Religion is a touchy subject:

Earlier today a pastor whose church we have been wooing for a bank account for some time asked me in the course of our discussions if I was born again and seemed to be personally affronted when I told him that I was not! This did not faze me in the least but once again the topic I am about to tackle – religion - came to the fore.

Religion is a touchy subject so touchy that anyone commenting on it is likely to incur the wrath of those whose toes they seem to be treading on. Commenting on matters religious is akin to treading on thin ice or in our Kenyan context a mud hole where any wrong step may result in a messy pair of shoes and possibly worse.

I was reminded of this a few weeks ago when an innocent comment on a social media platform where I am a member sparked off indignant outrage. It started off, like such things, quite innocently when a member commented that he did not see the necessity of long winded sermons on matters religion being posted every morning onto our social media page – Whatsapp to be precise - yet the forum was supposed to be dedicated to matters and information affecting the neighborhood that we reside in.

In my opinion this was a personal statement that should have been met with measured comments on its pros or cons but not with the furious rebuttals and counter allegations by supporters of the said sermons (who probably get their dose of spiritual nourishment from those sermons) who came out guns ablaze in support.

My own opinion which I voiced was that the forum was set up to discuss and disseminate issues affecting our community and that we were a disparate and diverse (through the overwhelming majority practice the Christian faith) community who espoused different religious views and therefore it was unfair to those that did not espouse those views to be part of the audience. I further went on to opine that if I was a Muslim and decided to use that forum to spread the word of Allah I would be labeled as being unchristian and using the wrong forum for the simple reason that the majority are, as I’ve mentioned, of the Christian persuasion!

Suffice is to say that the original asker of the innocent question left the group a short while later and the religious sermons no longer populate our phones so something clearly must have been done or a decision taken elsewhere for the sake of fulfilling the objectives of the group.

One can argue that in those situations, you have the option of either reading, deleting or ignoring content that doesn’t interest you because everyone has different motives for their actions but I guess the point being made was that if you set us a Whatsapp forum for golfers as an example, should you then start posting issues relating to your failed marriage or your difficult boss at the office?

This brings me to the topical issue that is currently trending in the news and on social media about a pastor at one of the charismatic churches in Nairobi who was in a hurry to get to wherever he was going several days ago and in the process causing the death of an innocent person after a head on collision with an oncoming vehicle. This may be considered an accident which is likely to happen to any motorist at one time or other in their lives but the fact that he seemed to be breaking every rule in the book including carelessly speeding, overtaking and forcing drivers of the road while on an expired insurance sticker goes to show just what kind of deviant behavior he was exhibiting.

That he then took off from the scene of the accident in another vehicle even as people lay writhing in pain and dying and then proceeded to engineer a cover up of epic proportions with the help of rogue police officers from a nearby police station who ignored witness statements, erased call and SMS data as is emerging from investigations ordered by the Inspector General of Police, is the icing on the cake in this ignominious and contemptible saga that is now threatening the careers of several people including those that misadvised the IGP into making statements on his social media page in defending the hapless pastor.

He also seems to command police protection and have high level connections with his vehicle being released with uncustomary speed from the police yard where it was towed to and was even able to pay a likely scapegoat to act as the alleged driver of the vehicle arraigned in court neck brace and all is the stuff of a riveting action movie. I wonder how many other such cases abound where innocent chaps for a few shillings happily languish in jail knowing that the loot they have been paid will be theirs to enjoy once released from gaol!!

The question on everyone’s mind now is how did he with his cloak of religious piety even think to come up with this cloak and dagger scheme? Is this not the thinking of a dangerous and nefarious criminal? If this is the role model to his congregation and society at large then surely the world is coming to an end as was foretold in the bible!

Continuing with matters religious, I came across a post by a member of parliament again on social media who was asking for views from his constituents on going after 2nd generation churches now that 2nd generation alcohol had been consigned to various streams, rivers and sewers across the country. It was not clear who his intended victim was supposed to be but it seems that he is similarly fed up with the goings on and shenanigans by some of the pastors, bishops, ministers, anointed and so on who have made religion a get rich quick scheme where they extort money from their congregations through various nefarious schemes whose only result is to impoverish their flock even more.

The general feeling from the responses to his question was a furious barrage of self-righteous indignation that such a thought could even cross his mind if he wished to see the inside of parliament ever again with the more rabid and vacuous defending religion as their right and no one should direct them who to follow and when. No wonder that religion is probably one of the biggest causes of broken families in our country today.

So with pastors thinking like hardened criminals and the faithful (victims) defending their pastors as being as clean as the driven snow we are in for a showdown of epic proportions if ‘mheshimiwa’ makes good his threats to sweep away 2nd generation churches from our midst because clearly there are those faithful who are ready to take a bullet for their thieving and immoral pastors while at the same time defending them against their crimes as the work of the devil the eye witness accounts notwithstanding!

As for my brave neighbor who took on the wrath of God’s defenders I salute your right to defend your space when it is being taken over by others. May the good Lord also punish those of his servants who mock him through their actions and may the judge who is assigned this case not be swayed by the prayers of those who believe their pastor cannot possibly have done what he is being accused of.

Finally may that imbecile of a man who agreed to stand in for his pastor as a scapegoat driver also suffer the wrath of the judicial system for perjury and misrepresenting the truth while under oath.