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Suffer the believers

I’m prompted to write this piece following the reported deaths of 67 South African citizens in Nigeria while visiting the church of Pastor TB Joshua. This event is tragic beyond description and my heart goes out to all the families affected by this terrible event. I am further impelled to ask questions about the role played by religion in our society today. Perhaps, for what it’s worth, it would be proper for me to declare my own religious affiliation. I was brought up in a staunchly religious family of the Christian faith. For fear of sounding prejudicial I shall not mention the denomination to which my family belongs save to say it is one of those “old fashioned” churches that some people refer to as mainstream churches.

Except for my compulsory presence during social occasions like weddings and funerals I cannot recall the last time I set my foot in church for purpose of worship. All I know is that it was many many years ago. However, that does not mean that my belief in God has been diminished in any way. I remain deeply spiritual and at times I feel very bad about the fact that I have turned my back on the church especially because the church has played a big part in moulding me into the kind of person I am today. I remember with sheer fondness my years of innocence as a wide eyed boy listening with serious attention to my Sunday School teacher giving lessons on the birth of Jesus Christ and his Crucifixion. I vividly remember the sad emotions that raced through my innocent mind each time I looked at that big picture with Jesus on the cross stuck against our church wall.

Now how did I end up in my present state of being so cynical about the church and religion? Mine is a story of disillusionment brought about by the gradual hijacking of religion by greedy and deceitful individuals and groups of people. During my early church-going days church services were solemn occasions where the message of hope and the glory of the Almighty God prevailed in abundance. Church was a place for deep spiritual reflection and thanksgiving by congregants. Humility and respect for fellow worshipers, rich and poor, always reigned supreme at all times. Church was good. Then enter the so-called charismatic churches with their razzmatazz gospel. True churches started to suffer massive exodus of members lured by the twin prospects of spiritual fulfilment and material advancement promised by the new commercial “churches” sprouting all over the place.

Back to the sad story of 67 South Africans who are reported to have perished in a Nigerian church. I cannot stop feeling sorry for the many gullible members of our society who fall prey to this well marketed gimmick about some mere mortals of blood and flesh possessing the ability to perform miracles. My heart bleeds when I see the most vulnerable and desperate members of our society swindled out of their hard earned cash by heartless so-called men of God. Since the advent of democracy our country has seen an influx of many dubious characters mostly from African countries who claim to perform all sorts of miracles from penis enlargement to bringing back a lost lover and helping clients to win the lotto. They advertise their “services” openly in public places without any hindrance by those in positions of authority. What is even more shameful is that some sections of the mainstream media carry these immoral and nonsensical adverts in their publications, all this because of money.

Today many churches of foreign origin are found all over the country. Some of these “churches” engage in strange practices that one does not expect from a normal church. For example, there is this church which operates mainly from rented premises in the busy streets of the CBDs and next to bus terminuses and has branches in many towns and cities across the country. The other day as I was walking past one of their churches in one of our cities I was taken aback when I was accosted by a tout standing at their entrance who passionately solicited me to come inside the church to receive prayers. It was truly a hard sell marketing ploy.

It is a great pity that many South Africans, perhaps out of suffering and desperation, are easily swayed by fraudsters of whatever kind. I can’t believe the stupidity of people who think a so-called man of God from, say Nigeria, will just come all the way to this country to deliver them from whatever bad situations they find themselves in? Why would a Nigerian “man of God” leave his country of about 180 million people and come to save people in a faraway country instead of his own? Surely it can’t be that all of Nigeria’s people are spiritually redeemed.  

The problem is that our people never learn. There is this other famous Nigerian pastor who is reported to be going through a messy divorce amid accusations of infidelity by his wife. He has been to this country a few times and each time thousands of people flocked to the Soccer City stadium and packed it to its rafters. We were told that the terminally ill were instantly cured, the blind had their sight restored and the crippled were made to walk yet no one really knows the exact identities of such people. Thanks God I’m one of the people who will never be taken in by such well scripted tricks. But I know for a fact that were this pastor to come here tomorrow “sold out” signs will still go up at Soccer City.

A few years ago a well-known rugby player who was suffering from a terminal illness took the long trip to TB Joshua’s church in Lagos with the hope of getting a cure. Unfortunately for him and his family that did not happen. But still many of our people remain unshaken in their conviction that certain individuals possess the ability to perform miracles. Where is our government when the poor and the desperate are taken advantage of by conmen and charlatans of all manner of shades? Some will say religion and faith is a private matter and government has no business to interfere in this matter. But then why do we have bodies like the Advertising Standards Authority whose mandate is to protect consumers from misleading and unscrupulous advertising? The longer the inaction of our government on matters like this the longer our gullible believers continue to suffer.

Tendani Siala

Pretoria.

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