We need heaven on earth, the same heaven our pastors and leaders are enjoying here
4 min readBy Boniface Mwangi, a Kenyan Human Rights Activist
Sunday, July 22, 2018 (PW) — A friend of mine was invited to speak at a gathering of pastors told. He told them that if all churches in Kenya closed, our economy wouldn’t collapse. They were terribly o ended, but what he said is true. Although mainstream churches are a pillar of the education and health sectors, the church in Kenya contributes almost nothing to the country’s GDP.
On paper, the church invests to send the faithful to heaven; the proverbial land of milk and honey. But in reality, the faithful mostly live hand to mouth, so that pastors can wallow in milk and honey right here on earth.
Nothing illustrates the moral bankruptcy within the church more than its shameless association with corruption. Instead of being a house of God, the church has become the institution that legitimises corrupt politicians by collecting sacks of stolen money from them amid ululations. The clergy have become so immoral that they leave pulpit for crooked, wife beating politicians who walk around with armed goons.
It was not always like this. The place of Henry Okullu, Maurice Otunga, David Gitari, Timothy Njoya, Ndingi Mwana-a-Nzeki in fighting injustice and agitating for a new constitutional order is sacrosanct. In days gone by, these men of the cloth spoke truth to power from the pulpit and fearlessly challenged state tyranny in di cult and perilous times.
The pulpit used to be a place where spiritual leaders would rebuke state sanctioned corruption, but it has now been turned into a place where the corrupt find refuge and share whatever they have stolen with the clergy. Every Sunday, corrupt politicians whose hands reek of theft occupy pulpits and lie how God has blessed them.
Churches have turned the faithful into meek, miracle seeking zombies who believe tithe supersedes hard work. Pastors have broken their fighting spirit to the point where they believe poverty is fine — even when it is state sanctioned. Our pastors have elected to pray for our bad leaders, especially when they hail from the same community, instead of launching the spear of God against them.
The church has enslaved our minds and broken us. Pastors are using the word of God to make money and have turned us into slaves who cannot challenge bad governance.
Yet Kenyans need heaven on earth, the same heaven our pastors and leaders are enjoying here. Our pastors, like our leaders, live in well-lit and gated mansions guarded by police or private security. Their children go to the best private schools here and abroad. They drive big cars and enjoy good medical insurance cover. We want that too, but it won’t happen if pastors keep praying for and receiving money from corrupt politicians who are stealing our wealth. We will never live in dignity if pastors cede the pulpit to the very politicians they should rebuke and shame.
It is not a coincidence that the slums of Kenya have more churches than toilets. These churches, like leaches, prey on the wretched of the earth, taking money from folks so poor that one dollar is a fortune. These churches merely act as pacifiers, keeping the poor sedated with prayers and the promise of heaven to stop them from fighting their oppressors.
You are poor because of Satan, the pastors say. But the devil isn’t to blame for our poverty. The devil hasn’t grabbed land or stolen public money. He doesn’t occupy public office. Kenyans must therefore stop blaming a faceless devil for their problems. He is that crooked thief who steals our taxes and wallows in the fat of the land while we bleed with poverty.
The clergy who welcome such devils into the House of God and pocket their dirty money should of themselves: What Jesus would do if he strode into these temples corrupted by greed and theft?
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