By Henry Kyambalesa
Introduction
Recently, a Mr. Patrick Mungo, an aspiring Member of Parliament for Munali constituency, advised the Zambian government to enact a law that would restrain the construction of Mosques and the growth of Islam in the country because, according to him, “Zambia is a Christian Nation … guided and governed by the Ten Commandments.”
Mr. Mungo is certainly not alone in his interpretation of the Declaration of Zambia as a Christian Nation by Dr. Frederick Chiluba at State House on 29th December 1991, which was later incorporated into the Preamble of the 1996 Republican constitution.
And he is neither the first nor the last Zambian to interpret the Declaration in this manner. Prof. Venkatesh Seshamani has, for example, described what happened soon after Dr. Chiluba made the Declaration in the following words:
One can recollect the attempt to ban Islamic programs from television and radio soon after Chiluba made the Declaration. Besides, one cannot forget the Livingstone episode in which the Hindu Temple and the Islamic Mosque were destroyed.
Well, this partly explains why I have previously expressed my opposition to the inclusion of the Declaration of Zambia as a Christian Nation in the Republican constitution.
In this article, I again wish to share my views on the subject of religion, politics and the State.
The Constitution Should Be Neutral
It is important for national leaders to guard against the imposition of any particular religion on the entire society. The Republican constitution particularly should be a neutral document that should not discriminate against atheists, agnostics or pagans, or those who believe in Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Shintoism, Jainism, or the Baha’i faith.
In the long run, the Declaration is likely to make non-Christian citizens to feel that they are second-class citizens. And, as Prof. Venkatesh Seshamani has argued, a feeling of religious superiority is likely to develop among Christians by virtue of their religion having been accorded constitutional status, which may lead to bigotry that would prompt them to view non-Christians as lost souls.
[pullquote]By the way, there are more Mosques and Muslims in Israel than there will probably ever be in Zambia over the next 100 years![/pullquote]
Clearly, the Declaration was made without consideration of the dangers of dragging religion into the political arena. Religion is deadly if it is not handled with utmost caution. The precarious problem currently facing Algeria, Nigeria, the Sudan, Afghanistan, and a host of other countries around the world which are beleaguered by religious conflicts should serve as a clear warning to each and every peace-loving Zambian to refrain from creating a similar situation that will dog our beloved country in perpetuity.
We should not be blinded by our having experienced no serious religious conflicts so far, but as our country’s population and the membership of each religious denomination swells, we would be shortsighted not to anticipate and make an earnest effort to forestall the incidence of such conflicts. In other words, we need to act proactively.
To wait until the consequences of our failure to reason are upon us is to leave serious religion-based problems for future generations to grapple with. And such failure will eventually prove to us that experience, in relation to this issue, teaches fools, since we have thus far not been able to see beyond our noses.
The Holy Land Is Not a Christian Nation!
There is no country in the world today that can claim to be a Christian nation in its national constitution other than the State of Israel. But, unfortunately, the Holy Land (God’s chosen country, according to the Holy Bible) DOES NOT even have an official religion! And only 3% of Israelis are designated as being Christian, while 3% are designated as being Druze, 18% as being Muslim, and 76% are designated as belonging to Judaism (which is based on the books of the Old Testament and does not recognize Jesus as Savior).
By the way, there are more Mosques and Muslims in Israel than there will probably ever be in Zambia over the next 100 years! And, needless to say, modern-day Jews (whose religion is Judaism rather than Christianity) are the descendants of the family of our Lord, Jesus Christ!
Zambia Should Be a “Secular State”!
What Zambia needs, therefore, is a secular state that genuinely recognizes and safeguards each and every individual’s freedom of worship and the freedom to choose one’s religion. At the same time, we should actively DISCOURAGE the following in a deliberate effort to forestall the potential disruption of public order and socio-economic activities by cliques of fanatics from any of our country’s religious denominations:
(a) The use of public funds by a local or national government to set up a church or mosque, and/or to provide any form of support to any given religious group, institution or activity;
(b) Official participation by government leaders in the affairs of any given religious group or institution, or official participation by any given religious leader or group in political or governmental affairs;
(c) The use of a religious platform by any individual or group of individuals to form a political party;
(d) The use of a religious platform by any individual to seek a leadership position in any of the three branches of government – that is, the legislature, the judiciary and the executive;
(e) Inclusion of denominational religious subjects in the curricula of schools funded by the government;
(f) Subjection of candidates for election or appointment to public office to a religious test expressly or otherwise requiring them to declare their religious affiliations;
(g) Desecration of any religious symbols or objects by any member or members of Zambian society;
(h) Religious sermons or statements by any individual or group of individuals belonging to any given religious grouping or denomination which are contemptuous to, or are designed to slight, other religious groupings or denominations; and
(i) Conducting of religious sermons or ceremonies involving ten or more people in non-religious public arenas without a police permit, or conducting such activities on public modes of transportation that are not chartered by groups involved.
