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Can a religious person be a politician and a true religious leader at the same time?

Haben’s devotional -1 Can a religious person be a politician and a true religious leader at the same time? By Haben Zeray This month as we thought and celebrated Easter for the huge sacrifice that was done for

Haben’s devotional -1

Can a religious person be a politician and a true religious leader at the same time?

By Haben Zeray

This month as we thought and celebrated Easter for the huge sacrifice that was done for us, we are also entering into a season where we memorialize, honor and show our respect to all those who sacrificed their lives and those who are now disabled and all those  who struggled for Independence of Eritrea.  Eritrea is an independent country now but its people are not free yet.  I boldly say we are not free because our people live in a militaristic dictatorial system and I know the condition of Eritreans on the ground now. I saw lots of exit plans from this yoke of oppression and found out that one of the things left to do  is our prayers and supplication to God.  This act puts a lot of burden on our religious leaders and I write today to clarify the contradictions between those who say a religious leader cannot be political versus those who say, yes a religious leader should boldly speak out against any societal injustice.

From the bible we know the saints were persecuted not because they were politicians but because they were (fighting) against social injustice and corruption. Perhaps any person can be misunderstood as “political” in a derogatory way, when church leaders  mention governments mishandling of social and cultural issues, for it is difficult to defend the victims without mentioning the aggressors.  We have many religious leaders of our times who are and were examples of courage and change in their countries and communities. These leaders tried to follow the example of Jesus, who always sided with the poor, the sick or disadvantaged.  Rev. Desmond Tutu of South Africa, the late Martin Luther King Jr, The Eritrean Abune Antonios  who was wrongly deposed, and the current Catholic Pope Francis to mention a few.  Therefore, if a religious person stands up for justice and makes a stand for the oppressed, the poor, the sick and the imprisoned and speaks against those who hunger for power and self-enrichment then I welcome this leader both as a spiritual leader and a politian who stands for the truth and justice. In other words, legacy is written based on what this spiritual leader does with his/her responsibility. Character and good deeds remain with us here on earth as a legacy,  and the leader’s faith gets rewarded  above.

The statement I just made is my logical conclusion but not the interpretation of the bible for I am not here to interpret the bible.  Moreover, interpretation of the bible is what divides all the church denominations and religious groups.  Therefore, since I am not a priest or a minister I am going to leave  theological response to scholars of the bible. For me the practical issue is not so much of a religious person pursuing politics, it is rather what should civilians like me expect from  a religious leader,  when the government intrudes into his/her church or mosque or faith?   It used to be our priests, monks and nuns, and other religious leaders focus was to serve their congregation.  Their days were consumed with prayer and supplication and  visitation of the needy and the sick.  Now with PFDJ system, the life of a religious leader is complicated.  We have confronted new issues which in the past were non-existent  that tests one’s faith.  When a government tells you contrary what  God tells you , do you follow the government or the bible? This is the debate that probably would make it to a great town hall meeting .

On another level, the challenges we have are not issues of theological differences it is rather  the oppression of our citizens at large.  By oppression I mean the denial of our right to live as free people;  the absence of justice where court systems do not function properly;  and the citizens respect is non-existent.  It is this total social injustice which divide Eritreans between those who side with the ruling party (oppressors ) and those who refuse to accept the system (oppressed).   Personally, I see it the fight between “good” and “evil”.  (Allow me to digress a bit-the PFDJ leadership and followers object to this kind of simplistic division, because simplicity exposes them too much and would be faced with questions they cannot answer and would bring them closer to accountability.  Instead they would rather create enemies all over the map by creating divisions among Eritreans by religion, politics, regional divides and further by complicating matters with our neighbors).  In this fight of “good” and “evil” as ordinary people we have a lot of expectation from our religious leaders. We expect them to stand for the “good” and fight “evil”.  Anything contrary to that would mean they have forgotten their calling and should not be fit to lead the public in religious matters.

When people flock to churches, they  usually  go burdened with complex spiritual, emotional, marital, family and other issues and their longing or hope is to find an exit to these burdensome issues.  There are others who have settled these issues in their lives by their prayers and their stronger faith.  The spiritual leader should play a key role in such complex and multitude needs.  The spiritual leader should be able to bring those two groups together and have them benefit from each other.  He/she should be the agent of peace and harmony among members and in the community. Further, the spiritual leader is faced with those who can’t make it to their church because of illness, or maybe they are in prison. This leader has the responsibility to visit, to pray and encourage his congregation to participate in the visitation of  the imprisoned and the sick. The bible does not advocate discriminating between political divides, rich and poor, with those we agree or disagree. The leader is called to bring these needs to God and to his/her congregation in prayer.

