via Of Christians, Zimbabwe and the world by Tanonoka Joseph Whande | SW Radio Africa Monday, April 14, 2014
All religions are founded on faith.
The absolute faith in something we cannot prove is the essence and the power of religion.
Faith is a powerful, personal state of mind. Once we truly believe, we are ready to put our lives on the line to protect our faith.
Belief is all it takes.
With faith we do not even need to prove the spiritual being that we believe in. Faith, like trust, cannot be demanded; it is earned. The absence or presence of faith has destroyed countries, governments, people and families because faith is a very personal thing.
If I believe you, I have faith in you. If I have faith in you, I believe you.
It is that simple but not that easy. Faith is a disciple of belief.
The power of faith lies in the strong belief in something that we are unable to comprehend yet that we know is part of us.
Throughout history, Christians have carried the burden on behalf of mankind and this includes people of other religions.
Jesus Christ came before Mohammed.
Even the Koran recognises Jesus, “the son of Mary”, although only as a prophet.
Be that as it may and being just Tanonoka Whande, I have issues with my Christian leaders and leaders of those other faiths.
Heaven is not State House, never mind how much we waste to decorate it.
Our goal is beyond the opulence of the stupidity we see around us where our leaders can extract milk from dead cows. You see, to defecate, we have no choice but to bend our knees, otherwise it is a disaster. It is a requirement of nature and no amount of comfort will exonerate anyone from this.
Yet, today, I find it ironic that the very basis and strengths of Christianity are the very ones used against it to weaken it.
Christianity is under attack and, surprisingly, our Christian leaders are bowing to politicians with individual interests.
I love the unfailing tranquillity of expectation that only faith can bring. I never doubted the instillation of hope in those expectations. Hope, like desire to revenge, keeps us alive.
Because of its power to forgive and its tolerance, Christianity is being abused around the world; Christianity appears to be presiding over its own demise.
I fear that Christianity is being made to backtrack on many of its values to appease other sectors of our world community.
The Bible is now being deliberately misinterpreted to suit people and activities that once existed outside of the purity of Christianity.
Yes, as a Christian, I feel cheapened when a government passes a law saying it is all well for a man to ask another man to turn around and bend over so he can do unto him what Mugabe has done unto Zimbabwe for 34 years.
Chanetsa chinyiko nhai veduwe?
On a flight back from South America, Pope Francis had an audience with reporters on his flight and the subject of homosexuality came up.
“Who am I to judge?” he was widely quoted as saying.
I honestly could not believe it. I remember feeling betrayed.
If the Pope cannot make a judgement to reiterate the teachings of the Bible, of which he is custodian, apostle, curator and pupil, then who should? The Pope is the ombudsman of religion; I still hope he was misquoted.
Is Christianity sacrificing its values to please certain worldly individuals and nations? Why has the Bible suddenly become conciliatory over homosexuality?
The Word of God is permanent and is not affected by the revolution or evolution of humankind.
The Word was written before motor cars, before piped water, jet planes, Nike shoes, cellphones, and before Microsoft. The world will change but the Word cannot change to accommodate worldly developments.
The spirit does not evolve. We strive to fit the Word; the Word does not strive to fit us.
Christians are being brutalised in countries of other faiths across the world and they continue to be abused.
It amazes me that no Christian leadership is vocal about it. Not one.
I am not crazy.
Apart from South Africa’s betrayal of its cultural values, Africa does not appear ready to espouse homosexuality as a human right. We have cultural values that need to be protected. Imagine Tsvangirai and Mugabe going from rural village to another telling men what they can do to other men and offering women the freedom to ravish other women.
Don’t talk about it on radio or through distributed leaflets, go out there and tell the custodians of our culture.
The Christian people in the Central African Republic (CAR) decided that enough was enough and tolerance be damned.
With no public support from the world’s Christian leaders, they are fighting back, shaming Christians worldwide by indicating with their actions that turning the other cheek in a genocide just isn’t kosher.
They are fighting back on their own to protect themselves from a religious onslaught that the world cared little about until the Moslem perpetrators were on the run.
