REFLECTION ON THE PRESIDENT’S CONSULTATION WITH CHURCH LEADERS - 12TH APRIL 2018

The  President of the Republic of Namibia, Dr. Hage  Geingob  called for a meeting with Church leaders, through the Council of Churches in Namibia,  at  State House in Windhoek.  A few representatives of the Bahai community and the Islamic community were also present.  Approximately 70  people  were in attendance,  in addition to a number of cabinet ministers.  The representatives of the Christian church generally demonstrated a good  degree of unity in terms of matters  of common concern. Here  and there a few church leaders lacked clarity of  expression and speech.    

The President  opened the meeting with a reading  from Hebrews 10:24-25, after which the Minister of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare, Zephania Kameeta, a retired Lutheran Bishop, opened the meeting with prayer.

The President   made a few introductory remarks which were hard to hear. It amazes me that the sound system at State House (or the management thereof) is so poor - after all good communication, and the ability to listen well  is the essence of such a meeting.

The President began by asking each person present to introduce themselves and their church affiliations. Thereafter he gave ample time to listen to the community. 

The subjects, as might be expected related mostly to the  moral issues  facing  the nation.  Gender violence, murder, abortion and baby dumping, land issues, youth issues, pornography and the internet, poverty and unemployment, the need for  the  Bible in schools  and religious/ moral education   were  spoken about by  the members of the floor.  The controversial subject  of  the proposed taxation of churches was  also mentioned.  

The Acting  General Secretary of the Council of Churches in Namibia,  Mr. Ludwig Beukes, raised  the matter of  the  ‘Comprehensive Sexuality Education’  agenda in our schools. This  agenda  has been introduced  into the SADEC community  via UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund). The church perceives this to be  a  subversive  agenda driven by foreign countries and organisations. This agenda has been introduced to our Minister of Education, Arts and Culture, Katrina Hanse-Himarwa,  and is  intended   to ‘educate’ children  about matters of sex from an early age. This  agenda is supposed to cure the   sexual aggression  of  the future generation.  The church however believes  that  the content  of this program is harmful rather than helpful.  

SO WHAT DID THIS  MEETING ACHIEVE?

One would like to believe that the President and  his Cabinet ministers  have truly wanted to hear  and value the opinions of the church community. It is clear that the government is  under much pressure from Foreign Donor Agencies  whose monetary support  is   substantially  linked to  an agenda  which promotes  a re-writing of  not only  healthy cultural  norms and values  but substantially undermines   biblical norms and values.  

Politicians are easily tempted by the prospects of receiving donor money in the name of  national development and job creations. But the church asks, ‘At what cost?’  Short term thinking and gratification and short term political gain must be avoided at all costs. We need to  guard the fences  of our Namibian house.  We need to build a robust and healthy nation  for the sake of our children. 

The church is the moral and spiritual guardian  of the nation.  As the church  sees it, the nation  can only be built on the  proven and tested foundations of the Word of God.  

"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people" [Proverbs  14:34]

Arguments for Legalizing Abortions in Namibia - Sowing to the Wind and Reaping the Whirlwind.

On Tuesday the 27^th March 2017 just about every major newspaper in Namibia carried the statement of the minister of Health and Social Services, Mr Bernard Haufiku. The largest daily newspaper  “The Namibian“ reported  as follows in its opening paragraph:

“HEALTH minister Bernard Haufiku has called for the revision of the law criminalising abortion in the country after an unprecedented 7 335 illegal cases were recorded at state facilities last year alone. The rest of the article is contained in the footnote.[1]  

As I was reading the ministers’ statement,  it dawned on me yet again what we are up against and what we are lacking in Namibia.  In the first place, we need to understand that our government is completely bewildered by the facts as they present themselves in the statistics. 
We also need to understand that anyone can say anything with statistics. Every discerning citizen knows that. Behind every statistic is in fact a different person and a different circumstance. What we need more than anything is the wisdom to deal with the information as it presents itself, information not only at face value, but at a deeper level.  The minister with his ‘face value’ information can only come to one conclusion on the basis of the superficial evidence. He says ‘decriminalize abortion’.

