Politicians paying Church to remain mum

The more frequently I see Deputy President William Ruto the more I am reminded of his mentor, Daniel arap Moi.

Watching the Sunday news is like delving into the archives of KBC. Mr Ruto is a fervent churchgoer and uses the pulpit just as freely as Mr Moi. He too dishes out large amounts of cash in church fundraisers and intends to continue regardless of what the law may say about public servants and harambees.

Mr Ruto appears to have a particular preference for Catholic churches; Sunday last he was in Migori, the previous week Nakuru and before that he was bringing up the offertory gifts in Meru.

However, the sight of any politician preaching politics or religion in the sanctuary and before the tabernacle upsets me considerably. Of course the priest or bishop who invites or tolerates a bevy of media machines to invade the sanctuary is equally responsible. But you sense that the generous donation removes the frown and pays the bills.

COMES AT A PRICE

The contribution however comes at a price and may explain why the church has little to say on grave national issues and confines its statements to matters of the bedroom and administrative affairs like marriage fees and school uniforms. Politicians too prefer a church platform since they cannot be questioned or heckled; like the preacher, they have a captive audience.

It is equally imprudent to shun all politicians, working insulated and isolated from the daily affairs. The challenge is not to be compromised but for churches to actively engage the elected and appointed leadership class.

In our parish, we have hosted the Chief Justice, chief magistrate, governor, MP, woman representative, NLC chairman among others in the past year and none of them has spoken in church; nor have we gone begging for donations though God knows we could do with some help.

However, all of them attended public forums where the public were given space to interrogate them about everything from CDF funds to judicial reforms, from land grabbing to failed devolution projects.

This is the very obvious role of the faiths in public life: to engage the powers and hold them accountable; to be neither submissive nor aggressive; neither flight nor fight but actively engage them and change the power equation that dominates our systems.

In the process, faiths can seize the moral initiative, expose corruption and injustice in the system and take control of the power dynamic.

But how many would subscribe to this role? Recent research shows that 78 per cent of adult Christians in the US never spend any time in promoting social justice. You suspect that figure might be even higher in Kenya.

Jesus mentions ‘church’ a mere three times in the Gospels, but speaks of the ‘kingdom of God’ 135 times.

Bottom line, this kingdom of love, justice, peace and equality was what Jesus came to do on earth. The church was the means to do it, but God is fortunately not solely dependent on the church.

Pope Francis says ‘I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security’.

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