As soon as Christians took the upper hand in their own defence, we started hearing about tolerance.
No tolerance required when Christians are being murdered and abused by Moslems. Tolerance only emerges when Christians fight back to protect themselves from their attackers.
Yet, according to UN reports, Muslims murdered 27,000 Christians in the first few months they were in power in CAR but Christians have murdered around 278 Muslims so far and they did that in self-defence and revenge.
Is Christianity backpedalling? Are we taking tolerance too far?
The Americans are a funny lot.
While their currency declares that “In God We Trust”, their constitution demands separation of state from religion.
America has changed its values because of fear. It is no longer the ‘melting pot’ of well-intentioned immigrants but has become a conglomerate of individuals and cartels who challenge the values of the same country they strive to be part of.
Recently, in the US state of Oklahoma, Satanists challenged the state government to permit them to erect a statue of Satan “to complement and contrast” with a Ten Commandments monument placed at the state capitol.
“The statue will serve as a beacon calling for compassion and empathy among all living creatures,” Lucien Greaves, a spokesman for the Satanic Temple, said. “The statue will also have a functional purpose as a chair where people of all ages may sit on the lap of Satan for inspiration and contemplation.”
No longer a moral leader of a so-called free world, America finds itself threatening African countries that refuse to legalise homosexuality and same sex marriages.
It was pathetic to hear Barrack Obama and David Cameron threatening to withhold aid to countries that suppress homosexuality.
A news report about Kenya deporting Somalis back into Somalia elicited derogatory comments from Americans against their own government who feel that their own government should follow the same example at a time there is debate to pardon millions and millions of illegal immigrants (mostly from Mexico) in the United States.
But there is also growing discontent towards Somalis who appear to be concentrated in the state of Michigan, while some complain that Mexicans and Puerto Ricans have taken over America.
What happens to the contenders in the long run does not really interest me.
The heart of the matter is that, like America, Christianity has allowed the alteration of its doctrine to accommodate and appease individuals instead of keeping believers within the original doctrine.
We worship in churches, in elaborate palaces, in cathedrals. We worship in backyard spaces, in living rooms and we worship under trees.
The Word must remain the same and should not be doctored to fit circumstances.
I find it amusing that for the first time in my exiled life, I find myself agreeing with Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni.
Genocides notwithstanding, the cultural purity of African nations should not be sacrificed for a few pennies from overseas.
I am Tanonoka Joseph Whande and that, my fellow Zimbabweans, is the way it is today, Monday, April 14th, 2014.
COMMENTS
I hear you my brother, I hear you, This is one area I agree with Mugabe, no to gay-ism. Although I strongly feel we shld stop him from doing wht he is doing unto the country for the past 34 years
We find ourselves agreeing that the world is now a global village, its becoming small. People of different ethnicity, cultural and religious backgrounds are found in most societies. Without tolerance how can co exist. Its increasingly becoming difficult to be judgemental hence someone might say whom am I to judge. There are so many things that were taboo in most african cultures that we are now tolerating.
I count myself a Christian, strong and true. I believe in Jesus, and in the authority of God’s written word, as it is inspired by God, and provides all I need to know of life and godliness. I believe that “putting on Christ” in faithful obedience is essential, and my discipleship of Christ means I look to Him as my guide to righteousness in life and worship… and I strive daily to be better at it than I was the day before.
Based on scripture, I oppose such as abortion, homosexuality, and same-sex marriage. However disgusting those things may be, how do you legislate morality. I don’t disagree with laws that criminalize such, but those laws don’t make for pure hearts in those who would practice such immorality.
What those laws do, however, is keep the culprits from openly flaunting their immoral practices, and poisoning the minds of children.
Yes, Whande does make good points that nations in the West have caved to pressure groups. The evil minority and apathetic have taken over. Through twisting of “free speech” and “hate speech” laws, people can spew vile speech openly, but others are not allowed to speak of Jesus.