So too, we must make reference to  Dudley’s cartoon in “The Namibian” newspaper of the  31^st March 2017. The message  says,  ‘Legalize Abortion’. The ‘body language’ of the cartoon says it all. An angry feminist fist upon an inverted cross, accompanied by quotes from Ruth Bader Ginsburg, perhaps the most liberal justice in the United States Supreme court! 
The adjacent editorial[2] on the same day and page says, “We can only imagine the minister is treading carefully for fear of a backlash from zealots, who view the issue as nothing but a callous crime committed by pregnant women.” 

We can only imagine who is meant by the zealots, who view the issue as nothing but a callous crime committed by pregnant women.  

Incidentally, the editor who is nameless, knowingly or unknowingly uses a subversive weapon,   Saul Alinksy’s Rules for Radicals, encouraging the use of ridicule against one’s opponents. Rule five says, “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.”[3]

If the editors mean zealots to be representatives from the church community, then we wish them to know that their pointing hand has three fingers pointing back at them! Many newspaper editors, in their zeal for their own causes, see themselves above and beyond contradiction. 

Bad news!

We want  them  to know that many of us, whom  they  call ‘zealots’ have a real  concern for the people and unborn  children  that  get  hurt  in the abortion debacle, and many in our circles  are working  as well as we know how,  to address the real issues  that  lead to abortion, and not simply with the tip of a poison pen.  

So what  we see is that both the minister and the press are seeking to address this problem via the law…. Decriminalize… legalize!  

We want to argue that the problem of abortion can ultimately not be solved via the law and that if we seek  to solve such problems via the law  then we must expect  that the law can deal with the problem only in a superficial way.  The law will leave  many people hurt, squashed and devastated, and worst of all, not really helped!  So, the minister has a point, but this point needs to be thought through much more carefully. In the hands of a biased  press  such a call can easily  end up in messy hands. 

To get back to the matter at hand:  Making abortion a criminal offence by which the concerned person will simply receive a sentence or a fine may not prove to be the best approach or solution to the matter. The person, having undergone an abortion has far profounder matters to contend with, such as a sense of real guilt and loss. 
Let’s face it. 
In abortion a life is taken. There is just no other way to say this. 
And the conscience will  give  no rest, and if the conscience is suppressed, which is what many people in such situations tend  to do,  then it rears its ugly head in  other ways. Anger, bitterness  and cynicism become  typical response patterns of people that  have  suppressed their consciences. Further  down the line the road  may   lead to  soul deadening  alcohol or  drug addictions  and the like.  

We have yet to meet a woman who has had an abortion and  who has been OK with that. There is no amount of reason or logic that can  erase  the pain  experienced  when making such a choice.  Those who are Pro-choice really do not  think very carefully about  the implications of their choices. Theirs is a short term solution,  and  the misguided counsel given that it is a woman's right to decide is really not helping any woman in the long term. 

At the heart of the dilemma  there is a theological problem, which manifests as a social and emotional problem, and the law finds that it  cannot deal with that.

So, what are we saying?   

We are saying that life needs a shepherd more than a prison warden.  Life needs a shepherd, in fact, life needs the Good Shepherd! 
May God restore the church and society  to see this! 
Sadly,  this   superficial reflection by  our governing authorities, together  with  an aversion by a liberal press to  the life affirming  morality,   inspired by the teachings of the Judeo –Christian  faith is not really  helping us at this time  of crisis.   

The government, which is the protector and servant of the people of Namibia, is at a crossroads.  

• Will it continue to allow poorly performed backyard abortions to kill or disable women, 
• Or will it allow the killing of children yet unborn?
• The solution, it seems, is to be found between a rock and a hard place! 

So, the alarming headlines and the statistics may lead to conclusions and actions in which our nation may be responding to the wind, but in reality we may be reaping   the whirlwind.

