Religion and Politics: Integration, Separation and Conflict

God-fearing President Mnangagwa attends church service.

Both religion and politics have one common goal: that is to acquire political power and use it to fulfill their aims. However, to achieve this object, their methods are different. Religion mobilizes religious sensibilities of people in order to get their support to capture power; while politics uses intrigue, diplomacy, and makes attempt to win public opinion either democratically, if the system allows it, or usurps power with the help of army, if the society is under-developed and backward.

I get worried more when an unelected self proclaimed President of a country begins to frequent religious gatherings to which he is not a congregate, and makes politically inclined speeches that obviously smack of imbalance. 

The initiates of the American constitution foreso this in 1791 and made the first amendment which drew a line between the pursuit of national concerns and those of religious concerns,, the fusion between church and politics has never produced anything good, church is inherently autocratic by design, politics is democratic, real or illusory it remains a topic of another day.

The dangers of fusing the two are apparent in that church is oiled by faith whereas politics is oiled by informed or uniformed deciders, now when you as a leader go to church and latently campaign to boost your dwindling party followers you are abusing the vulnerability of the church goers, they come to church with an open mind, open to spiritual fillers, in total trust of their church leadership, who apparently have sold them for twelve pieces of silver.More frequent than not you hear such impostors telling you how they are the chosen of God, how they are the anointed leadership from God, and how their coup d'etats were a blessing from God through the visionary guidance of the church, blasphemy. 

I remember Grace campaigning wearing regalia from apostolic faith church, she could hardly quote a single verse verbatim but she was given the podium to spit into the mic. She spewed bile as highly anticipated and praised her husband fondly there was little mention of God except the part when she claims to be among the chosen of God, apparently it's a verse in the bible.ED is on record to have said God should kill the opposition, Jesus!! 

Thank God he doesn't take instructions from Zanu.But for those who don't understand, this propaganda monkey business of frequenting the church is meant to potray a cleansed man, in ED, he wants us to believe he has changed and deserves a second chance, that who are we to judge him for the actions of the past, that we must accept him as he is. 

Of course it's an innocent church visit.....who are we to see it for what it is not?

Daniel Nyaude
(SA based Academic & Political Research Analyst)