THE JOINT THE STATE, CHURCH AND MOSQUE By George S. Khoryama I am reproducing in this column an editorial – THE STATE, CHURCH AND MOSQUE - that I wrote in 1992 in the NEW BREED newspaper of which I was Editor-In-Chief about the state of affairs in the country at the time which same state of affairs is very evident today. In that editorial I questioned the roles of the Church and Mosque in the affairs of the state as they unfolded at the time, which roles were not fulfilling their existence just as it is today. I therefore called on our spiritual leaders in the church and mosque to action which same call I am again repeating. There are few updates here and there however, relevant to the dynamics of time: The sovereign state of Sierra Leone was founded on Christian and Islamic principles – the Church and Mosque. The word of God and judgment are articulated and supposed to be practiced as example by the men of God in the Church and Mosque. It is said that under the universal laws, “Freedom is secured, justice is maintained, and truth is honoured only as there stands in the midst of men and institution neither subservient to, nor controlled by the State – the Church” and Mosque. “The Church and Mosque must never bow in filth to any state or nation, culture or system of government. As Christians and Muslims we must never give to the State in the name of patriotism that which alone belongs to God,” writes a man of God. This leads us to the question of the roles of the Church and Mosque in present day Sierra Leone. What have been their positions vis-à-vis the grinding miseries and despair, immorality, indiscipline, lawlessness, violence, corruption, tribalism, ethnicity and nepotism all of which have gone rampant in our society today? What are our Churches and Mosques doing as required by their doctrines to bring morality and conduct in state governance and the society generally? Most functionaries whether in public or private sectors happen to be Deacons, Elders, Patrons, Imams, Alhajis, Pastors, Sheiks and Stewards in our mosques and churches. Where are these men and women of God while the society is gradually becoming a purgatory in which there are no victors but only victims of murder, rape, political persecution, hate, injustice, violence, lawlessness, indiscipline and tribalism? Our Pastors and Imams are unwilling to comment let alone to preach, against the evils that continue to envelope our society; evils that are sapping the very strength and energies of our nation. Some of them instead pay lip service to God or Allah on the pulpit and thereafter, go and serve a system that is unjust. There is for example, that ivory tower rhetoric that our economy has grown by 35 percent, representing one of the fastest growing economies in the world. But the fact remains that a greater percentage of that growth is in the hands of foreign investors predominantly engaged in the mining, agriculture, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade in connivance with few government officials. A diplomat recently referred to the situation in the country as “the general sense of doubt surrounding the motivations and level of commitment of government and the ruling party.” Should the Church and Mosque then still continue to remain silent on the socio-economic, political and moral evils that have today become rampant and out of control? The answer is certainly a big NO. The Church and Mosque should no longer remain neutral spectators of the disintegration of this nation. They must begin to be concerned, caring and willing to assert themselves robustly on matters of morality and conduct in the affairs of the state. We expect the Church and Mosque to address themselves to the unbridled social, political, economic and moral ills that have today become our identity that we do not deserve. They must begin to assert their positions not only from the pulpit, but also by pastoral, Islamic channels of communication to their congregations, jammats and the public generally. The country is presently in a precarious situation bordering on those ills already mentioned. The people need peace, love, unity, law, order and state security which causes must be seen to be championed by those men and women of God who should never bow in hypocrisy and sycophancy to those in power. ADDENDUM I have been prevailed on by a cross section of readers of this column not to respond to Dr. Abdul Karim Koroma’s insulting rejoinder to my article on the proposed new airport at Mamama. According to them I must let the sleeping dog lie; and I agree in order to avoid a press war that he will not win. I thank my readership.
Posted on: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 12:16:45 +0000
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