God’s answer to this complex question (and sin makes everything complex, doesn’t it?)  has been given to the church which is in possession of the Bible -  the Word of God.  In it we shall find that sinful people like ourselves have  to come to terms  that their sin  is in the first place not against the law  per se, but against Him who is the End of the law and who is the  Giver of Life.  When David had an adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, a union out of which a child would be born, he knew that he had  principally  sinned  against God.[4]

The church, under the direction of her God, invites women not to abort babies. 

There are alternatives, and if government can do anything here, then it  is to support baby shelters for abandoned babies, and to support responsible, tested  Christian agencies  that would  receive and place abandoned  babies into loving homes. 

Such agencies would also love, care, nurture and counsel women that have aborted,  back into  to emotional and spiritual health.   

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[1] Haufiku said the figures could reach 10 000 since many such cases involving women aged below 25 years go unreported.  Under Namibia's Abortion and Sterilisation Act 1975, abortions are illegal for women and girls, except in extreme cases such as rape, incest, or endangerment of the mother's or child's life.  Health ministry figures show that the Katutura Intermediate Hospital with 1 503 had the highest number of cases, followed by the Windhoek Central Hospital with 878 cases. Oshakati State Hospital recorded 766 cases; Onandjokwe Lutheran Hospital, 621; Rundu State Hospital, 419; Outapi State Hospital, 405; Swakopmund State Hospital, 329; Walvis Bay State Hospital, 302; Otjiwarongo State Hospital, 246; Katima Mulilo State Hospital, 201; Gobabis State Hospital, 174; Engela State Hospital, 126; Rehoboth State Hospital, 121; and Okahao State Hospital 105 cases.Haufiku told a press conference yesterday that of the 7 335 cases, 138 were medical abortions (authorised cases), which constitutes 2% of the total.  He said in most cases, an illegal abortion is only presented to health facilities when it is incomplete, or if the woman develops complications such as haemorrhaging and infections.  According to Haufiku, it is of major concern, as unsafe abortions pose a major risk to women's physical and mental health. “We need thorough national reflection on the reasons why so many women risk their lives by resorting to unsafe abortions in a country where contraceptives are widely available. Most importantly, we need to ask ourselves whether it is not time to relook the legislation and decriminalise abortion,” he stated.   He added that it now requires everybody, not only the health ministry, but the communities, religious bodies and opposition to seriously think about what needs to be done to bring down these figures.   Although the health ministry will try its best to contain the situation, a national debate and consultations across all sectors are needed to pass new regulations which many people will agree with “In the end, we will have to take a decision. We cannot allow it to go on as is the case at the moment”, he stressed. Haufiku said as much as his ministry is aware that abortions are illegal, they do not report the women who seek medical assistance to the police because they do not want to scare away others, or be viewed as a “police agency”.  “It becomes a difficult situation if we report them to the police. We will actually lose a lot of them. If we reported 7 000 this year, next year the number might come down to 700,” he said, adding that he does not want to create animosity between the affected women and the medical fraternity. “I don't believe that reporting them to the police is the best solution,” he noted”. Apart from the high abortion cases, the minister also said the country was not doing well as far as maternal health was concerned because from April 2012 to March 2015, there were 3 434 neonatal deaths and 93 maternal deaths out of the 191 517 live births.  One hundred and three maternal deaths were also reported over 20 months between 1 April 2015 and 30 November 2016.“The major causes of maternal mortality are the hypertensive disease, obstetric haemorrhages, pregnancy-related sepsis, abortions and anaesthetic complications,” he revealed, adding that another indirect cause of maternal mortality is related to the high HIV-AIDS prevalence...“Abortion, being a moral matter, has been a concern for many years, regardless from which perspective it is looked at. It has to be dealt with at another level,” he added. Legal Assistance Centre lawyer Corinna van Wyk said it is important that abortions are legalised in order to create more opportunities for women to have safe abortions.  “The figures show that we need to revisit our laws on abortion,” she said.

