Growing up, I have three distinct memories of Christian clergy- one is of Bishop Tutu winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his work against apartheid. Another of President Moi, then dictator of Kenya, being prayed over by richly robed clergy in a magnificent Nairobi church, and the last of clergymen like Reverend Njoya speaking out against Moi's excesses.
The church then played two roles - one in support of an oppressive status quo, but the other in support of those trying to subvert that status quo. At a time when repression had silenced mass movements, as well as intellectuals and leaders calling for change, clergy could still speak out from the relative safety of their pulpits.
The people were too oppressed in their poverty, political persecution too acute, and the betrayal of the struggle for independence too heavy for preaching about heaven not to seem like a contradiction, when hell seemed to be living on earth. Evil was not abstract, it was breathing down the necks of the people. The churches supporting subversion of the status quo in South Africa and Kenya were not a political party -nor were the clergy revolutionary Marxists disguised in Christian robes. But many clergy marched, they prayed over the fallen in funerals, they risked their lives, and sometimes their lives were taken. They took courage knowing that the people were behind them, listening, and they took faith in a God they knew would not punish them for searching for justice.
The fiery Che Guevara once said that love is the basis of revolution. The clergy that stood against apartheid and dictatorships, or gave refuge to the hunted during the genocide in Rwanda, might not have agreed with Che's methods, but they were certainly being moved by a deep love for a collective humanity.
Addressing Church leaders in Apartheid South Africa, Steve Biko once wrote that, "Christianity can never hope to remain abstract and removed from the people's environmental problems. In order to be applicable to the people, it must have meaning for them. If they are an oppressed people, it must have something to say about their oppression."
But today, without the evil incarnates of apartheid and the neocolonial dictatorships of the 1990's, oppression is no longer so easily definable. We are living in confusing times. Opposition parties have been bought off. Intellectuals are unable to help us digest what the betrayal of our second independence demands of us. Political activists engaged, sometimes by necessity, in bread and butter issues such as housing cannot attend to the national and international dimensions of our struggles.
In globalized Africa, we have cell phones but no electricity or clean drinking water, we have computers but they are locked away in the cities and internet cafes, we are part of a global economy but with withering local economies, we have the vote, but we don't have the right politicians, more wealth is being generated but dire poverty increasing. Quality of life is on the rise, but life expectancy is falling. Weigh Museveni against Amin, or Zenawi against Mengitsu and there is progress - somewhat. Things are getting better and at the same time they are getting worse. We wake up each morning to find both statements to be true.
Yet for such a complicated world, the truth of our existence is simple - to be with and if need be to take care of those that we love, to nurture our children for the next generation and the demands that come with that, to be happy, and, only when need arises, to suffer in dignity. To meet our basic needs, whether physical, psychological or emotional, does not require that we first deprive them of a fellow human being. To give your child an education and a home does not mean that someone else's child has to be homeless and illiterate.
Yet many churches have lost sight of these simple truths and forsaken the love for a common humanity. Unlike against apartheid and dictatorships, the churches have fallen into a political apathy. They have forsaken the duty to take a higher moral and political ground in order to give people a new vision.
Take the African Anglican church for example. Its biggest fight today is against the ordination of gay clergy and sanctification of gay marriages, which in turn has led to a schism between it and its western counterparts. There are the obvious points here - that this makes African gay Christians even more vulnerable to violent homophobic attacks; and that the church's role should be to extend freedoms not curtail them - after all there was a time when interracial marriages were illegal and black folk could not worship in the same churches as whites.
Instead of promoting social discrimination at home, shouldn't the African Anglican church be critical of its Western counterpart for failing to take a public stand against illegal wars, or the continuing criminalization of young black men in the US, or the xenophobia prevalent in immigration issues throughout the Western world?
Bishop Tutu in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech said in part "Unless we work assiduously so that [we all] enjoy basic human rights, the right to a fulfilled life, the right of movement, of work, the freedom to be fully human, with a humanity measured by nothing less than the humanity of Jesus Christ Himself, then we are on the road inexorably to self-destruction..." That was in 1984, yet the task could not be more urgent.
The clergy by the faith vested in them by people, have a moral duty to chart a new liberation that speaks to and for Africans.
Mukoma Wa Ngugi is the author of Nairobi Heat (Penguin, SA 2009), Hurling Words at Consciousness (AWP, 2006) and a columnist for the BBC Focus on Africa Magazine where this essay first appeared.
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Unless the people doesn't leave in peace and harmony enjoying the basic human rights they are having, there is no real meaning to be country independent.
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In globalized Africa, we have cell phones but no electricity or clean drinking water, we have computers but they are locked away in the cities and internet cafes, we are part of a global economy but with withering local economies, we have the vote, but we don't have the right politicians, more wealth is being generated but dire poverty increasing. Quality of life is on the rise, but life expectancy is falling.
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African Church can greatly help people overcome their problems. The main thing is that there was no policy. Martin from mahjong club.
