Cosy ties between religious and political class is unhealthy

The annual Lenten season has begun: a time for praying, fasting and showing mercy to the poor. The Catholic Church launched its annual Lenten Campaign in Nyeri last weekend with the theme ‘Uniting, Healing and Renewal of our Nation.’ The sceptics might regard it as a boost to the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) while analysts may wonder how long these campaigns will continue before Kenyans experience the change that the church is demanding through its social teachings. The doubters have a point. I have been attending, guiding and supporting these campaigns for over a quarter of a century. Yet, extraordinarily we are still addressing same problems of poor leadership, corruption, ethnicity and contempt for the rule of law that were rife during the Kanu regime. Is the church then wasting time and resources on a strategy not delivering results or must they take a radically new and different approach?

Of course the campaign does lay a lot of emphasis on individual change. That is critical if we are to expect transformation that includes everyone. It is important for at least forty days to remind Christians that commitment does not begin and end in the sanctuary; there is the call to transform society and each of the faithful has a duty to play their part in that. Informing, educating and provoking the consciences of the individual are all part of the church’s mission, but is that enough?

In its earlier days when information was scarce and controlled, Lenten Campaign materials were treated as seditious and treasured by not only Catholics but people of all denominations and faiths. The arrival of Easter and conclusion of the teachings were a relief for NSIS and the governing party. But politicians soon discovered that an aware and educated public may still not be a major threat to privileges, perks and tenders they continued to enjoy.

So rather than oppose the Lenten Campaign the political class jumped on the bandwagon and started attending the annual launch while reminding the nation that they too were God fearing. Whether invited or not, Catholic or otherwise, they continue to show up and take prime positions in the podium. Besides, they are always applauded, honoured and given the microphone to address the people. They will not be heckled, nor have to hide from a barrage of stone throwing Catholic youth. No, it is all very sedate, tame and predictable. While deliberate or otherwise, the message that the Church and the political class are sending is that they are working together to maintain the status quo and any changes that may be needed are just incremental because after all the country is in a very stable situation. Amen!

There is no urgency for change nor anger and outrage at the looting of the coffers. Christians are a generally well behaved, polite, tolerant and passive congregation who only take to the streets on Palm Sunday and Good Friday. Politicians, therefore, prioritise attendance at Church events, and donating cars and millions both sanctifies and sanitises their wealth. The church is no longer a serious threat to the looters of the country nor does it appear to have any significant role in the transformation of public life. There may be many committed prelates but when there are no clearly defined and understood boundaries and no rules for engagement between the church and the state then problems will arise as we recently witnessed. The consequence, however, is that the radical message of the man from Galilee is now tame, limp and domesticated while reconciliation and justice gets fixed with a handshake whose first anniversary some are celebrating. The cosiness of the relationships between the religious and ruling classes suggests that there is a lot more in common between them than differs.

Outside the church compounds, however, anger is raging and the anti corruption demonstration on Friday displayed that fury. Only a few politicians would dare to attend that protest and none would have the audacity to address the irate crowd. Anger alone is not enough but it is a good place to start when the evil that is grand theft has impoverished the nation and destroyed its morals. Cosy, comfortable relationships and persuasive talk is not getting us anywhere. If religion were to confront the evil, rediscover its mission and its integrity then it would transform life. If not, we will still be doing Lenten Campaign on the same themes for another twenty-five years.