[2] In the same newspaper on Friday, 30^th March,  a cartoon by ‘Dudley’  together  with an editorial, entitled  “Abortion is Not the Only Killer”  raised the issue again. This is what the editorial had to say:   “500 WOMEN die from abortion every year.' Perhaps such should be the news headlines to make Namibians understand we have a crisis, and all because of a lack of empathy. Health minister Bernard Haufiku tried this week to highlight the magnitude of the problem when he announced that more than 7 300 women were treated at state health centres last year due to “illegal abortions” gone wrong. Haufiku said the figure could be as high as 10 000 –– at least 27 cases a day.  The minister called for “decriminalisation” of abortion, which is outlawed by legislation dating back to 1975. We can only imagine the minister is treading carefully for fear of a backlash from zealots, who view the issue as nothing but a callous crime committed by pregnant women. People who label pregnant women as murderers over abortions refuse to see the far more dangerous threats to lives.  Earlier this month, a young woman died at Ondangwa after undergoing a backyard abortion. Her helper was arrested for murder. Many women are hunted down like hard-core criminals, also accused of “baby-dumping”.  Last week at Walvis Bay, a woman was arrested and charged with murder after “abandoning” her five-month-old baby while she went to work as a security guard for 13 hours. Security guards often work half-day shifts for bosses who have no mercy. A lot is wrong with Namibians if we crush a mother who just lost her five-month-old infant. Whether abortion, baby-dumping, or abandonment, empathy is what is needed. No woman goes through pregnancy and birth only to get rid of it without incredible emotional and physical pain.  Minister Haufiku warned that the criminalisation of abortion only makes the crisis worse. He knows the poor people suffer most, because the rich can pay professionals to avoid complications, or go to South Africa where abortion is legal.  We support Haufiku that arrests in abortion cases (including baby-dumping and “neglect”) must stop immediately, as those responsible are not a danger to society.  In fact, Haufiku and his cabinet colleagues must immediately start the process to legalise abortion and offer counselling. Abortion is not the killer, lack of empathy and care is.

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rules_for_Radicals

[4]  See Psalm 51 

HOW THE SPIRITUAL LANDSCAPE IS CHANGING IN NAMIBIA

Churches  exist in societies, and the changes that happen in these societies   tend to     affect the church. Since  our world is  subjected  to the  effects of the fall described in Genesis  3  and illustrated in chapter 4, and indeed  in the rest of the Bible, the pull is sadly  ‘downward’.  

Society, contrary to popular opinion, unaided  by the gospel  and left to  itself  does not  evolve  nor improve with time.  If it were not for the   continuous preaching of the Bible  in the pulpits of the world, and if it were not for  heaven–sent reformation and revival movements   given by God from time to time, and if it were not for the  common grace and the patience  of God,  and were it not for the true  church of the Lord Jesus Christ, acting as salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16) in all ages, the  self-destructive nature of  fallen men  would have brought about the total   demise of this world  far sooner.

Many people  are  not sure as to what the role of the church  ought to be  in  our ever changing society. On the one hand there are those who maintain  that the church ought to accommodate herself to the times. Their representatives   call the church  to adapt her message to suit  the  times.  On the other extreme  there are those  (they are  not too many these days)  who believe that  the church ought to resist  the times, to the point of becoming isolationist and  non- interactive.  Therefore, since  they do not intersect with their society, they have no influence upon  their society, and  for all intents  and purposes,  they are irrelevant.

Jesus  never intended  His church to be an uncritical  follower of  culture or societal norms. Jesus Himself was not afraid to take on    religious and cultural establishments  in His day. What mattered to Him was  that  the truth  of God’s plain Word should be applied  to  man’s thinking,  thus correcting the continuous  drift of society  into  evil and falsehood.  The church must do likewise.  