With these kinds of safeguards, a government does not need to place any restrictions on the construction of Churches, Mosques, Synagogues, or any other houses of worship, or have restraints on the expansion of any religious denomination.
If we fail to enact pieces of legislation designed to protect government institutions and the political arena from the influences of religion, we could actually be sowing the seeds of deadly religion-based conflicts.
Prevention Is Better than Cure
There is a need for Zambia to consider all religious groupings as being equal before the law in the same manner as individual citizens who are members of such groupings are considered. In countries where government leaders have not provided for safeguards against the captivating influences of religion in governance and politics mainly due to lack of foresight, violent clashes among religious groups in their quest to dominate the political sphere, and to impose their religious laws on the citizenry, have become exceedingly difficult to contain.
As an age-old maxim advises us, prevention is better than cure; and a law that treats all religious denominations equally and impartially would be a good start in this regard, even if there are currently more Zambians who profess to be Christians. The religious chauvinism, extremism and fundamentalism portrayed by the Declaration of Zambia as a Christian Nation is a recipe for bloody religion-based conflict in the long run.
There is a need for us to craft a Republican constitution that will enable us to create a socio-economic environment in which religious diversity is appreciated, tolerated and celebrated – a constitution that, to reiterate, considers all religious denominations as being equal before the law, and, therefore, does not seem to favor any particular religious denomination.
In all, the Declaration of Zambia as a Christian Nation is hateful, and it is offensive to non-Christians. It is divisive, and it will eventually be exploited by extremists in our midst to fan tension and skirmishes among our people. And it will, no doubt, become an important tool for recruiting non-Christians by non-Christian extremists in their worldwide diabolical schemes.
We need to take a fresh look at the Declaration through the eyes of non-Christians. In other words, we need to put ourselves in their shoes in order to understand their potential fears, feelings and reaction to the Declaration.
And we need to be aware that non-Christians are keenly watching us from the sidelines, but sooner or later, they will rise and demand to be recognized as bona fide citizens and worshippers who need to be treated as equals in their country’s constitution.
By the way, we are all God’s children regardless of the different ways through which we worship Him, or the different reasons we give for not worshipping Him. And on judgment day, we shall all be judged as individuals and not as citizens of any particular country, such as Zambia or Israel, Nigeria or China, the United States or Cuba, and so forth.
Separation of Religion and the State
Freedom of worship, as well as the choice of one’s religion, is one of the basic individual rights which every government leader in Zambia needs to formally recognize and safeguard. However, there is an apparent need for our beloved country to introduce laws designed to keep religion out of political and public affairs, laws which should ban religious activities and programs which have the potential to indoctrinate credulous members of society.
Obviously, this does not imply that religious denominations in Zambia should not freely advocate their values, beliefs, and causes as interest groups. In a truly democratic society, any and all societal groups should have a right to seek to be heard in governmental decision-making, and to articulate their demands on the government and society’s other groups and institutions.
The rationale for pieces of legislation designed to keep religion out of politics, education, and other public spheres of society that wholly or partly fall under the auspices of the government is to forestall the potential disruption of public order and socio-economic activities by cliques of fanatics from any of our beloved country’s religious denominations.
Such legislation is particularly critical for our country, where efforts by the government to break the bondage of the majority of citizens to misery, want, and destitution is likely to be thwarted partly by violent clashes among religious sects.
We could, therefore, do well to pick a leaf from a 1947 United States Supreme Court dicta, which expanded the scope of the First Amendment clause pertaining to “The Establishment of Religion” to include the doctrine of “Separation of Church and State.” According to the dictates of the doctrine, a local or the Federal government cannot do any of the following, which are cited in a book by J. M. Burns and J. W. Peltason:
(a) Set up a church, pass laws that aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another;
(b) Force or influence a person to go or not to go to church, or force him or her to profess a belief or a disbelief in any religion;
(c) Levy taxes to support any religious activities or institutions, whatever form they may adopt to teach or practice religion; or
(d) Openly or secretly participate in the affairs of any religious organizations or groups and vice versa.