True, no more is the West a “bastion of Christianity”… but then, that place has always been in the hearts of common folk the world over who have heard His call, turned to the Christ, and turned their backs on evil.
Fallenz, since your moral values are guided by the bible, do you you or anyone of your family and friends own slaves? It is a practice condoned in the bible where treatment and prices, depending on whether they are male or female are prescribed.
I take it you also stone to death those who choose to work on Sabbath day and female members of your church do not go to church during their monthly period then sacrifice animals to God so as to cleanse themselves every month.
Homosexual practice is a choice. We can choose to evaluate and judge people’s choices. This part is straightforward.
But what causes homosexual orientation? Not the confusion seen sometimes in adolescents, for example. I mean deep in the marrow, persistent attraction to the same sex. The kind of attraction that repulses and feels unnatural to the rest of us.
I cannot imagine myself choosing to experiment with homosexuality, even for one night. So what causes a man or woman to feel attraction to the same sex for a lifetime, despite persecution. Several theories. no clear answer. Do I dare judge him or her?
As for Christianity, I note that in all 4 gospels, there is no mention of Christ discussing homosexuality. I stand to be corrected. Likewise not one of the 10 commandments given to Moses talks of homosexuality.
Tanonoka, you are very brave to speak out against this terrible scourge that is assailing mankind today. Jesus made it plain that as it was in the days of Noah so shall it be at the return of Christ.
The world is rushing towards a confrontation with the creator of this world and will stand to be judged on the scales of a God who is compasionate but at the same time Just and Holy. What a terror that day will be. How can the rocks or caves hide mankind from such a God?
Satan’s purpose from the very beginning was to cause division between man and woman. By releasing his demons of filth to twist the natural urges of man and woman from that what our Father has ordained breaks the family apart and seperates what God said was very good.
Worse is comming unfortunately. Soon it will be an accepted practice to sodomise young children and animals. Man’s heart is desperately wicked, who can know it? That’s why it is stated that our Father will place a NEW heart in us, NOT a repaired heart.
In all the wrong things that can be attributed to Africa, it seems that God has once again confounded the so called wise and raised up voices within this continent to say NO to ungodliness and NO to homosexuality. Praise His wonderful name.
Tanonaka, well done my brother. This is good. It is something I have written to the newspapers about but then I am not what the world would consider Christian leadership. The true gospel of Christ is being diluted, polluted, used and abused. We need the true word back in the church: and by that I do not mean a building or an organisation. Homosexuality as is adultery, fornication etc is a sin. Plain and simple and nothing man can do or say will change that. No law passed by any country can change that. God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. I also agree with Mugabe on this one except I do not agree with some of his speech and hatred. yes! We hate the sin but must have the love of Christ for the sinner. Unrepented sin will take us to hell.Ezekiel32:26/27. We cannot re-write the eternal Word of God for Christ is the living Word. But when Mugabe points fingers he must also point back at himself, just as we all must because Zimbabwe is destroyed and under judgment because of sin. Sin is sin! Bloodshed and violence and oppression are also sin. All sin must be repented of. Whatever it is. Keep writing. You stir us up!
If bloodshed and violence are sins, why does God prescribe so much of it as a way of resolving issues? Tribe is set upon tribe, whole cities are destroyed.
Just like Jesus before them, the christian’s duty is to spread the word of God to all ends of the earth, making him and his intentions known to all people on earth. The word thus spreader must be complete with the intentions of the maker upon mankind on judgement day. Some will choose the word while other will reject it, but the christian shall not be troubled. For just like Jesus Christ himself who did not force anyone to follow him and so the christian be. Neither bashing the non-believer nor legislating them out of existence. Religion, just as the writer put it, is a personal matter which is also a choice. If any man or woman chooses to go against the word, let it be that they do so with the full knowledge of their loss of God’s favor.