The church is  not a  cultural  phenomenon.  The church is not an institution designed by man.  The church is  not an uncritical  rubberstamp  of  her society. She  is  a creation of God.  She is the ‘ekklesia’[1]  of God. She is the people  of God, purchased by the  death of Christ on the cross.  She represents  the people  that are ‘called  out’  of the world , and called to belong to God.[2]   She  is ‘God’s new society‘[3]. She is  called  by God to be God’s alternative society. She is  called  to proclaim the gospel  to this corrupt  society, declaring  the  good news  that God has made a way for sinners[4]  to be reconciled  with God  through believing in Christ and to be changed  by Christ once more  into a God  fearing, godly people. So, the  gospel  is not only  an announcement concerning how sinners may be  reconciled with their Creator. The gospel  is also an announcement regarding ‘how we should live’.  

 SECULAR VERSUS BIBLICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 

In this regard  one of the  greatest  challenges in our day has become  the matter  of biblical anthropology (i.e. the doctrine of man)   severely clashing  with  an aggressive secular  and atheistic  anthropology  that is challenging  the way in which we have traditionally and biblically looked  at God and man.

I consider how the landscape has changed even within my life time. I find that the  greatest challenge started when society began  to   abandon  the biblical  distinction concerning the  different  roles of  men and women in favour of an ‘egalitarian view‘.  The biblical view is ‘complementarian’,  meaning that men  and women have been created by God  to complement one another, rather than to compete with one another. The egalitarian  world view recognises  no functional  difference  between men and women, and therefore  men and women are now competing with one another, rather than completing  one another. The  gender wars  have become  not only a feature of  the international community, but indeed also of Namibian society. 

This ongoing gender  war  has opened a   proverbial can of worms. If  we  challenge the biblical view of  the unique design of men and women  in terms of their unique design in terms of their  differing roles, and their  different  sex, then   we  must  not be  surprised  that,  following the abolishment  of these biblical distinctions,   further cracks  appear.  The little  crack in the pipe has now become a serious  water – leak.  Lack of gender distinction has now become gender confusion. And  all of a sudden,  and at a dizzying speed,   the gay, lesbian and transgender    agenda has appeared with an astonishing  force and  strength,  challenging   everything sacred:  marriage, biblical sexuality, child raising principles, education.  

In the  church  the  prevailing trend    in  Namibia has  been   to  almost uncritically  endorse   the prevailing  culture, even to the point   to  which  the plain  meaning   of the  Bible,  the  Word  is of God  is challenged and re-interpreted  to suit  the  culture.   For instance, the  Bible  knows nothing of women elders and  pastors   leading the church,  and yet  it is true that more and more  women take over the leadership roles of  the Namibian church. The Bible  would  firmly challenge this development. People would call this a fundamentalistic position, when in truth  it has everything to do with the authority  of Scripture  which is being plainly ignored.   

It is this  tendency to rebel against biblical authority in the church   which  ultimately gives way to the great  spiritual apostasy of the church  and thus ultimately to the  disassembly  of society. 

Namibian  churches and pulpits must be prepared  to see this and  to pray, preach and obey    the gospel, rather than pandering   to our society's  whims and fancies.

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[1] From the Greek word  ‘ek’ & ‘kaleo’ -  literally, ‘ to be called out’. The church is  the people of God called out of this world and called to belong to God . She is  God’s  new society  

[2] 1 Peter 2:9-10

[3] John Stott : Commentary of Ephesians , BST Series (IVP) , p.26

[4] The  Bible  makes it clear  every man is a sinner :  “ All have sinned  and fall short of the glory of God.” ( Rom  3:9-26) 

NAMIBIA IS 25 YEARS OLD TODAY !

Today ,  the Republic of Namibia  is 25 years old! We have  much to be thankful for 

Having been born in this country and having  begun my pastoral ministry in Windhoek   at the beginning of 1990,  three  months before  Namibia was constituted as an independent Republic,   I have been privileged to see  25 years  of progress and peace in Namibia.  

We thank God for political  stability. We thank God for  25 years in which  the people of Namibia  have  been able to  participate  in the privileges of citizenship, a privilege which was formerly  denied  them  under South African rule.  

We pray  that as our 3^rd president, Dr Hage Geingob is sworn in today ,  we may  continue to experience peace  and stability, such as we have  known.  

