You could almost laugh about it. Thousands of adult Zimbabweans flocking to a Sunday service to ‘see’ the power of ‘prophecy’. Over and about a US$ 1 million pledge on, you guessed it, the ability to prophesy what was in a religious leader’s pocket. These thousands of Zimbabweans were not only in the auditorium. They were also online and watching live. It was as dramatic as it was without depth.
And even if you didn’t attend the service physically or watch it live online, you could not escape it in general conversation or on social media.
With the narrative being given as that of a self anointed prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa had decided to challenge all other purported religious (Christian and traditional) leaders to identify what he would have in his trouser pocket this previous Sunday.
Being the Catholic agnostic that I am, I laughed about this when I encountered the story from journalist friends and other colleagues.
What I did not realize was the fact that there are thousands of Zimbabweans that took this quite seriously. Or even if they did not, they were willing enablers of the expansion of its narrative. Be they musicians, celebrities or just general believers in religion and its import on the lived physical or spiritual afterlife.
As a writer/blogger, there are some topics you are generally warned to steer clear of. And one of these is religion. Mainly because it is not only a sensitive matter but also because it may have safety and security concerns for your personal well-being. Not only because of religious fanaticism but also the reality of the fact that many Zimbabweans are embedded in one faith or the other. Both by way of their right to religious freedom but also upbringing or personal experiences.
So I will tread somewhat carefully. But also honestly.
The self-styled Prophet Makandiwa who challenged others of his ilk and kind to identify items on his pockets is phenomenally influencial in Zimbabwean society. A thing that he know and utilizes to maximum public evangelical effect.
His popularity is not beyond question as evidenced by not only the massive attendance at his weekly sermons(American style). I am not sure what capacity his auditorium has but I would hazard to argue it can equate to a weekly seating capacity of 15-20 thousand. More like the Harare City Sports Centre. And that’s a lot of people for cyclical weekly religious sermons from a singular individual.
But it is our now lived reality that he commands these thousands of Zimbabweans almost at his religious beck and call.
So I did a little ask around. Why would men and women of various professional qualifications or attributes believe that this is as religious as it can get? For themselves or their families?
And the key question here is ‘why?’ in a Zimbabwean sense.
As much as we claim to be highly educated or at least to have one of African’s highest literacy rates, we couldn’t have a decent number of us flock to cross-checking/prophesying what is in another man’s pocket.
If religion was not a serious functional and social stabilization business/sector in Zimbabwe, this would be completely laughable. Bordering on crosschecking how we relate to magic and illusion as shown on television or a community road-show.
But we have to deal the hand we are dealt with. Religion is intrinsic to Zimbabwean culture. Both in its traditional and colonial, post-neo-colonial dimensions. And in the contemporary it is more of the Christian version of the same that influences how we relate to each other and also come to sort of understand and deal with our national political economy.
This latest popular and popularized incident of ‘prophesying’ or guessing ‘things’ in another man’s pocket for 1 million United States dollars is a key low for Zimbabwe. Not only for its government, religious leaders but also for us as a people.
It may be entertaining on social media but it is ridiculous as a national debate issue.
What it brings into vogue is the fact that we are an over-religious country that is functioning on high levels of superstition and materialist religiosity (Protestant ethic, anyone?)
Let me explain this a little further. Where you have comrades believing that one can become rich based merely on their faith and by themselves, you have a country that has no future in the context of elite privatization of the state’s resources. It is like functioning on a wing and a prayer but with some religious element to spur you on.
Be it in relation to your job or lack of it, school fees or the life you envy after watching a television programme or a western movie that depicts life in the way you prefer or aspire to live it.
Without any iota of sensitivity to the historically given fact that our Zimbabwean society should function on the basis of enabling human equitability for all. No matter your religious or economic background.
What is evident is that religion is like our national politics, a little bit of entertainment and individual populist, cultist recognition.
What Makandiwa did most likely gained him more followers (and likes). What those that sought to challenge his ‘prophetic matters’ also helped them get newer recognition.
It however has not and will not change the country for the better.
So comrades should go ahead and find their Jesus, Allah, Buddha or Musikavanhu to help them deal with what are their own real challenges in their existence.
The imperative however is to understand that religion, though being some sort of business, cannot fundamentally define the Zimbabwean state. Even if for entertainment and an assumed sense of belonging. Nor can the Zimbabwean state be found in anyone’s religious pockets.
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