Religion is a matter of decision, not discussion or social practice

CIC Commissioner Florence Omosa is one of those amazing and enterprising women who are always on the move. They are characterized by a deep love for their country, the youth and their families.

Florence and her amazing team have been, quietly, doing the possible and impossible to train young leaders on constitution implementation, ethics and leadership.

She prevailed upon me to teach a session to a group of young elected leaders from four pilot counties. It was one of the most engaging sessions I have ever had.

At the end of the session, during tea break, somebody asked a couple of unexpected questions. The first was: Will Kenyan women ever become leaders? And, the second: Why should Good Friday be a public holiday if there is no State religion in Kenya?

I had made up my mind to avoid the second question and focus on the first one, on something about women leaders. I had even secured the way of drawing a smile on the face of the reader by writing how dramatic things changed for the first man, Adam, from day one: God put him to sleep and he woke up radically changed; he had undergone surgery, the world population had doubled and he was married. What a change!

I had made a list of quite a number of amazing feminine role models we have in the public and private sectors.

The list was led by the fantastic example the First Lady Margaret Kenyatta had given to young and old by running and finishing the London Marathon for a worthy cause. We are proud of such a first lady.

But alas! My editor asked, for the first time ever, if I would mind writing something about Good Friday. I decided to oblige and throw myself into the deep-end.

I’m not a theologian, but a Good Friday thought and a short Easter consideration is important when the country is going through a difficult period of insecurity and intolerance, where excesses by security forces have been denounced, where sacrifice, forgiveness and reconciliation need to be preached.

As I wrote in a previous blog, Article 8 of the Constitution of Kenya does not imply that religion should be banned. This would contradict the spirit of the Bill of Rights and the Constitutional Preamble, where we call upon God’s blessings on Kenya.

STATE SHOULD NOT TAKE SIDES

Article 8 rather reaffirms the principle established by the fact that Kenya is a diverse State, made up of many religious backgrounds. In fact, Article 8 reiterates the freedom of conscience and the principle of co-operation: The State should not take sides, but it has the obligation to acknowledge and respect the cultural and religious heritage of its citizens.

While the government should never coerce anyone into any specific religious practice, it should protect and even encourage widespread public freedom of religious symbols and behaviour. This principle was reaffirmed by the Lautsi Case, where in 2011 the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights reversed a decision by the lower Chamber, which had ordered Italy to remove any crucifixes from public educational spaces.

This is also why Kenya celebrates religious and secular feasts alike: Mashujaa Day, Good Friday, Eid-ul-Fitr…

But what do Christians celebrate on Good Friday? The death of Jesus. This is worth studying. Common sense and a genuine desire for truth should lead us to deepen our beliefs. Religion is a matter of decision rather than discussion; otherwise beliefs turn into mere superficial social practice, fashion or just hypocrisy; and we end up inevitably neglecting faith until we hit the deathbed.Too late!

TRY A BIT HARDER

We are usually on the move. We don’t have time to think much. We do not know why or where we are going, but we are going. This is why Jesus’ death, that took place more than 2000 years ago, invites each one of us to reflect upon life and death, to seek an inner personal conversion…and try a bit harder to be better.

We know for certain that Jesus died on a Friday around the 14 or 15 day of the Hebrew month of Nisan. The Gospels tell us that Jesus celebrated the Last Supper on the first day of the Unleavened Bread, when the Jews sacrifice the Passover lamb. This coincides with the night of Thursday-Friday. That night he was arrested and crucified on the afternoon of the following day, Friday.

Jesus spent Friday afternoon and Saturday in the sepulcher and then resurrected on Sunday morning, which is Easter Sunday, the Sunday following the Full Moon after 20^th March. This is why the Christian Easter celebration moves between March, April and May depending on the moon.

In such a short piece, I can’t do little more than encouraging you, dear reader, to seize the moment. These days give us that unique opportunity to slow down and think deeper about the meaning of our lives, loves and relationships. To pray in silence of a lonely church that each soul may one day become, in the words of William Ernest Henley, Invictus:

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll.

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul. 

Dr Franceschi is the Dean of Strathmore Law School.  [email protected]  Twitter: @lgfranceschi