Our prayer also  is that the Namibian  church may   take her calling to be the church of the Lord Jesus Christ seriously  in the days ahead , and that she would  fulfill her pastoral  and  prophetic role in Namibia.  A  country  can only be stable if  her citizens learn  to  live under authority . The primary authority  we refer to is  the  God who has made the heavens and the earth (Acts 4:24). God   has instituted the authority of the governing authorities( Romans 13:1-7) . He  has ordained that civil society  ought to  live humbly under  the rule of  God, who  gives us  the kind of leaders  we ask for.  God fearing, moral , responsible leaders  are a blessing  from God , for they do much under God to  prevent   all sorts of evils  that would undermine the moral fibre of our society.

So  then, far from resting on our laurels  let us learn to  encourage our leaders  in  the future  by regularly praying for them, and  by regularly reminding them that there is a God in heaven  to whom all earthly authority  must  one day give an account (Philippians 2:9,19) . Let  our churches  help our  political leaders by  raising up  God fearing  people and citizens  by  the  faithful preaching of the  Word of God.

People that fear God  will be   positive, constructive  citizens   which will make  a land governable  and  biblically  prosperous.

NAMIBIA - A NATION OF SICK MEN ?

Today’s  headlines ( 24/02/2014) in   “The Namibian” carried the title, “Nation of sick men”  written by Shinovene Immanuel and  Nomhle Kangootui.

This headline  comes  in response  to  the ninth killing  this year, and the sixth in about three weeks  of women  by their boyfriends.  The last killing, on Saturday   was said to  be  a 33 year old  Motswana  woman  who was  stabbed nine times and who had her throat slit in her flat at the Paulinium  Seminary. It was said that she was studying to become a pastor.

The article reminded us  that this gruesome murder came  hours after President Pohamba’s call, during a cabinet meeting on Friday, for a day of   national prayer.  He declared the 6th of  March as the National Prayer day.   Our church will  certainly join this initiative !

What  then shall we say?

Clearly, all this  deeply troubling. The   blood of these nine murdered women cries out from the ground. The heart of the nation  is  laid bare  at such times.  Deep anger  is expressed  and scape goats  are sought. The government is blamed, and  the church is blamed. Much heat and little light  is generally shed  on the true causes  of  such atrocities. The Namibian  Newspaper allowed  someone in their ranks to vent  their (uncontrolled) anger   against our President’s  call to prayer on the front page.  The article  (found below for your interest and information )  reflects  anger  upon anger. We are dealing here with an angry  newspaper  editor and  an   angry nation!

Back to the horrible murders. What shall  we  say about  the murderers? Our  psychologically  conditioned  society  says:   “These are  sick men!”  Sickness is thus  blamed for their actions, and if you take that  thought further, you could say , “their  sickness made them do it!”  That gives them sort of an excuse, doesn’t it ?

Here’s where Christian wisdom comes in. Biblically  we would not call them sick men.  These are angry men  who did this.  Anger is a sinful emotion,  which when not controlled   leads to all sorts  of pathological problems. The Bible  wisely observes : “Do not let  the sun  go down on your anger , and give no opportunity to the devil “ (Ephesians  4:27).  Well, clearly the  devil has had his day! He has found another  member of the human race  willing to perpetrate  a crime  which,  according to the Scriptures,  is worthy of the death penalty!

 “Why are these men angry?”  I remind you that we all  get angry at times. But  we, who come from  healthy  Christian families learn to control our anger.  I can assure you that these men did not do  this on the spur of a moment. Their hearts  were already filled with so much  accumulated anger, that  the argument   which they had  with their so- called girlfriends  was merely the straw that broke the camel’s  back. 

Much more needs to be said as  to why  there are so many angry men in our nation. Here are  a few  considerations  which contribute to  our understanding of the “angry man  syndrome” . These considerations  are rarely, if ever,   discussed in the media :

1.      Men, when they were young boys,  were not helped  by their families to deal with their anger. Absent fathers and mothers  are the curse of our nation.

