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Don't fool yourselves
Fr Oskar Wermter SJ
June 16, 2006

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/viewinfo.cfm?id=1566

Real evil often appears in the guise of great social charm

"The president has bad advisers. If he knew what is really going on he would do something about it," you can still hear occasionally. It is unbelievable how people deceive themselves about the true state of affairs in Zimbabwe. They like to think everything is normal, apart from a few "mistakes".

Christians are not necessarily better judges of politics than other people. They have no special enlightenment. They may be as naïve and gullible as the rest of us. In fact, biased towards values like "peace" and "reconciliation", they may make worse blunders than others. "You must not judge and condemn others," they may say, and this could blur their political vision. "You must see both sides," is another noble sentiment, which may prevent them from seeing the evil and malice of those responsible. "They are just people like you and me, they make mistakes, but they are doing their best." Precisely. Real evil often appears in the guise of great social charm. The "pied pipers" who have destroyed the lives of millions were often at first applauded by their later victims.

"The Church must stay neutral so as to be ready to act as arbitrator and peacemaker," say some church leaders. Neither an individual Christian nor the Church as a body can stay neutral in the face of sheer injustice.
The trouble is, some people cannot recognize injustice even when the facts stare them in the face. "Murambatsvina was not a bad thing. After all, government was merely implementing the laws of the country," they say. Nonsense. No law of the country gave government the right to destroy people’s homes without warning. Even illegally built dwellings fulfil a vital function, namely of giving otherwise homeless people a roof over their heads.

If the law gave government the right to inflict such harm on people then the law would be an ass. But in fact it did not. Anna Tibaijuka’s UN report made this quite clear. It is irresponsible to make moral judgments without taking the trouble to get to know the facts.

Besides, the basic human right to life and to shelter overrides city council regulations concerning building permits etc. Many people in Zimbabwe do not know that the positive law enacted by parliament or by city councils must be in accord with natural justice. There can be bad and harmful laws, which people in good conscience can disregard. No government has the right to enact laws that put people’s lives at risk. That is why we need a Bill of Rights in the Constitution that cannot be overruled by any positive law.

"Murambatsvina was a good idea. Merely the way it was carried out was not so good," I have heard, believe it or not. That is like saying to a killer, "You were quite right murdering that man. Only you should not have cut off his head. Poisoning him would have been better."

"There is nothing wrong with inviting the President to church functions. The Church respects the head of state." Quite so. If he comes as head of state and represents the nation, there is not much wrong with that. But if he comes as head of government and party leader, talking party politics and indulging in hate speech, denouncing his enemies including certain critical church leaders, his presence is divisive and unacceptable at church gatherings.

"Government may have made mistakes here and there. Who is without fault? But after all it is our government, and we must defend it against the western world." Certain people, even within the Church, resent any criticism coming from outside the country, or even from foreign-born people inside the country. African solidarity must prevail.
That is very human. Brothers fight each other within the family, but close ranks against any attack from the outside.
But in the end this attitude is no better than the old British jingoistic saying, "My country – right or wrong". This blind nationalism – blind to any moral values – has done untold harm to Europe in World War One and Two. It is currently doing untold harm to Africa. It is unworthy of a Christian and a betrayal of Christian principles which apply universally. Nationalism and racism are incompatible with the Church which is catholic and all-embracing, making no ethnic distinctions.

"The Church must have good relations with government so as to be able to carry on its work in education and health care." Now that is a tricky one. In our present situation of general decay church schools and hospitals are indeed rendering a vital service to the people and must not be endangered. For this "privilege" of having church institutions government is exacting a political price, namely the Church’s silence in matters of social justice. The Church cannot avoid some official contacts behind closed doors. But the Church should not give the appearance in public as if it was endorsing government and all its policies. That would be too high a price.

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