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ndependent African churches were among the first to challenge this Europeanized Christianity.
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Thank you for your article. Our black brothers and sister find unity and the best place to unite is in our church, free from problems of the world. we must find ways to contribute to the world. In the end, everything will balance out.
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Where is the African Church? Mukoma Wa Ngugi writing in Zeleza: The fiery Che Guevara once said that love is the basis of revolution. ...Naruto Shippuden
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the african church then played two roles - one in support of an oppressive status and other in support of those trying to subvert that status quo.
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The clergy that stood against apartheid and dictatorships, or gave refuge to the hunted during the genocide in Rwanda, might not have agreed with Che's methods, but they were certainly being moved by a deep love for a collective humanity
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The African church is comparatively new if compared with the European church, Christianity was delivered lately to Africa.
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We are living in confusing
We are living in confusing times. Opposition parties have been bought off. Intellectuals are unable to help us digest what the betrayal of our second independence demands of us. Political activists engaged, sometimes by necessity, in bread and butter issues such as housing cannot attend to the national and international dimensions of our struggles.
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Zeleza was born in
Zeleza was born in Salisbury, Rhodesia, now Harare, Zimbabwe, in May 1955, of Malawian parents. His parents returned to Malawi in 1956 before returning to Zimbabwe in 1972. Zeleza attended primary school (1961–1968) and secondary school (1968–1972) in the cities of Lilongwe and Blantyre in Malawi. He attended college at the University of Malawi (1972–1976) where he received his BA with Distinction, majoring in History and English.
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The clergy that stood
The clergy that stood against apartheid and dictatorships, or gave refuge to the hunted during the genocide in Rwanda, might not have agreed with Che's methods, but they were certainly being moved by a deep love for a collective humanity.
Why did desmon tutu get a
Why did desmon tutu get a nobel peace prize? Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela both won Nobel Peace Prizes because of their opposition to? Why did desmond Tutu win the Nobel Price?
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Its biggest fight today is
Its biggest fight today is against the ordination of gay clergy and sanctification of gay marriages, which in turn has led to a schism between it and its western counterparts. There are the obvious points here - that this makes African gay Christians even more vulnerable to violent homophobic attacks; and that the church's role should be to extend freedoms not curtail them
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The african church then plays two roles one in support of an oppressive status quo and the other in support of those trying to subvert that status quo.
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Take the African Anglican church for example. Its biggest fight today is against the ordination of gay clergy and sanctification of gay marriages, which in turn has led to a schism between it and its western counterparts. There are the obvious points here - that this makes African gay Christians even more vulnerable to violent homophobic car transport quote attacks; and that the church's role should be to extend freedoms not curtail them - after all there was a time when interracial marriages were illegal and black folk could not worship in the same churches as whites.
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Thank you for your article. I believe it is time that our black brothers and sister find unity in order to create a better world for our children and grandchildren. With increased liberties comes responsibility. Instead of focusing on matters of oppression and inequalities, we must find ways to contribute to the world. In the end, everything will balance out.
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Thank you for your article. I believe it is time that our black brothers and sister find unity in order to create a better world for our children and grandchildren. With increased liberties comes responsibility. Instead of focusing on matters of oppression and inequalities, we must find ways to contribute to the world. In the end, everything will balance out.
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Church is one of the factors that help the people gain faith and be away from cruelty. People depend to them for hope and belief that someday they'll get out of this oppression.
If you question where is the church in Africa, I also wonder if there must be still church what are they doing to help the African people? Are they even concern of their life status? or they merely trying to be separated from politics? Only them can answer.
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Take the individual Protestant faith for example. Its large fisticuffs today is against the designation of merry clergy and sanctification of merry marriages, which in invoke has led to a division between it and its Hesperian counterparts. There are the manifest points here - that this makes individual merry Christians modify more undefendable to ferocious homophobic attacks; and that the church's persona should be to modify freedoms not circumscribe them - after every there was a instance when integrated marriages were banned and black sept could not love in the aforementioned churches as whites. Instead of promoting ethnic favouritism at home, shouldn't the individual Protestant faith be grave of its Western duplication for imperfectness to verify a open defence against banned wars, or the continuing lawmaking of teen black men in the US, or the xenophobia current in migration issues throughout the Western world? Bishop hierarch in his philanthropist Peace Prize espousal style said in conception "Unless we impact assiduously so that [we all] savor base manlike rights, the correct to a fulfilled life, the correct of movement, of work, the immunity to be full human, with a humans rhythmic by null inferior than the humans of Savior Christ Himself, then we are on the agency inexorably to self-destruction..." That was in 1984, still the duty could not be more urgent.
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Where is the African Church? By Mukoma Wa Ngugi
Where is the African Church? By Mukoma Wa Ngugi
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At a time when repression
At a time when repression had silenced mass movements, as well as intellectuals and leaders calling for change, clergy could still speak out from the relative safety of their pulpits. hives