A lot of people do not really understand why leaders have problems with educated people. The truth is that educated people have a way of exposing our own doubts about what we hold to be true. Imagine a situation where you read in a religious text that Jesus said that in heaven there is no marriage.
You the read in the religious text that you subscribe to that indeed Jesus was a prophet of God. You also know that in both the Jesus book and your book adultery is forbidden. You then come across an interpretation of your religious book that says when a male follower dies in a holy war against infidels he will be given seventy seven virgins in heaven.
An educated person will immediately start asking funny questions. She will wonder why there is a need for virgins in heaven if there is no marriage in heaven. She will also ask why there is a need for virgins given that in the absence of marriage any sexual contact with the virgins will be adultery. She will also wonder whether in heaven adultery is not a sin and is therefore permissible.
More importantly an educated female will wonder whether the capture of virgins does not arise from your mistrust of God. I mean if you have any doubts about the promise of seventy seven virgins after you die in a holy war, you may decide to hedge your bet by capturing young virgins. In Setswana there is a saying “ ja pits eke jo bo mo mpeng, jo bo konte e swa e bo lebile” loosely translated to “ a horse’s grass is the one in its stomach”. You do not want people to know that your actions actually demonstrate your lack of faith so you make a request for the release of prisoners.
What I am demonstrating is exactly why some leaders and certain self proclaimed defenders of the faith hate education. Ultimately when you interrogate their actions you realize that it is fear of exposure of their lack of faith that motivates their actions. I remember reading one book, I believe it was by Stephen Hawking, whereat he says that the Roman Catholic Church said that they could study the Big Bang but that they should not go behind this, for to do so will be to seek to know God’s secrets.
Leaders and self proclaimed defenders of God never realize that even if they were to eliminate everyone their lack of faith and trust in God will not disappear, for it is internal not external. Imagine the situation such as what we have seen happen in Botswana. The government loses a constitutional case and decides that it is not going to deploy its vast radio and television network to inform the people of this country that it lost a constitutional court case and educate it people as to why the Court of Appeal pronounced a certain law unconstitutional. Instead the government deploys its vast facilities to inform the nation that the sitting president won a motor bike race.
The thing about a court pronouncing a law to be unconstitutional is that the constraints placed on a court are enormous. The court must try as much as possible to interpret the provision of the law in a way that makes it consistent with the constitution. Imagine a situation where you write a composition in a test. You put some words together and submit the paper to the teacher. The teacher is then enjoined to read what you have written to give you a mark. The teacher is told that he must read what you have written in a way that makes it possible for him to conclude that you have answered the question. It is fairly clear that under these circumstances you must have written complete rubbish for the teacher to come to the conclusion that you have not answered the question at all. So for a court to conclude that a certain provision of the law is unconstitutional that provision must be really bad.
Imagine a situation where you are a soldier and your wife is a clerk in the public service. Your employer comes to you and says “ I love you but not your wife, so I am going to increase your salary and allowances” Chances are you will be annoyed by such conduct. Most families need two breadwinners. An increase in the salary of one but not of both does not advance the interests of the family in a situation of daily increases in the cost of living. If you increase the salary of the husband but not that of the wife you are not advancing the interests of the family. Only a stupid husband or an abusive one will find comfort in only their salary and allowances being increased because it will give him more control over the poorly paid wife.
When leaders set out to divide the working class they should sometimes take a pause to understand what the message they are sending to the people is. It does not make sense to seek to divide families along income lines. We cannot talk about gender equality and then increase the salaries and allowances of a sector dominated by males to the exclusion of those dominated by females. We have for ages refused to allow women to join the armed forces. This means that we should be conscious of where we come from when we make decisions.
In regard to political analysts I must say I feel sorry for them. Imagine a situation where two guys see a beautiful lady. One rushes to the lady and says “ I love you”. The other comes up to the same lady and says “ I love you and will provide for you and our children”. The first lover accuses the second of saying the same thing as he did and also claims that by saying that he would provide for the lady and their children the second lover was merely stating what was in his plan for the future. An expert in matters of the heart then called upon by a local newspaper to analyze the prospective lovers’ proposals. Instead of declining the university professor suggests that the first lover was standing on the right and that the second was standing to the centre. The audience is left confused and decides to base its choice of who of the two lovers it likes.
What I state above is what I have observed about our political parties, newspapers and political analysts. Our people are not being educated to know that liking someone is not a choice of economic policy. If I have for close to fifty years managed the economy of the country in a manner that has failed to take into account the emerging young population liking you is not going to change the situation. If I have two generations of educated Batswana marginalized from the mainstream economy I do not include them in the economy by liking a certain politician. I have never come across an economic problem that has been solved by liking someone of a certain political party.
I have read that in the bible God says that we shall survive by the sweat of our brow. This suggests that I have to think and work hard in order to survive. But because our politicians know and believe that God cannot be trusted they come up with a better solution. They want us to like them.
Apparently if you like a certain politician you have found a solution to an economic problem. I know a lot of people who like politicians who are in power but they are dirt poor. This should show them that liking someone is not a solution to your economic problems.
There are churches which teach of breakthroughs in life. In the opinion of these churches God is not telling the truth in regard to what one has to do in order to succeed in life. Contrary to God’s position that one must think and work hard all one has to do is pray and pay tithes and then there will be a breakthrough. Apparently God does not know what he has created. To protect against God’s errors our rulers place us in feeding programs and allow us freedom to worship. The minute a priest starts telling people that they have to work hard and to acquire knowledge about the different economic theories and policies he is labeled a politician, something that apparently is a bad thing according to our politicians.
Ultimately what our leaders and self proclaimed defenders of the faith really believe is that God cannot be relied upon to have created good and patriotic citizens. That is why they have to be kept ignorant. If you do not doubt God you will allow his creations to acquire knowledge.