On legislation, laws are made primarily to ensure that humans do not hurt other people i.e. that one does not cause harm or impede on other person’s progress for kicks or their own benefit. Homosexuality implies the consent of individuals to be weird. The actual disgusting practice may not be done publicly just as in heterosexuality. Then makes it difficult to catch or even punish homosexuals as the concenting persons are unlikely to make a report of their actions. But just as in the case of heterosexualism, if any party is forced into the act a crime would hv been committed and is likely to be reported. I think that government can limit public displays of gayism by disallowing any public displays of intimacy just as out culture is conservative in that area, even for heterosexuals. The practice itself may never be eradicated but the more we raise it, the more our kids ask us what it is and learn about it. As christians taking up holy wars against it has no biblical precedence and is beyond the call to spread the word.
When it comes to nations and religion, nations are made up of individuals with varying tastes and choices they make every day. Most nations have several millions of citizens who are all different and, also as the writer stated, are personal with their religions. States, in allowing individuals to pursue their religions are merely recognizing this same fact. And even if they are or have declared themselves Christian, the best they can do is persuade citizens to Christianity rather than legislate them out of existence, Jesus had the power to, but did not force all jews to follow him. In fact, he even let them nail him to the cross and here we are, saved!
The subject of homosexuality in Africa is being used by Politicians to try to gain Political mileage because culturally it is taboo and not talked about much. Because it is excepted as a condition of being in the Western world and the dark past this part of the world has had with Africa it is portrayed as Western import when in fact it a wide spread and does not choose colour, creed or race. It has been deep underground in most African and Asian countries as the consequences of being of this group can be grave. In Britain and the USA you still get these people getting beaten up although there is a law against it. It is a fact that some people of high office in the Government have had this condition. ZBC also comes to mind.
As a Christian I cannot with good concious agree with Uganda and Mugabe on their particular stance. I can say I do not understand why people turn out this way. But then again I cannot understand why people turn out to be thieves, serial killers,liars, Dictators, rapist and such. I will say that the bible is getting diluted by some people to suit their own ends. I think as Christians we must pray for our brothers and sisters. That is the weapon God gave us. I think that our Government has got more pressing things to deal with rather than concentrate on legislating for a small group of people that have been in existence for as long as we can remember.
I like many of my fellow commentators abhor homosexuality however I do not believe that this evil will be stamped out by passing draconian laws. Furthermore I strongly oppose the so called activism of those who choose this immoral lifestyle who make themselves targets by their actions & then cry foul when they are rejected/condemned by society. Homosexuality has been with mankind for thousands of years but least it was not flaunted as is the case today. Whande shouldn’t be surprised by the Pope’s comments when for many years the Catholic church worldwide choose to cover up the sexual abuse of children by their priests. We indeed live in a fallen world!
Governments have tried to criminalise prostitution to get rid of it, it has never worked. Zanu sent women to mundamurefu [Nazi camp] in a bid to get rid off prostitutes from society. It never worked.
With reference to gays, its not out of choice , they are conditioned that way. Criminalising it is not a solution. If your child is gay ,would you abandon her or him? Its high time we accepted that there is people different from us.
I would vote for a gay president ,if the y can deliver us from this Mugabe mess any time.
Jesus said , ‘let the one without sin cast the first stone.’
The changing world has made us contradict a lot of the values we live by. For example the sex before marriage argument. African culture does not look well upon this practice. The same with Christianity. Islam also goes in that direction too. The problem is that in this time and age how many youngsters religious and otherwise are living true to this practice. Should we also legislate against women with fatherless children. NBS I will not ask you this because it is you confidential right but I will ask if we link this hate group with the sex before marriage v the bible Mugabe himself has sinned with this particular partner. Do we judge? No. We preach and encourage people to try and heed the teachings of Christ, so I will agree with Ambassador, cast the first stone….
Small axe I am but a sinner saved by grace but we just cannot condone sin: ours or anyone else’s. God will NEVER condone sin and He has provided the way out through Jesus Christ. When Christ becomes a deep reality in a persons heart, by His grace, mercy and power He helps us overcome. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” I know I have. He came to set us free from the bondage of sin. we cannot make excuses for our sinful lives. If we are truly struggling with something and are crying out for forgiveness and help is one thing but choosing to entertain, justify and live with our sin is another. It is not good and right in God’s eyes to live with someone before marriage. I did it many, many years ago and am not proud of it. I repented and know I have been forgiven. the church today dilutes the subject of sin far too much. And yes, we need to love those caught in these webs and pray for them. But until we are confronted with our sin how can we repent? God is not punitive but redemptive. We just need to KNOW how weak and sinful we are.