And, to reiterate, we need to consider prohibiting the formation of religious-based political parties. Also, we need to prohibit religious groups from making contemptuous remarks about the beliefs and/or practices of other religious denominations. If not prevented, there is no doubt that altercations among our country’s religious groups concerning the truthfulness of their different faiths will eventually trigger very serious conflicts in the country.
In all, I am confident that religious institutions in Zambia will continue to provide the moral and spiritual direction to our nation in an era that has been high-jacked by unprecedented violence and moral decay, and to articulate the people’s demands on the government for a more democratic, more peaceful, more prosperous, and more egalitarian society.
What Really Is a “Secular State”?
In the ensuing paragraphs, I wish to discuss briefly the nature of a “secular state,” much of which I have excerpted and adapted from Wikipedia.
Essentially, a “secular state” is a nation-state or a country that purports to be officially neutral in matters of religion, supporting neither religion nor irreligion. It also claims to treat all its citizens equally regardless of the nature of their religious beliefs, and it does not have an official religion.
In other words, the term “secular state” refers to a nation-state or a country that honors individuals’ freedom of worship, prevents religion from interfering with governmental decision-making, and excludes it from the realms of governance and/or the exercise of political power.
And laws in such a nation-state protect each and every individual (including religious minorities) from discrimination on the basis of one’s religious affiliation.
Basically, a “secular state” is not an atheistic nation-state that officially denies the existence of God. In some “secular states” (such as Thailand and Turkey), there can be a dominant religion, while in others (such as India and Lebanon), there can be great religious diversity.
Some “secular states” may even have de facto official religions (such as Indonesia and Peru), where some government officials have to belong to certain religious denominations even though the country and its government does not officially support any religious denomination.
Views on the Subject from Other Authors
A lot of people have written about the Declaration of Zambia as a Christian Nation, either in support or against the Declaration. For the purposes of this discussion, however, I have provided the following statements from two authors which are against the Declaration:
1) Paraphrased from Fr. Peter Henriot:
“Being a Christian in a Christian Nation,” Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection: http://www.jctr.org.zm/, December 2, 1998:
Theologically, what does it mean to say that a political entity such as a nation is declared to be Christian? Certainly, you cannot baptize a nation. And we cannot expect the profession of the Apostle’s Creed to be made by a nation, nor can a nation perform a liturgical act of Christian worship!
Constitutionally, does this legally establish a formal state religion? Does the inclusion of the declaration in the Constitution thereby preclude a non-Christian from becoming President? After all, the oaths of elective public offices require incumbents to uphold the Constitution, and would we be asking non-Christian candidates to put their consciences to the test of Christian support?
2) Paraphrased from Prof. Venkatesh Seshamani:
“A Hindu View of the Declaration of Zambia as a Christian Nation,” http://www.sedos.org/english/seshamani.htm/, Ref: JCTR, Number 46, 4th Quarter 2000:
By virtue of their religion being uniquely accorded constitutional status, a feeling of religious superiority can develop among Christians in the country. The greater danger would be if this feeling of religious superiority degenerates into bigotry that prompts one to look at all non-Christians as lost souls that need to be saved. One can recollect the attempt to ban Islamic programs from television and radio soon after Chiluba made the Declaration.
Besides, one cannot forget the Livingstone episode in which the Hindu temple and the Islamic mosque were destroyed.
The danger that all non-Christians may be branded as dangerous or as satanic cannot be ruled out. Although no material change has occurred for the Hindu community so far since and as a result of the Declaration, what assurance is there that this will be the case in the future as well, especially when the present leaders are no longer there?
———-
By the way, if I have succeeded in provoking a heated debate on this issue, I will go to sleep tonight a very happy man indeed!
The author, Mr. Henry Kyambalesa, is a Zambian academician currently living in the City and County of Denver in the State of Colorado, USA. He is the Interim President of the Agenda for Change (AfC) Party.
Totally agree with author, there has been totally no Christianity that has happened in Zambia since it’s declaration. Basically a declaration used by politicians to blind the gullible masses and raid the treasury. What was Christian about FTJ’s presidency? What was Christian about LPM presidency? What was Christian about RB’s presidency? For the womaniser and polygamists Sata’s presidency , lets us not even go there.
The Declaration has been abused and trying to ban construction of mosques in the name of Christianity is just another form of abuse.
