Both Traditional (primal-primary) and World religions have compassion at the heart of their faiths. Compassion is the art of loving and caring.
The world powers which dominate the affairs and power struggles of this global village go as far as wanting to enforce peace using force. This does not work. Peace brought in by use of any other means except love is very temporal.
World faiths (sleeping giants) will one day waken to a world without its inhabitants who subscribe to the former simply because they are not challenging the powers that be that their way of making peace is futile.
Rape has sired kids but the act has never been and will never be love. Yet the act of love should be the proper channel of bringing children into this world. Love also produces everlasting peace.
If world faiths/religions are warning world powers about the futility of trying to bring peace and harmony in the world by using force then well and good. If they are not then both the existing faiths and their followers will be extinct.
The creator God will come up with a new world and a new order. Is it not time for the world powers and the faiths/religions of this world consult each other on the way forward. The two arms of authority may have the solution together. It can be done. The two should not leave the other without counsel.
They are all in it. The people they serve or who serve them as it were are in a dilemma. By working together they might save the only world given us as a gift from the common creator of this world. They are put there for each other and not to be against each other. Those with ears let them hear. God bless.
Food for thought!
Can someone whisper in the ears of our esteemed World leaders that they cannot fight terror with terror and win? Have they not learnt from Vietnam war? If they want to know how to end terrorism can they ask? Each so called terrorist they kill they create 10 more. You can do your mathematics as they continue on this disastrous path. Since they started this game terrorists have actually increased.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Speaking over deafening silence
Caryn Rogers
“As a minister, I thought the Church here had a crucial role to play - we had to speak on behalf of the majority of the people. There were so many people oppressed by the situation of the government but the Church as an entity was so quiet.” Rev Dr Levee Kadenge
In 2005 the Mugabe-led government in Zimbabwe had stopped aid provision and were destroying people’s homes and properties. Churches were providing aid as they were able – a ‘privilege’ they were allowed as long as they didn’t speak out against the government’s cruel oppression.
The Zimbabwean Methodist Church knew all too well that Mugabe needed to be opposed but they believed if they couldn’t feed the poor, they weren’t functioning as the church should.
As the church remained voiceless, some like-minded Christian leaders banded together to form a Christian Alliance - Rev Dr Levee Kadenge was amongst those leaders.
“I was arrested five times – for nothing,” Levee recalls. “It was all an attempt to eliminate my resolve to go on in this struggle.
“It was like each arrest gave us a new lease of life though. We hadn’t done anything wrong – we were just speaking on behalf of the suffering people.
“Relatives and people around us felt very sorry for us because of what was happening to us but these ‘bad things’ empowered us though to go forward and do the right thing.”
Levee was in and out of the police station, “like a yoyo,” before spending 21 days in hiding to avoid prison time. It was not unusual for those who spoke against the Government to be picked up, taken to jail and never heard from again.
“The government was comfortable with a quiet church. But now that our organisation was vocal, the persecution was expected.
Expected from the government, yes, but surprising from the Church they were speaking on behalf of.
“I guess from the Church’s point of view we were stealing their thunder, almost taking their space in the public sphere. But... they were quiet!
“At some point we amicably parted ways with the church; I was still a minister, a bishop within, but I was stood aside from the Methodist church to fulfil this prophetic role.”
In August last year, though, the Church appointed him as senior lecturer at United Theological College [Zimbabwe] – it had been two years and eight months since Levee had parted company with the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe.
“As a minister, I thought the Church here had a crucial role to play - we had to speak on behalf of the majority of the people. There were so many people oppressed by the situation of the government but the Church as an entity was so quiet.” Rev Dr Levee Kadenge
In 2005 the Mugabe-led government in Zimbabwe had stopped aid provision and were destroying people’s homes and properties. Churches were providing aid as they were able – a ‘privilege’ they were allowed as long as they didn’t speak out against the government’s cruel oppression.
The Zimbabwean Methodist Church knew all too well that Mugabe needed to be opposed but they believed if they couldn’t feed the poor, they weren’t functioning as the church should.
As the church remained voiceless, some like-minded Christian leaders banded together to form a Christian Alliance - Rev Dr Levee Kadenge was amongst those leaders.
