labelled prosperity gospel and
ostracized. What Jesus and his disciples did is now considered demonic and is
being guillotined at the altar of science and secular humanism; even on
pulpits!
These clerics are so in sync with
social indulgence that they rush
through the program so that people do not miss the beach bash or a Sunday pint.
What is left of the soul cleansing abandon sessions is a prompt catchup laced
with a few verses from the Holy Book, some motivational pep talk and anecdotes;
and nicely produced Karaoke segments. Occasionally, there will be some bible
labeled dramas and concerts. Apart from the lyric, all frenzy and after
partying is like the run of the mill proggie.
Churches are now painting zebra crossings and growing trees; a mission no
different from the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of secular companies.
Is that the father’s business which Jesus was always about?
Some religious leaders have been so
inebriated with State endorsement that they are mini-governments running
schools, universities, real estate empires and banking institutions. This
should not be a problem until they start getting cast in the Wolf of Wall Street in a class
Machiavellian act. Some clerics have
become so political that rather than being bearers of light, they are pawns for
cunning devices to political ends. The lines of their calling and sellout have
been blurred beyond recognition. As it appears, some overzealous religious
leaders are willing to stare into the abyss beyond conventional morality to
upstage those they consider competition.
The irony is that despite the unholy
alliance between State and Clerics, a wave of genuine seekers has continued to
flock gatherings led by men whom the religious cartel did not ordain or
anticipate. Genuine seekers in their hearts know what they want and no
amount of regulation or stifling can change that. This reality is making most
of the old guard irrelevant and insecure. They have therefore embarked on an
aggressive attack on fellow believers using state machinery in finance,
taxation and regulation. KCCA which is apparently led by a strong Christian was
the first to ban street preachers. If Jesus preached on our streets, he would
be behind bars by now at the hands of our religious leaders. How cliché!
Unknown to most Ugandans, laws and
policies are being scribbled by a select few, exclusive meetings are being held
at odd hours every so often to fine tune the assault. This has been going on for
a while and despite the detour into age limit debate and other trivia, some
clerics have made it their life mission to persecute other believers and will
not rest until they do so. Before long, hotels will be told to reject some religious
gatherings or lose their licenses, churches will be told how to use their collections,
to appoint and fire their leaders at the pleasure of clerics who do not even
care about their beliefs.
Rather than preach what they believe, the unconventional believers will be
required to recite manuals of dead theology and politically correct agendas
crafted by the unholy alliance of the religious cartel and government.
These clerics have declared themselves
conventional and therefore everybody else outside their social club is
unconventional. They try to massage the public image with anecdotes of
religious excesses such as Kibwetere
and holy rice but conveniently ignore
holy water from Namugongo, sale of rosaries, endless construction projects and
compulsory contributions to their organizations. We already have enough Penal Laws and ethical codes to curb
excesses and another layer of regulation is the last thing we need.
Foundational canons of our system are the
presumption of innocence and fair hearing but it is convenient for these leaders
to prosecute and convict citizens in the courts of public opinion to frame a
regime that suits their ambitions.
It is public knowledge that some of
the biggest patrons of conventional religious organizations oscillate between
churches/ mosques and shrines where child sacrifice is performed. Yet these are
the people sitting on a religious high horse and telling people how to pray.
To achieve the double purpose of
testing the waters and chipping the crusts off religious freedoms, a few
measures have been piloted in media and policy. Some of these have been in
banning of broadcast material, denying licenses and clearance to gather and
stereotyping different gatherings in pigeon holes of acceptable and
unacceptable based on flamboyance, average age of gathers, style of preaching and
emphasis.
Religious freedom in Uganda suffers an
existential threat and by the time these clerics are done, one will not be able
to say, “Jesus is Lord” or pay tithe without express permission from this
religious cartel. It should be suspect to all of us that despite century old
doctrinal differences amongst the Muslims, orthodox, Anglicans, Roman Catholics
and Traditionalists; we see them captioned on a round table agreeing on
religious issues. If these clerics have wormed their way into the reigns of state
machinery, we should anticipate a Crusade / Jihad that will make even Idi Amin
rotate in his grave. Maybe we have not always paid attention to the creeping
erosion of our rights, but the tide is rising and it is rising fast.
The Writer is a Lawyer and Author.
Published by http://nilepost.co.ug/2018/04/24/how-top-ugandan-clerics-exhume-ghosts-of-religious-intolerance/