Where is the contradiction then? Well what should a religious leader do when the government comes and meddles in his/her church affairs?  Religion should be private or personal but the Government of Eritrea dictates what you should believe by restricting permits to many Christian denominations.   They have disallowed the freedom of worship to certain groups in Eritrea and even have gone further to imprison many of the leaders without due process of law.  Christian Eritreans were raised to respect the priest and have the fear of God.  As humans when all else fails, when we get depressed, when a loved one passes, when we become so poor and cannot meet our needs we only have one “exit” or relief to such hopeless situations.  When all else fails we revert to the common denominator of life,  to our light at the end of the tunnel,  that is hope in God.  We say “Igzeabher yefelit”, God knows, He will take care of me and we survive because of this divine expectation or “hope”.  This is the last resort of our survival and the government of Eritrea is denying this right to many of our brothers and sisters.  To this the religious leader should stand up and say ‘NO”.  Call it political, social or activism, when your last dignity gets violated,  if the church leader and his/her congregation do not stand up and oppose this then society will morally crumble right in front of our eyes.   When hope gets taken away from you there is nothing else to live by.  Think about it!

The religious leader should accept the fact that his congregation comprises of people from different faiths, different political beliefs, highly educated and not so  educated, rich and poor even people from different countries including from Ethiopia .  With these differences he/she should give a message of hope that resonates to all and should be extra careful not to offend anyone in a discriminatory way.  But being cautious does not mean to live in fear of those who do evil.  Additionally, the congregation should be welcoming to all and not be divisive.   Here is the  fine line that requires wisdom,: no one should use the pulpit to convey their own political convictions (“Pro or against”), and everyone should denounce social injustices that goes against the holy church and human dignity.  This is the crux of the matter and in our difficult days we have to rely on courageous and wise church leaders and on the compassion of God  to save our country from this journey to the bottomless pit.

May God show his mercy on all of us and bring a lasting peace to our country.

aseye.asena@gmail.com

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23 COMMENTS
  • Semere May 18, 2013

    Thank you Haben for your analysis!
    I fully share your views. Religion is not politics, but it has political and social implications. In front of injustices it is the Gospel itself that asks the Religious leaders to defend the poor and the oppressed. Even in our history when monks from the monastery excommunicate a king, he is finished. Because of this the communist regimes, including HGDEF, the first thing they do when they get power is to mute and neutralize religious leaders. Unfortunately many people do not understand this. When some religious leaders challenge the government some think they are meddling in politics, which is not the case.
    If religious leaders decide to keep silent, they have betrayed their God-given mission and their own sheep. In front of mass youth exodus, arbitrary arrest without trial, subhuman prison conditions, abject poverty, etc; is it possible our religious leaders have nothing to say? Pope Francis, in these few months in office, he already took the side of the poor and of the oppressed peoples. Already in the 60ties Jomo Kenyatta told the Bishops “you are the conscience of the society, you have to tell us where we go wrong”. But the barbaric HEGDEF cohorts want us to clap for them even when they slaughter us.

  • Halafi Mengedi May 18, 2013

    You asked “Can a religious person be a politician and a true religious leader at the same time?”

    Absolutely,

    A government restrains religion from meddling in the public affairs provided the public does not believe in only one religion. This can be done by introducing a clause in a constitution which clearly specifies the separation of church and state.

    Islam is one of the religions which condones theocracy. Iran , and Saudi Arabia are some of the islamic states in which public affairs are governed based upon religious grounds. Vatican is another example…