This I say is the most mature comment I have read on this thread so far. Weak creatures we are yet we are not at all exempt from God’s justice. As all have sinned [whether homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual or celibate] it therefore stands that we are hurtling towards the unrelenting judgement of God. In his redemptive mercy however, when we repent entirely of our old life, we are forgiven through Christ and empowered to overcome ALL sin. God’s word is unchanging, and Christianity being of God has never changed. What has changed is our contemporary view of it, which we must by all means separate from the objective reality of Christianity as it was handed down to us by our Lord. So whether the so called ‘Christian or World Leaders’ of today speak the truth in love or not, we are all commanded to do so by our Christ who has been appointed to judge the nations in a little while. I get the comforting feeling that you are a true pilgrim set on the good journey and if the Lord is merciful to us both, then I shall see you in that land where we shall worship the King forever freed from this mortal flesh my dear friend. The one thing I would encourage you with though is that scripture entirely makes clear that we all CHOOSE our sin, especially with regards to sexuality. Romans 1:18-32 makes clear that it is through a hatred, spiting and ignorance of God that we sin as we do. The same applies to those who are homosexual as to those who commit other sins. It is not at all a genetic issue, this is the reason there is no conclusive scientific evidence behind it. No matter how much someone might plea that they were born like that, the word of God [which is the testimony of God]which we trust above all testimony of man makes clear that as we did not acknowledge God we were all given over to a base mind. All sin is of a base mind, not just homosexuality. So you are right my friend, we are DEEPLY sinful, but then as Romans 1:16 declares ‘I am not ashamed of the gospel’ in light of this, for it is the only hope, not only for homosexuals but for all of us who without Christ have a base mind.
Sorry I meant the third stone after Mugabe and Museveni.
NBS No offence intended and I do appreciate your messages or should I say Ministries you try to bring across.My point here is that as much as I have enjoyed the writers comments I find this article rather mischievous. I know that you will say this has to be talked about. I like a lot of others does not know why this happens. As Doctor do little said we don’t even know why people commit rape, and kill for the thrill of killing. To then say ” I find it amusing that for the first time in my exiled life, I find myself agreeing with Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni.Genocides notwithstanding, the cultural purity of African nations should not be sacrificed for a few pennies from overseas” the writer is trying to say that this is a condition for AID. These gay people are Zimbabwean and some have never left the continent. They find themselves with a condition that is beyond their control. What must we do?Beat them into submission? lock them up and throw away the key? Not if you are Christian you don’t.Tanonoka Joseph Whande has been touching on real bread and butter issues and has maybe run out of ideas. This was not a topic for him to go into. We are in denial that this has been around for a long long time. I repeat I do not understand why they can have these feelings. How can I?I am not Gay. The one thing I will not do is bash. They are human just like us and I will continue to pray for them. Like Joseph I will say…
I am small Axe and that, my fellow Zimbabweans, is the way it is today, Monday, April 14th, 2014.
Look lets not conform, and call what is good bad and what is bad good now . Marriage is between a man and a woman . Period.
African, not everyone once to marry.
Tanon0ka Joseph, nothing happening in the world today is by chance. Everything is carefully calculated by powerful evil sources towards a NWO.
