The globalisation of religion

Richard Moleofe | Thursday February 13, 2014 20:24

The primary factor with religion is that, human beings are endowed with the freedom of choice much wider than any other time in history”.

Cochrane says there is certainly something different that T.B Joshua is offering in this competitive religious landscape. He said the rate at which Afrikaners are going on a pilgrim to Nigeria is something worth studying because they would not follow a black for no good reason. It is from this background on the issue of freedom of choice that I have chosen to scrutinise the recent actions by government to try and cut certain religious activities to size. It is surely the responsibility of any government elected by the people to protect the very people when they are found to be vulnerable to all forms of threats. In the case of Botswana, it is the proliferation of churches and ministries, which have become personal properties to the men and women who lead them.

Religion has always been the forerunner for expansionism. The Scramble for Africa was preceded by religious evangelisation of the continent by different missionaries including our own, David Livingstone. Regardless of whether they intentionally paved the way for colonialism is a question for another day but the fact of the matter is; religion has always been a precursor to any form of global expansion. West Africans in particular have harnessed this global phenomenon in the sense that they have exported religion beyond their borders. While other people like T.B Joshua are operating internationally in a local setting, many have chosen what I may refer to as the direct export of religion to places like Botswana.

The point is, religion like all other goods and services of globalisation, is a money-spinner. In globalisation, it is the exotic goods and services that are able to penetrate markets beyond borders. If Batswana will not believe a local preacher from Mokgomane and yet choose to believe a prophet from the Zanfara in Nigeria, they are simply exercising their freedom of choice.  And what really drives the foreign preacher to another land in this age of globalisation? The short answer to this age-old question is here; the fetishism of money in the church. The church has become one of the most commercialised entities globally. In the process of this commercialisation, the order of things in that institutional practices such as the tithe (one tenth) has completely been distorted for personal gain. The tithe is purely a Biblical concept of fund raising in both Christianity and Judaism. The leaders of such religious institutions are obliged by the laws of the state and institutional policies to account for any such funds.  What we see now is that religious leaders have come to treat this fund like some form of secret intelligence slush fund where there is little or no accounting. The story in the Bible found in Matthew 21:12 is a clear example of the wrath of authorities on religious swindlers. Jesus’ fury turned against the traders and moneychangers because they had no passion for serving God but themselves. The moral of the story is that the sacrifices were no longer dedicated to the glory of God but rather it was the religious leaders who were exploiting everything possible for their personal financial gain. In this story, the poorest of the poor could no longer afford to make sacrifices to God because the pigeon, the lowest sacrificial species was completely out of reach for them as the prices had gone so high.

In the above case, Jesus acted like the authorities are doing today. He acted to protect the poor from religious exploitation. Batswana have gone into great lengths to raise funds in order to travel to Nigeria with the belief that if they do so, God will bless them more. The interesting aspect about God is that he has always been global as the omnipresent being. If he wants to bless you, he can do it any moment and any place without any form of exploitation.

Until 2000, banks in Botswana had a uniform policy of exempting religious ministers from paying commission on foreign exchange transactions. With the proliferation of ‘fire churches’, the policy was scrapped. Commercial banks had come to realise that religion was no longer an act of meekness and working for God, but rather it was God working for the religious leaders. It is through the hefty deposits that literally paralyse the operations of these financial institutions on Mondays. Further more, there was a growing number of ministers who were sole signatories in the church accounts held by the banks. As if this was not enough, foreign pastors were now transacting in foreign exchange on a daily basis and this amounted to money laundering. Surely, this was the turning point for religion and money in this country. The government is absolutely right in tightening the strings around church operations in this country. With collaboration with church bodies in the country, government will avoid the unnecessary mistakes of deporting the right elements and in the process leaving the wrong ones. Every institution has to be regulated. Even Parliament is regulated.

 

*Rev Richard Moleofe is a Pastor with Assemblies of God Church.