At the end of his budget speech, the Minister of Finance of Zimbabwe quoted the prophet Jeremiah, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29: 11). This was greeted by raucous laughter from the House, apparently an expression of cynical unbelief in the speaker’s religion.

Maybe the following verses would have been more appropriate, “Why is it that the wicked live so prosperously?  Why do scoundrels enjoy peace?  You are always on their lips, yet so far from their hearts” (Jeremiah 12: 1-2).

However, I do not wish to call the minister’s sincerity into question or to read political desperation into his biblical punchline.

My concern is more generally about religious language being used in political rhetoric. Politicians may not even be aware of what  they  are doing when they call upon God.  “God is Lord”, and by calling on Him you submit to His authority.  Which may not have been at all what the politician had in mind.

Some simple souls among believers are very much impressed when they hear a public figure refer to God.  “He is a God-fearing man, so he cannot be that bad….”.  That is of course exactly the effect the politician had hoped to achieve.

WHAT DOES GOD STAND FOR?

Do political orators accept that God stands for a definite moral order to which they commit themselves by calling on His name?  God stands for truth and justice, unconditionally and uncompromisingly.  That is why politics and faith are often on a collision course.  For the average player of the political game there is no absolute value except power.  Truth and justice, though constantly rhetorically referred to, are disposable commodities depending on the state of the game. 

Faith changes that radically.  If you believe in God, you can no longer strive for absolute power or -- and that amounts to the same thing -- sacrifice everything for the sake of that power.  This ruthless quest for power at all costs is idolatry by which we mean worshipping something that is not God. 

Faith means that there is already in existence a higher order of things to which we must submit.  Prior to our lawmaking, there is already a law laid down by the Creator which we must respect as given. We do not create the order that should prevail among us.  It is already there, and we merely fill in the blank spaces and work out the details.  But the broad outline is no longer in dispute.

We subscribe to this higher order   of  things  in a  secularised form when we accept human dignity as inviolable and human rights as foundation of all our lawmaking.  Men and women of faith have fundamental moral convictions which they will apply as critical yardsticks to the major political decisions and options of the day.

Our God is a God of life.  If we call on Him we accept implicitly the overriding value of human life.  One political consequence of this conviction is that we ask critically whether government gives sufficient funds to health care. 

If government is giving year after year more funds to the military, well beyond what legitimate defence requires, then calling on God who cherishes life above all else will not help.  If we believe in the God who “binds up our wounds” (Psalms 147:3) we should provide more medicines to heal than weapons to hurt. 

If human life is put at risk as a result of political violence and the lives of the poor are threatened by using famine relief as a weapon in the struggle for power, then this is done in defiance of the God of life and calling on Him makes no sense.  It is hypocrisy.  We “must not use the name of God in vain” (Exodus 20: 7).  Do what justice requires, save the lives of all without discrimination, and then you can call on God with a good conscience. 

God is no respecter of persons or of political parties, for that matter.  He is neither a Democrat nor a Republican, neither a Tory nor a Labourite.  His law applies to all of them right across the board.

 GOD, THE POOR AND TRUTH

When politicians call on God they want to use Him as a powerful ally by claiming “God is with us” so as to get the votes of believers.  Trying to use God as a tool for your own purposes is a form of blasphemy and dishonours Him.

For that reason it would be better if the churches would not give political leaders a platform at church functions to address their congregations, even if the leaders concerned happen to be members and are considered respectable and honest.

If God is in any way biased, then he is in favour of the common people, if not the outright poor.  The biblical evidence is overwhelming.  He is the protector of the widow and the orphan.  Jesus was not born in a royal palace, but among ordinary people.

But that does not mean that he wanted the poor whose company he cherished to become as greedy and power-hungry as their exploiters and oppressors.  He shared the table with outcasts but also with respectable citizens.  He wanted all to sit round one table since there is room for all of us on this earth.  He did not believe in class warfare or hatred and revenge which only create new injustices. 

God is truth and light, he does not mislead or deceive.  Rather than demonstrating loudly their religion, leaders should listen quietly to their conscience.  Not those who constantly try to justify their conduct and claim the moral high ground are to be trusted, but those who allow the voice of their conscience to lead them.  Not those whose self-complacency has killed their conscience, but those who question their own motivations while looking for what is just and right, deserve our trust. 

Religious and biblical language is for some politicians just part of their arsenal of propaganda   tricks.  They  have absolutely no respect for truth, and therefore not for God either. “Truth? What is that?” said Pontius Pilate, that archetype of a cynical man of power, in his confrontation with Christ, the voice of truth.

Since that confrontation, brute power and defenceless truth have clashed countless times.  While Pilate and his almighty Rome have long vanished, people still listen to the voice of truth and follow its call.  There is no doubt who will prevail in the end.

Oskar Wermter, S.J.
Mbare Parish
Harare

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