Reverend Japhet Ndhlovu says calling Zambia a Christian Nation is a politically induced statement used only to appeal to people’s emotions.
That was the intro to an article headed ‘We are no longer a Christian nation —Rev Ndhlovu’ as published in The Post of Friday June 10, 2016.
The cleric wondered why there was so much violence and lawlessness in a country that is called Christian.
“That is why I get upset when we use the term ‘Christian nation’ for Zambia because it seems to me that it’s a politically induced statement which is used only at certain times to appeal to certain emotions and appeal to gullible people. If we indeed are a Christian nation, a Christian nation promotes love, Christian nation promotes peace, so where are all these people who say we are Christian nation and now cannot show that through peace, through love, through forgiveness, tolerance and all those virtues that are needed to promote a Christian community?”
We can observe that in principle, what makes a Christian at personal level will make a Christian nation at the societal and institutional level.
The practical expectations are the same, and for that reason even church leaders have questioned and in some cases rejected the Christian Nation Declaration for appearing to be only an idea which has not translated into laws, government, education system, and economic development—a tangible way of national life.
A critical look at The Law revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai shows that it served to lift the Hebrews to a higher plane of living than that of the nations around them in that it was superior to human laws. The Ten Commandments are the commonly known laws but both the Old and New Testaments tabulate standards for all areas of national and personal life.
To follow the reasoning of church-based critics of the Declaration, the education curriculum should have uprooted the evolution theory which scientists around the world have discredited in the last decade; and taught Biblical Christianity instead of mere religious knowledge which places Christianity at par with all other religions.
One school of thought holds that promulgating the Christian Republic of Zambia would go beyond recognizing a mere ‘statement’ or ‘proposition’ but an overarching drive towards a society centred and based on the Bible.
An open example exists: Certain nations are by law Islamic republics and they have without apology adopted Shari ‘a law into their governance and legal systems in whole or in part.
The typical Islamic Republic prohibits the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and setting up churches: You will be arrested and executed for carrying a Bible.
The Kuwait Times Online reported on July 2, 2016 that the Municipality had initially approved requests to build new churches in Kuwait, but faced opposition from lawmakers and councillors.
“Islamist lawmaker Ahmad Al-Azemi yesterday said he and other MPs will reject the plan because this contradicts Islamic sharia laws. He said his rejection is based on constitutional and religious grounds since Islam is the official religion of the country and the main source of legislation, adding that Islamic scholars are unanimous in banning the building of non-Muslim worship places in the Arabian Peninsula.”
AFP reported on March 16, 2012 that the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, the highest official of religious law in Saudi Arabia, as well as the head of the Supreme Council of Islamic Scholars, said that all churches in the Arabian Peninsula must be destroyed.
Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah was responding to a question from a Kuwaiti NGO delegation. He cited the Prophet Mohammed, who said the Arabian Peninsula is to exist under only one religion.
The statement has since fuelled and justified destruction of churches throughout the Middle East, which is a full interpretation of what is called Islamic Republic.
In Asia, nations like India are battling with the question of going Hindustan or remaining secular. Benin and Haiti are voodoo nations by constitution. We do have points of reference for discussion.
THEOCRACY
Historically, it can be argued that only Old Testament Israel succeeded in functioning as a theocracy in which Yahweh ruled directly. This was the case till the time of Prophet Samuel when the Israelites elected to be ruled by a human king like other nations were.
The sense of divine rule was still retained through some of the 38 kings of Israel and Judah (the nation split into two after the reign of King Solomon) that succeeded the first king, Saul.
Some of the kings acted to install the observance of Mosaic Law and godliness in national governance; and where they took office and found rampant loyalty to demons, they demolished the sites where demon worship took place.
By such standards, Zambia as a Christian Nation should overhaul completely her polity and governance ethos to meet what truly makes a nation Christian.But can that happen without Zambia by law becoming the Christian Republic of Zambia?
Looking back, a national referendum on this particular question should have been called while the iron was hot.
Church leaders point to recurrent political violence as proof that we are not a Christian Nation.
The reason is visible: When a political party takes to weapons to wound, maim and kill opponents, and to pull down its rivals’ billboards and posters, its cadres are saying only their voice should be heard.
That party’s creativity and innovation have died. It means that party has no new ideas, or that new ideas have no place in its political thought; and that it has no vision for a future.
That brutal party demonstrates a fear that another party has a greater appeal to voters, but has no ideas with which to out-market that competitor.
It also means that party’s faith has died. That violent party has no real faith in the God of the Christian Nation and it has no belief that applying biblical teaching can get the republic anywhere.
The bottom line is that our politics and our faith (religious attitudes) are kilometres, even oceans, apart.
If presidents, legislators, mayors and councillors shall be produced from a political order that is in practice opposed to Christianity (as seen in its anti-Christian violence) then those elected leaders cannot be expected to uphold or consolidate a Christian Nation.
The republic’s commitment to the Bible should not be left to the opinion of whoever rules Zambia at a given point; that should be the law.
Certain biblical principlesappear to pepper the Bill of Rights in places, but at the same time the whole Constitution shows sympathies towards the ‘human rights without borders’ mentality of the formerly Christian West.
