Has God abandoned our religious leaders?
http://www.monitor.co.ug/OpEd/Commentary/Has-God-abandoned-our-religious-leaders-/-/689364/1628108/-/p1fyyv/-/index.html
By Prof. George Kanyeihamba
Posted Sunday, November 25 2012 at 02:00
In Summary
Uganda’s religious leaders have failed to explain the practice of
accepting material donations and expensive personal gifts from sinful
candidates during political and electioneering campaigns.On occasions, this columnist has defended religious leaders who publicly make constructive criticism about political acts of injustice and mis-governance. It is time that we examined the transgressions of religious leaders themselves. In the Church of Uganda, there have been satanic transgressions committed by high priests and other church leaders. After all, the Protestant Church and the Church of England, from which the Church of Uganda sprang, was founded by the heretic priest, Martin Luther, who was emulated by murderer King Henry of England. Henry ignored the causes that Luther had fought for.
Some leaders of the Catholic Holy Church have also greatly sinned against the laws of God and the Church. History records the grave sins of the mischievous early Popes of Rome, some of whom, contrary to church ethics, fathered illegitimate children from sinful or disgraced mistresses. In recent times, a Bishop of a devoted Roman Catholic country confessed to have fathered a son. In the Church of Wales, a local priest was convicted and jailed for sodomising young boys in public toilets.
In the same Principality, a Protestant clergyman was convicted and jailed for murdering his wife because he lusted after and ravished a wife of another man and wished to continue doing so. Some years ago, a golfing priest, Father Peter Sutton, revealed that many Ugandan young priests were dying of Aids and then confessed that we are all human after all. Muslim leaders have not been spared by the devil from sinning which they usually do by way of greed and embezzlement of religious property.
Despite all these bad examples, current Ugandan religious leaders appear to have learnt very little from them. The Protestants, who condemned the sale of indulgences in the early Roman Catholic Church are today doing the same. They may not know that they are doing so but the evidence on the ground is likely to lead many of them to eternal fire of damnation.
Today, Ugandan religious leaders are not only comfortable in the company of politicians who commit heinous offences condemnable both on earth and heaven, but they personally benefit from ill gotten gains of the same sinners. People were horrified recently when they saw a highly placed religious leader receive a gift from an equally placed political sinner who the same religious leader had previously and publicly condemned as evil.
Recently, another highly placed church leader blessed a political leader who many people, including the top leadership of the NRM party, believe to be corrupt and unprincipled. The only reason this seemingly hypocritical religious leader gave for his act is that he and the family of the politician he canonised have been friends for years.
Forgotten was the principle popularised by the Lord Jesus Christ that even if it is thy own eye which makes you sin, it is better to pluck it out than keep it, and fail to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Many religious leaders who prominently proclaim themselves to be holier than thou and their followers who praise and bless other people mainly for what the latter donate to them for personal use or pleasure, are amongst the worst sinners.
Uganda’s religious leaders have failed to explain the practice of accepting material donations and expensive personal gifts from sinful candidates during political and electioneering campaigns. Faced with a rich candidate who donated money to the church and a Pajero to him or her and another candidate who is too poor to do the same but is known to be honest and principled, a compromised a religious leader finds it easier to advise the congregation to vote for the rich corrupting politician than the innocent principled one. Part of the evidence God will use to judge his people, is the company they keep.
We have heard of the hypocritical church leader who harangued members of his church and said that sinners amongst them shall be struck down by thunderbolt from heaven. He was instantly hit by a huge boulder from the sky and stopped forever from uttering any further blasphemy.
Justice Kanyeihamba is a retired
Supreme Court Judge. gwkany@yahoo.com
