Maathai's last wish on Church, leaders

By Gakuu Mathenge

Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai waged unyielding battles against unholy alliances between politicians, businessmen and senior civil servants behind destruction of forests.

The Ndung’u Report on Land Grabbing (2004) vindicated her, as it lists the high and mighty as the beneficiaries of grabbing of forest and other public lands.

The explosive nature of the report is such that it is yet to be implemented. Prof Mathai stood up to these forces, leading protracted battles to reclaim Karura Forest, but she died before the title deeds could be revoked, and land legally restored to the Kenya Forest Service.

While her battles with forestland grabbers is well documented, less often highlighted is Maathai’s indictment on the Church, as a force that abetted and condoned tyranny, oppression and taught practices that perpetuated poverty.

Environmentalist Wangari Maathai (left) faces off with police at Karura Forest. Photo: File/Standard

Beneath the bold public persona that would infuriate and shake political power barons, Maathai was deeply spiritual, and drew her inspiration from famed spiritual leaders across the globe.

She lists her heroes to include religious leaders among them slain black American civil rights crusader Martin Luther King.

Also included are several Latin American Catholic priests and bishops assassinated by State agents in the 1980s and 1990s for standing up against land grabbing and displacement of the poor. Kenya is a deeply religious society but Maathai thought the religious leadership had not always used their positions to lead their flock to better their lives by standing up against destruction of the environment, resulting in degraded lives and human dignity.

Instead, she writes in her Replenishing the Earth (Spiritual Values for Healing Ourselves and the World): "Although the Bible may offer instructions to care for the Earth and not to waste God’s creation, some aspects of the modern Christian culture unfortunately encourage the reverse, citing a popular Christian hymn sang at funerals that This World Is Not My Home..."

Although the song may give solace to the bereaved, Maathai writes it promoted passivity and suppressed individual agency and responsibility to care for the environment. "The lyrics reflect on Christian’s true home being in Heaven…that my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue…which some take quite literally and ignore the bounty the Lord has given them on this planet," she wrote last year.

Earthly things

Christians may not be bothered with earthly things but they still needed water, clean air and food.

"They are not being honest with themselves. To respond to a planet being destroyed, and that may soon not sustain them, the faithful would help themselves if they were to sing: This world is definitely my home, and I am not just passing through," she writes.

Songs like these and some scriptures had been misused to create attitudes where people expect others, including God, to take care of them and fix everything that is not right about their environment and their lives, she says.

One of the Green Belt Movement’s fundamental values Maathai always taught during civic education meetings was self-empowerment, which she often referred to as "self-betterment".

In many of her speeches, her writings and books, she frequently quotes the Acts of Apostles reference to healing of a cripple by Apostle Peter.

She writes in Replenishing the Earth: "As the story goes, disciples Peter and John are walking in the environs of the temple in Jerusalem, when a crippled man who is carried every day on a stretcher into the temple, stretches out his hand to them to beg for money. Peter says to the beggar: I have no gold or silver, but what I have I give you; In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, rise up and walk…"

Social uplift

She says the story shows that special talents and gifts as Peter had can be used for social uplift.

However, some Christian practices in Kenya did not always reflect a force for good, or helpful in uplifting society, but tended to perpetuate oppression that borders on fraud.

She is critical of the popular all night vigils commonly known as kesha practiced by many Evangelical and Pentecostal faithful, in which they pray, sing, dance and drum all night, appealing for divine intervention.

"People believe if they prayed and drummed long enough, God may turn His attention to them, and provide them with riches, fame and whatever they desire…There is a disheartening passivity embedded in this practice … it is as if people are forsaking all belief in their own ability to a bring about the change they would want to see in their lives…For too many religious practitioners, being good requires passive acceptance of suffering in the hope of reward after death," she wrote.

One disturbing consequences of this disempowerment, she writes, is that those in authority – the clergy included – can use that passivity for their own ends.

"Unfortunately, many Christian churches are burdened with the historical legacy of being the bulwarks against change … many still own substantial tracks of land and are very wealthy. Indeed, in many African countries, land policies cannot be changed to benefit the poor without forcibly taking land from church organisations" she wrote.

She indicts the church for apparently siding with the powerful against the weak: "It remained dispiriting that the Church appears to side with the powerful, against the powerless, and demands from the poor more than they can afford. Instead of Rise Up and Walk, the message is Rise Up and Pay".

She longed for change: "I remain hopeful that, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, religion will become a liberating experience … How might Christian spirituality and commitment to service manifest itself in caring for the Earth?" she poses.