  • The candid true May 18, 2013

    Haben
    It is a brilliant analysis that raised fundamental issues about the responsibility of church leaders. Unfortunately, our church leaders have miserably failed in their responsibility to speak up against injustice and worse some have colluded with the criminal mafias to either save their skin or benefit from the ill gotten spoils of the regime. Lately I got very angry when a friend told me a certain Abba Kidane spoke in church asking the youth to attend the PFDJ meeting chaired by Gerhatu, and what’s more he asked them to contribute £25 pounds towards the rent of a hotel venue. He said this soon after the Easter mass. I was outraged the least he could have done is talk about helping, and showing compassion towards the disadvantaged; and if he had gut as church leader he should have spoken up about the injustice, slavery, and human trafficking that’s been committed against humanity. It’s safe to conclude that Eritrea was not blessed with religious leaders who put first humanity, dignity, justice and integrity. Of course there are very few such as the priest who live in Italy who advocates for refugees; and bishop Antonios who is languishing in prison. During the Dergue Bishop Abune Abraha made a history when he stood by the people who took refugees in the church and refused to the Dergue storm the churches. He was put in prison but soon was released. The Dergue was far..far…better the PFDJ when it comes to respecting and fearing God.

  • Haile May 18, 2013

    Yap! The pop.

  • NEW HOPE ERITREA May 18, 2013

    ¨ኮማንዶ ዓባየ ዝገበረቶ ቅያ፣ንወያነ ጥሓሒሳቶም ኣትያ¨
    My religious Grandmother´s heroism.

    ሃገረሰብ ትቕመጥ፣75 ዓመታ
    ንብሕታ ዝተረፈት መሳቱኣ ዝሞታ
    ህግደፍ ዘዕጠቓ ብሬን ተዓትዒታ
    ኮማንዶ ተዓሊማ፣ካራተ ተላሚዳ
    ንወያነን ሲ ኣይ ኤን ክትድርዕሞም ኣንቂዳ
    ብሸነኽ ራማ፣ውሕጅ መረብ ሰንጢቓ፣ጨዲዳ
    ንኣሃዱ ኣግኣዚ ክትሃጀሞም ኣክሮባት ተጋላባቢጣ
    3 ሜትሮ ነጢራ ጨደረት፣ንወያነ ክትገብሮም ሳላጣ !!!

    ብሬና ኣዐሚራ ክትርሽርሾም ዝሓሰበት
    ብረት ተሓኒቓ, ቃዕ… ቃዕ ጥራይ በለት
    ወያነ ሓዝዋ….ሓንቲ ጥይት ከይተኮሰት
    ኣብ ቀይዲ ኣእተውዋ ብጣልያንኛ እናተጻረፈት !!!

    ብሬታ ምስ ኣሕደግዋ ብስሓቕ ክሞቱ
    ዓባየ ደንጽይዋ… ተዳናጊርዋ ኩነታቱ
    በትን ሓሪቓ, ሓተተቶም.. ክገልጹላ ሃመቱ !!!

    ምሽክነይቲ ዓባየ Alzheimers ሓንጎላ ስለ ዘሽክዓ
    በትኽስያን..,ማእከል ቅዳሴ.., ሃለዋታ ኣጥፊኣ
    ብሬን እንግሊዝ..መሳርይኣ, ጥቓ እቲ ታቦት ረሲዓ
    መቖምያ ሒዛ እያ ንወያነ ክትሃጅሞም መጺኣ
    ን UN ኣረካብዋ ከም POW ተወዚዓ
    Grandma ጭደድ,ዕርዲ ወያነ ዳርጋ ኣባሪዓ
    ¨መኻልፍ¨ገጢምዋ እምበር ታሪኽ እኮ እያ ሰሪሓ !!!!

    New Hope Eritrea

    ጭርሖታት

    ብዘይ ናይ ዓባየ ተሳትፎ ወያነ ካብ መሬትና ኣይለቁን እዮም !!!
    መኻልፍ ክልተ ሳዕ ጸላ ኢና ምዃኑ ስለ ዘመስከረ ብቓልስና ክድርዓም እዩ

    • gidewon May 18, 2013

      Amazing talent!!

      • NEW HOPE ERITREA May 19, 2013

        Brother Gidewon,

        I can not stop admiring me either.

        thanks for having excellent taste

  • Fisahatzion May 18, 2013

    Religious leaders must stand against injustice: political or not.I want to remember Bishop Abraha Francois, the Catholic Bishop of Eritrea. In 1970 Keren was brutally suffering of the Ethiopian persecutions and mass murders. In the same year’s celebration of the feast of Saint Michael, the Patron Saint of Keren, Abune Abraha addressed the people, among whom were most government officers, and many of them responsible for then ongoing mass murders. Abune Abraha said”Do not kill, because it is the law of God; but if you insist on killing human beings like you…. then Ketalay Rebrabay: those who kill get exhausted and are killed by the same sword”. Few days after this sermon, the person who earlier ordered the destruction of the Village of Ona (730 civilians murdered) died in mysterious conditions. By 1974 most of the killers were killed in one war or another.
    I totally agree with you that religious leaders… the spiritually strong ones, can stand before political demagogues.

