In the aftermath of the worldwide pandemic, it has become necessary that religious institutions set the agenda on moral regeneration and not wait for politicians to tell them what role they should play to move societies forward. For the context of Botswana, the devastation from the flu-like virus harks back to the last decade of the 20th-century when the sting of death was felt across the shattered landscape resulting from AIDS. Priests, imams, and prophets are pumped up to welcome the month of September because they traverse the breadth and width of the desert land preaching love, inspiring hope, and rekindling faith in unison.
The month of prayer as September is known, is the only period when interfaith dialogues are happening and “hot potatoes” including ailments of sorts, violence, road accidents, and marital divorce are tackled in unceasing prayers that start in the twilight hours. The religious associations representative of the major faiths: dikereke tsa semoya, dikereke tsa molao, dikereke tsa pholoso, Roma, ZCC, Sabata, Bahai, Muslims and several others, suddenly realize the strength in unity to harmonize messages beyond the differences that keep us apart from one another. But whose agenda is it to have the faiths come together to launch a prayer crusade against these ills? Taking the lead has always been the Botswana Christian HIV and AIDS Intervention Program (BOCHAIP) a PEPFAR-funded nonprofit, and in recent years, to accommodate diversity across faiths, Botswana Faith-Based Organizations Networks for HIV/AIDS (BOFABONETHA) has provided a steer for religious institutions to join hands in addressing a myriad of these concerns.
The role of religious institutions in a democracy cannot be limited to a specific month because unlike other forces, they are about building good character, retaining virtues necessary for interpersonal relationships, and training for leadership in all spheres of influence. Religious institutions are the only force in a person’s life that is there when a baby is welcomed and when the coffin is lowered to the ground, as such; there is no way such influence can be pushed to the margins if all we care about is to live in a governable society. But there is everything horribly wrong about religious institutions that wait for politicians to get them involved in carrying out their cardinal duty bestowed upon them by the supreme deity. Religious leaders have adopted the backseat position in a democracy and throughout the year, we are looking in the other direction when stinking corruption is happening under our noses.
Throughout the year, we place no emphasis on family life and the need to undertake visitations to those downtrodden members of society in need of soothing by the anointed shepherd proclaiming hope in their distress. Outside the month of September, the religious leaders turn a blind eye to the violence that depicts us as a nation of savages where children are murdered in cold blood, girls are defiled and incest is rife in homes, females are butchered by jealous lovers in fits of rage. Often, religious institutions stay away from peacemaking roles between the warring parties all around us. Religious leaders consider it taboo to wade into the debate regarding skyrocketing youth unemployment and the probable correlation with high rates of heinous crimes that show no respect for the sanctity of life. Waiting for the month of September to crisscross Botswana, even reaching the remotest settlement to take the message of hope over a plethora of these human condition concerns, indicts the divine calling.
The minute-by-minute tick on the clock suddenly puts the month of September behind us and another vicious cycle of poverty, unemployment, violence, ritual murders, passion killings, uncontrollable inflation and God knows what else, grows by the day and that is the routine in the life of an average citizen expected to congregate in the sanctuaries on worship days. The religious institutions are under siege, and we have no one to blame but ourselves because we have “trusted in the chariots and horses” that we are ever comfortable riding to posh homes and plum jobs offered to us on a silver platter by politicians we should hold accountable from a moral perspective. One can hardly find the difference between religious leaders and senior government officials who patronize political parties and our colours are nailed to the masthead for the naked eye. Journalists do a better job to safeguard the posterity of the nation as a watchdog institution than the religious leaders are doing to conscientize politicians across aisles to remember the campaign promises that got them snugly seats in the law-making house.
Increasingly, religious leaders have shown a penchant for political power so much that across the diverse faiths, partisan politics have infiltrated the conscience of the nation wherein these messengers think a lot more about how they can make bread for their families than they are concerned about getting the masses out of tough conditions. After all, who can “bite the hand that feeds him?” From the tenders we cannot live without, the plum jobs we can be appointed to the next morning, to the allocation of prime land for our organizations, all these have enslaved us to choose earthly masters over the one we will stand before to account on judgment day. Instead of speaking truth to power about the realities in our land, religious leaders sell out one another!
Rather than wait for the month of September to confront these serious concerns we are accustomed to daily, the concerted voice of the religious leaders should be heard throughout the year, we should not hesitate to stand in the gap and rise on principle to declare a position and go home hungry. We are not referred to as the “conscience of the nation” for nothing, we must listen to the inner voice and be guided by justice for everyone, not some first-class citizens. The religious institutions, if they treat their calling seriously, will keep politicians on their toes, resulting in services reaching every citizen, even in the remotest parts of the vast land. Let the religious institutions engage in activism for social justice, let us have interfaith dialogues to share perspectives on how to keep the crime rates negligible, and may the religious institutions lead the way in grooming children. All these need not wait for a single month in the whole year. What are we saying?
*The author is the Head of New Temple of the New Jerusalem and OAIC International Communications focal person across Southern Africa.
