Pastors, leave politics to politicians!
Once again, a stunned world community watched helplessly for the past two weeks as the occupying force of Israel bombarded Palestine willynilly, leaving in its wake terrible atrocities. Women and children have been killed while hordes of families fled the desolation that once was their homes to pave way for a marauding occupier!
But then again, there is nothing new about the ongoing bombardments. They are part of a deliberate and well orchestrated plan of ethnic cleansing executed by the Zionist empire and its cronies, the United States of America.
The so-called State of Israel established by the United Nations in 1948 through the Balfour Declaration is an enigma wrapped in mystery. It is intrinsically Zionist imperialism founded by Theodor Herzl, which today masquerades as a religious imperative.
Its proponents unashamedly quote copious amounts of scripture to defend their deeds, but truth be told, the land to which these Jews from Europe returned, was always inhabited by Arabs practising Islam and Christianity before their arrival.
The sad part about Israel’s occupation of Palestine is that the former enjoys unbridled support from the USA and United Kingdom. It is a historical and economic necessity for the survival and maintenance of imperialism!
What obtains in Palestine – the fate of the Palestinians - is much like that of the Sahrawis in the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) commonly known as Western Sahara.
This North African country is currently under partial occupation from another occupying force – Morocco - who also enjoys the unlimited support of France in its campaign to defeat the ends of international law by denying Sahrawis their inalienable right to self-determination.
These two occupying forces (Israel and Morocco) are emboldened by the actions of their masters – USA and France – the former, which has also kept the Cuban people under a debilitating economic and commercial embargo since 1959 to this day!
No matter how much the peoples of the world protest against these atrocities carried out in Palestine, Western Sahara and Cuba – nothing will happen, simply because the perpetrators sit smugly at the apex of that undemocratic supranational body called the United Nations Security Council.
These powers – France, UK and USA – wield immense power and can arbitrarily veto any decision that they do not like. And in fact, that’s what they have consistently done since the League of Nations transformed into United Nations in 1946.
So, what can we hope for? Who will save the Palestinians and the Sahrawis from the clutches of settler colonialism? Who will lead the Cubans to the land flowing with milk and honey?
We all saw how Barack Obama tried to relax the age-old restrictions contained in the Helms-Burton Act only to be rebuffed by Donald Trump who reversed all the gains Obama had tried to make towards peaceful co-existence with Cuba.
The world was hoping that the new Biden administration would revert to the Obama position with respect to US-Cuba relations given that Joe Biden was Obama’s Vice President, but the foot-dragging makes us suspect that Biden may just be another pawn in the big Chess game of American empire building.
To be true, these atrocities will not be brought to an end by the peoples of the world, but by the citizens of the occupying forces – that is, the people of Israel; the people of Morocco and the people of America – hold the keys to Palestine, SADR and Cuba’s total liberation!
When the citizens of these nations finally break free from the web of lies that their administrations have fed them for this long, only then will they muster the courage to rise up against their governments and cause civil unrests, the type never seen before!
And when that eventually happens then can the world truly build democratic institutions that safeguard international peace, security and morality based on shared principles of equality.
But before then, the world must brace itself for intensified fighting as good battles evil, last week’s ceasefire between Hamas and Israel notwithstanding.
I had also meant to say one or two words about recent events in our local political front, especially pertaining to the allegations of sexual assault levelled against the president of Botswana Patriotic Front, Biggie Butale.
These are sensitive matters but my one concern has always been, what the heck do Pastors – men of the cloth – really want in a divisive vocation such as politics?
My naive submission is that any pastor that joins politics is a traitor, for indeed you cannot serve two masters! You will love one and despise the other!
And if the basis and object of religion is the salvation of souls, how then can we hope that a politicallyaffiliated pastor can bring together people affiliated to different political parties?
Surely he will be biased towards members affiliated to his political party to the detriment of other parties! So, therefore if God is for all men then God’s Will, cannot find expression in a man who affiliates to one party at the exclusion of others!
This is a total aberration and it goes for all pretenders irrespective of their affiliation.
The Redeemer once said that “My Kingdom is not of this world” and in another place He said, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s and unto God, the things that are God’s”.
Why do Pastors and so-called Prophets want to absolve themselves from this creed but demand the masses of the people to live by it?
This is treachery, insidiousness and hypocrisy at its very best! Men of the cloth are best serving one master, lest they become ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing!
This dichotomous anomaly exhibited by most of our local pastors partially explains Botswana Democratic Party’s unfettered rule.
For indeed if the Church, which should at best represent the voice of conscience and reason, finds itself entrapped in politics then surely society is in trouble!
Let all the pastors leave politics to politicians for God’s sake!