Clergy has added to crisis facing religion

What you need to know:

  • The clergy cannot escape blame for the increased vices associated with religion and places of worship.
  • It is the duty of all Kenyans to strive to stop this retrogressive trend that is threatening the very foundations of our national unity.

While police have been accused of using excessive force in their security operations, the clergy cannot escape blame for the increased vices associated with religion and places of worship.

Reports of illegal activities in mosques and churches paint the picture of a society that has lost respect for morals.

Pastors and sheikhs have been in the spotlight in recent times, the former accused of commercialising religion and the latter of helping in the radicalisation of youths and engaging in terrorist activities.

No matter the branch of religion one attests to, even as an atheist, it is generally agreed that religion has over time stood out as one of the pillars of stability in society.

Violent robbers have been known to shun their evil ways, the greedy have been taught self-satisfaction, the institution of marriage has been nurtured, and peaceful mediation promoted through the influence of religion.

However, these gains are being reversed by the very people who have the authority to inculcate them in us.

Muslim clerics at the Coast have been killed in mysterious circumstances, with reports alleging that their fate was sealed by the perception that they either opposed the government or supported it.

The National Intelligence Service has said that certain mosques have been turned into breeding grounds for youths preparing to join Al-Shabaab terrorists.

COMMERCIAL BENEFITS

Mediation is slowly fading from our churches, with bishops and other officials preferring to seek the intervention of courts of law to resolve their disputes with fellow clergymen.

Pastors set up churches with the sole purpose of gaining commercial benefits by charging for prayers and advice to their desperate followers.

Some are even faking healing and miracles to attract more followers and money. A recent exposé of one such a “pastor” showed the rot that has invaded our places of worship.

This deterioration of morals saw people who had sought refuge in a church in Kiambaa during the post-2007 election violence locked in and burnt to death.

Not so long ago, gunmen stormed a church in Likoni, killing and injuring scores of worshippers.

In Masjid Musa this week, a youth was killed and several guns, ammunition, and other weapons found by police in a security operation.

It is the duty of all Kenyans to strive to stop this retrogressive trend that is threatening the very foundations of our national unity.

I am a firm believer in the supremacy of human rights. There can never be justification for the infringement on the rights of ordinary citizens.

Our youths must, therefore, be made aware that they will not escape punishment for killing a fellow human being, irrespective of their religious or tribal affiliation.

We must make sure that what happens during our lifetime sets the trend for future generations.

Clergymen and women should see themselves as instruments of sociopolitical and economic progress, as people with the potential to influence the masses and take us towards a peaceful and prosperous Kenya.

The writer is a mass communication student at Technical University of Mombasa. ([email protected])

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