Govt risks religious wars with Lokodo’s policy
July 3, 2017
Written by JOSEPH KABULETA
Throughout
the past three decades of ‘peace ushered’ in, Ugandans have lived in the
knowledge that while collective peace prevails, an individual’s peace
only exists when certain lines aren’t crossed.
The few people who overstepped their boundaries were used as examples to remind us that the offside rule still applies.
The 1995 Constitution is a wonderful
document that grants us several freedoms, but mature citizens know that
those beautifully-crafted words hold only when you are not flagged
offside.
Even scribes and editors know that media
freedom has its demarcations; they are not drawn in the sand or
inscribed anywhere, but we instinctively know where they are and few
dare cross the line. There is a name for that game; it is called
survival. They survive, we survive.
Up until now, the only place where the
pleasant words of freedom carried in the Constitution have been enjoyed
without linesmen standing either side with a red flag has been religion.
That’s where all theories and theologies
have been put to the test to be approved or disapproved by believers.
The pious, the charismatic, the outlandish and even the outrageous all
had their stalls, and believers were free to choose which one to
patronize.
That is religion in its purest form;
every believer makes his/her choice because the Day of Judgment will be
about individual merit, not collective responsibility.
That was until some foxes started
hatching a sinister plot to infringe on our freedoms. Suddenly, linesmen
showed up on the touchline trying to impose themselves on us with a
‘policy to regulate affairs of Religious faith based organisations
(RFBOs).
The interim report that purportedly came
out of consultative meetings across the country exposes the proposed
policy for what it truly is; a sham, a charade, a work of charlatans
ready to sacrifice our most sacrosanct right – our freedom of worship –
for the fleeting benefit of donor money.
Imagine a policy that starts out
claiming it wants to “root out cults and false prophets” but winds up
saying that all religious organizations should be “cognizant of LGBT
issues” in order to fit into “modern global trends”.
It would be laughable if it wasn’t lamentable.
First, homosexuality is both illegal and
punishable in this country. So, we are faced with an awkward situation
in which the directorate of ethics and integrity, led by two renowned
Christian clerics (!), is promoting a practice that is forbidden both in
the laws of their faiths and their country.
Second, there is no way church leaders,
whom they claim to have consulted, can endorse a policy that will soon
force them to wed same-sex couples or be charged with discrimination as
it is in some countries.
But perhaps it’s about time we focused
on the ethical bankruptcy of the individuals pushing for this repugnant
policy. Fr Simon Lokodo has, on certain instances, been seen as someone
who speaks first and thinks later.
He is the man who wanted artiste Desire
Luzinda charged for being a victim of revenge pornography. When that
failed, he pushed for the purchase of a Shs 3.5bn pornography-detecting
machine. That failed too. This policy is likely to complete his
hat-trick of failures.
Pastor Joseph Sserwadda, the man pushing
for this policy, is a man whose exposition of the scriptures was much
sought-after in the early to mid-1990s.
But somewhere along the way – possibly
around 1996 when he stood for MP for Lubaga South and lost – something
snapped. A man once known for his spellbinding sermons became famous for
his craftiness.
A pastor who says that the Bible is
“nothing but a set of rules and regulations” is in danger of losing his
saltiness. If he thinks he can use his shrewdness to impose himself on
Born-Again believers as their leader, then perhaps his ambition is
bigger than his brains.
The tacit truce by which we have lived
in relative peace for three decades falls apart when our faith is
infringed upon. Just like we have known our boundaries and faithfully
kept them, government should also know its limits. Let us worship the
way we please. That’s not too much to ask.
Government should rein in on its charlatans at the ministry of Ethics and Integrity before they foment needless religious wars.
The words of Jesus come to mind: “And
fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul:
but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in
hell.” (Matthew 10:28).
The author is leader of Watchman Ministries in Kampala.
The author is leader of Watchman Ministries in Kampala.