2.       Anger is a most destructive emotion. Bottled  up anger  leads to  all sorts  of  societal  problems: suicide , murder , alcoholism , drugs etc.  

3.       Systematic biblical teaching  and application in the home and in the church on the subject of    proper relationships  and  the dealing with the emotions  ( including anger)   would certainly have  helped such men.

4.      Men  are often  provoked  by  the  vicious , uncontrolled tongue of a woman. A woman can drive a man to insanity.  When provoked,  men   tend to be physically violent . The woman by contrast, lacking physical strength   provokes with the tongue, and the tongue is a small  instrument that  has often set the world on fire!  Having said this, it  does not excuse  such  a  horrible deed, but it must be considered  as a factor.

5.       The marginalization of men  and the constant ridiculing and downplaying  of the male figure in our society  is  beginning to reap bitter   consequences.  The Ndeshi and Jakes column in the Namibian newspaper bears eloquent  testimony to that. Jakes clearly  is the ever  stupid  male!

6.      The  current   ‘gender  agenda’   blurs the  distinct  identity  and traditional roles   of  male and female. It  generally  favours women.  Men grow silently angry and frustrated in the process.    

7.       The Bible has amazing wisdom  to offer  concerning  the healthy  interaction between men and women. Men are called to be Christ-like  loving leaders , and women are called to be  Christ-like  partners . That is the secret ! And it really works .

The question I have  is this : Are Namibians willing to  listen to the wisdom of the Word of God?  You may be surprised  to find  the answers  here to your ultimate questions!

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Here is the article on the front page of “ The Namibian” (24/02/2014)   by  an unknown  writer . I  have expressed my surprise and disgust to the Editor of the Namibian for such  poor journalism.  

God Save us from Who?

IF OUR government is in such a hopeless state that President Hifikepunye Pohamba, his entire cabinet and the Swapo Politburo call for divine intervention to solve a nationwide problem then Namibians should be very worried.

The declaration of 6 March 2014, a Thursday, as a national day of prayers is nothing short of government’s acceptance that the politicians, who we voted into power, are overwhelmed by the challenges and have failed the masses.

Most worryingly, not only has the President, the cabinet and Swapo disregarded the very Constitution they enacted and which they are sworn to defending, but may well have sown the seeds for religious fundamentalism.

In a country founded on the principles of secularism, it is worth posing the questions: What god are we calling on for divine intervention? Whose god do we pray to? Who should people pray for [victims, criminals, would-be victims and would-be criminals we assume]? How far will the state take religion and religious interventionism now that the government brings the country to a standstill in order to pray?

Needless to say, the agnostics and atheists have been cast aside from this equation.

It may not be obvious now, but many moons down the line different religious groups (including the dominant ones such as Christianity, Islam and Judaism in our part of the world) and their different denominations would most likely begin fighting for turf.

Where religion predominates, and different sects start to demand control, views harden, killings and violence become the order of life. Evidence of religion-driven violence abound in the United States of America, China, India, Palestine and Israel, Afghanistan, Nigeria, the Sudans and the Central African Republic.

To the contrary, no proof exist that the absence of religion is the cause for common crimes such as murder and theft.

Our government will be better served by sticking to defending the Constitution in its totality and tackling challenges facing Namibians head-on without having to take a day off for prayers.

Besides, the rot is at the top where several leaders have publicly and privately been implicated in cases of violence against women and children (both domestic and in public).

President Pohamba has listed 13 points, including the day of prayers, as actions his government needs to take. How cynical!

All of those could have been acted upon many years ago – violence against women and children is an old problem in our country. Some, such as the proliferation of alcohol and drug consumption, have been ignored and tacitly encouraged over the years.

A crucial catalyst for despair and lawlessness – poverty in the land of plenty – does not even get a mention.

It is not the political leaders’ place to lead religious activities. And there’s nothing wrong with our Constitution. In the absence of complete capitulation, therefore, they must do to the job [fulfil promises] based on what they convinced Namibians to vote for them.