The whole idea of religion and church was men’s brainchild. Look, people give God male pronouns. That Jesus was male is not in contention. All his disciples were men. Jesus founded Christianity. Men have been at the forefront in as far as propagating Christianity is concerned. All the New Testament books were authored by men. Men make a majority of pastors, priests and so on. What’s more, men, like women, not only like but are interested in God. Men, just like women, call themselves religious; they pray regularly. Oh yeah, make no mistake, men, like women, want to go to heaven. However, the gender gap with regard to church attendance in Kenya and the world over has continued to increasingly expand over time. The church congregation in Kenya is predominantly made of women and children, a trend that has got pastors scratching their heads. And even among the children, boys opt out when they become young men. The million-dollar question is, why do men dislike going to church? Take, for instance, John Kehenjo, a Nairobi resident. Despite his wife going to church regularly, he can’t recall the last time he went to church. Tales have been told of many, like Kehenjo, who hate going to church, so much that the only time they set foot in church is during special occasions like Christmas Day, Easter, or during weddings. Of course, this they do after being pestered. For others, the only time they recall being in church was during a heavy downpour, and church was the only nearby shelter! Church is for women, children “Church is for women and children. Going there makes me feel awkward as it feels for a man to go to a women’s chama; I would feel out of place. Church is predictable and boring, especially Catholic, which I used to attend. Sitting down to listen to a fellow imperfect and sinful man lecturing me on righteousness for hours on end wasn’t making a lot of sense to me,” Kehenjo opines. He adds: “There are things that are just feminine like holding hands, hugging, singing and dancing and you can only catch me dead doing them.” He concludes by saying that the melon that broke the monkey’s back was the fact that in Catholic, they would chorus virtually everything, from bible verses, prayers and other routines, making mass extremely boring. Tim Kawewa, a businessman in Nairobi, says he only goes to church to please his wife. He gets bored in church and can’t help it. To make wife happy “My wife is born again. She made me stop drinking, smoking but has been unable to get me saved. Sunday is my worst day of the week because I have to wake up early, go to church in solidarity with my family, just to make her happy. But I really get bored. Most of the time, when I am not absent-minded, I am yawning, dozing off or on my phone, of course to the chagrin of my wife,” explains Kawewa, adding that his wife is so obsessed with church that she gets on his nerves but for the sake of the marriage, he pretends to be OK with it. “She walks around with a small bible in her handbag, always reading it even in the bedroom. She keeps quoting T.D Jakes, Joel Osteen and the likes,” he says.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 17:32:11 +0000
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