Religious Freedom flourishes in Zimbabwe

As the persecution of Christians is on the increase in some parts of the world, the issue of religious liberty is increasingly becoming a contemporary global issue.

Two weeks ago, the Seventh Day Adventists (SDA) converged in their tens of thousands at the Glamis stadium to celebrate the religious liberty they enjoy in Zimbabwe. Speakers at this function, including the Minister of State for Harare Metropolitan Province, Mirriam Chikukwa, underlined the need for warm inter-religious relations.

The SDA, renowned for their non-participation in politics, could not resist the urge to thank the ruling political leadership for protecting the religious liberty. The President of the Public Affairs and Religious Liberty (PARL) department in the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division (SID) of the SDA, Dr Paul Charles thanked the Zimbabwean government for adjusting the national election days. He said now that elections were no longer held on Saturdays (Sabbath), their day of worship, the Adventists now have an opportunity to cast their vote.

However, the issue of voting caused uproar within the extremist elements of the church, who believe that Adventists have no business in the ballot box. They say Adventists only vote in a referendum when religious liberty is under threat.

A few days later, an inter-religious dialogue was held in the country to show gratitude to President Robert Mugabe's government for the religious freedom prevailing in the country. Zimbabwe is a country of tremendous religious diversity, thus its constitution recognises, guarantees and protects religious liberty. As a result, there are no inter-religious hostilities as obtaining in other countries.

It greatly pains this writer that some Christians take the religious liberty in this country for granted. Some bogus religious liberty activists such as Elizabeth Kendal, Canon Conger and Peter Pham try to portray Zimbabwe as a violator of religious liberty. These three saw the hand of Zanu PF in the leadership dispute within the Anglican Church. Zanu PF and its government have no preferred religion or church.

What these critics failed to realise is that, during the peak of the dispute, there were more Zanu PF ministers in the Gandiya faction than in Kunonga. However, there was very little that these ministers could do because the Anglican is not a religious arm of Zanu PF or government.

In Zimbabwe, it is rather the religion that persecutes the state. Recently, the apostolic sect, led by Madzibaba Ishmael, had the audacity to attack the state security apparatus. Some church leaders like Pius Ncube actually prayed for the death of the head of state while others were willing vassals in the project to dethrone a leader that God appointed (Romans 13v1). That's how far the excessive religious freedom in Zimbabwe has taken us to.

As much as religious freedom is a right intrinsically inherent in human nature, there are necessary limits to the exercise of this right. Some church leaders have been taking advantage of the excessive religious liberty in the country to engage in criminal activities. They have been accused of rape, abuse of women and children, theft, self-enrichment and other crimes. The state cannot stand akimbo while the rights of vulnerable people are gravely infringed upon. It's definitely not persecution if such leaders are called to account for their omissions or commissions and their churches banned.

Due to religious liberty in this country, two Congolese nationals had the nerve to appeal for government permission to start their Satanism church at Tongogara Refugee Camp last year. Even when being held at Harare Central Remand Prison while awaiting deportation, they still insisted on practising their faith. When they were arrested, some in the civil society castigated government for violating the Congolese's universal right to freedom of association.  

Surely some people have to visit some countries in North Africa, Latin America and Middle East to appreciate that Zimbabwe is a land for unparalleled religious freedom.

According to the Pew Research Centre, Christians faced oppression in 110 countries in 2012. In the same year, there was a serious deterioration of inter-religious relations with 33% percent of the countries on the globe recording high religious hostilities.

The world's attention is currently focussed on Nigeria and Sudan, which stand among the most egregious examples of African countries of particular concern for religious freedom.

According to Open Doors, an international organisation that supports persecuted Christians, Nigeria tops the list of countries where Christians face the most violent attacks for their faith. The alarming trend of violence in Nigeria over the past few months highlights the lack of religious freedom. It is reported that there were 2073 Christian martyrs in Nigeria between November 2012 and March 2014. On April 14, an Islamic terror group, Boko Haram, kidnapped at least 276 girls at a government secondary school in Borno State and forced them to convert to Islam.

Going to school, attending church and identifying oneself as a Christian is a very brave decision in Nigeria. In its mission to drive out Christians from Nigeria, Boko Haram has been targeting churches, blowing up and shooting entire congregants. In one gruesome incident, Boko Haram locked the doors of a church before the end of the service and shot at the congregation, slitting the throats of those who attempted to escape.

The other countries in the top ten list are Syria, Egypt, Central African Republic (CAR), Mexico, Pakistan, Colombia, India, Kenya and Iraq. Other countries known for violating religious liberty are Sudan, Lebanon, Malaysia, North Korea, Indonesia, Iran, China and many other countries in the Middle East, Latin America and North Africa.

Recently, Sudan hit the headlines for sentencing Meriam Ibrahim to hang for marrying a Christian and refusing to renounce her own Christian faith. Sudan has a law that ban Muslims from converting. Pastors have been shamefully arrested while preaching. At one time, bulldozers accompanied by police destroyed a 300-member church simply because it was located in a Muslim area.

I was recently chatting to a Christian friend in Pakistan who said he was contemplating relocating to Zimbabwe because Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif's government continued to persecute and condone the persecution of Christians. He said there were repressive blasphemy laws under which 50 of his relatives have been jailed. Christian villages have been burned and in cases where a Christian is accused of blasphemy, the neighbourhood gathers to punish him by burning him alive or lynching.

In countries like Syria, Christians are given three choices- to convert to Islam, pay jizya which is extortion money or the sword. They are forced to pay 14g of pure gold in exchange for their safety. They are not allowed to renovate their churches or display crosses and other religious symbols. It is also prohibited to pray in public.

In Indonesia and many other Islamic countries, it can take more than 10 years to get a permit to build a church. They enacted a new law where Christians are forced to follow Sharia law. Since then, Christian women have been harassed for not wearing veils.