What is Christian about a nation whose women get drunk like never before in the name of frustration? This whole declaration is a SHAM. Jay Jay , please give me a Vote up on this one.
when chiluba declared Zambia as a Christian nation, he didnt mean that each of the more than 15Million Zambians will be born again Christians. No. it only meant that the country will be guided by christian principles. Morals and the declaration of a nation as a christian nation are not mutually exclusive.
This is a good article in theory but the truth is Christianity and Islam are both fighting for supremacy and survival.
The growth of Islam in societies with deprived privileges is worrying. The worry is even this AFC you are championing will have you sent to jail in an Islamic Zambian state! The comparison to Israel is wrong Israel’s history is the reason you have more mosques.
It is the poor who are easily radicalised and we are poor that scares me.
Being secular is a position, too. It is the third or so choice after Christian, Islam or whatever other…It is subject to refutation too. Secularism is not the best of whatever number of worlds, it is a separate and contending world view. Zambians must be conscientised about their faith, Christianity, that respects the right to reject worshipping the one true God. True Christianity does not persecute non-believers, but allows choice. Consequences of that choice rest with God. God doesn’t force anyone to love Him, that’s the beauty of Christianity…I much prefer that than Godless secularism
TRY BOKO HARAM IF YOU DONT WANT CHRISTIANITY
What Zambia needs, therefore, is a secular state that genuinely recognizes and safeguards each and every individual’s freedom of worship and the freedom to choose one’s religion. At the same time, we should actively DISCOURAGE the following in a deliberate effort to forestall the potential disruption of public order and socio-economic activities by cliques of fanatics from any of our country’s religious denominations. You call Christians fanatic, you are a big fool. Do you know what happens under a secular state? Don’t compare this nation with any othe. Stop these hallucinations of yours. You will rot in hell.
Boko Haram, ISIS, Al Qaeda, Al Shabab. They all have one thing in common. Its no rocket science. Their main objective is to implement Sharia on earth.
With Islam, there’s no compromise, its either you’re Muslim or a kaffir. And if you’re a kaffir, you either have to pay tax (Jizya) or you are beheaded. No two ways about it.
They dont believe in democracy either.
Careful what you wish for
I think thins is another interesting article on LT. My friend, You missing the point, he is not saying Zambia should become an Islamic state by allowing Muslims. Read the full article again, it is certainly longer the the SMSes you PF cadre generation are used to.
AGREE WITH YOU, UMUTENGE WAMUNOBE TEWAKUKUMBWA
Religion is deadly if it is not handled with utmost caution. The precarious problem currently facing Algeria, Nigeria, the Sudan, Afghanistan, and a host of other countries around the world which are beleaguered by religious conflicts should serve as a clear warning to each and every peace-loving Zambian to refrain from creating a similar situation that will dog our beloved country in perpetuity. How dare you compare a Christian nation with Islamic nations? Have you ever read the Qur’an? Don’t espouse ideas you don’t even fully understand their consequences. How dare you say Religion is deadly in reference to Christianity? Where have you seen Christians killing and kicking people. Don’t plant wwrong seeds in people’s mindsets. A secular state is more deadly in promoting moral…
Sharpshooter;
Read a bit about the Roman Inquisition. How the Catholics tortured and killed heretics, church splinter groups, dissenters, atheists, agnostics, deists, pagans, infidels and unbelievers. This was supported by almost all mainstream Christian theology for over a thousand years, starting with the intolerant St. Augustine.
Read a book for christ sake.
name one secular state which is more deadly than or indeed more immoral than zambia.
Look I never solicited for a vote on my comment, what I asked for is actually very simple. In your comment you claim & I quote “…A secular state is more deadly in promoting moral”. All I am asking is give one such examples of a secular state which would, by comparison, be regarded, even by your own measure, to be of lower moral standing than Zambia, in this case, which is a Christian nation. My understanding is we have had free education in Zambia for decades and being required to evidence a claim is a part of everyday schooling, there is nothing particularly peculiar or indeed smart about my request.
Take time to read about the conflict between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland and that should answer your question.
Trying to get anything like a sensible discussion with zambians is like trying to squeeze blood from a rock.
This is the nature of you zambians, just mindless yapping – ukubwatabwatafye!
When challenged to substantiate anything, you either resort to insults, pretend not to understand, make some random unconnected statement and basically just do anything to evade the question.
You are very strange creatures indeed, very strange – efyo abasungu bamisulila, mulifipubafye bonse.
Kaunda was right – Stiupid f00ls!
