By Muzi Mthembu kaMabika
Leaders as we celebrate Easter lets also use this time to reflect & look at the role played by Christianity in land dispossession with a view on how it can be used to reverse the losses of the past.
When the missionaries arrived, the Africans had the land and the missionaries had the Bible. They taught us how to pray with our eyes closed. When we opened them, they had the land and we had the Bible……..Jomo Kenyatta.
Our faith has betrayed us! Most blacks faith is based on the fact that the God we believe in lives somewhere in the sky But what many do not realise is that God lives within us.We seldom listen to ourselves, let alone look for opportunities within ourselves to develop.
The church industry and burial societies are sitting on billions of funds but don’t see any urgency to drive the economic opportunities for their congregants.
It is in this context that our oppressors only exploited us because they saw God-sent labourers, not to mention that they see God within themselves so they worked together to exploit us and build an economy in the land that we wish to claim today, what has made the Jews wealthy or Afrikaners see opportunities in the labour that we offer?
What has led the Indians and Somalis to see prosperity in our streets that we vandalise when putting on demonstrations or marching against injustices?
Why do we bow down to the Banks, Walmarts and Vodafones at the expense of local entrepreneurs?
This is ironic since we are a generation that has a majority of religious worshippers. We need 2 liberate our Faith. Unfortunately, seeing God within ourselves as blacks has proven to be a challenge.
– Muzi Mthembu kaMabika is a Progressive Activist and Entrepreneur