“I was arrested five times – for nothing,” Levee recalls. “It was all an attempt to eliminate my resolve to go on in this struggle.
“It was like each arrest gave us a new lease of life though. We hadn’t done anything wrong – we were just speaking on behalf of the suffering people.
“Relatives and people around us felt very sorry for us because of what was happening to us but these ‘bad things’ empowered us though to go forward and do the right thing.”
Levee was in and out of the police station, “like a yoyo,” before spending 21 days in hiding to avoid prison time. It was not unusual for those who spoke against the Government to be picked up, taken to jail and never heard from again.
“The government was comfortable with a quiet church. But now that our organisation was vocal, the persecution was expected.
Expected from the government, yes, but surprising from the Church they were speaking on behalf of.
“I guess from the Church’s point of view we were stealing their thunder, almost taking their space in the public sphere. But... they were quiet!
“At some point we amicably parted ways with the church; I was still a minister, a bishop within, but I was stood aside from the Methodist church to fulfil this prophetic role.”
In August last year, though, the Church appointed him as senior lecturer at United Theological College [Zimbabwe] – it had been two years and eight months since Levee had parted company with the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Communiqué from Zimbabwe Church Leaders
We, the members of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, Zimbabwe Christian Alliance and Christian Agencies in consultation with our Civic Society partners namely Ecumenical Support Services, Zimbabwe National Pastors Conference, Zimbabwe Peace Project(ZPP), Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network, Crisis Coalition, NANGO, Zimbabwe Peace Project and the Lutheran Development Services met in Harare on the 17th of May, 2010 to deliberate on the progress made by the Inclusive Government.
Consistent with the prophetic and pastoral mandate of the Church, we echo the words of Christ in John 10 v 10 which say “I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly”. It is therefore our prayer and demand that the Inclusive government must create a conducive environment to ensure that all citizens of Zimbabwe enjoy life in its abundance and fullness.
We acknowledge the progress made so far to implement parts of the Global Political Agreement that has led to partial stabilisation of the economy. We also acknowledge the attempts made by the SADC mediation teams to ensure that there is full implementation of the GPA.
However, we note with concern, that the GPA has not been fully implemented. We draw the immediate attention of the three principals to the following urgent concerns of the people of Zimbabwe:
• Deepening and widening poverty
• Food is not accessible to the majority of Zimbabweans due to lack of income.
• High unemployment rate of over 90% and failure to create new jobs
• The discouragement of investment
• The discouragement of humanitarian assistance by some political authorities
• Continued problems within the education sector, increasing illiteracy with over 60% drop out rate due to high costs
• Slow recovery within the health sector
• Poor service delivery eroding the people’s confidence in public institutions
• The political violence and intimidation which had been contained, to a certain extent, by the coming in of the Inclusive Government now resurfacing especially in Mashonaland Central, Masvingo and Manicaland through structures created in the run up to the 2008 Presidential elections
• Curtailment of freedom of worship e.g. the burning down of churches (Masvingo, Macheke and Muzarabani) and disruption of services
• The 7 months delay in the constitution making process and apparent lack of commitment and transparency in the selection of the outreach teams, the rapporteurs and the development of the talking points
• Failure of the Organ for National Healing and Integration to function effectively in a tension ridden country
• Violence against human rights defenders
• The marginalisation of Zimbabwean citizens and the monopolisation of the processes by the three political parties e.g. participation in the constitution and national healing processes.
Noting that all human beings are created equal before God, we therefore call upon the three principals
• to apply political will to ensure the full implementation of the GPA
• to respect the God given rights, security and dignity of persons.
• to dismantle all structures that perpetuate political violence
• to reform the security sector as a critical component of creating a peaceful transition
• to create the relevant mechanisms to enable the independent commissions to function effectively
• to ensure that the current Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is Zimbabwe based and readily available.
• We demand free and fair elections by end of 2011 under the following minimum conditions:
(i) church and civic society monitoring
(ii) International and regional supervision
(iii) A new and clean voter’s roll
(iv) A new ZEC Secretariat with an adequate budget allocation
(v) A conducive environment for a free media, voter education and transparency
(vi) The creation of a Constitutional and Electoral court
We also call upon SADC to
• critically review the causes of the lack of progress and take decisive action on the deficits of the GPA
• immediately deploy church, regional and international election observers.