Good piece of work. I just do not agree with tampering with peoples’ right to expression by deciding which “symbols” should be out of bounds or limits and which shouldn’t. Heck, I don’t mind hurling invectives if I am emotionally charged to do so! So what will you do if I “desecrete” something? Put a jail term and a price on it? That is retrogressive. We should begin to live borderless lives before we exacerbate migration of refugees like in other countries. That said, I think we MUST create secularism and leave religious and spiritual matters to personal and private choices.
Being a christian is not about being born in a christian family or nation. It is a way of life, following the footsteps of Christ. Zambia does not meet these simple benchmarks – drunkeness, immorality, corrupt leaders, stealing from the poor etc. What christian! Declare this country a Hypocrite Nation
How dare you compare a Christian nation with Islamic nations? Have you ever read the Qur’an? Don’t espouse ideas you don’t even fully understand their consequences. How dare you say Religion is deadly in reference to Christianity? Where have you seen Christians killing and kicking people. Don’t plant wrong seeds in people’s mindsets. A secular state is more deadly in promoting moral depravity. Christians are the most peaceful people on earth. There are benefits in having a Christian Nation than Secular State. Please Lusaka Times don’t give a platform such ideas they are counterproductive.
One’s religion (or lack of it) should be a personal issue between you and your God, allowing one group or the other to dominate is not only highly foolish, but dangerous as well.
The declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation was a political gimmick at best, and a proocative taunt at worst, our new constitution should NOT feature that clause, for all our sakes.
God bless a secular Zambia…
which God is going to bless Zambian if you dont want christianity yourself – hypocrisy
But, unfortunately, the Holy Land (God’s chosen country, according to the Holy Bible) DOES NOT even have an official religion! And only 3% of Israelis are designated as being Christian, while 3% are designated as being Druze, 18% as being Muslim, and 76% are designated as belonging to Judaism (which is based on the books of the Old Testament and does not recognize Jesus as Savior). Look at your own statics on the Holy Land; ati only 3% of Israelis are being designated Christians. What you are failing to state is how many Zambians are being designated Christians? By the way, since you have succeeded in provoking a heated debate on this issue, you will go to sleep tonight not as a very happy man but as a dangerous man indeed!
In the year 1787, upon seeing all the evidence of Afrika in ancient Egypt, Count Constantine De Volney wrote ” Just think that this race of Black men, today our slave and our object of our scorn, is the very race to which we owe our arts, sciences, and even the use of speech.”
Afrikans wake up from your folly, if there is anything that puts you down its this selfsame cancer called Religion…study about self and set yourself free.
Wake up from your stupor!!
Whether Chris’tian not we should ensure Islam should not be allowed to flourish in zambia
William Tekere Banda my name sake. Don’t advise me to read a book for Christ sake. What am propagating here its proper and beneficial for all those who love mother Zambia. The Roman Inquisition had to do with the Roman Empire trying to silence the Voice of True Christianity. When you say the Catholics tortured and killed heretics, church splinter groups, dissenters, atheists, agnostics, deists, pagans, infidels and unbelievers, you are being too general. The target group were True Christians who took stand against the Roman Empire which was camouflaging itself as a Christian Nation and yet it was a Secular State. This was supported by almost all mainstream Christian theology for over a thousand years, starting with the intolerant St. Augustine. Do your research well and read widely.
Sharpshooter:
My point is that all religion is bad. Religion has brought more harm than good to humanity. And the two biggest religions in the world are the worst. They have both committed unimaginable crimes against humanity in the name of God/Allah.
Food for thought: The poorest (people) nations on earth are most religious. coincidence? i think not.
Israel is not a christian nation because they believe in Judaism, the forerunner of christianity!
Only when you start to differentiate between God and religion …will you start to enlighten yourself!!
The difficulty is “which” Christianity shall we espouse to. There are significant differences in our various denominations. SDA declare the sabbath as Saturday. Shall we force them to join the catholics on Sunday etc etc.
Also true Christianity shall clash with our local culture. How shall we do cleansing under a Christian constitution ?
Lastly as a christian nation we have to abide by biblical laws. What is the punishment in the Bible for adultery ? Formication ? Theft ? Images of the Lord ?
Israel is a generally progressive country
where lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
(LGBT) people live freely and openly
Israel is the Holy land for prostitution and drug use
Prostitution in Israel is legal
Israel is Paradise for homosexuality
Israeli Army is one of world’s top ten most gay-friendly armies
Israel is lost. They need Jesus and they need him now.