  • ማሊሻ May 18, 2013

    ዓያሹ ንባርነት እኳ እንተ ወደሱ ፤ ነቶም ኣብ ባርነት ጀብሃ ሻዕብያ ዝጠፍኡ ፤ ኣብ ትሕቲ ባርነት ዓረብ ዝቕዘፉ ዘለዉ ኤርትራውያን ንዘክሮም።

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHLAULEW-Ik

    • NEW HOPE ERITREA May 19, 2013

      ሓው ምልሻ፣

      ንዕኦም እንዳዘከርና ንውዕል ውሑዳት ኢና____ግን ካብ ክሻ ሓሰር ዓሰርተ ግራም ወርቂ ይኸብር__ምልሻ ጽቡቕ ሃገራዊ ዘረባ።

  • Truly truly i say to you May 18, 2013

    For me those people, in the name of ” Do not mix religion with politic” because fears they like to abandon and run away far from the truth to which is God´s word, are people who love do evil must be. This is why Isayas and his supporters while they hate light, love darkness to cover up their sins because their evil deeds not to be shown up.( Apostle John 3; 19- 20) So if any evil pharisees who love darkness dares to argue,” a religious person can not be a politician and a true religious leader at the same time,” i can challenge him how Religious leaders and Prophets with highest authority was involving in politic in all bible kings history, for instance, take prophets like Samuel, Jeremiah in most his massage transmitted denunciation, Nathan for instance when King David committed adultery crime with his general´s wife,and then because killed his General to cover up his first crime, we know it with his God given authority how condemned King David, though king David self was a very religious person at the same time was good leader ”Read the story (2nd Samuel chapter 12, if you will) Finally so that every sensible person better understands how religious leaders highest authority they have, i share you for to day to what Prophet Micah denounced Israel´s leaders from scripture. ( i better call it my denunciation towards Isayas regime as well is like following…

  • Truly truly i say to you May 18, 2013

    Listen, you rulers of Israel!(Eritrea!) You are supposed to be concerned about justice, yet you hate what is good and love what is evil. You skin my people alive and tear the flesh off their bones. You eat my people up. You strip of their skin, break their bones, and chop them up like meat for the pot. The time is coming when you will cry out of the Lord, but he will not answer you. he will not listen to your prayers, for you have done evil.

    My people are deceived by prophets who promise peace to those who pay them, but threaten war for those who don´t. To these prophets the Lord says, (“Prophets, your day is almost over; the sun is going down on you. Because you mislead my people (Alekum´do false prophets Gedion Abay, Sophia Tesfamariam fake Pastors and priestess?) you will have no more prophetic visions, and you will not be able to predict anything.” those who predict the future will be disgraced by their failure. They will all be humiliated because God does not answer them. But as for me (Truly, truly i say to you,) the Lord fills me with his spirit and power , and gives me a sense of justice and the courage to tell the people of Israel(Eritrea) what their sins are. Listen to me, you rulers of Israel, (Eritrea,)you that hate justice and turn right in to wrong. You are building God´s city, Jerusalem (Eritrea), on a foundation of murder and injustice. The city rulers govern for bribes, the priests interpret the Law for pay,( the so called church one tenth offering, PFDJ 2% for citizenship) the prophets give their relations for money- and they claim that the Lord is with them. ( Mark! For PFDJ´s their Lord Is Isayas) “No harm will come to us.”
    And so, because of you Zion (ERITREA) WILL BE BLOWED LIKE A FIELD, Jerusalem (ASMARA) WILL BECOME OF RUINS, and THE TEMPLE HILL WILL BECOME A FOREST. ( MICAH, 3; 1-12)

  • SpadeISspade May 19, 2013

    A politician aspires to bring the best of living conditions( often at the cost of others, African current context) in this world. It is about life in this world.
    A religious leader often “works” to secure that better place in after life.
    so the difference is like a chalk and cheese. even if they both look white, but their different with different goal.

    A religious & politician oh…please.

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