Here I lose you Tanonoka. I am at loss why everyone who designates himself or herself a custodian of Christian values is obsessed with homosexuality when there is a plethora of ills the Bible decries and yet the silence from the same custodians on these ills borders on collusion. Take Mugabe you agree with on this point. He is an adulterer who had adulterine children and condemned those who first reported the news. Remember the magazine Moto? Homosexuality is a lightning rod. Museveni like Mugabe have run out of ideas for good governance so they appeal to the faithful who foolishly allow themselves to be hoodwinked and I am surprised you fell for it Tanonoka. Zimbabwe is not a theocracy. Its dictatorship and dictators are not really concerned about your moral or Christian values, but their political power and survival. However, they will use everything at their disposal to gain political milage. In this case awakening your Christian revulsion of homosexuals seem to have worked. Democracy and theocracy are parallel polities. They do not meet. That’s why sharia governed countries are not democractic and freedoms of the citizens in those countries are limited. The very moment you allow the venal man to usurp God’s power you run into trouble. Your authority on homosexuality, Mugabe and Museveni, are a clear example of the trouble you run into. Do you honestly think they have the moral credibility to make these pronouncements on gays and lesbians? Be honest.
You are a Christian, you claimed.
Let me ask you Tanonoka. Do you really know what causes someone to be a homosexual? I don’t for I am not one. But one thing I am sure about is that homosexuality is not by choice. Here is why. If it is by choice then it means all of us are potentially homosexuals. By deduction we are who we are because we chose to be so. That is a false premise. I went to a boarding school for six years. We took showers in communal bathrooms. Not once did my manhood erect because I saw the behind of boys or their front but boy did I feel excited when I saw just a little of a girl’s leg or a bottom of a girl in jeans. I don’t remember when I chose to be heterosexual sexual, because I did not chose to. I happen to have been born that way. Do you remember when you chose
Thank you pati. You said so well I could not have done better.
To repeat, we can try to judge how homosexuals (or heteros) behave or practice – because they have choices in that hehaviour.
But we cannot judge them on any inherent homosexual orientation they may have. First we don’t really know what goes wrong. Just different theories, some social some genetic. Second, they have no obvious choice in that sexual orientation.
How interesting to see all the folks comments and some incredible wisdom.
1)”For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”…. It does not matter how you wrap it – sin is sin.
2)”There are none righteous, not one”…. We can only have the righteousness of God.
3)”For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift OF God.”
I was angry and hateful about gays and abortionists to the point where it was interfering with my walk with the Lord so I asked him what it was all about and he told me that He commanded us to go unto all the world to make disciples of all nations, and not to wave Bibles in peoples faces telling them that they were wrong and sinful. It is our calling to pray for these people and call them to Christ and not to judge them. Look what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5…12 What business is it of mine to judge those OUTSIDE the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”
One of the biggest problems today is the liberal movement where society calls for “gay rights”!! How can a person who lives under sin have rights? Its the same as practicing gay preachers and deacons in a church, and Catholic fathers sodomizing children and having it covered up …this is nothing but a blasphemous abomination and has no place in the Body Of Christ. If you read the whole chapter 5 of 1 Corinthians you will see that Paul hands the offender over to satan!!
John 3 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Let us remember that we as Children Of God are His messengers, not His judges, and we need to bring ALL sinners to the foot of the empty cross to lay their sins there and be forgiven. I saw some one very dear to me come to know Christ and walk away from his homosexual life.Praise Jesus
Reverend, Mugabe lives in sin daily and you want to list them you could start with gukurahundi and yet he has rights.
Please explain to me how it is your business who people choose to have consensual sex with? Would you classify those who have annul sex with their wives as homosexuals?
If you care to read about homosexuality you will learn that no one chooses to be that way. How do you explain transgender people, i.e. those born neither male or female? Usually corrective surgery has to happen depend on the individual’s choice which is usually determined by whether they feel more feminine or more masculine. That in itself indicates that while the majority are born heterosexual, there are many people who are in between the distinct genders.
NBS I will leave you with this thought. I have met up with people that hate anything or one that is not like them. I always feel comforted by the question I have learnt to ask myself..WHAT WOULD WOULD JESUS DO IN THIS SITUATION? Most of if not all of the time the answer is suddenly very simple. A NEW COMMANDMENT I GIVE UNTO THEE. THAT YOU LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS I HAVE LOVED THEE.
AMEN to that Doc….
How can Shona tribalists be Christians?