William Tekere Banda:
I agree with you for once that all religion is bad but unfortunately, Christianity is not a religion per se. It is way beyond religion. True Christianity is a personal relationship one has with his Creator Jesus Christ. It is a lifestyle that glorifies God with reverence and honor understanding that human life is sacred in the sight of God. So don’t compare Christianity with other religions of the world.
A quick non-answer: Depends what you call a “religion”.
Iwe Holy Molly or Lowly Molly:
How dare you say Israel is a generally progressive country
where lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people live freely and openly. Israel is the Holy land for prostitution and drug use. Prostitution in Israel is legal. Israel is Paradise for homosexuality. Israeli Army is one of world’s top ten most gay-friendly armies
This is what happens when you allow secularism which some people are advocating for. Beware of what some people are fighting for. This is no game my friends, it’s life and death.
Some of these articles don’t just judge or analyze them at face value, there are some people who are not comfortable to do certain things (evils) in Zambia because Zambia is a Christian Nation. They know that Zambia being a Christian Nation there’s no room for silly progressive ideas such as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people living freely and openly. People indulging in prostitution and drug use freely and openly. These people know that once Zambia becomes a secular state it is easy to fight for Prostitution and Homosexuality to be legalized. Beware of what some people are advocating for. I rest my case.
I agree with sharpshootor when he says “This is what happens when you allow secularism which some people are advocating for. Beware of what some people are fighting for. This is no game my friends, it’s life and death.”….The bible says blessed is a nation whose God is there God. What Mr Kyambalesa should not forget is the fact that there is more to life than the pgysical it is also spiritual and as a result each nation is ruled under the influence of whatever spirit a particular nation has acknowledged more….it is not rocket science that Zambia continues to be a peaceful country even when potential conflicts have brewed up….it is because we have embraced a spirit of peace over our nation. President Lungu wouldnt have been inaugurated peacefully as duly elected in an islamic nation…
1 Timothy 2: 11-14>>> Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man; Rather she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first,then Eve. And Adam was not deceived,but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor…
1 Corinthians 11:6>>> For if a woman does not cover her hair,she might as well have her hair cut off; But if it is a disgrace to have a woman’s hair cut off or shaved,then should cover her head…
As a christian nation we are supposed to live by the bible’s teachings. But we encourage gender equality among other things which the bible we believe in doesn’t seem to recognize. Do our women cover their heads like the bible teaches? It seems,we should learn that from the muslim women who the ones…
>>>Do our women cover their heads like the bible teaches? It seems,we should learn that from the muslim women who the ones practicing it. Our women are all dressed in revealing clothing all in the name of rights and freedoms which the bible doesn’t recognize. And when Christ said love your neighbour like you love yourself,did he point out which religion that neighbour should be? Do the math and ask yourself whether we truly are a christian nation. Mind you homosexuals are being married in churches nowadays in countries we look up to. Ask me if that’s tolerated in Islam.
Religion is basically the opium that keeps the poor in place. Look, most of what you regard as “Christianity” is an adulterated version of EASTERN religions! Yes, the very religions you rail against. In the largely secular Middle East, most of what was REMOVED from what you call the Bible by James and his closet cabinet persists in its raw, unadulterated form. They laugh that you take our religion and selectively try to bring it back to us! Yes, true! Get your facts right. Just like your minerals are mined and then the finished cables and iron sheets are sold back to you, so it is with your religious practices. Wake up people – WAKE UP! Give secularism a CHANCE! A real CHANCE!
Iwe Kalok
WAKE UP YOURSELF! And give Christianity a CHANCE! A real CHANCE! Abash Secularism!
Zambian Christianity is just a farce. It is a guise in which even drunkards and fraudulent people can be presidents to extort the poor. Be warned judgement is awaiting you. God will stand up and defend the poor you are oppressing.
Much as I agree with much of the content of this article, what I do not agree with is to call ours as a “nation-states”. A nation-state is by definition a state based on a common language, culture, history and aspirations. Do we have this in Zambia or much of Africa? I would rather subscribe to the view that ours is a state-nation or a stated trying to be a nation.
This is the best article I have read on LT for a very long time. I actually think there is too much religion is Zambia that is retarding science and development. Things that clearly have logical and scientific basis are attributed to religion and spirits blocking further inquiry. It is pathetic. Yes religion has a role in our society but it needs to be enlightened religion backed by science and evidence. I wish there were more science centres in Zambia than so called miracle centres on every corner of our streets, especially on our streets in shanty compounds.
Sharpshooter and his hallucinations! He/she must be one of those dullards working abroad at a Zambia embassy! Nothing he/she has posted on this subject makes any sense at all!