Therefore the anti-declaration arguments actually hold much water.
There are two answers to the expressed concern of Rev Dr Ndhlovu and a number of other clerics:
VISION
Firstly, the Christian Nation Declaration is a Vision Statement and Values Statement all rolled into one.
It espouses a national vision, a people’s mission and family values as encapsulated in the lyrics of the National Anthem.
It is a statement of strategic intent. It is a rallying point giving credence to national development plans and bringing moral sensitivity into governance.
It is Zambia’s view of the future.
Every nation has a soul, and that soul has to have character.
The Declaration was a statement of goals and ideals. It is those goals and ideals that were, and still are, intended to give Zambia a national character.
Such a clause does not mean all Zambians are believers in Jesus Christ. Such a clause does not mean the State or the Church will force people to become believers in Christ. Such a clause does not mean people are compelled to ditch their religious beliefs and become Christians.
Crucially, that clause is not actionable in any legal process in Zambia.
What that clause means is that the polity and the entirety of governance ethos will measure itself against biblical standards.
But since 25 years have lapsed since that national vision statement was pronounced, we are now at a place where the Christian Nation Declaration must be revisited, sharpened and enforced in legal and practical governmental terms. And for that matter not for any political interests, but for the republic’s present and future generations.
OVERHAUL
Secondly, signs are everywhere that the carriage of national affairs should be overhauled and all leaders in the political, corporate, industrial, civil and social spheres be compelled to enforce best leadership and governance practices.
Micah 6:8 says, “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
One of the places where justice and mercy would have been demonstrated nationally was the Year of Jubilee. In practical terms, Zambia as a Christian Nation should have done the following:
The full meaning of the Year of Jubilee is that a nation and its citizens should enter into a state of rest and renewal in all areas of life.
More than merely celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of independence or nationhood, individuals in that nation should have forgiven all their offenders and also received forgiveness.
At the same time, the people and their Government should have closed the issues of the past and allowed the economy, agriculture, natural environment, labour relations and governance to and embark on a totally new start.
Across the nation, debts should have been forgiven from individual to individual; and loans should have been forgiven by corporate bodies and by Government and state-owned institutions.
Cumbersome employment contracts should have been terminated. Houses bought from certain families, within the past one year should have been redeemed and returned to the original owners.
The concept is taken from Leviticus 25 in the Old Testament, in which God intended that the nation of Israel observe the fiftieth anniversary with a year of complete rest, release, relief, remembrance, restoration, refreshing and renewal in all areas of personal and national life.
According to biblical records, the nation of Israel did not honour this instruction and failed to enter into God’s rest. Zambia too has not enforced practically the requirements of the Year of Jubilee which was jumped on abruptly and with little preparation and sensitization of the electorate.
By 2004, Zambia’s national debt was USD 7.1 billion. Twenty per cent of the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) went towards servicing that debt. Only three percent went to budgeting for education and health.
By 2006, after many years of international pressure from the church mother bodies, Oxfam and many groups, Zambia’s debt was slashed by G8 group of nations to less than USD 1 billion. The country experienced a sense of relief, a sense of rest.
This accordingly means the Year of Jubilee should not have been merely celebrated, but  practical and meaningful economic relief should have been given to people of Zambia by their Government. That is rest at national level.
While Zambia might not have been in a position to implement wholesale the Jubilee  celebration agenda of Leviticus 25 and related scriptures, Zambia was in a position to consider providing citizens material relief in a number of areas.
A few areas of contention which warranted meaningful forms of relief include income tax  versus the controversial contribution of the mines to the Zambian economy; commercial banks’ lending rates; problems of the administration of justice and land ownership.
You do not venture into such earthshaking transactions without sparking an overhaul of the entire society.
OPTIONS
Biblical governance leaves no room for two-faced options. In Deuteronomy 17:15-18, God told the Israelites to choose an indigenous king.
That king was not permitted to expand the army; marry many wives; or increase wealth for himself. That ruler was required to keep near him the word of God, read and implement it so that he may not look down on his subjects. Those were not options.
Political leaders should not have the option of speaking violence and falsehood and getting away with it. In so doing they dismember the law. They should not have the option of worshipping in the house of God and also worshipping at ancestral shrines.
Public service leaders should not have the option of diverting public finances and getting away with lame explanations before parliamentary committees.
Employers should not have the option of not remitting monthly pension or insurance premiums; or retiring workers without their dues.
Criminals should not have the option of vandalizing a democratic system by hijacking political parties and funding violent behaviour.
Similarly, the law enforcers such as the police should not have the option of fleeing the scene when party cadres lynch each other.
Liquor traders should not have the option of selling beer to children; they should not sell to youths entering their stores at 0600hrs; and they should be limited to operating from 1600hrs to midnight.
Women should not have the option of displaying their nudity before their children, neighbours, pastors, employers and all; which is widespread today.
The biblical tone on leadership and personal conduct offers no space for godliness with ungodliness.
Since a Christian Nation cannot be two things at once without disintegrating morally and spiritually, shepherds of the flock of Jesus Christ must fearlessly exercise their biblical mandate and hold elected government leaders to account. Email: all.information@ymail.com