Spiritual things out of commission’s scope

THE hype surrounding the CRL Commission and its probes into churches and pastors is not understandable, particularly when allegations made by the alleged victims refer to witchcraft in the name of Jesus Christ. This in itself is blasphemous because it is not possible to associate God with Satanism.

Remember, Satanism is a religion allowed under the Constitution. So when the Commission investigates Satanism in churches, it does so on what grounds? To be blunt, the commission is an investigative tool of the government into how the growth of churches can be limited and managed politically.

The Commission is surely the brainchild of the South African Council of Churches of which some members are employed as chaplains in government entities while in turn these pastors earn from their churches, or as theologians at public institutions. The scandals never make it to the public domain.

The aim of the Commission then is to counteract the political threat posed by the political theology of the rising churches. As stated, there are no official figures by the government about how many new churches exist. All we have are accusations and allegations about a handful of pastors and their churches projected as a mirror image of what new churches are about.

When a witchdoctor or criminal poses as a religious leader it is not a crisis in Christianity, but a matter of socio-economic conditions which force desperate citizens to experiment with faith matters as a result of government failure.

The painful reality is that many people come to churches under serious spiritual bondages and are set free in Christ’s name. In its current form the commission’s mandate cannot address spiritual things.