Pentecostal Churches in Africa. The Pentecostal Churches in Africa Cameroun´s President, Paul Biya, scored a first when he decided to close some Christian churches in his country. According to a CNN report…’President Paul Biya has ordered the closure of nearly 100 Christian churches in key cities, citing criminal practices organized by Pentecostal pastors that threaten the security of the West African nation.’ …”We will get rid of all the so-called Christian Pentecostal pastors who misuse the name of Jesus Christ to fake miracles and kill citizens in their churches. They have outstretched their liberty,” Mbu Anthony Lang, a government official in Bamenda, told CNN The latest in what appears to be a long line of mishaps is the death of a 9-year-old Christian girl. According to CNN…..”On Sunday, a 9-year-old Christian girl collapsed and died during a prayer session in Winners’ Chapel, a Pentecostal church in Bamenda. The girl’s mother, Mih Theresa, told CNN Wednesday that the pastor intended to cast out the numerous demons that were in control of her daughter’s life” Since the above report hit the air-waves, a lot of debate has been going on between those who support the government action, and those who militantly see it as an oppressive measure by a government. I cannot claim to have read every opinion that has been expressed on the issue, but these can be classified in two: Those who support President Biya, opine that the Pentecostal movement has become completely infested with false pastors, who only cheat, confuse and exploit the citizenry; and Those against the President´s order, argue that he has no right to close the churches and deny the people their fundamental rights to religious worship. The glaring truth, however, is that religion has taken on extreme dimensions in Africa. This is because of the continent’s harsh realities of existence. In the 19th century, Karl Marx dubbed religion as the opium of the people. This Marxism has since been amended to mean the opium of the poor. Africans are nothing if not poor, and so religion plays a correspondingly greater role in Africa than in other economies. The politicians of most African countries have failed their nations by not providing good governance. The majority of the people live in abject poverty, even in those nations that are blessed with mineral resources. The masses watch helplessly as their leaders arrogantly enrich themselves and their cohorts from the public coffers without regard to the ordinary man. Some even greedily cling to power just so they remain in control of the resources available in their nation. These politicians are responsible for creating the multitude of disillusioned and desperately poor who must seek succor in religion. The astute individuals who recognized this need were the first to form Pentecostal movements. With the growing despair in the populace brought on by the deteriorating economy, these self-appointed messiahs keep multiplying exponentially. Now going back to the girl in question, no one can say for sure what was wrong with her. Since there are no hospitals for adequate medical care, it can only be guessed that she may have had a form of nervous or mental disorder. In this setting, it is no wonder that an agonized mother is forced to accept that her beloved child is possessed. She has to believe in something, even something as obnoxious and dastardly as demonic possession, so long as someone has promised succor; that is the level of her despair! These people need hope. They need to believe in something, anything, and a miracle best fits the bill. The harsh reality of subsistence living without basic amenities is largely unimaginable by anyone who has not experienced it. Take Nigeria, for instance. It is a large country blessed with crude oil and many other mineral resources like coal, tin, palm oil, peanuts, cotton, rubber, wood, and more. Under normal circumstances, the government should be in a position to provide its citizens with basic amenities. Due to corruption and greed, however, basic amenities like running water, electricity, good roads, schools, and hospitals are grossly inadequate. The economy forces more than 55% of its 160 million people to live below the poverty line. In the big cities, the disparity between the rich and poor is so sharply defined that the poor must have relief or else mentally perish. The poor man who sleeps in a hot crowded room with no ventilation, no electricity or running water, no money for one square meal a day, and no hope of betterment, is an ideal candidate for the Pentecostal pastor, fake or otherwise. The pastor gives him hope. He preaches that all will be well, that one just needs to have faith and believe in the Almighty God. After all, God is so merciful and loving that He sent His beloved son Jesus to die for our sins and set us free. The poor desperate man is told that God loves him unconditionally and will eventually make all his problems go away. He is asked to have faith, to believe and pray, so he prays and he prays and he prays. He is also asked to sow a seed of faith by contributing a percentage of what little he has for the upkeep of the Church and the holy men who do God´s work. So he prays and he pays his tithe, no matter how small. But when you imagine the multitude of millions who believe, pray, and pay, you will see why these myth-sellers are so stupendously rich that many of them own private jets. Meanwhile the poor folks who are the real pillars and mainstays of these churches keep praying and paying. They never actually get better of course but once in a while, something good happens to someone and it is widely celebrated. Nothing really changes for the poor man, though; sometimes he despairs and goes from pastor to pastor, seeking utopia in different churches but not finding it anywhere. A few smart ones become pastors and eventually form their own churches. They become rich, and thereafter testify to God´s love for those who persevere and keep the faith. So largely, as the economic situation of the people gets worse, that of the militant Pentecostal churches blooms and booms. What then is my point here and on whose side am I? It is this question that has prompted this article for I find myself thoroughly confused. Should one take away the one thing that gives the poor, desperate and needy some solace? I think not. The poor man needs hope just the way a sick man needs medicine. Some privileged people who have diabetes or high blood pressure take daily medication to remain healthy. They have to pay for the medicine which keeps them relatively healthy without necessarily curing the illness. The sick depend on the medication, just the same way the poor depend on religion to keep them hoping and mentally healthy. So just like the sick, the poor must also pay for their daily doses of the mind-sustaining hope. On the other hand, if our African politicians were suddenly, God forbid, to develop consciences, become less greedy, reduce corruption, actually love their countries, provide basic amenities and reduce unemployment rates, there would be a lot less people needing that elusive miracle. Consequently the influence of the Pentecostal churches would diminish and they’d begin to collapse and fold up, one after the other. So President Biya has taken a small hesitant step, but can he go the whole hog or does he intend to create a vacuum? Can he help to educate and reduce the poverty level of his people and provide them with basic amenities, or is he just afraid of the critics? - Azuka Thomson is a German Based Nigerian Writer and Columnist
Posted on: Mon, 19 Aug 2013 18:24:32 +0000
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