Taking note of the lack of progress to the GPA, we reiterate our call for elections by end of 2011. The GPA is a transitional mechanism for the democratisation of Zimbabwe, which we will not allow to be permanent. We therefore demand that the SADC Summit in August 2010 ensure that the elections are conducted in 2011.
We therefore call upon the SADC Heads of State Summit in Windhoek Namibia in August 2010 to prioritise addressing these concerns from the people of Zimbabwe.
We continue to pray to the Almighty God and encourage the Christian community and the people of Zimbabwe to actively participate in bringing about good governance, healing, reconciliation, peace and prosperity to our country.
Consistent with the prophetic and pastoral mandate of the Church, we echo the words of Christ in John 10 v 10 which say “I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly”. It is therefore our prayer and demand that the Inclusive government must create a conducive environment to ensure that all citizens of Zimbabwe enjoy life in its abundance and fullness.
We acknowledge the progress made so far to implement parts of the Global Political Agreement that has led to partial stabilisation of the economy. We also acknowledge the attempts made by the SADC mediation teams to ensure that there is full implementation of the GPA.
However, we note with concern, that the GPA has not been fully implemented. We draw the immediate attention of the three principals to the following urgent concerns of the people of Zimbabwe:
• Deepening and widening poverty
• Food is not accessible to the majority of Zimbabweans due to lack of income.
• High unemployment rate of over 90% and failure to create new jobs
• The discouragement of investment
• The discouragement of humanitarian assistance by some political authorities
• Continued problems within the education sector, increasing illiteracy with over 60% drop out rate due to high costs
• Slow recovery within the health sector
• Poor service delivery eroding the people’s confidence in public institutions
• The political violence and intimidation which had been contained, to a certain extent, by the coming in of the Inclusive Government now resurfacing especially in Mashonaland Central, Masvingo and Manicaland through structures created in the run up to the 2008 Presidential elections
• Curtailment of freedom of worship e.g. the burning down of churches (Masvingo, Macheke and Muzarabani) and disruption of services
• The 7 months delay in the constitution making process and apparent lack of commitment and transparency in the selection of the outreach teams, the rapporteurs and the development of the talking points
• Failure of the Organ for National Healing and Integration to function effectively in a tension ridden country
• Violence against human rights defenders
• The marginalisation of Zimbabwean citizens and the monopolisation of the processes by the three political parties e.g. participation in the constitution and national healing processes.
Noting that all human beings are created equal before God, we therefore call upon the three principals
• to apply political will to ensure the full implementation of the GPA
• to respect the God given rights, security and dignity of persons.
• to dismantle all structures that perpetuate political violence
• to reform the security sector as a critical component of creating a peaceful transition
• to create the relevant mechanisms to enable the independent commissions to function effectively
• to ensure that the current Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is Zimbabwe based and readily available.
• We demand free and fair elections by end of 2011 under the following minimum conditions:
(i) church and civic society monitoring
(ii) International and regional supervision
(iii) A new and clean voter’s roll
(iv) A new ZEC Secretariat with an adequate budget allocation
(v) A conducive environment for a free media, voter education and transparency
(vi) The creation of a Constitutional and Electoral court
We also call upon SADC to
• critically review the causes of the lack of progress and take decisive action on the deficits of the GPA
• immediately deploy church, regional and international election observers.
Taking note of the lack of progress to the GPA, we reiterate our call for elections by end of 2011. The GPA is a transitional mechanism for the democratisation of Zimbabwe, which we will not allow to be permanent. We therefore demand that the SADC Summit in August 2010 ensure that the elections are conducted in 2011.
We therefore call upon the SADC Heads of State Summit in Windhoek Namibia in August 2010 to prioritise addressing these concerns from the people of Zimbabwe.
We continue to pray to the Almighty God and encourage the Christian community and the people of Zimbabwe to actively participate in bringing about good governance, healing, reconciliation, peace and prosperity to our country.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)